Troubleshooting Your Air Conditioner

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Whether you have an air conditioner or a heat pump in your RV, here’s a list of things to check before you call for a technician:

  • Setting the thermostat on its minimum temperature setting and the fan on low speed in high humidity situations can cause evaporator freeze-up.
  • If the air conditioner/heat pump doesn’t run (the fan and/or the compressor), check the AC voltage. Look at the breaker in the electrical panel.
  • If the thermostat has no lights showing, it means it is not receiving DC power. The 12-volt DC fuse should be checked.
  • When the fan runs and the compressor tries to start but won’t run, check the RV’s power cord, plug and receptacle. If those are in working order, check the AC voltage. Inside your RV connect the leads of a voltmeter to a receptacle and start your air conditioner or heat pump. Once the compressor has been running for two minutes, check your voltage. It must be at least 103.5 volts for the air conditioner to operate.
  • If the fan runs, but the compressor cycles on and off and doesn’t cool correctly, it could be poor air flow due to a dirty filter, dirty condenser or a duct leak. Low AC voltage may also be the problem.
 
 
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15 Responses to "Troubleshooting Your Air Conditioner"

  1. When the ac is put on the fan blows cold air , then after 10 to 15 minuets it just humms, no blowing or cold air. What can cause this?
    Mel

  2. it could be alot of things. i would pull the filter when it stops blowing cold n see if it is frozen up. There will b ice behind the filter on the fins. this stops the air flow. If this is your problem then you can turn it to FAN ONLY and try a hair dryer to speed the prosses but make sure it is compleatly thawed before turning it back to cool or it will just freez again

  3. plugged into 30amp juice to my overhead fan nothing to air cond flipped breaker numerousa times wont come on at thermostst just like the aircond is not getting electricity

  4. I have a Airxcel Model 48254c69 roof top air conditioner on my travel trailer. The A/C was not getting very cool so I thought that I could improve by cleaning the coils, which I did. When I restarted the a/c, I noticed that the condenser fan was running but the compressor was not running at all. What would cause this, is there a problem electrically?

  5. It is obviously either a bad motor or component or something wrong in the wiring. Often this symptom results from a bad starting capacitor on the compressor motor. You could try replacing it. But the only way to know what is wrong for sure, is to run tests on the system using the proper test equipment an procedure. In short, unless you can do the testing yourself, it is time to seek a professional.

  6. Your air conditioner should cycle but there are two possible reasons why it is not. 1) Your thermostat is set too low. If your thermostat is set so low the air temperature never reaches the setting the air conditioner will not cycle. 2) Your fan is set to ON, not AUTO. If you fan is set to ON it will run continuously which may make you think the air conditioner is not cycling when it actually is. When the fan switch is set to AUTO it will run only if the air conditioner is running.

    It is perfectly okay to have the fan ON, even without the air conditioner on, you just need to be aware of it.

  7. We have a 2016 Tiffin Allegro RED. Front heat pump is working, blowing warm air and raising the temperature of the front area. Back heat pump started working when we first got up, but now is just blowing cold air. Temperature outside is 43 degrees. We are on 50 amp service in the campground. Fan is on “Auto”.

  8. I tried to use my AC and when I turned it on and put the theromsat to 70 it wouldn’t turn the unit on. I put it down to 50 degrees and then it would turn on and run. Could the theromsat be bad? Has been working well up to yesterday.

  9. It seems the Air Conditioner is working since it turns on and off. Whether or not the thermostat is working properly is the question. And the depends on what the temperature inside the RV is. If the RV was cooler than 70 degrees then the A/C will not come on.

  10. I tried to use my AC and when I turned it on and put the theromsat to 70 it wouldn’t turn the unit on. I put it down to 50 degrees and then it would turn on and run. Could the theromsat be bad? Has been working well up to yesterday. RV was 80 degrees. Hot!!!

  11. My best guess would be you have a problemm with one or more of these:
    Low Refrigerant: Low refrigerant levels can prevent the heat pump from transferring heat (for heating or cooling). If you suspect this, a professional HVAC technician will need to check for leaks and recharge the refrigerant.
    Reversing Valve Failure: The reversing valve, which switches the heat pump from heating to cooling mode, could be malfunctioning. If the valve gets stuck, the heat pump won’t switch between modes properly.
    Compressor Failure: If the outdoor fan is running but the compressor isn’t engaging, there could be a problem with the compressor itself, requiring professional diagnosis and repair.

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