# Carrier Air V Replacement Options



## gregjoyal (Jan 25, 2005)

Since the first day I got my 2004 Outback 28RSS, my AC unit has been a POS. It frequently fails to start the compressor (little green light blinks 5 times which is apparently COMPRESSOR DRIVE MALFUNCTION) especially when it's hot. I have to unplug the trailer and disconnect the battery to get it working again (and without fail it does come back on).

It was "diagnosed" while still under warranty that the campground I was in just had bad power and frequently failed to supply good voltage. So when the AC is one we turn the water heater off (haha, see my other post though, it's always off now) and never use the Microwave. That really helped reduce the frequency of these start failures.

Last year, I got mad and added a SUPCO SPP6E hard start capacitor which for a while it seemed to help... then it came back. I'm really thinking it's just a bad AC compressor altogether. We've got good power at our campsite now.

Should I just replace the AC unit or what about changing the guts? The Carrier V reports as needing big AMPs to power up the compressor so I'm worried that changing the compressor won't help in the long run anyways. Any suggestions on a good alternate ducted AC unit?


----------



## Kampy4life (Jun 8, 2014)

We had an 05 26RS with the carrier a/c , never had any issues with it. The one thing that I did notice was how three wires was run. What I found was the compressor was starting on high speed which is causing the high amp draw. Because you have to start the compressor and the blower motor 30amps would not do it for power. I changed the start speed on the blower to start on low speed first. Then after the compressor was running kick the speed to high. There is two ways to do this, the first one use the remote and turn the a/c on low. The other way is to change the start control speed on the board. I hope this helps.


----------



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

I'm looking for a replacement as well. Our Carrier Air V kept tripping breakers at the last campground we were at. Would run for 20 seconds, start to cool down, and then bam...off it goes. I didn't have my hoop multi-meter with me to measure the amp draw, but I could tell the voltage was a little on the low side. I was also towards the end of the power run in the park. Since the ambient temp was right at 86 degrees at 1030 P.M., we packed up and went to the house...it was HOT!

I cleaned and checked the AC when I got back to the house. Amp draw at startup was about 31 amps. Running it was right at 13.8 amps. However, this was towards the evening and we tend to have a power sag of about 4 volts in my neighborhood, so voltage was around 115 volts. I checked it this morning and voltage was right at 120 volts and amp draw was right at 12.8. This was on the same breakers that I had at the campground. I changed the dual breakers to a separate 30 amp main and 20 amp AC instead of the dual breakers in case that had anything to do with it.

Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement because when I pulled the AC housing off, I noticed that the fan housing was degraded from being kept out in the sun. This isn't the outside cover...this is the fan housing itself. There are a set of tabs that I had to undo to get the fan housing off and the tops snapped right off. I don't think the housing is going to take much more abuse. With all that considered, I figure it's time to start looking for a replacement.

I've seen some Coleman Mach replacement kits that use the circuit boards from the Carrier. Those seem to be an ideal replacement since they allow you to keep your remote and not have to run a separate thermostat for the furnace. However, I have concerns about changing over and having the circuit board go out and not being able to get a replacement board. Anyone used one of these kits?


----------



## gregjoyal (Jan 25, 2005)

Kampy4life said:


> We had an 05 26RS with the carrier a/c , never had any issues with it. The one thing that I did notice was how three wires was run. What I found was the compressor was starting on high speed which is causing the high amp draw. Because you have to start the compressor and the blower motor 30amps would not do it for power. I changed the start speed on the blower to start on low speed first. Then after the compressor was running kick the speed to high. There is two ways to do this, the first one use the remote and turn the a/c on low. The other way is to change the start control speed on the board. I hope this helps.


Ok, I had to read that a couple times and I think I'm following. The problem I have is that we have a dog and we have always been uncomfortable leaving her in the trailer while we go to the beach for fear that the AC will kick out. Are you suggesting that if I turn the AC unit on low, wait until the compressor starts, switch it to high and leave it be?

I think I usually do set it to Auto otherwise it gets really bloody cold in there.

Do you have any details about the start control speed on the board change? I have the service manual in PDF form and I see nothing in there about that.


----------



## gregjoyal (Jan 25, 2005)

Justman said:


> I'm looking for a replacement as well. Our Carrier Air V kept tripping breakers at the last campground we were at. Would run for 20 seconds, start to cool down, and then bam...off it goes. I didn't have my hoop multi-meter with me to measure the amp draw, but I could tell the voltage was a little on the low side. I was also towards the end of the power run in the park. Since the ambient temp was right at 86 degrees at 1030 P.M., we packed up and went to the house...it was HOT!
> 
> I cleaned and checked the AC when I got back to the house. Amp draw at startup was about 31 amps. Running it was right at 13.8 amps. However, this was towards the evening and we tend to have a power sag of about 4 volts in my neighborhood, so voltage was around 115 volts. I checked it this morning and voltage was right at 120 volts and amp draw was right at 12.8. This was on the same breakers that I had at the campground. I changed the dual breakers to a separate 30 amp main and 20 amp AC instead of the dual breakers in case that had anything to do with it.
> 
> ...


