Armstrong AC parts help

[air tsunami]

My friends and I recently became first time owners of a '74 Tradewinds. We are new to RV'ing, and we are trying to take every precaution. Before we ran the AC, we had an AC tech come take a look at it. It works OK right now, but the tech says that the compressor coil, fan guard, and cover should be replaced. The AC unit is an Armstrong, 12,000BTU, Model # TR2112. Does anyone know if, and where we may obtain some of these replacement parts?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Brian

[FireFighter]

welcome. stick around here before long you will have too much knowledge and then before long you will be gutting your A/S and rebuilding it just for fun.
LOL

[TomW]

Originally Posted by air tsunami

My friends and I recently became first time owners of a '74 Tradewinds. We are new to RV'ing, and we are trying to take every precaution. Before we ran the AC, we had an AC tech come take a look at it. It works OK right now, but the tech says that the compressor coil, fan guard, and cover should be replaced. The AC unit is an Armstrong, 12,000BTU, Model # TR2112. Does anyone know if, and where we may obtain some of these replacement parts?

Brian,

Welcome to the forum!
Armstrong went out of business several years ago, so your parts search may be hampered. But they used commercial grade parts, many of which are still available new, although your energy will probably be expended looking for old units for parts.

Your unit actually has two sets of coils: The condensor coil, and the evaporator coil. Did your technician specify which coil he thought was bad? And, why did he think it was bad? Did it not "look good", or could he point to a leak? If you could provide more details, and perhaps some pictures of the 'bad' parts, I may be in a position to help as I am working on an Armstrong unit right now, and I don't charge anything for adivce

Don't expect a speedy response after this evening as we are going out of town to return late Sunday.

Good luck, and please let me know if I can help.

Tom

[air tsunami]

Thanks Tom for the quick response.

The coil in question is the condensor coil. There was not a leak. His comment was that the coil was very brittle. He said it was OK to use, but as PM it should be replaced.

Brian

[TomW]

Originally Posted by air tsunami

The coil in question is the condensor coil. There was not a leak. His comment was that the coil was very brittle. He said it was OK to use, but as PM it should be replaced.

Well, if HE can find you a new one, go ahead & replace it. His assessment is, frankly, somewhat suspect to me. "Weathered" is one thing, "brittle" is hard to believe since the same coil on my older, '67 is fine. Your call.

What, exactly is he calling the "fan guard"? PM is one thing; I have not seen your components, AND I have no certification(s) to judge your parts especially since I have not seen them. InlandRV.com $sells$ the cover he suggests you need.

How much do you trust this technician? Did he ask you to find the 'needed' parts or did he just give you an estimate to 'get it in good working order'?

Tom

[silvercomet]

I just spend major dollars to repair my armstrong on a 71 Safari. I thought it was worth the trouble and parts as it lasted over 30 years and blows ice cubes - - plus this new stuff isn't near the quality. Replaced the cover from Inland RV (you may be able to fiberglass yours and reinforce to save dollars), replaced the compressor, the thermostat with a fancy digital one and made a fan grate. The fan grate is impossible to replace so I used a Stainless steel refridgerator grill from an old dometic unit and mounted it to the new cover. I pray I get 30 more years out of the investment! So far so good - good luck.

[mtpalms]

Originally Posted by tcwilliams

Well, if HE can find you a new one, go ahead & replace it. His assessment is, frankly, somewhat suspect to me. "Weathered" is one thing, "brittle" is hard to believe since the same coil on my older, '67 is fine. Your call.

What, exactly is he calling the "fan guard"? PM is one thing; I have not seen your components, AND I have no certification(s) to judge your parts especially since I have not seen them. InlandRV.com $sells$ the cover he suggests you need.

How much do you trust this technician? Did he ask you to find the 'needed' parts or did he just give you an estimate to 'get it in good working order'?

Tom

The fan guard is a wire barrier similar to a box fan's, I believe, that attaches to the inner box the components are housed in. The shroud is what covers the whole unit.

We are having a leak detection problem with ours. We had it charged w/ 3 lbs of R-22 a month ago, and just had another lb put in today. If it doesn't hold, the repairman will do a dye test next. We are using a residential air conditioning company to work on ours (they are our only local company), and the tech says our Armstrong works more like a window AC than an RV AC.

I ordered a new shroud for it as well, as our old one is coming apart, from Inland RV. I know they also sell relays that work in Armstrongs, perhaps they sell other parts as well.

One of the blessings of having Inland RV Andy's knowledge is that he dispenses it freely on the forums. As a business person myself, I would be reluctant to call him and ask for advice if I had no intention of doing buying what I needed from him. Do a forum search for AC and Armstrong, and you will get lots of threads with informative posts from Andy and other very knowlegeable members.

[TomW]

Originally Posted by mtpalms

The fan guard is a wire barrier similar to a box fan's, I believe, that attaches to the inner box the components are housed in. The shroud is what covers the whole unit....
...One of the blessings of having Inland RV Andy's knowledge is that he dispenses it freely on the forums. ....

Your description of the fan guard is what I was suspecting - The exterior, condensor fan guard. Hate to sound like a rube, but when I was 'growin' up', we built rabbit cages out of the same stuff. The local Co-Op can supply the right materials. On my unit, the inside fan guard would be the air filter - similar repair scheme.

Andy continually impresses me with the knowldege he freely dispenses, and the parts he has available. And, I have let him know I appreciate it. I wish I had his business savvy. But, I would I would be really be surprised if he had some of the parts needed above.

BTW, I did a forum search and found an ex-Airstreamer named "Chas" to have an excellent knowledge base on Armstrong A/C. Can't say if he is still interested, but you can always email/PM him for another opinion.

Tom

[air tsunami]

Tom,

The technician is someone I trust. I work with him and he is a certified AC technician. His experience with ACs used on RVs is limited, but since he is not trying to sell me anything, I trust his assessment. He didn't even charge us to look at the equipment.

I totally understand your questioning his intent, but one again, since he's not trying to sell me any parts, or charge for his help, I trust his evaluation.

The AC currently works. He cleaned the evaporator coils and the improvment of the unit was very noticable. His intent in telling us about the condensor coil was only precautionary.

Thanks for all the responses. I will call Andy as you suggest.

Brian

[mtpalms]

Originally Posted by air tsunami

I work with him and he is a certified AC technician. His experience with ACs used on RVs is limited,...
Brian

I think in the case of Armstrong AC units you are better off with a 'regular' AC tech. I have heard of RV AC techs simply telling people their unit is too old and they should get a shiny new one. They won't even look at it.

The people working on ours don't normally do RVs either, but because my father in law is living in it and we couldn't tow to an RV place, they agreed to come out and look at it. Then the tech realized that it wasn't like other RV ACs.