Actually, I'd be fine with a Korean made product rather than one made in China. I've done quite a bit of manufaturing in Korea and find the quality very acceptable compared to the big continent.
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Glen Coombe AIR #8416
1984 28' Funeral Coach
Golf Professional Sales Rolling Showroom
"I'm not an expert. But I did sleep in an Airstream last night."
It would be worth it to have someone check that out prior to giving the unit last rites. This unit was mfg in 2005. I would think that freon would not be an issue, but you never know, there could be a leak or whatever. When the unit did work, it blew very cold air. BTW, I was kind of peeved when I saw that the unit was made in Korea. I guess that is a sign of the times.
Thanks Andy, for the information.
Allow me to be so bold as to outline the process for 'checking the Freon level' in a modern RV roof-top air conditioner.
To begin with, you will NOT find any type of process valves attached to the copper tubing on either the high side or the low side that are necessary for you to check the Freon levels. I use a very sophisticated electronic sensor device to actually 'read' the levels when the compressor is operational, but it will not read on a static system.
If you insist on checking the refrigerant level, then your tech must use a device called a 'piercing valve' that actually puts a sealed hole into the system. Two must be used.....one on the high pressure side and one on the low pressure side.
After you connect a set of guages to these new valves, you can then read the level of the refrigerant. At this point, one might think that 'OK, if I have access to the internal system now and it is low on refrigerant, I'll just add some R-22 and bring the system up to the manufacurer's specified level.'
This CAN BE DONE, but it leaves you with 2 non-soldered process valves that WILL LEAK REFRIGERANT in the not-to-distant future, requiring you to continually add refrigerant to keep the system at it's specified level.
The only way to avoid this is to evacuate all of the refrigerant from the system thru the temporary piercing valves that you have applied to the system, replace them with a couple of permanent process valves that must be soldered in place, requiring the tech to cut the tubing to achieve this and silver soldering them in place.
Whenever you evacuate a system and perform a soldering operation, the entire system must be purged with nitrogen to remove any stray impurities that might have formed within the copper tubing as a result of the 4 solder joints that had to be made to permanently attach the new process valves.
After all of this, you can now re-charge the system with fresh R-22 as any removed refrigerant must be properly recovered by Federal law and can not be re-used until it has been recycled by a Federally approved facility. (This is required by any tech holding a Federal ARI refrigerant handlers license, as I do. If the tech does not have a license, they shold not be servicing this unit!)
When all is said and done, you have a newly charged system that you hope will work because if there was the slightest bit of scale that formed inside the copper tubing during the soldering process, it will be found clogging the capillary tube at some point during the next hour or so of operation, and the system won't work with a clogged cap tube.
A 'good' A/C tech would require about 3-4 hours to perform all of the above, plus the cost of the new R-22 and nitrogen, plus the time to get all of that equipment up to the roof and guess what.....NO ONE will be able to accomplish this on the roof of any Airstream trailer without significant damage to the roof!
So with a service call and 4 hours of labor plus materials, you are in for about a $500 bill. Why would anyone do this to a roof A/C and end up with one that might work? when for another couple of hundred bucks, you can buy a NEW UNIT WITH A FACTORY WARRANTY
I hope that I've made my point. If not, please let me know and I'll be glad to debate any of the information contained above.
There is a definitive way to check for insufficient refrigerant within the system, but it works ONLY when the compressor is running properly!
After running the unit for approximately 10-15 minutes, take an amp draw reading on the hot wire supplying the compressor. After calculating the specified amp draw with respect the the existing ambient conditions (I can explain this in detail if you like), you can determine if the compressor is not pulling the required amp load and if it is drawing significantly less than spec, it's a very good bet that your unit is operating with less refrigerant than the spec.
You have made your point with me, I did in fact see that the system is completely sealed when I was on the roof with the cover removed. I can see why replacement is prudent when a unit fails. There is really not much to them, lots of plastic parts, a condenser coil and compressor. I am leaning towards biting the bullet and just ordering a new roof unit and chalking this issue up to experience.
My current unit is a 13,500 BTU. Does anyone know if I would have to replace the celing unit for a 15,000 BTU unit? My trailer is 28' would the 15,000 unit be overkill? My trailer runs the AC on a 20amp circuit, I see that the larger AC uses 14.8 amps. Any advice here is appreciated.
Let's see. Does it ever get hot and sunny where you live? I have a 34' Excella, and I will definitely go with the 15,000 Btu unit. I doubt if it would be overkill for you either.
After you connect a set of guages to these new valves, you can then read the level of the refrigerant. At this point, one might think that 'OK, if I have access to the internal system now and it is low on refrigerant, I'll just add some R-22 and bring the system up to the manufacurer's specified level.'
say lew, just HOW does the factory get it in there?
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Ricky & (Ingrid)
Ingrid, 99.5 y.o. and counting & Ricky, a long way from there!
give life. have you signed your donor card?
kidney & pancreas transplant 9/9/06
I see your profile lists Arizona as home. Yeah, I know "it's a dry heat" and all that, but how did you think your old unit performed?
If you stayed comfortable under most circumstances, then the Btu capacity of the old air conditioner was sized accordingly.
Although I think your existing wiring will be fine, I think you should consider a bigger unit only if you consistently thought the old one did not keep the place comfortable.
If you install the bigger unit, and it's extra capacity is not really needed, then, out on the campground, you will experience cycles of the interior being just a shade under comfortable before the biga$$ unit comes on and all but freezes you out in a very short amount of time before clicking off. The cycle will then repeat.
Go for the bigger unit only if you thought the previous unit did not keep you comfortable under most circumstances.
I see your profile lists Arizona as home. Yeah, I know "it's a dry heat" and all that, but how did you think your old unit performed?
If you stayed comfortable under most circumstances, then the Btu capacity of the old air conditioner was sized accordingly.
Although I think your existing wiring will be fine, I think you should consider a bigger unit only if you consistently thought the old one did not keep the place comfortable.
If you install the bigger unit, and it's extra capacity is not really needed, then, out on the campground, you will experience cycles of the interior being just a shade under comfortable before the biga$$ unit comes on and all but freezes you out in a very short amount of time before clicking off. The cycle will then repeat.
Go for the bigger unit only if you thought the previous unit did not keep you comfortable under most circumstances.
My opinion,
Tom
Tom, I am not sure since the unit started having problems before we got to use it on a trip. When we used it at the house it cooled down nicely inside. We will not likely be using it in the desert summer heat as we usually escape to the high country where the temps are much cooler. I just wanted to ensure we had the correct size unit for our trailer. The 13500 units are quite a bit cheaper, I even saw one for $399 complete. That was the basis of my question.
My current unit is a 13,500 BTU. Does anyone know if I would have to replace the celing unit for a 15,000 BTU unit? My trailer is 28' would the 15,000 unit be overkill? My trailer runs the AC on a 20amp circuit, I see that the larger AC uses 14.8 amps. Any advice here is appreciated.
The only time it would be "overkill" is if it's 70 degrees outside and on high... Once it's gets to 110 degrees outside, "overkill" becomes a moot point. Besides, all you gotta do is adjust the temp to your surroundings. Better to have the capacity when needed rather than struggling without it.
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. Bill & Kim's Marvelous Adventure with Catahoula Charlie
F250 Diesel Lariat Crew, SWB
30' Classic Airrrstreeeamm
AIR 9218
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail...." Maslow
Thanks for all of the information from everyone on this issue. We decided to replace our existing Carrier Air V with a Carrier Low Profile unit. The installation was a breeze since we were just swapping units. The Low Profile unit looks much nicer on the roof.
Thanks again to all who responded, this helped make the decision much easier.
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