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Old 07-06-2007, 09:48 PM   #1
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Air Conditioning help

The air conditioner in my 2001 Classic will run for about 3 to 4 hours and then kick the breaker inside the trailer. The only other appliance operating is the referigerator. The outside temp is about 101-103. It is a 13500 penquin unit. It worked fine this winter when temps were 80 or so at an r.v. park for six months.The trailer is now at my home where I have installed 30amp service, water,& dump station. Last month at my house the unit worked fine but now we have this problem! Since the breaker inside the trailer kicks out does that mean the problem is in the trailer or could it be low voltage to the trailer from the source? An electrician hooked up the electrical using #10 wire, he said it would be fine.[about a 45 ft run to the trailer.] Where do I start ? Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions, Chip
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Old 07-06-2007, 10:14 PM   #2
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Chip, did the electrician use a 30 amp RV circuit box to which you have plugged in your 30 amp RV plug or are you running a 15 amp extension cord with a dogleg adapter? If you are using an extension cord with adapter then the cord is overheating. This is not good for the life of your AC -compressor.
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Old 07-06-2007, 10:32 PM   #3
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hi chipster

low voltage does result in higher amperage (i think ) which will increase the heat IN the wires/breaker.

so my breaker has tripped when low voltage is encountered.

not to mention what it does to the a/c.

find a voltmeter/multimeter or get voltage monitor that plugs into an outlet...

mine is always in an unused outlet providing info or volts/cps and polarity....

are you sure the water heater is off?

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Old 07-06-2007, 10:45 PM   #4
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davidz71- The power is through a 30 amp rv box.and i plugged the trailer cord into it.
2air'-The hot water tank is off, and I will check the voltage in the a.m. Thank both for your input!
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Old 07-06-2007, 10:53 PM   #5
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Are you running on Auto or High fan mode? I believe the A/C runs more efficiently on High. I had a similar experience at an RV park where the voltage checked fine on a DVM but was still suspect. Leaving it set to High during the hot part of the day stopped it.
-KL
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Old 08-02-2007, 01:23 PM   #6
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Any solutions yet? I am having the same problem. I have a 1978 Ambassador with the original Armstrong AC. It has always worked great but yesterday and today I can not keep it running...it kicks out the trailer 20 amp breaker. It is in the mid-90's here (central Ohio). I have a dedicated 30 Amp RV plug in with 10 ga. wire...nothing else on the line. Any ideas?
Thanks,
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Old 08-02-2007, 03:18 PM   #7
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Tom,
What does your volt meter say? 2air is right. It is almost always a low voltage condition. If you're down around 110 VAC that could be too low. I just stick the leds from my DVM in an outlet but I would rather have a little dedicated meter like in 2air's picture (where did you get that?).
-KL
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Old 08-02-2007, 03:29 PM   #8
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I also recommend checking the voltage. On an AC motor, too much voltage drop will cause it to draw excessive current.

You may want to check the voltage at the AC unit itself if this proves to be a tough problem.

If the voltage proves to be normal, I'd replace the breaker with new one of the same rating as a next step. It doesn't appear to be a startup load problem due to the fact the AC runs for several hours prior to popping breaker.
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Old 08-02-2007, 03:47 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tpi
If the voltage proves to be normal, I'd replace the breaker with new one of the same rating as a next step.
That was the fix for my AC. Worn out breaker, jeez it was only 30 years old! Ya' just can't get good stuff anymore
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Old 08-02-2007, 06:49 PM   #10
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I have 118-119 volts with no load...when I fire up the old Armstrong it will dip to 95 for a half a second and then settle in at 111.5 volts. After 10 minutes of it running like that I shut it down, unplugged from shore power and removed the breaker. It was pretty warm. I think I will replace the breakers tomorrow and try it again. I appreciate everyones input.
Tom
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Old 08-03-2007, 02:33 PM   #11
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I replaced all of my breakers today in the A/S and the AC has been running for hours. It is 95 out and it cooled down quick and is running great. I love those inexpensive fixes. Many thanks to all who responded.
Tom
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Old 08-03-2007, 03:14 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverback
Tom,
What does your volt meter say? 2air is right. It is almost always a low voltage condition. If you're down around 110 VAC that could be too low. I just stick the leds from my DVM in an outlet but I would rather have a little dedicated meter like in 2air's picture (where did you get that?).
-KL
I got one like that from Camping World, but many other RV supply houses or stores sell this same unit. The only caution on this particular model is to read the fine print that comes with it. It has a potential variance of + to 1 10%. So for all intents the actual voltage could be as much as 12 volts off of actual.

I keep this unit plugged into the outlet over my kitchen counter. When it starts getting close to red, I'll use my more accurate digital tester to find out where things are at.

