Coleman TrueAir

Destry · 06-28-2006, 03:26 AM

Air conditioner compressor doesn't sound like it is starting. Loud hum. Blower motor is not working either. Check control panel on airconditioner and found two large grey capacitors with one totally melted. Replaced both capacitors but still have the same problem as above. Any suggestions

Destry · 06-28-2006, 03:26 AM

Air conditioner compressor doesn't sound like it is starting. Loud hum. Blower motor is not working either. Check control panel on airconditioner and found two large grey capacitors with one totally melted. Replaced both capacitors but still have the same problem as above. Any suggestions

rebelsbeach · 06-28-2006, 04:42 AM

Destry, WELCOME to the iRv2 forum!!

One of our members will certainly be along with some timely advice to hopefully solve your problem.....We have several "certified" rv techs that frequent the forums, so I am confident
you will have an answer soon....

Fossilhog · 06-28-2006, 05:30 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Destry:
Air conditioner compressor doesn't sound like it is starting. Loud hum. Blower motor is not working either. Check control panel on airconditioner and found two large grey capacitors with one totally melted. Replaced both capacitors but still have the same problem as above. Any suggestions </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mine's in the shop now for similar problem, see my post on basement Air. This is the second time in less than a year that they're replacing the out door blower motor and circuit board. They even called Coleman to get an insight as to the failure and was told most likely a low voltage condition. I'm sorry I got the basement air, woould rather have the storage and I don't use the heat pump feature at all. Maybe the "RVGUY" will weigh in on this. He was very helpful in troubleshooting my problem.

Destry · 06-28-2006, 07:39 AM

Thanks for this info. Have they been able to determine the cause of the low voltage.

ichn2go · 06-28-2006, 08:03 AM

Most likely,,some Campground is the source of the low voltage. Be sure to use a surge guard at all times when plugged into shore power. Good Luck

Fossilhog · 06-28-2006, 08:46 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Destry:
Thanks for this info. Have they been able to determine the cause of the low voltage. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here's the catch. I had it repaired last October. Never used it until the Friday before Memorial Day. I have a dedicated 30 amp outlet on my house just for the RV. Using that plug in, it failed in about an hour. I have the plug in Volt meter near the EMS board and it showed a constant 120. When the compressor would come on, the amp guage would creep up to 28-30, then in about 5 minutes, the compresser would shut down. The OD fan wasn't coming on at all. Thats when I found a few fried wires. The ID fan kept running and no fuses or breakers went off.

Fossilhog · 06-28-2006, 08:50 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ichn2go:
Most likely,,some Campground is the source of the low voltage. Be sure to use a surge guard at all times when plugged into shore power. Good Luck </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I know the Surge Guard will protect against spikes, but what about a low voltage condition?

Destry · 06-28-2006, 09:47 AM

Can someone explain how the surge protector help against low voltage. Is this do to low voltage and then somehow get a spike when you do get full power. This also made me wonder if the problem could be do to a lightning strike. My MH is 75-100 feet away from my home with a dedicated 50 am breaker in the house. Could lightning hit the ground where the cable is burried and as a result cause problems with the air conditioner. I was running it for a while the day it quite and can tell it was working at one point since there was water on the congrete underneath the unit but by the time I went back out to check on it the fuse had tripped inside the coach.

rvten · 06-28-2006, 10:12 AM

I have an EMS protector. It shuts down if voltage drops below 103 volts or goes over 132 volts. It also checks for polarity, hertz and open ground or neutral.

ichn2go · 06-28-2006, 11:49 AM

I am not an engineer, but I think a spike or low voltage could cause the same problem. It works for both conditions. Do a Google search for Surge Guard, then go to their site for an explanation. Good Miles

TheRVGuy · 06-28-2006, 12:57 PM

Destry,

I will try to assist you with functions of a "surge protector". Typically this device is a multifunction unit, providing control of high and low power levels, surge protection on the shore power line (and the generator if wired to do so), polarity checks, open ground, hot neutral and depending on the brand of unit it may provide a couple of more functions. Unfortunately they have become know as "surge protectors" and that is not really a correct term as they provide much more protection.

High and low power are computed from a plus/minus of 10% from the line voltage of 115VAC, or 103 to 126 allowable voltage. The device is therefore designed to allow any variance of voltage between these two values but will shut down if it goes below 103 or abouve 126. This may vary minutely by brand, but the function is the same.

Surge protection is obviously the protection provided against any errant spikes due to interference with the main power source. It doesn't matter what the interference is, lightning, line noise, power failures in some facility creating feedback spikes, etc., when the spike is sensed by the device it will shut down. These are measure typically in joules and time to operate, i.e. how fast can it shut off power to prevent damage.

To the question of what the effect of lightning can be a line; prior work that I performed in the pump industry identified the following information. A lightning strike 1/2 mile from a power pole carrying current for a submersible pump 175' in the ground can and did impact the pump with over 400,000 volts of surge. Of course it is dependent on many factors, but lightning is a very powerful source of energy and it is very high voltage.

