Coleman Roof AC Help.. Sat upside down, now won't work!

[BoxerPitMix]

Did a few searches here & on Google, didn't come up with much... Sorry if I missed a similar topic that someone previously has posted.

In my search for a good used roof mount AC for my horse trailer's LQ, I scored a heck of a deal on a nice used Coleman Mach (7333C881 Model) with heat strip & perfect shroud cover for $100.

Brought it home, tested it and let it run for over an hour, worked perfectly.

I sat it in my garage floor for about 2 weeks until I had time to mess with it. During that time a coworker came by for me troubleshoot a problem on his car. While helping me clear a few things in my garage to make room for him to pull in, I didn't realize he had slid my AC unit off to the side... and turned it UPSIDE DOWN where it sat for around 4-5 days until I installed it.

I've worked in the RV industry for a few years - and know to keep them upright or at least on their side. Honestly for why - I'm not sure. I can to do leak repairs/recharge on car AC systems, but this is a new animal to me.

So I installed the unit on my trailer last weekend, plugged it in... And on Low or High Cool the compressor will kick in for about 10 seconds, spit out a little bit of cold air, then kick the breaker of whatever it's plugged into. :S

So did it ruin the compressor by somehow filling it with oil or something? I'm really bummed out and hope this didn't toast my unit. 😞

[AlbertaNewbie]

would bet you have a little vapour lock, definitely try the drive down a bumpy road.

[CavemanCharlie]

The fact that it's running and making cold air for a 10 seconds leads me to believe that it's not hydro locked. (Probably not oil in the compressor) If it was it would kick the breaker instantly. I bet a dollar you have some other sort of problem. Most likely in the wiring. Still, I would let it set for awhile and then drive it down a bumpy road just to be sure. Then check for tight connections on all the wires. I have heard of things like a loose connection on the circuit breaker in the camper causing a excessive heat and then causing a breaker in the house or on the pole at the park (that's close to being overloaded anyway) to pop

[allen8106]

Likely by turning it upside down oil has drained into the compressor cylinder. When the piston tries to compress the oil it can't but keeps trying. As the locked rotor amps of the compressor climbs above the trip point it trips the breaker. Your compressor is now oil slugged. Could be that it drains down over time, could be in the cylinder permanently.

[Dtaylor]

krobbe wrote:
Make sure the outlet you're plugged into has enough capacity to operate the AC and anything else running(like the 12V converter). The converter will draw 3 to 8Amps while the AC takes 16A to start and 13A to run. Verify your voltage is 120 or higher. The lower the voltage, the higher the current draw will be. If you are plugged into a 15 or 20Amp circuit, chances are you are simply overloading it. I can run my AC while plugged into a 20Amp circuit. But not much else. Chances are, when you tested it the first time, it was the only thing that was plugged into that circuit. Hopefully, this is good news for you.

This was my first thought since you said you are tripping the breaker. If you are trying to run from a common household outlet this may be your problem

[BoxerPitMix]

Yup I'm familiar with the refrigerators doing that... I figured maybe it was the same case on the air conditioner units.
I may actually try dragging my trailer to work and back one day, just for the heck of it. Who knows, maybe that'll work.

Unfortunately I'm not so sure it's the circuit... I plugged it into the same circuit that I used when I tested it. Just to make sure, I plugged it into one other circuit and then my generator. Still trips. 😞

Thanks for the input!!

[krobbe]

Make sure the outlet you're plugged into has enough capacity to operate the AC and anything else running(like the 12V converter). The converter will draw 3 to 8Amps while the AC takes 16A to start and 13A to run. Verify your voltage is 120 or higher. The lower the voltage, the higher the current draw will be. If you are plugged into a 15 or 20Amp circuit, chances are you are simply overloading it. I can run my AC while plugged into a 20Amp circuit. But not much else. Chances are, when you tested it the first time, it was the only thing that was plugged into that circuit. Hopefully, this is good news for you.

[the_bear_II]

I know on some refrigerators if you lay them on their side you need to leave them upright for a day to get the fluids back in the correct spot.

I would take your trailer down a bumpy road a few times and then let it sit over night and try the A/C unit again.