Dometic Penguin 2 - compressor on, fan on, not cooling

[kmb1966]

About a 4 year old Dometic Penguin II. Fan comes on, I hear the compressor kick on, but air is warm. Removed the cover, and the compressor is too hot to touch, cold copper lines are not cold at all.

[sayoung]

DFord wrote:

sayoung wrote:

FYI, the RUN capacitor only works at STARTUP. At roughly 70% of full rpm " back electromotive force , EMF " stops current flow thru start winding. .
Yes it's got symptoms of a a bad run cap but again what's the amp draw & voltage ?. Could be a bad wire terminal, locked compressor, on and on.

https://yorkcentraltechtalk.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-capaci...

York Central Tech Talk wrote:
The RUN capacitor is wired in series with the start winding of the motor and stays in the circuit all of the time. They are designed to dissipate heat associated with continuous operation of the motor. The whole purpose of the RUN capacitor is to bring the start winding back in phase with the run winding. The start winding is slightly out of phase with the run winding to provide starting torque for the motor. The RUN capacitor also provides “running torque” once the motor is up and running.

As you can see from the information above, the RUN capacitor is ALWAYS IN THE CIRCUIT helping the compressor / fan / any PERMANENT SPLIT CAPACITOR (PSC) motor perform better. sayoung before you start correcting people, educate yourself.

reread the info you posted and WHAT I wrote. Back EMF stops the current flow thru the START winding at about 70% of full operating rpm. The run cap never leaves the circuit but it QUITS flowing current, don't touch it cause it will flow then.Once it's actually at full rpm you can cut the wire of the start lead and compressor will keep running. You do not need a start capacitor to start most compressors with fixed orifice metering or rapid bleed Txv. Start caps use a relay to actually disconnect from the circuit. It can stay energized for about 7 seconds then things get ugly. But according to you I don't know , allways somebody that doesn't know jack shoots their mouth off on this Forum. Moderator will probably kick me off but that's fine.

[DFord]

sayoung wrote:

FYI, the RUN capacitor only works at STARTUP. At roughly 70% of full rpm " back electromotive force , EMF " stops current flow thru start winding. .
Yes it's got symptoms of a a bad run cap but again what's the amp draw & voltage ?. Could be a bad wire terminal, locked compressor, on and on.

https://yorkcentraltechtalk.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-capaci...

York Central Tech Talk wrote:
The RUN capacitor is wired in series with the start winding of the motor and stays in the circuit all of the time. They are designed to dissipate heat associated with continuous operation of the motor. The whole purpose of the RUN capacitor is to bring the start winding back in phase with the run winding. The start winding is slightly out of phase with the run winding to provide starting torque for the motor. The RUN capacitor also provides “running torque” once the motor is up and running.

As you can see from the information above, the RUN capacitor is ALWAYS IN THE CIRCUIT helping the compressor / fan / any PERMANENT SPLIT CAPACITOR (PSC) motor perform better. sayoung before you start correcting people, educate yourself.

[wa8yxm]

First thing I would check (And the reason is $$$) is the fan side of the condenser unless it's a coleman (you said it was dometic. See if it'd all clogged with crud. If it is clean it. This requires you go topside and remove the outer cover and often an inner cover to properly inspect. With my XXl hands I have to remove the fan to clean unless I can "Blast" it with Compressed air (keep the PSI in the 2 digit range please).

Then try again..

Why check this first? As I said $$$ To be precise $0.00 dollars (no cost)

All the other possible issues BIG $$$ save start/run cap. and frankly *I do NOT thin that is the problem. (not saying it is not. Just I don't think it is.. I could be wrong).

[sayoung]

DFord wrote:
Just because the compressor is hot doesn't mean it's running. Can you hear it running? From what you've said, I don't think it's running.

The small tube coming out of it going to the condenser should be too hot to touch if it is running. If it isn't running, take a look at the capacitors. If the one in a metal can shows ANY sign of bulging, replace it. If there's one in a black plastic container, examine it for signs of damage - they can overheat very quickly and spew wax around before busting the plastic case open. If there's something that says "easy start" on it, it may have failed. The easy start and start capacitor get the compressor turning, the run capacitor keeps it running and reduces the amps drawn by the compressor.

FYI, the RUN capacitor only works at STARTUP. At roughly 70% of full rpm " back electromotive force , EMF " stops current flow thru start winding. .
Yes it's got symptoms of a a bad run cap but again what's the amp draw & voltage ?. Could be a bad wire terminal, locked compressor, on and on.

[kmb1966]

DFord wrote:
Just because the compressor is hot doesn't mean it's running. Can you hear it running? From what you've said, I don't think it's running.

The small tube coming out of it going to the condenser should be too hot to touch if it is running. If it isn't running, take a look at the capacitors. If the one in a metal can shows ANY sign of bulging, replace it. If there's one in a black plastic container, examine it for signs of damage - they can overheat very quickly and spew wax around before busting the plastic case open. If there's something that says "easy start" on it, it may have failed. The easy start and start capacitor get the compressor turning, the run capacitor keeps it running and reduces the amps drawn by the compressor.

I do think the compressor is running. I can hear it kick on a few seconds after the fan starts running. Yes the small tube is very hot (laser thermometer read 170). Bringing it in today to have it looked at.

[ScottG]

Ivylog wrote:
I would try replacing the run capacitor.

X2!

[DFord]

Just because the compressor is hot doesn't mean it's running. Can you hear it running? From what you've said, I don't think it's running.

The small tube coming out of it going to the condenser should be too hot to touch if it is running. If it isn't running, take a look at the capacitors. If the one in a metal can shows ANY sign of bulging, replace it. If there's one in a black plastic container, examine it for signs of damage - they can overheat very quickly and spew wax around before busting the plastic case open. If there's something that says "easy start" on it, it may have failed. The easy start and start capacitor get the compressor turning, the run capacitor keeps it running and reduces the amps drawn by the compressor.

[Ivylog]

I would try replacing the run capacitor.

[midnightsadie]

if you don,t no how to test ,you might call a rv tech in your are ,there a lot better an cheaper than a dealer.and they come to you.

[sayoung]

kmb1966 wrote:
About a 4 year old Dometic Penguin II. Fan comes on, I hear the compressor kick on, but air is warm. Removed the cover, and the compressor is too hot to touch, cold copper lines are not cold at all.

Do you have a meter that test capacitance as well as volts/ohms and a clamp on ammeter or a combo of all of the above ? Without checking it's just a WAG.