# Please Help!!



## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

The A/C unit will cut on, but the fan will not blow cool air. The green light comes on, indicating the unit is on. It stays lit, does not blink or anything. The unit sounds like it wants to kick on initially, but then does nothing.

It has not been run since about this time last year. Worked fine then!









Any thoughts? There is a local repair guy that I can call in the morning, but if anyone can give me any info about possible issues, so I am armed with at least a little info.

Thanks!

Jason


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Lots of possible causes.

1. are you on a generator or shore power? Generator: maybe not enough amperage to start things. Shore power: voltage low?

2. does the fan run? If not, no cold air.

3. Does the compressor run for a bit and then cut out? If it cuts out, you might be low or out of Freon.

4. Bad or non-existant start capacitor? This is a repair guy job...

Good luck!


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

We are running on shore power. I am slightly concerned about the power here. We have stayed here many times and it is usually fine. However, the site we are on is a little older and the power box has some age on it. When I went and checked it initially, the lights all dimmed and then came back up, so the low voltage may be a possibility.

How would I check that? I am not an electrical kind of guy, so detailed explanations will be required.

Thanks

Jason


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

1stTimeAround said:


> We are running on shore power. I am slightly concerned about the power here. We have stayed here many times and it is usually fine. However, the site we are on is a little older and the power box has some age on it. When I went and checked it initially, the lights all dimmed and then came back up, so the low voltage may be a possibility.
> 
> How would I check that? I am not an electrical kind of guy, so detailed explanations will be required.
> 
> ...


The fact that the lights dimmed when a load was put on it tells me there is a big problem. Try running the Microwave do the lights dim then that it the next big amp draw. if the lights don't dim with the microwave then I would think you might have a locked rotor, bad start capacitor or even a locked blower fan. Yo would need an voltmeter to now what the voltage it really like. I like 120+ volts and nothing lower than 115 volts. A locked rotor will dim the lights on a good power condition but should pop the circuit breaker in the trailer.


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## K. Smith (May 25, 2009)

1stTimeAround said:


> The A/C unit will cut on, but the fan will not blow cool air. The green light comes on, indicating the unit is on. It stays lit, does not blink or anything. The unit sounds like it wants to kick on initially, but then does nothing.
> 
> It has not been run since about this time last year. Worked fine then!
> 
> ...


Mine did that a few weeks ago. It ended up being the breaker box couldn't hang with all my electrics on and kept tripping. The A/C would turn "on" on battery, but not really run. I did find that if I ran the hot water on gas, and everything else (my ice maker, fans, awning lights) on the extra 110V circuit on the breaker box, then I could keep my A/C going with the 30 amp.

You did check the breaker in your OB?

Kevin


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Thanks for the help!

Maybe I wasn't clear. The lights did not dim when the A/C tried to engage, they dimmed when I went to the power box and unplugged the plugged the shore power back in. They dimmed for about 30 seconds before coming back up to full strength.

I have checked all the breakers, several times at this point, and they are fine. I haven't tripped a breaker in the OB ever. We try to keep all the electronics and power hogs away from each other, micro, a/c, hair dryer (not mine), etc.

Would there be any reason to try to hook the trailer up to the 110V using the adapter to my shore power plug?

Thanks

Jason


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

I cannot run the A/C and the microwave at the same time. When the compressor kicks in, the main breaker in the trailer kicks out. Evidently, the micro and the A/C working at peak, at the same time, is drawing more than 30 amps. Either that or the breaker from the factory has been weak since it was built. It's been this way since we bought it new, in Aug. 2006.

I've assumed this to be normal.

Mike


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

My A/C got stubborn one time and no matter what I tried, I could not get the compressor to run (but the fan would blow air). So - I turned OFF the A/C, unplugged the shore power, waited about a minute, then plugged back into shore power. When I tried the A/C again, it worked fine. The board must have reset when it lost, and then regained power.









You might try that.

