Basement Air

Big Ben · 02-01-2009, 09:55 PM

I'm down here around Ft. Myers Fl. and would like to get my air cond. serviced. Has any one had any experince with any of the dealers or service people in this area? Thanks.

tomsm · 02-02-2009, 04:40 AM

Ben - North Trail RV has a very good service department. The basement air might be a problem since none of the brands they sell (mostly Newmar) has basement air. Might be worth talking to them about it though.

I've had them do several things for me - always got quick appointments and very good work at a decent price.

Izzyblueye · 02-02-2009, 04:40 AM

Call the manufacturer's number. They have authorized factory repair stations and it runs in my mind one is in Ft. Myers. I checked it out once but ended finding a guy in our c/g that could fix minor problems. Wish I could help you more. I remember it was a truck repair place.

Navy Flier · 02-02-2009, 03:08 PM

What do you mean by wanting your A/C unit "serviced"? I am not aware of any service requirements for the basement air system other than filter replacement. Also, most Winnebago dealers have an outside A/C firm do their work on these units as they are identical to a home unit.

DriVer · 02-02-2009, 04:18 PM

As a point of information. If you are in the Myrtle Beach Area, Grand Strand RV is an official Dometic Mach-One service center.

In Florida, I would call Sun Coast RV Centers

They are an official Winnebago Industries Retailer and Service Center.

I would also call Lazy Days as they may also have a person that works on basement air units as well.

Harberson Pasco is yet another Service and Sales Center.

BBBEEBOP · 02-02-2009, 04:29 PM

When you say you want to get your AC serviced, What's wrong with it? All I do is change the filter regularly and clean the heat exchanger by spraying with Simple Green and flushing with a garden hose.

Big Ben · 02-03-2009, 02:49 AM

The unit is not cooling as well as it did. I am assuming that it needs to be recharged. Some of you are fooling yourself, thinking that they don't need to be cleaned .
We had an Itasca that we drove to Alaska in 2oo2 and the air cond collected so much dirt that it quit working.
I'm a big fan of basement air, but I also know they can be a pain in the butt. to find a service tech that knows how to work on them.

BBBEEBOP · 02-03-2009, 04:26 AM

When you say cleaned, what exactly gets cleaned when the service is performed?

Izzyblueye · 02-03-2009, 05:03 AM

Ten Four!!!

golden · 02-03-2009, 05:36 AM

Quote:

The unit is not cooling as well as it did. I am assuming that it needs to be recharged. Some of you are fooling yourself, thinking that they don't need to be cleaned .
We had an Itasca that we drove to Alaska in 2oo2 and the air cond collected so much dirt that it quit working.
I'm a big fan of basement air, but I also know they can be a pain in the butt. to find a service tech that knows how to work on them.

On mine, I called Coleman and they said to check under the chassis where the ducting is connected and as far up as I could see to ensure it was still connected. They have reported a number of complaints of the ducting coming loose and thus losing cool air that normall would go to the coach.

I agree with you that the system needs to be services. But, I'm going to have an a/c technician change mine, not someone at a dealership who may or may not know what is going on. And, yes, the a/c tech I use does work on basement units.

jdsr · 02-03-2009, 11:16 AM

These units are sealed but fittings can and have to be added to charge. I believe you can use a amp meter to determine if one or both compressors is low. On my last unit I had a ac man install the fittings on the right wall of the unit. Once this was done the unit didnt have to be pulled to attach the gauges and all the ac man would have to do to charge was open the storage door next to the basement air and put his gauges/freon tank on there. By placing the fittings there they were also protected from poss damage. I also had my duct seperate behind rear cap.

TXiceman · 02-03-2009, 12:57 PM

Unless you have some very specific charts from the manufacturer, you can ot determine if the charge is low by using an amp-meter.

A sealed unit should not have leak issues. In order to put connections on the unit the steps are as follows:
-put on temporary saddle clamp and remove charge from the unit.
-pierce suction to compressor and discharge and install a Schrader valve. This has to be soldered in to the line with a slow nitrogen purge on the lines to prevent oxization in the line due to the heat.
-Pull a vacuum on the unit to remove the nitrogen and pull any moisture from the unit.
-recharge the unit with a weight scale to install correct charge.

9 time out of 10, on the RV units, the problem with lack of cooling is low or restricted air flow on the unit. With basement units, the condensers can pick up a lot of dirt and clog the fins and effect cooling performance.

If you have someone put in the connections, make sure they do it correctly or you will ahve problems for years to come.

Ken

Big Ben · 02-03-2009, 01:20 PM

Thank you for all the good imformation . Now if I can just find som one that knows what the heck they are doing. I don't mind paying $100 an hour if they know what they are doing.