OK, so how do you open the A/C shroud?

[Skamper1]

Would really like to go one day without breaking something. Today removed what was left of the four rusted bolts on the top of the A/C shroud. Tried to lift the top part off and other than a nasty crack/split it did not budge. Used a putty knife around most of the edges. Got one corner to lift up slightly. Are these two pieces riveted together? Thought the top just lifts off once the bolts were removed.
Believe this is the original Armstrong A/C. Found a replacement shroud, but have not tested the A/C on 30 amp. If I can spearate the two pieces, will patch the cracks and if A/C works this summer will spring for new shroud. If A/C fails, will have to replace whole unit anyway. Thanks. Jack
p.s. Too late/dark to take a picture tonight, but will add one tomorrow

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Skamper1

Would really like to go one day without breaking something. Today removed what was left of the four rusted bolts on the top of the A/C shroud. Tried to lift the top part off and other than a nasty crack/split it did not budge. Used a putty knife around most of the edges. Got one corner to lift up slightly. Are these two pieces riveted together? Thought the top just lifts off once the bolts were removed.
Believe this is the original Armstrong A/C. Found a replacement shroud, but have not tested the A/C on 30 amp. If I can spearate the two pieces, will patch the cracks and if A/C works this summer will spring for new shroud. If A/C fails, will have to replace whole unit anyway. Thanks. Jack
p.s. Too late/dark to take a picture tonight, but will add one tomorrow

The AC shroud is in 2 pieces.

The seam is covered by the metal molding that goes around the center.

Sometimes, some Vulkem was applied to the very bottom of the shround, to hold it against the roof.

Not a good idea, but it was done anyways.

Andy

[AIR-Quarius]

When working on our shroud (getting dirt and small acumulation out) there were four screws that held it in place...there was no glue or anything like Andy mentions on this one and it just raises right up in a such and such manner.

[Skamper1]

Took a picture. So the shroud is in two pieces, but they are riveted together to make one complete shroud? When I remove the four bolts on top of the shroud the entire should should lift off of the AC in one piece?? The base of my shroud is vulkemed all around to the roof of my AS. If it is supposed to lift off guess I need to remove the vulkem. You can see where the front part is separated. I assume I managed to release some of the rivets. Thanks. Jack

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Skamper1

Took a picture. So the shroud is in two pieces, but they are riveted together to make one complete shroud? When I remove the four bolts on top of the shroud the entire should should lift off of the AC in one piece?? The base of my shroud is vulkemed all around to the roof of my AS. If it is supposed to lift off guess I need to remove the vulkem. You can see where the front part is separated. I assume I managed to release some of the rivets. Thanks. Jack


Attachment 98859

Suggestion.

Use the ladder on the door side of the trailer.

That will allow you to use the awning for additional security against slipping.

Andy

[tlavergne]

Skamper1...Glad you brought this up. I have been trying to get mine apart for years with no success. It works great but I would love to get in and clean it. So if I understand correctly the shroud should come off as one unit from the roof the trailer...yes?

[Skamper1]

Andy: The ladder you see is one of two that are tied together. The 2"x4" shown are part of a platform I made to distribute my weight. Saw the idea here. Makes it easier to work on all the vents and antenna.
Now the question: If I loosen all the old vulkem around the bottom of the shroud then the shroud should lift off in one piece?
Thanks. Jack

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Skamper1

Andy: The ladder you see is one of two that are tied together. The 2"x4" shown are part of a platform I made to distribute my weight. Saw the idea here. Makes it easier to work on all the vents and antenna.
Now the question: If I loosen all the old vulkem around the bottom of the shroud then the shroud should lift off in one piece?
Thanks. Jack

Jack.

Yes, but you must also remove the 4 screws from the very top.

Andy

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by tlavergne

Skamper1...Glad you brought this up. I have been trying to get mine apart for years with no success. It works great but I would love to get in and clean it. So if I understand correctly the shroud should come off as one unit from the roof the trailer...yes?

The 1973 thru 1979 AC shrouds, are 2 piece.

Removing the metal molding will reveal the 2 halfs.

Andy

[Ahzmyrah]

Far as I can tell you cannot easily take the shroud off in one piece. The easiest way to service the unit is to drill the pop rivets out around the belt line or equator of the shroud and separate the two pieces. You would think that this should have been assembled originally with screws or some other type of removable fastner. But then again it is easier to drill out pop rivets rather than rusty corroded screws. If your unit works it will be worth the effort to save the shroud. If the A/C is not working or needs service it is pretty expensive because it used the old non-environmentally acceptable and very efficient refridgerant. The old refridgerant will have to be safely recovered and then replaced and what ever needs fixing, fixed. You will then have a 42 year old repaired A/C that may fail again with no guarantee for not much less than what a new A/C unit with a guarantee costs. If you replace the A/C check out the threads in the forums for advice. A/S have curved tops and the available A/C units are built to be installed on flat sob roofs. Recently a freind of mine had his replaced on a '74 by an Airstream dealer and they did not put the proper spacer/supports in and crushed the innner and outer skins together which created a very nice place for water to collect and enter the trailer. Have fun!

