Armstrong AC in '71 dead ?

[scorpiontimo]

need help not knowing what to do our ac died last night in TX our trailer was 100 degrees , checked it out this morn and the compressor comes on for about a minute than kicks off, the fan motor up top is just humming so I removed the cover and removed the fan and motor I guess it cools the compressor and accumulator? anyway granger has no idea what this motor is nor does Camper clinic, does anyone have the spec's on this motor as in rpm and amp, all I know it is single speed. Called all the RV and ac places in area all they want to do is sell me a new unit what is best to do anyone with idea I can get a used penguin about 300, and a adapter plate for 125, but service call will be high to put it in I am sure , no one works on Ac's on RVs here in San Marcos TX which is crazy or they make more on selling new units

[DKB_SATX]

This guy rebuilt the Armstrong on his '69 Ambassador, using some more modern parts. He lists the parts in one of the posts and gives lots of details. He actually turned it into a heat-pump!

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f427...dor-76432.html

[scorpiontimo]

just checked it out great detail and info has helped a lot hope we can hold out in heat to fix it .

[meadowlm]

I prchased a (inside) fan motor for my 72 from Granger. Could not find the exact match but could find one that had the shaft out both sides of the motor. Some times you have to think outside of the box.

[rptradewind]

I have complete AC unit removed from a 1971 Ambassador that was working when it was removed. You are welcome to it. Pat, Wimberley, tx

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by rptradewind

I have complete AC unit removed from a 1971 Ambassador that was working when it was removed. You are welcome to it. Pat, Wimberley, tx

Now how's that for serendipity? Just down the road from San Marcos, and a nice road into the Hill Country at that!

[Lance M]

Hey Sean,
Sorry about the AC woes. The previous owner of our '72 is an AC guy. He fixed the AC in Abby when he owned her. His name is Mike Dowell M&M Refrigeration in Buda. His number is 512-243-0768. It'd be worth a shot to see if he'd help you out. With the nice offering from Pat, you should be able to have some cool air blowing soon!

[tlavergne]

You can also remove the motor and have it rebuilt at an electric motor shop. They can rebuild/rewind it and make it good as new.

[scorpiontimo]

Thanks for all the help guys TOP you got some rain over there we got it after midnight still getting a little this morning, I had a jump set up for today guess that bit of sky will just have to wait I will give that guy a call in a bit thanks.

[scorpiontimo]

Originally Posted by rptradewind

I have complete AC unit removed from a 1971 Ambassador that was working when it was removed. You are welcome to it. Pat, Wimberley, tx

real cool no pun intended but thank you thank you, my better half told me she is going to sleep in the truck if I cant get this fixed, if you can PM me or call me @ 512 395 7858 we can get to where you are. Boy what a difference a day makes yesterday was a day from hell there is more to the story than I told even to the point that a good hearted camper here came over with ply wood and a sawzaw to cut our ac off and he was going to put ply wood up with a ac unit from a house he had to help us out Rondi call me when I was at Granger's to tell me what he was going to do for us thank god she called me I would of had a 3 foot hole in our roof. I bought a portable ac 8,000 BTU from wally world that has an exhaust line to cool down but at 9pm it was 99 degrees it did not work went to take it back and our truck did not start seems I lost fuel pump at 11pm we got ride to auto zone got new pump at midnight truck running , 88 degrees and went to sleep thank god for new days............

[scorpiontimo]

Called Mike in Buda he was a great help and let me know I was on the right track, found out the new condenser motor would cost around 300 , to rewind it would be over 500 guess it is the cost of copper going up , Granger's can get one close for about 235. but believe it or not Armstrong has a where house with the right motors of course 290 with 85 for shipping to get here in 2 days so we still are looking at options replace the motor and gamble that the rest of the unit is good ie compressor all I can do is guess with limited knowledge of ac and elic stuff

[scorpiontimo]

update thanks to the kindness of rptreadwind (Pat) we have ac this wonderful gentleman from TX gave us and ac unit that was an exact match to ours I only used the condenser fan with the hopes it was all that we needed so far so good it has cold air now and quieter than before, we temp checked it the intake is 87 degrees and putting out 58.4 degrees of air. the only issue it seems to have on high fan it seem to cycle up and down a few minutes it puts out high than cycles low but still putting out cold air not sure what this means in the ac but cool air is working Pat we thank you so much and it was great to visit you and see all the airstreams you have to work on Rondi and Juno had a ball thanks so much TX hospitality is just grand. Sean

[Lance M]

That is a COOL story!

[rptradewind]

Glad to hear that you have cold air again and that you were able to make use of the old unit. Certainly enjoyed our visit. I would bet that old Armstrong cools better than a new dometic penquin.

[loechli]

Originally Posted by meadowlm

I prchased a (inside) fan motor for my 72 from Granger. Could not find the exact match but could find one that had the shaft out both sides of the motor. Some times you have to think outside of the box.

Can you tell me the granger part number for you inside fan motor, I assume your original just had one shaft like mine, what did you do with the second shaft to make it fit?

[meadowlm]

4UU33.pdf




I cut it off with a hacksaw.
granger part number was 4uu33.

[meadowlm]

You will have to put a wire nut on the wire from the external capacitor because the new motor has a capacitor, also the new motor has three speeds, just use high and low. And when you cut off the shaft, make sure you get the correct side for the fan rotation.

[loechli]

What made you replace fan, did it completely die?
Mine is getting extremely hot right after starting.

My fan will kick off after running for 20 min in hot weather, I will then turn off then back on and it will run for a short time then start to cycle.
It runs fine on low speed. Does that sound like bad fan motor to you?

[loechli]

Originally Posted by meadowlm

You will have to put a wire nut on the wire from the external capacitor because the new motor has a capacitor, also the new motor has three speeds, just use high and low. And when you cut off the shaft, make sure you get the correct side for the fan rotation.

did you have to take the squirl cage blower off the shaft by loseing set screw? did squirl cage slide off or did you need to use a wheel puller, and other tricks / difficulty?

[meadowlm]

Mine did not quit completely. It actually would not stop running. the winding sorted to the motor case.
The blower wheel came off pretty easily. I may have used liquid wrench on it to get it moving.