"Smoke" from the AC unit...

[AirstreamInc]

Hi PharmGeek,

We have passed your information on to our Customer Service and Technical Support team.

Thank you.

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by AirstreamInc;

Hi PharmGeek,

We have passed your information on to our Customer Service and Technical Support team.

Thank you.

Ok - thank you

My dealer only quoted me for basically 2K+ job - I’ll pass on that

FYI - I called dometic today pleading for help due to what I perceive is a defective unit - they said they would get back to me.....

On inspection of the unit - the shroud is intact - insides all appear intact -
Just appears to be a premature failure.

[Foiled Again]

About the air distribution unit: my EB was bought from Colonial, transported to Florida, and sold back to them within 9 months. I Bought it but the AC failed on the lot the night before I closed. They pulled an AC from an in-stock unit and installed it within a few hours.

Fast forward a year and wierd stuff started happening, especially water dripping inside and needing a bucket to catch it. I pulled off the inside cover and dozens of pieces of disintegrating plastic fell out. The whole air handling unit was falling apart! Too much FL sun or perhaps when the compressor went there was heat damage to the air distrobution part? At a later appointment at JC I mentioned the problem, and they got quite amused to see some scotch tape repairs I had attempted, but did replace the inside piece at a good discount.

Might want to poke yours to make sure it is in good comdition.
I

[Tater]

Pharm, I believe you have a 30 bunk. 13k for bed room a.c. is plenty. If you have ducted a.c. I would go with a 15 since it will distribute the air. Replaced my front h.p. last year on a '12 30' and it was around 1,800 I believe for a 13.5k. Good luck.

[PharmGeek]

Tater - the 13k over the bedroom is way more than enough - even in June and July heat it cycles off and on a good bit.

If I had ducted air I agree - that would be a no brainer.

Dometic have not called me back

The airstream account not his thread appears to be a 3rd party that by their own account monitors this forum and finds issues to report to Airstream - which they have forwarded my info and likely will be ignored as I am out of warranty.

Dometic it appears will ignore me now.

I don’t much like the idea of replacing a prematurely failed unit with the same unit - I’d be open even to consider another brand and use a manual control not connected to thermostat but DIY probably gets more complicated. If another one failed I’ll ditch the thermostat happily and find a better solution.

[crestonrv]

dometic released to public a bunch of units in that era that were improperly assembled . expect to find cap tube run on top of compressor - compressor vibration wears through cap tube and refrigerant leaks out . that's the smoke seen from ground .
haven't seen any here with elect. problems just coolant leaks . sorry for your bad luck having 1 of these out of warranty .
check if cap ube is worn through = photo and bring that up with dometic , might get some slack from them ?

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by crestonrv

dometic released to public a bunch of units in that era that were improperly assembled . expect to find cap tube run on top of compressor - compressor vibration wears through cap tube and refrigerant leaks out . that's the smoke seen from ground .
haven't seen any here with elect. problems just coolant leaks . sorry for your bad luck having 1 of these out of warranty .
check if cap ube is worn through = photo and bring that up with dometic , might get some slack from them ?

Excellent!!! This kind of info could prove critical! Thanks

[bradt]

I looked at your video several times. It looks like the capillary lines, the spaghetti sized copper tubes, are inadvertently routed under the foot of the compressor. The compressor is shock mounted on rubber mounts and is slightly free to bounce around. It could have pinched and rubbed continuously on the capillaries and caused a leak. I think the compressor could have "kicked" when it shut down, and if that is the problem, it could explain the timing of the leak.

Refrigeration is one of my hobbies. I have successfully repaired a different brand rv rooftop unit with a damaged capillary. It is an easy repair to solder in a splice tube, if you have access to the refrigeration equipment to pumpdown and recharge. As usual, it is not cost effective to get a tech to repair it.

Sorry for the problem, and hope you are up and running again soon.
Brad


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[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by bradt;

I looked at your video several times. It looks like the capillary lines, the spaghetti sized copper tubes, are inadvertently routed under the foot of the compressor. The compressor is shock mounted on rubber mounts and is slightly free to bounce around. It could have pinched and rubbed continuously on the capillaries and caused a leak. I think the compressor could have "kicked" when it shut down, and if that is the problem, it could explain the timing of the leak.

