A/C Failed & Question how A/S installs the A/C Unit

[kentuvman]

Dear Fellow AS Owners,

*Posted earlier today in "General Trailer" forum *

I'm 2nd owner on a 2011 FC 28' and bought it about a year old. I knew the previous owner and recall him complaining about some dripping inside the cabin from the A/C - I do know he only kept the unit about a year before he traded it up for an International.

Fast Forward 11/15 > I'm in New Orleans last week and it rained like nobody's business. I then drove to Houston where the trailer is now stationed for the winter. I sometimes run the fan on low just to keep background noise out.

In the middle of the night, the unit stopped working. After some research and getting an EE message on the thermostat and calling Dometic, I called a repair tech. They concluded that the A/C drip pan isn't like what he'd ever seen before (a single cup (existing) vs dual cup (which should have been installed at factory) and silicone or gasket sealant instead of a gasket.

After troubleshooting, the tech found the circuit board fried from water and he's ordered a new one, a new gasket, and a new thermostat because he says they don't make the 5 button any longer.

I believe the company doing the repairs to be competent and provided me with an honest assessment of work that needs to be done.

I've asked the tech to take pictures as he does the repairs - I know it will be somewhat labor intensive as he says it will take awhile to scrape away all the silicone and sealant around the roof where the A/C goes.

Wondering if any words of advice on what you might say to Airstream? It seems to me they must've cut corners or used the single drip unit when they didn't have stock of the dual cup drain unit and why in the world would they not install the A/C unit without a gasket?

Thanks,

Ken
__________________

[lewster]

Ken,

As you seem to have the dreaded drip pan arrangement, this is what needs to be done to properly re-install your unit:

•remove the unit from the drip pan (double sided tape)
• remove the now exposed drip pan from the roof (also scrape off ALL of the grey SikaFlex sealant for as clean a roof as possible.
• have a new A/C gasket (3310718.006) on hand, along with Dometic's Auxiliary Drain Kit (3107688.016)
•place the new gasket on the bottom of the A/C base pan and then follow the directions on the drain kit to connect with your internal drain hose.
•Re-install using NO SEALANTS!!!!!!

You will have a much netter installation that when properly done….will not leak!

[kentuvman]

Understand things will be better but getting back to original question, why did Airstream install the A/C unit with sealant instead of the proper gasket and not use the correct drip pan? The tech said every other Airstream he's seen has had the dual drip pan.

It's disappointing that workmanship isn't what it once was - I had another incident a few years ago - we were in West Texas near Big Bend NP and a small rock busted the cheap plastic fresh water valve between the wheels - I replaced it with a much better unit made of brass but to change it out I had to cut a hole on the underside to access the hose that it connects to. As I laid on my back with the trailer jacked up I kept asking myself "why did the engineers put in such a POS plastic valve?" Understandably they'd install something like this on a Jayco but on a luxury trailer? Ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm confident the technician will get the job done properly as you described as he said he'd do just why you just suggested above.

Thanks a lot!

[lewster]

Ahhhhh Chanhassen. Home of Waytek Wire……no?

Anyway, Airstream, in their infinite wisdom, started using their proprietary plastic drain pan many years ago. I have no idea why when every other RV manufacturer was using Dometic's drain kit with dual gaskets.

Even on new units, Airstream STILL uses only a single gasket for the dual drain cup arrangement and sealant for the gasket to roof layer.

[kentuvman]

Cost efficiency . . .

[lewster]

I prefer another term but can't post it!!


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center
Lifeline Batteries**Magnum Inverters
541-490-6357

[kentuvman]

I had a RV Tech in Houston TX perform repair - new gasket & dual drip pan ( per Lew).
New control board was installed & new CCC2 10 button thermostat.
Everything worked great for 2 weeks until I hit the road yesterday. Tonight in Kansas bound for MN thermostat wouldn't go in heat mode- not working at all - I removed controller board & it looks like tech cut raised backing off board to avoid drilling a larger hole in wall - I removed board and female connector phone jack contacts (4) were pulled away from circuit board - guessing bouncing of trailer broke connector off board - anyway I'd post pictures but no easy way to do this - before I call the tech, I'd like some input here. Gonna be a cold night!!!
ps I can buy a new circuit board & see if it solves problem or take it to local A/S dealer in MN.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by kentuvman

I had a RV Tech in Houston TX perform repair - new gasket & dual drip pan ( per Lew).
New control board was installed & new CCC2 10 button thermostat.
Everything worked great for 2 weeks until I hit the road yesterday. Tonight in Kansas bound for MN thermostat wouldn't go in heat mode- not working at all - I removed controller board & it looks like tech cut raised backing off board to avoid drilling a larger hole in wall - I removed board and female connector phone jack contacts (4) were pulled away from circuit board - guessing bouncing of trailer broke connector off board - anyway I'd post pictures but no easy way to do this - before I call the tech, I'd like some input here. Gonna be a cold night!!!
ps I can buy a new circuit board & see if it solves problem or take it to local A/S dealer in MN.

Are you talking about the relay board that is in the upper A/C unit or the t/stat board?

[kentuvman]

The thermostat board (the board on ccc2)

[kentuvman]

Just to reiterate- when I pulled thermostat the rj plug separated from circuit board on back of CCC2 unit - also tech had cut white plastic piece where the plg appears to mount on plate - this plate has 4 small holes that mounts inside coach & thermostat attaches. I was very careful when I removed it. Will post pics when I get home

[lewster]

Tech's fault! You can't cut the protrusion from the back of the CCC-II. It should have an appropriate sized hole cut into there mounting surface to accept it!

[kentuvman]

Originally Posted by lewster

Tech's fault! You can't cut the protrusion from the back of the CCC-II. It should have an appropriate sized hole cut into there mounting surface to accept it!

Thats what I thought - I'll post pictures & you'll see what he did / it doesn't correct that I should see circuit board & it almost looks like he soldered a black female to RJ connector - it was totally unsupported when I removed thermostat!

Will a new thermostat fix problem or possibly damage to circuit board that was replaced in the a/c unit?

[kentuvman]

Thx Lew!

[lewster]

I would get a new CCC-II along with a new connector for the end of your data (phone) cable. Just be sure to place the wires into the same orientation in the new RJ plug.


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
ABYC Certified Master Marine Electrician
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center*AMS Lithium Batteries
Lifeline AGM Batteries**Magnum Inverters
541-490-6357

[kentuvman]

Here is link that shows how thermostat was installed, the fault code #4 displayed, how he cut the protrusion on mounting plate & a photo of how the plate looks if not cut! First time using photo bucket- I believe the arrows to look at pic appear if photo is tapped

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s993.photobucket.com/user/kentuvman/embed/Mobile%20Uploads/story"></iframe>

[kentuvman]

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s993.photobucket.com/user/kentuvman/embed/slideshow/Mobile%20Uploads"></iframe

[kentuvman]

What's the best way to post pictures for this forum?

[kentuvman]

If clicking on this doesn't work, post this in your browser and you can see the installation

https://dometicccciiinstalledfc28.shutterfly.com/

[kentuvman]

After sharing what happened with the RV company and showing them the pictures of how the thermostat was mounted, etc. we reached an agreement.

They're crediting me $250 to cover the cost of a new CCC-2 and the labor to pay someone to cut the proper size hole to mount it in my coach.

Thanks for all your great feedback, especially to Lew!

Sincerely,

Ken