Dometic Penguin AC/Heatpump malfunction!

[daonstream]

Greetings!

I am new here...it's taken me a few months to get desperate enough to ask for help...so here it is...

Help!

We have had our 2011 27 FB International for around 8 months now. Around 3 months ago we came home to find our AC blowing normal warm air. When we left it was functioning properly.

I read and read and read countless threads on here and other forums. Maybe 50-60. I got to the point where I had given up and was resigned to just buy a new AC but then it got hot again and we don't even have the cash right now so I dove back in. I did all the regular stuff like check the fuses, reset the thermostat and crawled on the roof to see if I could find some evidence of the capacitors being blown. No joy.

Symptoms: 1. Fan blows, Condenser/Compressor? sounds like it
starts (Its a deep humming noise right?)
2. Neither the AC nor the heatpump work. No cold or
hot air. Fan just blows the regular cabin air I guess.

As my suffering increased my willingness I dove back into research, ordered a hard start capacitor and a 45/15 capacitor because I was desperate and yeah...because I have no idea what I'm doing and I was hoping that might work.

Then I had an RV repair guy come out and he took off the plenum and first he said I had blown capacitors and then he said that because the fan was blowing and my compressor was coming on that basically I need a new unit. He told me to order my own because he would have to charge me (which has been frustrating and difficult) and then told me he would help me put it in. I would just go forward with this but it pains me to say that I'm not super confident in this fella as his business is just starting out and he is not a Dometic Service rep. (I found one of those by the way and that possibility is now in the cards.)

That leads me to where I'm at. Searching for a new unit (which is confusing) and feeling very uneasy about going ahead with the replacement without at least trying the capacitors I bought. I am about a 6.5 to 7 on the handiness scale...I just replaced the screen on my smartphone but know jack about AC stuff.

But I digress. I'm just wondering if it's my desperation to save money, be done with this repair and become more confident in this fulltime RV journey which is driving my need to try those capacitors out or could this legitamitely be the issue? Any comments or solutions that have worked for others with these symptoms?

Any help would truly be appreciated. I am out of work, hot and bewildered but I'm grateful my Uncle told me about this forum.

Thank you all in advance

Daonstream

[SeaLevel]

You should consider contacting Vinnie's NorthBay Airstream Repair to see if he can help or point you in the right direction.

http://www.vinniesairstream.com/

[daonstream]

Originally Posted by SeaLevel

You should consider contacting Vinnie's NorthBay Airstream Repair to see if he can help or point you in the right direction.

http://www.vinniesairstream.com/

I hope I am doing this right...I was hoping someone on here would have experience with this...I am in contact with Dometic and a place that sells rv ac units...

Thank you Sealevel, all of this is so overwhelming and frustrating.

[daonstream]

Originally Posted by SeaLevel

You should consider contacting Vinnie's NorthBay Airstream Repair to see if he can help or point you in the right direction.

http://www.vinniesairstream.com/

I hope I am doing this right...I was hoping someone on here would have experience with this...I am in contact with Dometic and a place that sells rv ac units...

Thank you Sealevel, all of this is so overwhelming and frustrating.

[wulfraat]

If your compressor is running and no cooling or heating is happening (just blowing room temperature air) then your unit has lost its Freon / pressurization and needs to be replaced. This can happen due to a bad joint on one of the copper tubes in the system.

2 key indicators (aside from no change in air temp) are: (1) oily substance found in the pan in the AC unit and (2) compressor will only draw 7-8amps when running vs the normal 12-13amps.

Happened to me. My dometic penguin II 15k AC was only 6 days in service when it failed.

They are not repairable, they are designed to be replaced.

Upper unit is about $1000. Probably 2-3 hours labor to replace it. They are heavy - 100lbs or so - so if you do the replacement yourself be careful getting it up top!

[daonstream]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

If your compressor is running and no cooling or heating is happening (just blowing room temperature air) then your unit has lost its Freon / pressurization and needs to be replaced. This can happen due to a bad joint on one of the copper tubes in the system.

2 key indicators (aside from no change in air temp) are: (1) oily substance found in the pan in the AC unit and (2) compressor will only draw 7-8amps when running vs the normal 12-13amps.

Happened to me. My dometic penguin II 15k AC was only 6 days in service when it failed.

They are not repairable, they are designed to be replaced.

Upper unit is about $1000. Probably 2-3 hours labor to replace it. They are heavy - 100lbs or so - so if you do the replacement yourself be careful getting it up top!

I appreciate your reply!

Yeah I figured 2 months ago that this was the problem. Do you remember where you bought your new unit from? Is it still running? Does the replacement have to have a heatpump? We prefer a space heater.

Thank you!

[wulfraat]

Mine was warrantee, so I had airstream drop ship a new unit to my installer in Denver.

If you are buying a new unit, you can absolutely opt out of the heat pump function, which will save a few $$.

[daonstream]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

Mine was warrantee, so I had airstream drop ship a new unit to my installer in Denver.

If you are buying a new unit, you can absolutely opt out of the heat pump function, which will save a few $$.

Thank you for the input!