When you changed the breakers did you put a time-delay 20amp breaker in? I've often wondered if my trailer really has the time-delay breaker but it must since the breaker doesn't pop.

I'm convinced it's a startup problem because I don't ever recall the AC cutting out while the compressor was on. It always seems to cut out when the unit is "quieter."

Our AC cover survived a wicked hail storm last summer (and our car did not), so I'm not overly worried about sun degradation (yet), but after 10 years of AC complaints, I'm ready to swap it out and be done with it. I'm going to look into those Coleman Mach kits... I'm a computer guy, and although I share your concern about not being able to get a replacement part, blown circuit boards are overrated and usually due to improper installation. If it hasn't failed after 10 years it's unlikely to fail in the next 10.

Greg


----------



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

gregjoyal said:


> I'm looking for a replacement as well. Our Carrier Air V kept tripping breakers at the last campground we were at. Would run for 20 seconds, start to cool down, and then bam...off it goes. I didn't have my hoop multi-meter with me to measure the amp draw, but I could tell the voltage was a little on the low side. I was also towards the end of the power run in the park. Since the ambient temp was right at 86 degrees at 1030 P.M., we packed up and went to the house...it was HOT!
> 
> I cleaned and checked the AC when I got back to the house. Amp draw at startup was about 31 amps. Running it was right at 13.8 amps. However, this was towards the evening and we tend to have a power sag of about 4 volts in my neighborhood, so voltage was around 115 volts. I checked it this morning and voltage was right at 120 volts and amp draw was right at 12.8. This was on the same breakers that I had at the campground. I changed the dual breakers to a separate 30 amp main and 20 amp AC instead of the dual breakers in case that had anything to do with it.
> 
> ...


When you changed the breakers did you put a time-delay 20amp breaker in? I've often wondered if my trailer really has the time-delay breaker but it must since the breaker doesn't pop.

I'm convinced it's a startup problem because I don't ever recall the AC cutting out while the compressor was on. It always seems to cut out when the unit is "quieter."

Our AC cover survived a wicked hail storm last summer (and our car did not), so I'm not overly worried about sun degradation (yet), but after 10 years of AC complaints, I'm ready to swap it out and be done with it. I'm going to look into those Coleman Mach kits... I'm a computer guy, and although I share your concern about not being able to get a replacement part, blown circuit boards are overrated and usually due to improper installation. If it hasn't failed after 10 years it's unlikely to fail in the next 10.

Greg
[/quote]

Not quite sure about the breakers, but I think that all breakers have somewhat of a time delay put on them. Otherwise, they would blow on temporary power surges...like when my AC starts up and draws 31 amps. This would seem to stress the 30 amp main and certainly the 20 amp the AC is hooked into. Neither of them trip on startup.

I'll have to do more research on the Carrier to Coleman conversions. My only concern there is that it only takes one power surge or power sag to burn out the board...and then what? I suppose if it does go out then I could always go to plan B, which is to install the Coleman inside unit and a wall thermostat.


----------



## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

Three things can cause the infamous blinking light.

- Low incoming voltage
- amp draw at the compressor
- Circuit board failure

Mine was the circuit board. I replaced it myself and it fixed it. Carrier was helpful on the phone in diagnosing the fix at the time.


----------



## gregjoyal (Jan 25, 2005)

Fanatical1 said:


> Three things can cause the infamous blinking light.
> 
> - Low incoming voltage
> - amp draw at the compressor
> ...


Do you remember you determined it was the circuit board? I don't think it's low incoming voltage because this has happened at a dozen different campsites over the years and our current campsite is in a small 30 site campground with very new (no more than 6 years old) equipment and nobody else has had any problems. High amp draw was always my guess but the hard-start capacitor was supposed to solve that... so maybe it is a bad circuit board?


----------



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

gregjoyal said:


> Three things can cause the infamous blinking light.
> 
> - Low incoming voltage
> - amp draw at the compressor
> ...


Do you remember you determined it was the circuit board? I don't think it's low incoming voltage because this has happened at a dozen different campsites over the years and our current campsite is in a small 30 site campground with very new (no more than 6 years old) equipment and nobody else has had any problems. High amp draw was always my guess but the hard-start capacitor was supposed to solve that... so maybe it is a bad circuit board?
[/quote]

You may be right about it being the board. Suggest you get a hoop type multi-meter and check two things---your incoming voltage and your amp draw. Incoming volts should ideally be between 115 and 120. Amp draw should be around 14 amps. The voltage will drop slightly when starting up something, but shouldn't go below 110 volts on "good" power. If you get more than 110 volts and right at or below 14 amp draw, then I would start suspecting some other electrical component.


----------

