Air conditioner woes

[Veebyes]

Recently replaced fan motor & capacitor. Fan works fine. The issue is that the compressor kicks in, runs fine & quiet for awhile then gets very noisy, amperage draw goes way up, then it trips the overload breaker on my inverter charger shutting all power off tothe trailer. What is preventing the compressor from shutting off? Considering connecting the original capacitor again.

[dougrainer]

S Davis wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
You have described a clogged condenser coil. or restricted air flow in the area of the condenser coil.

Or low refrigerant charge.

Really? LOW charge or NO charge will cause LOW amp draw. Doug

[allen8106]

Deleted.

[time2roll]

Veebyes wrote:
A Magnum 2000w pure sine wave unit. The draw on the leg that the AC is on goes up to 27 amps before breaker on the Magnum trips. So is a new AC unit in my future?

Yes time for a new complete high efficiency A/C unit.

This is why I would never pay to repair one of these things. Once it starts to fail the big stuff is ready to go and you are still stuck with an old inefficient power hog.

27 amps will be indicating the compressor is shot.

[S_Davis]

wa8yxm wrote:
You have described a clogged condenser coil. or restricted air flow in the area of the condenser coil.

Or low refrigerant charge.

[pianotuna]

Ah but with hybrid inverters that do load support it IS desirable to pass power through the inverter.

Veebees, I think your air conditioner is 3/4 way to AC heaven. I would try the old cap. If that doesn't make a difference then it may be toast.

How is the voltage just before the unit trips the breaker?

[dougrainer]

Veebyes wrote:
This does not look good. In the process of fan motor replacement I did take the opportunity to clean everything. Took the inner shroud off & cleaned the fins, clogged, using a soft brush & compressed air. Thoroughly cleaned fans while at it. Re the inverter charger. It has been installed for 8 years. Not your typical cheap RV unit. A Magnum 2000w pure sine wave unit. The draw on the leg that the AC is on goes up to 27 amps before breaker on the Magnum trips. So is a new AC unit in my future?

Yes, more cost effective to replace unit. Your Inverter is used on MANY Motorhome units, in fact, LARGER Inverter/chargers. It is still not a good idea to run the AC circuit thru the Inverter system. While you do it and a lot do that, it is not the best way to run the electrical. Doug

[wolfe10]

This should NOT be run through your inverter.

Per your post, 27 amps times 120VAC= 3,240 watts. Even assuming 100% inverter efficiency, this is WAY overloading a 2000 watt inverter. Even on shore power, very much doubt the pass through relay is happy with that start up load.

[Veebyes]

This does not look good. In the process of fan motor replacement I did take the opportunity to clean everything. Took the inner shroud off & cleaned the fins, clogged, using a soft brush & compressed air. Thoroughly cleaned fans while at it. Re the inverter charger. It has been installed for 8 years. Not your typical cheap RV unit. A Magnum 2000w pure sine wave unit. The draw on the leg that the AC is on goes up to 27 amps before breaker on the Magnum trips. So is a new AC unit in my future?

[wa8yxm]

You have described a clogged condenser coil. or restricted air flow in the area of the condenser coil.

What is happening:
As the A/C "Pumps" heat from inside (Evaporator) to outside (Condenser) if the condenser can not shed the heat fast enough the heat builds inside the system and pressure goes up. The compressor works harder and harder. The type of motor they use in the compressor the harder it works the more current it draws And finally CLICK.

Clean the condenser

Now on most (All but colemen) you remove the outer shroud
Then you have to remove an inner cover.

YOu can then access the "Back side" (Fan side) of the condenser. Take a look you will likely see it clogged.. If your hands are small enough you may be able to reach in and clean or use a long thin brush to clean gently (Be very gentle you do not want to mess up the fins).. Compressed air is also useful.

On Coleman. You only need remove the outer cover since the fan sucks instead of blowing.

[dougrainer]

1. You are not supposed to connect a hi amp appliance like a AC unit to the Inverter/Charger.
2. I assume you are running ALL 120 loads thru the Inverter/Charger. Is this so?
3. Compressor's that run normal then slowly increase the amp draw until the Breaker trips usually means a BAD compressor. Doug