Jack
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Old 08-03-2007, 04:17 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverback
I would rather have a little dedicated meter like in 2air's picture (where did you get that?).
-KL
the meter i posted last month was just an example of those available...

the one i actually have/use is a 3 in 1 unit...

voltage, polarity and hertz...

made by power watch technologies in colorado and called the 'good governor'

picked it up at camping world 2 years ago but they don't show it in stock now.

here is a link 2 a marine supply with accessories...

DIGITAL VOLT METER:POWER WATCH TECHNOLOGIES GG-101 GOOD GOVERNOR 3 IN 1 VOLTAGE METER

and a photo

the cps/hertz and polarity features are very handy.

at the international in 06 when the gensets were all overloaded, they started to bog down...

voltage AND hertz...

when cps dropped to 58 the electricians weren't aware of this, until they looked at my meter; then they turned up the cummins gensets a bit...

mine is always plugged in and comes in very handy when using the honda genset or during high use a/c days in most campgrounds...

the display alternates from volts 2 hz every few seconds...

i don't have the user guide handy to check +/- accuracy for the unit.

cheers
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Old 08-03-2007, 04:41 PM   #14
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Ooh, digital readout, more leds…must have!

Thanks for the link and info 2air.

Vaughan
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Old 08-14-2007, 10:39 AM   #15
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Ours sometimes does the same thing. The tech at the dealers told us to run the fan on HIGH not AUTO to enable the A/C something-or-other to cycle. Not sure what that means, but I think when the A/C gets the temp right and shuts off, having the fan going continuously allows the unit to cool itself. Might also work on LOW as same theory would apply. Have not tested this theory.
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Old 08-14-2007, 04:32 PM   #16
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Quote:
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Ours sometimes does the same thing. The tech at the dealers told us to run the fan on HIGH not AUTO to enable the A/C something-or-other to cycle. Not sure what that means, but I think when the A/C gets the temp right and shuts off, having the fan going continuously allows the unit to cool itself. Might also work on LOW as same theory would apply. Have not tested this theory.
In this case with the fan running continuously there will be some airflow through the outside components and once the compressor cycles off (assuming you can reach set point on the thermostat), the compressor and other components might get cooled down which may mean an easier start when the compressor is cycled back on since a hot compressor requires more voltage than a cool one. This might be a good solution if you are popping a breaker at start time when the fan and compressor cycle very close together.

If you are failing during run time (as I think the original post noted), this technique will not help you one bit. The issue as noted might be a failing breaker, a low voltage condition creating excess heat, a leak in the system, or possibly a dirty evaporator coils or slow turning fan which can cause high head pressure in the compressor, thus triggering a trip in the circuit. Running the fan on low will not help since in most cases the best efficiency may come from running the fan on high, which will pump more air through the evaporator coils, potentially allowing you to reach set point quicker thus shutting down the compressor sooner.

Years ago I decided to run my A/C while my trailer was in the drive. Not having a 30 amp hookup I used a 15 amp adapter to allow the trailer to plug into the available power in my garage. I knew that the A/C unit would pull close to 15 amps with the fan on high speed, so I turned the fan on low, thus lowering the amp requirement. What I didn't realize was that by turning the fan on low, the compressor had to run much longer to keep the trailer cool. That 15 amp adapter was generating heat. If I had run the fan on high, the compressor would have cycled which would have allowed that adapter to cool down between compressor cycles. Instead the long run times with the fan on low got the adapter so hot, that it actually started to melt down. Thankfully I caught it before any problems occurred (other than a melted down adapter). So an important lesson was learned.


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Old 08-28-2007, 10:04 AM   #17
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Question A New Problem with My AC

Rather than start a new thread, this one seems to be ready made for my ac problem which appeared this morning.

After making my coffee in the microwave I flipped the mw/ac switch back to the ac position and instead of the ac coming back on after a few seconds (which it always has), it remained silent. When I realized that it wasn't coming on, I took a look at the panel (this is a penguin unit btw) and the panel lights were on, including the red low voltage indicator (however my plug in voltmeter was in the green - which it rarely is). I cycled the mw/ac switch again and the lights were all green and the ac fan started blowing, but after 10 minutes the compressor still hadn't come on again. I moved the thermostat all the way to cold and it still didn't come on. I then switched the ac to off, cycled the mw/ac switch once more, then switched the ac to on and after a few minutes the compressor started up.

Anyone have a guess about what sort of problem (if any) I have developing?
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Old 08-29-2007, 07:16 AM   #18
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I cycled the mw/ac switch again and the lights were all green and the ac fan started blowing, but after 10 minutes the compressor still hadn't come on again. I moved the thermostat all the way to cold and it still didn't come on. I then switched the ac to off, cycled the mw/ac switch once more, then switched the ac to on and after a few minutes the compressor started up.

Anyone have a guess about what sort of problem (if any) I have developing?
Have a look at the AC On But Not Cool thread. At the end of it I described the replacement of the start cap which worked for us. You can at least diagnose the problem by undoing about 6 screws. Mine was obvious -- black smoke/soot. That one was about $30 to fix (thanks to advice from lewster and others!). YMMV
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