# A/c Not Working



## thunderbird

Hello All,

This has been a tough year and we had to cancel our planned multi-week trip out west. However, we were planning to take Labor Day weekend and camp at a state park with some friends, so I went out and tried to get everything up and running. Camper looks good except for the AC. The unit would come on and blow some cool air, but never really have all that much effect and after 20 minutes or so it would trip the circuit breaker and shut off. After a few tries, I went up on the roof, took the cover off and could see that wasps had packed mud around the coils. Tooked the second cover off, cleaned all that and everything I could see, washed it down, put it all back together and turned it on again. After about 45 minutes it had not blown the circuit breaker again butr it wasn't cooling all that much either.

Sounds like I need to take it to someone, but there's nothing close to where I am on the Carrier website. Couldn't any AC repair place take a look at this? I'm not very mechanical, and what I did today is about as much as I am qualified to do, but I thought I'd post this to see if anyone has any suggestions. Could it need freon? Could it need a new condensor?

Thanks


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## 5th Time Around

A few thoughts as we had a similar problem this summer.

Take off the inside cover. Check that there is no gap between the ceiling and the a/c unit (besides the outflowing duct work). Ours needed to be taped up considerably at the a/c and every single vent as well. Otherwise you are a/c the ceiling and it doesn't cool off.

The other thing is while you have the cover inside off, check that the thermometer is clipped up in the fins. If the thermometer has fallen it will cause a false reading resulting in the temp not cooling.

Our breaker blew inside the camper panel as well. Now we camp with a small fan that blows into the fuse panel to dissapate the heat and keep it from tripping. We never had a problem until the summer when temps were in the low 100's

Good Luck


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## N7OQ

5th Time Around said:


> A few thoughts as we had a similar problem this summer.
> 
> Take off the inside cover. Check that there is no gap between the ceiling and the a/c unit (besides the outflowing duct work). Ours needed to be taped up considerably at the a/c and every single vent as well. Otherwise you are a/c the ceiling and it doesn't cool off.
> 
> The other thing is while you have the cover inside off, check that the thermometer is clipped up in the fins. If the thermometer has fallen it will cause a false reading resulting in the temp not cooling.
> 
> Our breaker blew inside the camper panel as well. Now we camp with a small fan that blows into the fuse panel to dissapate the heat and keep it from tripping. We never had a problem until the summer when temps were in the low 100's
> 
> Good Luck


I agree, also make sure you have good power to the trailer, if you are using a extension cord thne it will trip the circuit breaker also using a adaptor on the power cord then just plugging it in a standard 20 amp outlet can cause enough voltage drop to trip the circuit breaker.


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## Ghosty

Sounds like you are not getting enough amperage .... it takes a full load for the compressor to kick in ... if you are trying to run the A/C off the house current and in addition using a long extension cord -- that may be the reason its not kicking in...


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## thunderbird

Ghosty said:


> Sounds like you are not getting enough amperage .... it takes a full load for the compressor to kick in ... if you are trying to run the A/C off the house current and in addition using a long extension cord -- that may be the reason its not kicking in...


Amperage should be ok. I have it parked in an RV lot run by the homeowners association with 30 amp service. There are half a dozen other campers who keep their A/C running running full time, so I don't think its that.


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## CamperAndy

thunderbird said:


> Sounds like you are not getting enough amperage .... it takes a full load for the compressor to kick in ... if you are trying to run the A/C off the house current and in addition using a long extension cord -- that may be the reason its not kicking in...


Amperage should be ok. I have it parked in an RV lot run by the homeowners association with 30 amp service. There are half a dozen other campers who keep their A/C running running full time, so I don't think its that.
[/quote]

I don't think it is your issue either but it is an easy check to make. Make sure your voltage is not below 108 vac or you will have issues with the compressor motor.


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## thunderbird

Thanks for the help. I am glad to report that my labor over the weekend paid off.

When I finished cleaning out and washing down the rock hard mud that the wasps had packed around the coils last Sunday, I went back inside, turned everything on and waited to see if the trailer would cool down. It was about 95 degrees outside, close to 100 inside, so after about 45 minutes I had had enough after about five hours up and down the roof and so locked up and went home. It was cooling, but slowly, and I had little faith that it would actually do the job. I figured it was just a matter of time before the circuit breaker popped again.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I went over to the pull the trailer out Wednesday to prepare to take it down and get the state inspection sticker. the A/C was still on, and better yet, the inside was a half degree less than the 73 degrees I had left it set at.

I had already talked to one dealer who was all set to help me out with a $700 replacement unit. I guess this is one of those "priceless" moments.

Thanks again Outbackers.


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## shannonsj

Try disconnecting the battery without the camper plugged in. I discovered this by accident after mine stopped working. After letting it sit a while and letting the battery die, I took it to the dealer to service the AC, they found nothing wrong at all. I figured it must be because the battery was completely dead when I took the camper in. That Carrier AC unit control board will sense either overtemp or low voltage and set a maintenance code on the controller board that the manual claims you need dealer service to correct. However, if you completely remove power to the unit (AC and DC) for a few seconds, it clears. You can tell this is happening when the fan will run but the compressor never kicks on. Also, the maintenance code is indicated by a red light flashing at 1 second periodic. I installed a knife switch to isolate the battery quickly so when it happens again I just go out and open the switch for a few seconds. I have found that the voltage sensor is very sensitive so on very hot days I don't set my AC too low so it has a chance to cool down.

Hope this helps!


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## Jim Smith

thunderbird said:


> Hello All,
> 
> This has been a tough year and we had to cancel our planned multi-week trip out west. However, we were planning to take Labor Day weekend and camp at a state park with some friends, so I went out and tried to get everything up and running. Camper looks good except for the AC. The unit would come on and blow some cool air, but never really have all that much effect and after 20 minutes or so it would trip the circuit breaker and shut off. After a few tries, I went up on the roof, took the cover off and could see that wasps had packed mud around the coils. Tooked the second cover off, cleaned all that and everything I could see, washed it down, put it all back together and turned it on again. After about 45 minutes it had not blown the circuit breaker again butr it wasn't cooling all that much either.
> 
> Sounds like I need to take it to someone, but there's nothing close to where I am on the Carrier website. Couldn't any AC repair place take a look at this? I'm not very mechanical, and what I did today is about as much as I am qualified to do, but I thought I'd post this to see if anyone has any suggestions. Could it need freon? Could it need a new condensor?
> 
> Thanks


You must neet to take this to ac repair specialist so that the circuit will not break down because they know how to check and repair those problems. So you must take it to the ac repair shop.


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