Where to get Air Conditioner serviced

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dsplaisted

dsplaisted

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Jul 9, 2020
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Hi folks,

We've recently purchased a 2004 Winnebago Adventurer 38G.  The house air conditioner (which I think is referred to as a basement AC as it's below the floor of the bedroom) doesn't cool enough.  One person who looked at it thought it probably needs to be recharged.

Where should I look to get this serviced?  Several different RV places I've contacted said they don't deal with this type of air conditioner, and neither do the home AC companies I've talked to.

We're in the Kirkland, WA area (near Seattle).

Thanks!
Daniel
 
The basement Coleman Mach AC/heat pump is a sealed unit.  As it sits, it cannot be recharged.  To do so would require installation of the appropriate connectors to handle being recharged.  A good AC shop could handle it as its similar to home units, but its sometimes hard to get them to understand what it is and how to pull it from the RV.

There are some other things to check first.  Have you checked the temp of the cooled air compared to the outside air?  The differential should be about 15 degrees.  Do you know if both compressors are kicking in, or is just one?

Another thing to check while it's running...  put your hand outside around the unit, up in the rear cap, along the ductwork and see if you feel any cold air.  The tape seals around the AC and ducts are famous for drying out and coming loose, allowing warm outside air to mix with the cold air.  If you find a leak, retaping the joint can cure a lot of problems.

There are a lot of threads on basement air issues which can give you more info.  Not saying you don't need to have the unit modified and recharged, but it's rare compared to the other issues.
 
What Ed said! Check on service availability on the manufacturer's website  https://www.airxcel.com/rv/coleman-mach. Several of us here have dropped our basement air for minor service. Like Ed mentioned there's a bunch of threads here on the topic.
 
Go to:
https://www.airxcel.com/rv/coleman-mach/products
Down near the bottom, click on service.
On the resulting page put in your address. It will bring up a google map with service locations. Down below the map is a list of locations. Look through the list and look for "uf" next to the business name. UF means under floor , aka basement. I would call to make sure the company still works on basement units.  I know there i.s one listed in my area that closed down 10 years ago.
 
So I took a look at the ductwork and it's definitely leaking (picture attached).

However, the air that's leaking is still pretty warm, so I don't think it's cooling appropriately.

How do I check whether both compressors are running?

Thanks,
Daniel
 

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You can tell if your compressors are running by listening and/or power use.  You should hear the AC start, and then about 20-30 seconds later you can hear the second compressor start.  Also, if you watch the power usage on your OneStop panel, you should see the amps jump to about 20 when the AC starts, then drop to about 11, then when the 2nd compressor starts the amps jump again to about 20 and settle back down around 16.

One thing to check is your AC circuit breakers... there are 2 breakers for the AC, one for each compressor, and both must be "on".  Make sure they are ok.

If the 2nd compressor isn't kicking in, a common problem/solution is the start capacitors might need replacing.  See this thread among others...

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/coleman-mach-basement-air-unit-capacitor-repair-412683.html
 
To read AC current you need to be on the generator. With both compressors running you should be pulling around 21 amps (turn off the electric water heater if you have that feature.)
 
Hi folks,

Thanks for the help so far.

From talking to RV shops (and thanks for the links to Coleman Mach service locator) it seems like this type of A/C unit is similar to home A/C units, but home A/C companies don't know how to pull them out of the RV to service them.  One place listed in the service locator said they didn't service the A/C units directly, but in the past they had pulled the unit from the RV and found an A/C company to do the service work.

I have a friend who does A/C work, so I'm thinking the best route is probably to see if he can help me with this (especially since the RV shops around here are generally booked around 6 weeks out).

Is it possible to find a model number and technical specs for my A/C unit?  Apparently there is supposed to be a plate on it with some information, but the only thing like that I was able to find is obscured by what I think may be the power connection.

Also are there YouTube videos or other instructions on how to remove the unit from the RV?

Thanks!

EDIT: Looks like I found what I was looking for.  I was able to move the power cables around to get a picture of the model number, and I found the service manual here: http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/rvp/6535heatpump.pdf

Also I found some good YouTube videos on servicing these things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPYAH_fuaFk
 
Search for the forum user Duner - he wrote up a detailed how-to about basement air. Shops use a hydraulic lift table to place under the unit (after the outlet duct is unscrewed from the box), several bolts are removed and then the unit is lowered.
 
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