killer air conditioner
Fulltimer.
So...it's about 3 am. Winter on Vancouver Island. Couldn't sleep. Sat in living room, just one light on at the back of the trailer, holding a coffee listening to gentle rain patter on roof. Quiet night.
Started hearing a faint crackle. Unusual. Stood up and tried to see where it was coming from. Couldn't see anything, but was loudest in kitchen. What the heck? Out of the corner of my eye, I see a faint glow starting. Look up...and there's a small glow coming from the above the foam filter on my Duo-therm air conditioner. It's not even on, so why should it glow?
Glow gets bigger and I see a tiny spot on the foam start to melt. Quickly,I take the cover off. I see the screw connecting the bottom electric box starting to glow read hot and a second screw starting. I hit the breaker off and grabbed a fire extinguisher. My partner was sleeping, just as I could have been--and we could have both woken up dead. An electric fire was starting. A short seems to have been the catalyst, the foam the initial fuel. Man....
Ok...2005 Keystone Cougar with a Duo-Therm AC. Pulled the lower box open, checked all connections, found one loose ground wire, (green with thin white line from box to main circuit line ground--fixed it, but didn't make sense since it was still touching and there were no scorch marks), no signs off heat damage on interior. Scorch marks are exterior only around the bolt. Once box disconnected from holding brackets and open, I turned breaker back on. No heat, no issues in box, but AC was not blowing, though it did seem to produce colder air.
Assumed issue must have been ground short I had fixed (NEVER ASSUME) with breaker on because I stupidly never care if I'm working with live 110-120, I went to put box back in bracket. THANK GOD RV floors tend to be wooden! The moment the box touched the bracket, the sparks flew.
My guess, top unit short caused by gradual water leak, (2005 unit bought last September because I know how to fix most things in travel trailers--but have never done an AC--guessing sealant cracked). I disconnected the power plug connecting the top unti to the bottom. No more sparks, confirming its a top unit problem.
I am a disabled vet. I cannot climb on top of my unit to pop the unti and look at the problem. I am hoping someone else has encountered this sort of problem before, took pictures of the interior of a Duo-Therm unit, and maybe I can find someone to go up, get the unit down for me, and then I can fix the electric circuit problem rather than paying $1,000--$1,500 for an RV store to do it, because trust first year apprentices to make judgements--which are always "the whole unit has to be replaced!" This RV sat in a barn for almost all of its life, rarely if ever used. I got it for a very good price because the past owner couldn't get the hot-water tank or furnace to work when he finally decided to use it. (Once I had the unit--emery cloth on spark ignitor fixed both; it was just oxidation). So...I don't like wasting money on replacing things I can fix, but I can't get it down to see its guts and can't find any interior pics online to see if I can figure it out.
Does anybody have any interior pics, or has anyone fixed this kind of problem before and thinks the can talk me through it, or is there anyone in the Parksville, BC, area that wants a case of beer to help fiddle with my AC?
So...it's about 3 am. Winter on Vancouver Island. Couldn't sleep. Sat in living room, just one light on at the back of the trailer, holding a coffee listening to gentle rain patter on roof. Quiet night.
Started hearing a faint crackle. Unusual. Stood up and tried to see where it was coming from. Couldn't see anything, but was loudest in kitchen. What the heck? Out of the corner of my eye, I see a faint glow starting. Look up...and there's a small glow coming from the above the foam filter on my Duo-therm air conditioner. It's not even on, so why should it glow?
Glow gets bigger and I see a tiny spot on the foam start to melt. Quickly,I take the cover off. I see the screw connecting the bottom electric box starting to glow read hot and a second screw starting. I hit the breaker off and grabbed a fire extinguisher. My partner was sleeping, just as I could have been--and we could have both woken up dead. An electric fire was starting. A short seems to have been the catalyst, the foam the initial fuel. Man....
Ok...2005 Keystone Cougar with a Duo-Therm AC. Pulled the lower box open, checked all connections, found one loose ground wire, (green with thin white line from box to main circuit line ground--fixed it, but didn't make sense since it was still touching and there were no scorch marks), no signs off heat damage on interior. Scorch marks are exterior only around the bolt. Once box disconnected from holding brackets and open, I turned breaker back on. No heat, no issues in box, but AC was not blowing, though it did seem to produce colder air.
Assumed issue must have been ground short I had fixed (NEVER ASSUME) with breaker on because I stupidly never care if I'm working with live 110-120, I went to put box back in bracket. THANK GOD RV floors tend to be wooden! The moment the box touched the bracket, the sparks flew.
My guess, top unit short caused by gradual water leak, (2005 unit bought last September because I know how to fix most things in travel trailers--but have never done an AC--guessing sealant cracked). I disconnected the power plug connecting the top unti to the bottom. No more sparks, confirming its a top unit problem.
I am a disabled vet. I cannot climb on top of my unit to pop the unti and look at the problem. I am hoping someone else has encountered this sort of problem before, took pictures of the interior of a Duo-Therm unit, and maybe I can find someone to go up, get the unit down for me, and then I can fix the electric circuit problem rather than paying $1,000--$1,500 for an RV store to do it, because trust first year apprentices to make judgements--which are always "the whole unit has to be replaced!" This RV sat in a barn for almost all of its life, rarely if ever used. I got it for a very good price because the past owner couldn't get the hot-water tank or furnace to work when he finally decided to use it. (Once I had the unit--emery cloth on spark ignitor fixed both; it was just oxidation). So...I don't like wasting money on replacing things I can fix, but I can't get it down to see its guts and can't find any interior pics online to see if I can figure it out.
Does anybody have any interior pics, or has anyone fixed this kind of problem before and thinks the can talk me through it, or is there anyone in the Parksville, BC, area that wants a case of beer to help fiddle with my AC?