Mike


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

1stTimeAround said:


> Thanks for the help!
> 
> Maybe I wasn't clear. The lights did not dim when the A/C tried to engage, they dimmed when I went to the power box and unplugged the plugged the shore power back in. They dimmed for about 30 seconds before coming back up to full strength.
> 
> ...


i assume you are plugged in with the 30 amp plug and are asking if it would work to install the adapter that changes the 30 amp the 15/20 amp plug the type you find in your house. Well both are the same voltage but the 30 amp plug (no adapter) is the best setup unless the socket has a problem then it might work better to use the adapter and the other socket.

Mike has a good tip, remove shore power and disconnect the battery, that will reset any errors on the control board. Also another common problem with these AC units that have not had the AC running for awhile is the blower fan (condenser/evaporator) the fan the blows air into the RV will stick I seen this happen on my brother in-laws rv. All you have to do is free it up by hand. You should be able to see it from the lower unit take off the filter/cover and spin it by hand with power off of course. you can also access it from the out side unit, the same fan motor runs both the outside fan and inside fan. So make sure the blower fan spins free and do a reset (power off battery off) and see if it will come on.
Good luck,
Bill


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Happened to me once. I t ried all the fuses, reset the battery, every thing. Finally went up to the office at the rv park and told them. They sent a guy down to the main power pole. The power pole box had tripped!

He reset it and I was good to go.

Mark


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Just grasping at straws here, but take a look at your shore power plug. Unplug it and see if the prongs are corroded or oxidized. Clean with a wire brush if needed. You can get a lot of resistance from dirty contacts.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Also, if you have voltage issues, flip the fridge and WH to gas to reduce the electrical loads...


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Using your voltmeter (you do have one, of course?? [grin!]), set the voltmeter to read 120 v ac. Some use the 240 v scale--that's fine; the meter needle will be about halfway across the scale for 120volts.

Stick the two probes into the 30 amp receptacle on the shore power box. You can use one slanted socket and the round one (the ground). You should read about 120v. If you get no reading, move the slanted socket probe to the other slanted socket. To get a reading, you may have to wiggle the probes in the sockets, since the probes are small in diameter and might not make contact with the socket brass connectors inside. Obviously, do not touch the bare ends of the probes when doing this...

Cheap voltmeters (mine cost a whopping $9!) may read from 115 - 125; what you really don't want to see is voltage down around 110v. Even cheap ones can find undervoltage (or overvoltage).

That'll tell you if the shore power is running under voltage.


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Well after much stressing and worry and wondering how I am going to pay to fix the broken A/C unit or having to replace it all together. Reading all of your thoughts, advice, and helpful hints....

....I had the island repair man come to the camper. He does specialize in RV repair and I highly recommend him. Super nice guy and didn't not take advantage of my situation and he really could have.

He came to the camper listened to the unit try to kick on. Told me he was going up on the roof and would be back in a bit. After about a minute or two max., he returned and told me he thought he had my problem solved. I thought to myself, "you must be kidding". Sure enough, we go in the Outback and turn the A/C on and it cranked right up, blowing fantastic cold air at high volume!

Well, as it turns out, here in VA, we have soil with very high clay content. This soil assists your average "mud dobbers" in creating very large, very dense nests in out of the way, cool shaded places, like your A/C unit. The "mud dobbers" had built a nest around one of the fan blades, thick enough to prevent the fan from breaking free of the mud and spinning freely. Bill gave me a portion of the "mud dobber" nest as proof of the situation.

So, $55, a day sitting under the awning drinking a few chillies, hanging out with my wife and brother,and the A/C is back up and working.

Again, thank you to everyone for your help!

Have a great night!

Jason


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

Glad you got your A/C fixed so quickly. For a man to come to your TT for $55 has to be a bargain.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

1stTimeAround said:


> Well after much stressing and worry and wondering how I am going to pay to fix the broken A/C unit or having to replace it all together. Reading all of your thoughts, advice, and helpful hints....
> 
> ....I had the island repair man come to the camper. He does specialize in RV repair and I highly recommend him. Super nice guy and didn't not take advantage of my situation and he really could have.
> 
> ...


HA! Go figure! Glad it was an easy fix!

Eric


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