Air Conditioner Only Blowing at 50%

[Fly at Night]

When I set my a/c on high in past, the air coming out was really strong.

This morning I set it on low. In the afternoon, I turned it on high, and the output changed very little. I would say it's 50% of what it was. Great. The heat wave starts tomorrow.

Can anyone help me out here?

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I would check for two things first. Check the filters or clean them. Check the AC voltage inside of your trailer, might be too low.

[Fly at Night]

Robert, is there a link as to how I clean the filters?

Secondly, how do I check the AC voltage?

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, there are several ways to check your voltage; I had a plug in volt meter, I replaced that with a "Kill-A-Watt", or you can use a multimeter. My filters are thin foam pads on the in-let vents on the air conditioner. They snap out and can be rinsed with water.

Every trailer should have one of each of these.

[Fly at Night]

But how do I do it????????? - check ac voltage? Where do stick in voltage reader?

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

But how do I do it????????? - check ac voltage? Where do stick in voltage reader?

Hi, I just added a picture for you. I just plug mine into a kitchen outlet.

[Fly at Night]

Thanks for the pix. I found the foam things in ac.

I will buy one of those volt meters. What should the reading be?

Thanx Robert.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Thanks for the pix. I found the foam things in ac.

I will buy one of those volt meters. What should the reading be?

Thanx Robert.

Hi, lots of different opinions on this but normal voltage has been decribed as 110 volts, 117 volts, or 120 volts. I would say 105 volts to 125 volts should be fine. Ultimately 120 volts.

During a Brown-out, at home, my house went down to 88 volts, so my air conditioners got turned off. At the lower voltage they wouldn't cycle.

[overlander63]

For rookie volt monitoring persons, I would err on the side of caution and say 110 would be the minimum. If the voltage gets below that, start turning off electrical things, such as switching over the fridge to LP.

[murreywalker]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Robert, is there a link as to how I clean the filters?

Secondly, how do I check the AC voltage?

The voltage ? has been answered, and I suspect you have the same Penguin unit that I do.

The filters are removed from the back of the unit (inside), by pulling the tabs.

Clean them with water, let dry and put back in. Easy!

Good luck!

[Fly at Night]

Well, this is interesting. Before bed I shut the ac down. I read somewhere on this forum that you could reconfigure the system by pressing "mode" and "zone" concurrently until the "FF" was displayed in the box. So I did that a couple of times and left the ac off for the night. Mercifully, it really cools down here at night so those big Airstream windows, left open, become a natural air conditioner.

This morning I turned the ac high setting on again, and it worked - it's back at 100%. This isn't the first time I've had a problem with something on the FaN - done little or nothing to fix it because I didn't know what I was doing - and the FaN seems to remedy itself! (Could there be an Airstream deity that stepped in and matched-up a dufus with a phenomenal trailer?? Here's hoping!)

Anyway, I'm leaving well enough alone (but will buy one of those voltage meters). I also know where the ac filters are now. My biggest beef isn't with the trailer - it's the OM. I am not lazy or illiterate; I search the Owner's Manual first looking for help, but it really is deficient. It recommends cleaning the air conditioner filters, but doesn't tell you where they are or how to access them!

Thanks Robert/overlander/murrey for your help! Am very thankful I have the ac back blasting like a mini hurricane because the first two weeks in August are traditionally the hottest here. It's 8 a.m. and the sun is already scorching.

[slowmover]

For the OP:

My first stop is generally the manufacturer website to look for technical information. Often found in .pdf form. Certainly more up to date than a booklet published last month.

Here is an example: AIRXCEL, the maker of COLEMAN A/C units in Kansas. One may have to read everything here (after first writing down model info to enter at the site) and to write it into the Owners Manual is the best use of that.

And then printing out the closest applicable info from the website for that problem on that day. And keeping it in a binder, in plastic sleeves. (I prefer the soft type binders which zip closed. Easy to toss off the roof if I'm problem-solving up there. And the plastic page sleeves keep grease/dirt off of the tech info. Also good for all receipts, etc.

Etc.

.