Refrigeration is one of my hobbies. I have successfully repaired a different brand rv rooftop unit with a damaged capillary. It is an easy repair to solder in a splice tube, if you have access to the refrigeration equipment to pumpdown and recharge. As usual, it is not cost effective to get a tech to repair it.

Sorry for the problem, and hope you are up and running again soon.
Brad


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hmmm...so I have (borrowed from my dad) and old style pump that is very effective ive used to suck out car AC system, then recharge it after doing some repairs with him on a car I had a while ago...im confused as though how I would go about doing it as there are no service ports that I can see?

[AFTER TAXES]

hi there........hope all goes well, thats price sounds HIGH ! if ur ever in fl.
you and I surely can do it a lot cheaper than that. also free camping at our
resort, also have big shop and retired ! HMMM not a big heat pump guy

good luck w/ A/C
coyote
ps..pic of camper just finished 10 weeks ago

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

hmmm...so I have (borrowed from my dad) and old style pump that is very effective ive used to suck out car AC system, then recharge it after doing some repairs with him on a car I had a while ago...im confused as though how I would go about doing it as there are no service ports that I can see?

Most of those modern refrigerant closed systems have NO service ports. Once they charge it, they crimp off the stub lines they used to fill it, and braze them shut forever. Planned obsolescence of the first order...

That said, a decent old school A/C tech should be able to obtain and install a set of service ports--only issue would be getting the right size...they used to use ones that clamped on the copper tubing, then pierced the tube to get access.

[cazual6]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

wow!! I am deeply impressed you all are reaching out to me in this forum! I will call today..I have not turned on that AC unit since this whole ordeal and have no plans to until I am DARN sure all is well...I will contact you all

WOW! I concur! Very impressed you reached out in this forum.

I would also like for you to see if you follow AIRSTREAM ADDICTS on Facebook. Lots of stuff there people may need your attention as well.

Thank you for taking the time to watch this forum.

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by cazual6;

WOW! I concur! Very impressed you reached out in this forum.



I would also like for you to see if you follow AIRSTREAM ADDICTS on Facebook. Lots of stuff there people may need your attention as well.



Thank you for taking the time to watch this forum.

I am on that Facebook page - but hate hate hate that it is not “closed” instead is “public” which results in spamming (to varying degrees) your fb friends...I started an alternative page called “Airstream Anonymous” that has a very modest size

I find fb is a wild place to ask such questions...responses are often just umm...well...impulsive and not correct

[BFSSBN]

Sounds like you may have had some ICE build up that eventually while shut off was steam vapor. Check the fuses to be sure your good there 1st. Because if it was electrical you would smell it distinctively. And the fuse would be blown. Replace the fuse and fire it up with a good power source plugged in. Test for about 20 min. Should start cooling.

Frankly I think because of ICE while it was melting may have hit the HOT parts and while it dripped slowly it vaporized and that's what you saw.

If its fried then no harm in trying because you'll have to replace it. So what do you have to loose. You can't recharge the Freon on these.

2ndly that age of the unit wouldn't be old enough to have a Freon leak unless something penetrated it.

Problem May Be: Just sounds like ICE built up if it was high humidity that happens. Means the venting insulation strip in the shroud cover maybe defective or worn out which help separate the air flow and discharge the exhaust air away and the fan is not able to cool properly if the weather strip inside is gone or missing. So take the shroud off carefully. (They tend to be brittle from over sun exposure & heat) after time they break. ALSO Clean the coil too with a spray hose. Often bugs spider webs and dust compound it and choke it up and if the fan is not cooling the condenser with high humidity ICE will build up. either way you may take it in and explain that and see if they charge you. It may take them 2 hours max. Hope that helps.

[bobmiller1]

Just remember....service fittings are easy to install, tubing cutter and solder. Also remember Dometic does not manufacture the compressor, it can be obtained on the internet, so with that in mind, locating the fault/leak, repair, evacuate, add oil and recharge then you keep your unit and not have to replace it, Regards, Bob

[GCinSC2]

Originally Posted by AFTER TAXES

hi there........hope all goes well, thats price sounds HIGH ! if ur ever in fl.

you and I surely can do it a lot cheaper than that. also free camping at our

resort, also have big shop and retired ! HMMM not a big heat pump guy



good luck w/ A/C

coyote

ps..pic of camper just finished 10 weeks ago

After taxes,

Sharp looking Dodge Cummins and airstream. Nicely done.

Gary


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