[Roadrunner]

The A/C shroud on our "78" Ambassador is badly broken. How hard is it to find a replacement schroud? Do they make new ones? Thanks!

Bob
TAC PA-5

[Skamper1]

According to the forums and google search, only place I have found them is InLandRV. Would put in price, but understand that is frowned upon here.
Talk about rusted screws? Every dang one of mine have welded themselves to the AS. Guess that is to be expected since the "sweetheart" sat in the marsh for 8 years.
Screw extractor, penetrating oil, heat, blood, sweat and swearwords don't seem to budge them. Finally have resorted to cold chiesel to try to back them back off or if all else fails, pop their heads. Andy suggested I remove the four bolts that held the shroud in place....visegrips grabbed ahold to what was left of the rusted heads! At least they came out!
Will try to remove shroud tomorrow. Thanks. Jack

[Ahzmyrah]

The screws on top are tough to get out. Fortunately two came out with screwdriver that fit the screw head pretty closely the screwdriver had a square shank that I used a wrench on to turn the driver. The other two well...the wrench on the screwdriver worked too good, snapped one head off and ruined the head on the other. That's when the visegrips came out, should have used them in the first place. Replaced the screws with stainless steel screws and washers and coated the threads with anti-seize compound.

[zipman]

Help a dummy out. If I want to clean the coils, do I need to remove the upper part of the shroud? If so, do I still need to remove the 4 bolts? What is the best way to clean the coils? Is the filter located in the upper shroud? Should you clean or replace the filter?
Thanks

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by zipman

Help a dummy out. Is the filter located in the upper shroud? Should you clean or replace the filter?
Thanks

The only filter is inside the trailer, inside the interior a/c cover. You can clean them, unless they are badly degraded. If they are degraded, you can get the filter material from many Airstream dealers, or even home improvement stores. You will need to cut it to fit.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by zipman

Help a dummy out. If I want to clean the coils, do I need to remove the upper part of the shroud? If so, do I still need to remove the 4 bolts? What is the best way to clean the coils? Is the filter located in the upper shroud? Should you clean or replace the filter?
Thanks

The shroud is in 2 pieces.

To work on the AC, you must remove the "complete" shroud.

Then you can easily remove the AC top cover.

Andy

[barts]

A drop of hydrochloric (muriatic) or nitric acid on a screw rusted fast in aluminum and left to sit for a while really works; this can/should be repeated several times before attempting to loosen the screw. Slightly warming the metal w/ a heat gun will speed things up; watch out for fumes. This is a normal way of removing broken taps/drills from aluminum parts...

- Bart

[Skamper1]

Well bless your little heart Bart. Have tried everything else, but did not know about muriatic acid on the head of screws. Want to leave work so I can go try it. Regarding shroud, finally got mine removed in one piece. It was vulkemed to the roof. Plan to epoxy resin the cracks in the old shroud and paint. AC still works after 32 years! Did remove AC inside cover, removed rust, painted and replaced insulation with foil insulation. Looks good. Where is my muriatic acid? Thanks. Jack

[Ahzmyrah]

The only filter I know about is located inside the trailer on either side of the plastic housing for the airconditioner. On mine they are located on the sides and the outlets are on the front and back. The filter if you want to call it that is made up of thin expanded foam sheets that fit the openings. If they are at old they will crumble to dust when you try to remove them or wash them out. The foam filter material can be purchased at rv stores in small rolls that can be to be trimmed to fit with scissors. You have to pop the plastic grille off each side and then remove the foam. I took the whole bottom plastic shroud off (it's held on with four sheet metal screws and the knob) so that I could work on the filters easier and would have a better chance of not breaking any plastic. It's also good to wash the whole thing out and replace the foam strips that are glued to the metal chassis of the A/C that press against the outlet nozzles at either end to stop air leaking past them and to hold them in place when you adjust them.

To get at the guts of the A/C unit you will have to remove the upper portion of the shroud which entails removing the pesky 4 screws on top of the shroud and then drilling out the rivets holding the two shroud halves together at the beltline. I blew the coils on mine out with a shop vac set up to blow from the outside. Don't know if it made a big difference or not.

[zipman]

Thanks everyone. I got the shroud off, cleaned the coils, and figured out where the filters go. Worked on it all day. It ran 30 minutes, tripped the breaker, now the fan won't run. Back to the drawing board. I did figure out that it is an Armstrong with a heater. Anyone know how to tell how old it is by either the model or serial numbers?