Basement Air Problem

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jasper

jasper

Active member
Joined
May 18, 2010
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35
Starting to get warm in Southern Alabama and my basement air worked fine yesterday.  Didn't need it last night as cooled down nicely outside.  Today we set the air at 74 and went to the beach.  Came home to a 96 degree motor home and no AC running.  One of the 20 amp AC circuit breakers was tripped. Reset circuit breaker and tried again.  Fans come on but the compressor does not start up.  Any one have any ideas of what I could try next.  My manuals have nothing about trouble shooting the unit. 

Thanks,
Jon

edit by staff - changed message icon to topic solved
 
Are you on shore power or generator? If on generator, there are two breakers on the generator, one 20 amp and one 30 amp. My 20 amp blows easily because that is the leg the a/c is on. I have seen both the inside and outside breakers blow at the same time, so you might want to check both of them.
 
Thanks for the replays.  I'm on 50amp shore power.  I called my dealers service department (Lichtsinn) and they echoed John saying it was probably the start capacitors.  I called a RV Repair facility down here and they just said the unit needed to be replaced.  They do not trouble shoot them.  Just replace.  That doesn't seem right.  I'm going to call a couple other places tomorrow armed with the info from John and Lichtsinn and hope I can get someone to repair it.  I'm not good with electrical stuff and don't want to light anything up.
Thanks again.
Jon
 
We have had the same problem, breakers trip, basement unit shuts off.  We have had our unit to several places, no one can find the problem, or get it to duplicate.
Every time it's in the shop, they have it running at a very low temp. We have discovered when we set the temp to a higher temp, the unit cycles several times and then the breakers trip.
We are in southern Alabama now too, have had several days of warmer weather.
We have set the temperature to 68 when we leave, we leave the widows open so our dog doesn't get too hot, in case the unit trips.
 
Ours will not even start up.  Just the fans come on. It's times like this I wish I would have worked in the HVAC and Plumbing trades.
Jon
 
Replacing the start and run capacitors is a simple DIY project (replace all of them while you're in there.) If you know which end of a screwdriver to hold, I think you have the required skill level  ;).

- shut off basement air breakers
- remove pan head sheet metal screws on bottom ends of bay 'door' (it should be obvious which ones to remove)
- using a pole for a prop, swing up the bay door exposing the side of the basement air unit
- remove metal cover on side of basement air exposing the control circuit board and capacitors
- either replace the capacitors if you have new ones or get part numbers and/or capacitor values and order new ones

These capacitors are very common and used in a variety of motor/compressor applications - should be easy to find at a local HVAC supplier (assuming they will sell retail) or on-line.
 
Thank you John.  I think I'm going to give it a shot this morning.  You do make it sound pretty easy. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Jon
 
The only thing I could to John's list is test for absence of voltage before sticking your fingers or screwdriver in there.
 
kdbgoat said:
The only thing I could to John's list is test for absence of voltage before sticking your fingers or screwdriver in there.
Click to expand...
Always an excellent idea. I am super careful and deliberate when working with any voltage over 12V (and super careful with 12V in certain situations.)  Forgot an important step - short the capacitor terminals with a screwdriver to be certain there is no residual charge.

And yes, the wiring is push-on terminal lugs.
 
Thanks for the additional tips.  I'm in the process of trying to find the capacitors locally.  Not having much luck.  I believe I'm going to have to order them.  I'll keep you posted as to the results.
Jon
 
Gave up chasing parts locally.  When I would mention the Basement AC most HVAC people acted like I was talking a foreign language.  One tried to help me but could not get the start capacitor. Called my old reliable Lichtsinn RV in Forest City and ordered all new capacitors, both start and run.  I don't why I don't just go with them first all the time.  They are the best.  They always know exactly what I need and can get it out quickly.  Should have the capacitors Monday or Tuesday.  Hope it stays cool until then.
Jon
 
First mistake is telling them what unit the caps are for. Just take them the old ones and tell them to match them up. Of course if the HVAC places have gotten like a lot of auto parts places, if it's not in the computer under make, model, and year, they don't have a clue how to help.
 
kdbgoat said:
First mistake is telling them what unit the caps are for. Just take them the old ones and tell them to match them up. ..
Click to expand...
Exactly. They are just plain old start/run capacitors. I took pictures of mine and then researched the various numbers on the can and quickly found replacements.

Side note - I carry a spare control board for my basement air, I was concerned they might become unavailable at some point in the future.
 
Lesson learned.  Do not tell them it's an RV basement air.  I should have my capacitors on Monday or Tuesday and the forecast is for mild temperatures through the weekend so we will not suffer too much.  Just hope this is the fix. Thanks again for all the responses.
Jon
 
If you haven't switched off the circuit breakers, turn them OFF. My system was making a funny noise during the night and next morning I smelled smoke. I went outside and saw smoke coming out of the AC. I quickly turned off the circuit breakers. Fortunately I was only about 50 miles from the house and on the way there. The circuit board had really burned up. It was not worth paying for the circuit board because, if that was not the problem, there was no refund. The cost for replacing the AC was about $3600. The cost of the capacitors is minimal and if they don't fix the problem be sure to get them out to be used as spares.
 
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