One thing that strikes me about your description of your home setup; 75-100 feet away from the plug is a very long distance to run a 50 amp service and even longer to run an extension cord. If you have a plug that is 75-100 feet away from the breaker, please have it checked to insure it has sufficent wire size to prevent low current to your rig. If you are using an extension cord, you want to re-evaluate that immediately. The problem with distance is that the further you try to go, the more power loss you have. The effect on your system in the coach is that the lower the power you have, the more it requires in amperage to run the item (AC in this case) and the effects can be identical to what you have already experienced.

Hope this has been worth your time to review, if I can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Regards,
Mike

Destry · 06-29-2006, 02:19 AM

Would the melted(like a candle)starter capicitor be a symptom of power surge or low power. I believe the power line is the right size as I checked with an electrical supply shop when I bought it, but I will double check. What is one of the best surge protector or power monitor on the market? Any ideas on what might be causing the symptoms I described on my basement unit? Outside fan doesn't come on and it doesen't sound like either compressor is starting. It sounds like the compressor is locked up, it makes a deep humming sound. Could it be that the compressor isn't working because the outside fan isn't coming on?

realw22fan · 08-08-2006, 08:19 AM

I have an 04 Winn Adv 35U with basement air. I just tried to run ac and of course when you need it most, it's not working. The symptoms are identical to those described in other posts. The compressor kicks in, but the OD fan does not start. This causes the compressor to overload and shut down. I got under and noticed that the OD fan is very difficult to turn. You can access it through the wire mesh under the unit. Once I freed it up, everything worked fine until the next morning and here we go again. The OD fan appears to be the culprit. What I need is some information on how to drop the ac unit, replace the OD fan and put it back together. All the electronics appear to be working just fine. It just seems to be a fan issue.

Ed Gardiser · 08-08-2006, 06:14 PM

realw22fan
I would presume that the condenser fan motor is possibly siezed ( not running )this will cause the compressors to overheat and then shut down on a internal motor protector.It is possilbe that a bad run capacitor is causing the motor problem,but if it is hard to turn the shaft the sleeve bearings are bad.Replace the motor and run capacitor.
Ed Gardiser
Escondido,Ca.
04 Vectra
87 Nissan PickUp
FMCA

realw22fan · 08-10-2006, 05:19 AM

Thanks. I pretty much figured it was a motor problem. I was hoping that it might be something more simple like a capacitor that can be easily accessed. Unfortunately, to get at the motor and bearings, I have to have the unit removed from the MH. Not exactly a do-it-yourself job.
Regards, Gerry

realw22fan · 02-23-2007, 07:31 AM

Well it's taken a while, but I finally pulled the unit out and opened it up. Not a big job at all. What I found was that the bearings on the fan motors inside and outside have little caps that allow oil to be put in. A few drops of 3-in-1 and I was up and running again. The unit is back in and running just fine. I will check this whenever the fans start to give me a problem. I just wonder how many people have had expensive repairs made to these units when all they really needed was a little oil. I may even modify the unit to bring the oil caps to the outside for easy access and regular mtce.

Fossilhog · 02-23-2007, 11:52 AM

How did you get the unit out? I've been tempted to give it a try. I have a motorcycle jack, hydraulic with 2 pads sorta like a fork lift. I think It may work.

peter griffin · 02-23-2007, 01:09 PM

the manual does say that it does need oil in that location as you described. I also would be very interested in reading a step by step in how you got to those lubrication points..

thanks

realw22fan · 02-25-2007, 06:50 AM

I can only describe the process for a 2004 Winn Adventurer 35U. Others are probably similar, but I don't know for certain. The AC unit is contained in an angle-iron frame. You can gain access to the unit by removing 4 screws holding the body panels to the rig. The door is hinged so you can lift it. This gives you access to the condenser grill and PC Board. When facing the unit, on the left end (rear of rig) is the cold air input to the rig. There are several screws holding the duct-work to the end of the unit. Remove the screws and carefully pry the foam seal free. There are several restraining blocks holding the unit against the angle-iron frame. Remove these screws and blocks. After this you will notice that there are 4 long bolts on the bottom corners of the frame. Loosen but do not remove all 4. At the back of the unit is the air-return. There was only a gasket between the return and the unit. Check for screws. Once you have loosened the 4 bolts, the unit should drop down enough to remove the insulation sheets on the top of the unit. Now just lift the unit up and over the edge of the angle-iron frame and carefully slide it out onto a table or platform at the same height as the frame. Watch out for the electrical connections. Don't strain them or better still, remove them. Once out of the rig, remove all the sheet metal screws on the top and top edges in order to remove the top panel. You now have access to the entire AC unit. Oil your bearings and put it all back together again. Next time I have to get in there, I will run some clear plastic tubing from the oil caps a couple of new holes near the top edge so gravity can draw oil down. Put in a couple of plugs to seal the tube and you don't have to remove the unit in order to do "simple maintenance". Hope this helps.