Replace Air Conditioner?

[airstreamgreenhorn]

You might laugh if you knew how green I am, so bear with me.

We bought a 1971 31' Sovereign, knowing that the air conditioning needed work. We live in a small town, an hour away from the next largest town. On Friday, we took the Airstream to our local RV repair shop, which has a very good reputation. We're told that the original air conditioning unit needs to be replaced--it's leaking freon, and to fix it would only be a stopgap measure. To accommodate a new 14" x 14" unit, the shop says it needs to build a frame (something about "crossbeams") and will need to modify at least the ceiling, if not the roof, too.

The original owners promised to help with the cost, so I talked to them yesterday. They think we need more opinions and want to see us not modify the Airstream to accommodate air conditioning.

(Further info: Our RV is in very good shape except for the AC. Its upholstery and carpet have been replaced and do not look like the original but more like the '80s or '90s in color, texture and style. The pantry has been replaced with an oak cabinet. The original doors under the stove and sink are starting to break up, and in the next year, we'll probably have the same cabinetmaker redo that area to match the pantry. So it's not important to us to keep things original--we want things to be comfortable, attractive and functional.)

All this to ask: if it were you, would you have the AC framework built and the new 14" x 14" unit installed, or would you do something different? If the latter, what would you suggest?

Thanks a lot for helping a nervous greenhorn.

[overlander64]

Greetings AirstreamGreenhorn!

Welcom to the Forums and the world of Vintage Airstreaming!

If your 1970s era coach has a factory original Armstrong air conditioner additional bracing should not be necessary for the installation of a new unit - - beyond adding some pressure treated 2 x material to maintain the proper relationship between the roof and ceiling of the trailer when the Armstrongs three circular holes are replaced with the one 14" square hole. The one thing that will be a bit more critical, is determining where the leading edge of the 14" square should be placed - - this dimension is available from Airstream and is measured from the first main bow at the front of the trailer.

Be prepared to insist about the brand and model of the replacement air condtioner if you want to retain the internal condesate drain. There are only a very few air conditioners for which Airstream has designed condesate drip pans - - to determine the potential air conditioners that these pans will fit requires contacting an Airstream dealer or customer relations at the factory. If you aren't particularly concerned about having the condesate drain down the roof and off the sides, then any good quality RV air conditioner would be available - - I have used Coleman Mach series air conditioners on both of my trailers, neithr of which have the condesate drain pans. I would probably insist on the units with the drain pans if I were to do it over today, but budget was the primary motivator when that work was done.

Good luck with your project!

Kevin

[airstreamgreenhorn]

Thank you, Kevin! We're printing off your reply and will talk to the RV shop about it. You may have brought up some points and maybe even a solution they hadn't considered.

Thanks a lot for your time and help!

[john hd]

greenhorn

you may want to get a second opinion on that airconditioner, what exactly was leaking?

some folks here have had some luck servicing older units.

the armstrong ac is supposed to be quite a robust unit.

good luck

john

[Tomy Dean Noah]

I replaced my old air conditioner about two months ago .I installed a coleman air conditioner. The rear coil ,which is in the rear that gets hot when in the air conditioning mode ,has part of the coil line that goes along the bottom of the drain pan . This part of the coil also gets hot and turns the water into steam.You have no dainage of water running off the roof or inside the trailer, becauses it will everapate , due to heat. Du-o-thurm also makes a unit for trailers. Keep the old air conditioner,and set it aside ,because there are parts that you can give to some one else to repair there unit. Best of Luck . Tomy.

[airstreamgreenhorn]

Thanks, John and Blue Moon.

John, the refrigeration place said leaking freon is 90% unrepairable on a unit this old. They said anything they could do would be stopgap, and we'd have to have the unit replaced eventually--might as well do it now, they said.

Blue Moon, we'll take your info into consideration. Very helpful.

Thanks!

[garry]

If you do go with a new AC unit I am in need of a capacitor from an older Armstrong unit. It is the start capacitor for the fan and compresor, it has three capactors in one can.
Don't know the value and haven't been able to locate an exact replacment.
e-mail me if you go the new route maybe we can work something out.

Thanks

garry

[Tomy Dean Noah]

A good book on air conditioning that I used when I went to air conditioning school , many years ago is "Modern Refrigeration and Airconditioning ", published by Goodheart-Willcox Co,Inc catalog # 81-200002, Book # 0-87006-340-5,
ISBN -0-87006-340-5. This will give you give very good information on airconditioning. The size and type of compasitors.
Normally the run capicator is round and black plasitic case, large microfaird. The compressor and fan run capicators are rectangler, oil filled in a metel case, normally. The book cost about $40, hard back cover. I hope this helps. Good luck . Blue Moon

[Tomy Dean Noah]

Information on finding a book on history of Airstreams.

"Airstream, The history of the Land Yacht " by Bryan Burekhart & David Hunt. ISBN -0-8118-2471-3 . Cost $19.95 plus tax. In gray cover ,soft cover book. I found it at Border Book store in Okc.Ok. Barns/Noble also will have it . You can order it off the internet. from the selected book store.
Also , the writer has a webb sight (www.chroniclebooks.com).

The book shows pictures of them installing alumnon bottom, rib cage , insulatin, electrical ,and other good information.
Good Luck. Blue Moon

[Chas]

Greenhorn,

It could well be that this old Armstrong is beyond repair. Leaks in the condenser or evaporators can be unrepairable. It is interesting to see the previous owners so involved in your instance, if you were able to go back with a unit which would drain thru the interior skin like original I would say go for it.

Chas

[garry]

Blue Moon;

Thanks for the info. I know the mfd of the cap but this one has three caps in one can. The start cap (one of the three) for the fan is bad. By value I was refering to replacment cost. If I have to I can buy an individual cap but I will have to come up with some way to mount the cap and there is little room.

Garry

[Tomy Dean Noah]

Tell me what size the double capicator is and I can check at Lock's wholesale supply here in OKC for replacement. The outside of the capicator should read 25mf and 5 or 6mf on the can. I have an Aircondition account with Lock's . Only trying to be helpful. Blue Moon

[garry]

There are "three caps" in the single can.

Right now my AS is in MS and I'm here in OK so I can't get to the diagram or the cap. Will be back in MS week after Labor Day and will have the info. Will get back to you (e-mail) at that time.
Thanks for you help and prompt reply.

garry

[thenewkid64]

This may not help at all.

In the manual for my Armstong AC, 78 vintage I have 3 part numbers for the 3 caps.

Start-269A14
Fan - 26349B13
Run - 26349B5

These were Armstong's part numbers and were reccomended as a dealer stock item if you get lucky they may cross reference, who knows