troubleshooting the AC

[avalen]

fighting with the ac all day yesterday ...........kept flipping the circuit breaker
I did all this research years ago when my ac acted up before but I didn't bookmark those sites I found. So....I
have to do it again. I do remember there are 4 main components up there on the roof, the compressor, a condensor
and something else I can't remember what it was called, maybe a relay(?) oh, and of course there is the fan motor.
Last time it was the fan motor and that was what got replaced. Anyway...the ac is cooling just fine until the compressor
kicks OFF, it trips the circuit breaker. On occasion, it trips it when it kicks on. So yesterday I would get maybe 2 or 3
minutes of run time and the circuit breaker would trip. Wait 5 minutes and reset the breaker, then get maybe 6 or 7
minutes of run time and the circuit breaker would trip again. I went through this for several hours, set the thermostat
down so it would run longer and eventually got it to say on for a good half hour and by evening it was staying on. But
all that tells me is something needs replaced.
So, here I am trying to do the research again to decide which part to replace up there. I do remember one of those
"things" up there, maybe a relay? was only about $3 and something else was a little more but then of course there is
the labor and if I call the rv repair guy....$75 an hour and thats just to show up. So thats not going to happen.
Just trying to sort all this out as I am trying to understand (learn) how those parts work up there. Its certainly not my
compressor cause its kicking on and off and cooling just fine. I'm assuming its one of those other things I'm wanting
to call a relay, or maybe capacitor? Gotta find those diagram breakdowns I had before.
Anybody want to toss in any thoughts on this?
So, while I'm doing the research today I'm crossing my fingers the ac doesn't do what it did yesterday.

[avalen]

Posting these links for future reference for anybody to just do yearly maintenance on the ac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI1IGno_qWQ

[Acadianmom]

I saw a post on Facebook yesterday about the same problem. They seemed to think the electric post was getting too hot. Do you have one of those little meters that you can plug into an outlet that shows how much electricity you are getting? With it being that hot and everyone running their air conditioners there might not be enough electricity. Someone chimed in on the Facebook post about how to clean the different parts of the air conditioner. Since you had yours worked on you would hope the guy cleaned it while he was working on it.

My sister and I have problems where we go at the lake. I don't think they had much of a code when all the electric outlets were installed. If it's hot and there are a bunch of campers I can't run my air conditioner. I have complained and they did find one problem with the line but we still have trouble if it's hot.

Martha

[MandysMom]

You can also get really good help posting at irv2. There are a lot of good people over ther who are technically knowledgable.

[Bethers]

See if anyone else there is having any trouble. I agree it might not be the ac, but the current coming in. Do you have a surge protector on your line?

[avalen]

went over to the clubhouse this am, no one else is having issue with their electricity,
the ac has been running ok all day up until a hour ago, its tripping the breaker again. Have the handyman coming over
this evening so he can go up on top and get the numbers off the start capacitor. Research on the Coleman mach 3 seems
to recommend the start capacitor(s) usually fail and is the cheapest to start fixing. Will go from there and replace.
Another link I found useful in understanding the capacitor stuff....
http://thehvacguy.wordpress.com/2012/12 ... -symptoms/

[BurninDaylight]

Is it tripping the breaker outside or the one inside the RV. In our last RV we were popping a breaker when it would get heated up. Replaced the breaker itself and solved the problem. Good luck finding the culprit.

[MelissaD]

Need to check your live voltage coming off the pedestal. If it drops low ( <108 ) things may still run but it wall draw more amps and overheat the motor tripping the breaker. There is a filter on the inside of your RV (removable grate) that we clean about once a week of solid running. The AC unit runs better when its clean. Mine just a piece of foam screen, so I was it out in the sink and reinstall it.

A low refrigerant charge or dirt heat exchanger on the roof, can also cause your symptoms. Since you had it serviced the charge should be good unless he made a bobo and cleaning the filter and heat exchange is normally part of the service.

if it's the post breaker you need to look at all your loads and it might just be a bad breaker. If it's the A/C breaker itself its either the breaker is old or the problems in the A/C unit.

Hoping it's the $3 relay

[avalen]

I do clean the filter every few days, the foamy thing that I rinse out in the sink.
Anyway....don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, but I talked to my brother who is an electrician by trade up in Washington but medically retired now and also rv knowledgable. First thing he said, replace the circuit breaker, its wore out. Do that
first cause if its not that it will be with all the tripping its doing. The pedestal is fine, had the park maintenance check that.
So, I'm to do that tomorrow morning while its cool, unplug the rv first and open the breaker box in the kitchen. The breakers
just snap out and in. The amp # is on the end of that little tab of the breaker. Its been so many years that I've not had contact with my brother that I just didn't think of asking him. Will let ya all know how that works out tomorrow.

[avalen]

Got the breaker box open and took the circuit breaker out, it was easy enough. Went to Lowes and Home Depot and
although they had the right #'s I needed, they were too fat to fit in the slot. So went to Camping World since I was out
that direction anyway, took some stuff back while I was there. They didn't carry the circuit breaker but the guy told
me who to check with and I priced out the capacitor while I was there. My ac is a 15000btu and all this time I thought
it was the 13. But according to the model # it is 15000. It has 3 capacitors, start, run and fan. It is most likely the run
capacitor which is a $30 part and will have to be ordered. The service guy agreed to switch out the circuit breaker
first since it was so "soft" he called it. Its only $8 but of course have to find the right size first. In the meantime, the
ac continues to run for now and I just have to fight with it for a few more days until I get the right parts. Lucky for
me that it run cause it could be broke in "off" mode and not run at all. I am grateful

[snowball]

so glad you are getting things worked out on your a/c way too hot in your
area to be without
sheila