Basement central air conditioner

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Artstang

Artstang

Active member
Joined
Apr 11, 2006
Posts
44
Location
NE Florida
Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July camping out.
Have 2 questions on my 2001 Itasca Sunflyer 35U:

1.) I'm not sure if it is an A/C problem, but here in Florida it's about 90-96 degrees at a given daytime this time of the year  8). Our A/C managed to cool about 10 degrees below outside temperature. Air filter has been replaced regularly. We are not full time rv'ers, so the RV used is minimal.
Is there a way that the system can be charged with freon or is it a sealed unit that need to be tapped with charging valves.

2.) I'm going to install a roof mounted 100 watts solar panel to charge my coach batteries. Based on this install, I like to reroute the factory installed 10 watt solar panel to charge my chassis battery. I know where to disconnect the 4 wire connection from the circuit board behind the One Place monitor, but doesn't know where to tap in to charge the chassis battery.

Thanks in advance.  :)


Edit by staff - changed message icon to topic solved
 
You can't recharge the AC without adding ports which requires some silver solder brazing. Your AC is probably working fine. Try to park in shade and put reflective insulation on windows facing the sun.

You can probably find a wire coming from the chassis battery at the "One Place" battery switch. Even if it is a 16 awg wire, it should be fine as not much is coming from the solar panel.
 
Yeah, John's right. These A/C units have closed systems. That doesn't mean they can't have a cooling problem, but there's no way to  recharge them without cutting into the sytsem and installing a fitting.

I like your idea about rerouting your factory 10 watt solar panel to the chassis batteries. We've got a lot of house-solar and really don't need the 10 watt panel for the house. A 10 watt panel isn't much, but there also isn't much drain on the chassis batteries. It's a project I've wanted to do for some time - just got to figure out where the wires are. Let me know how it goes.

Kev
 
Your basement air should measure about 20 degrees below ambient outside temps at the return air duct.  If you check the first discharge vent with a thermometer (non-contact or a pencil type) with both compressors running the discharge temp should be in the 40s as I recall.  Haven't measured mine in a while.  For real cooling, add a roof air unit like many of us have done.

Your ten watt panel is basically a roof ornament and isn't worth the trouble to mess with.  If you have a Trik-L-Charge or Echo~Charge (allowing chassis battery bank to be charged from your battery charger), your 100 watt panel should trickle charge the chassis battery bank assuming you are storing the coach and not using any 12V.
 
John Canfield said:
Your basement air should measure about 20 degrees below ambient outside temps at the return air duct.  If you check the first discharge vent with a thermometer (non-contact or a pencil type) with both compressors running the discharge temp should be in the 40s as I recall.  Haven't measured mine in a while.  For real cooling, add a roof air unit like many of us have done...

Your ten watt panel is basically a roof ornament and isn't worth the trouble to mess with.  If you have a Trik-L-Charge or Echo~Charge (allowing chassis battery bank to be charged from your battery charger), your 100 watt panel should trickle charge the chassis battery bank assuming you are storing the coach and not using any 12V.
Click to expand...

Artstang has an Itasca and probably a heat pump in the basement and no what so ever roof mounted A.C.'s... ;)
 
I have had the same problem with my basement air, living in SW Florida. I went to CW to see if they could do anything to assist, but they said no - it's a sealed system, no recharging the coolant. Make sure the filter is clean. They suggested installing a roof unit to help out but then said no when they found out I only had 30 amp service. You just have to live with it down here.

I keep mine in storage when not using it and it sits in the sun. I exercise the generator every two weeks and take it on the road once a month and have found that if I catch it early in the morning before the sun has had a chance to bake it, the temps inside will come down much easier than if I wait until the afternoon. Then, it's already up to 125 or more and it will take a long time to cool it down.

Generally speaking, when it's hot outside, my inside temps will be about 7-10 below outside temperature. If it's 95 outside, it's hard to get it to stay less than about 86 at best if the slides are in. When the slides are out, it's worse because the unit now has to try to cool more area.

If you have a 50 amp service, you might want to think about getting an additional roof air.
 
legrandnormand said:
Artstang has an Itasca and probably a heat pump in the basement and no what so ever roof mounted A.C.'s... ;)
Click to expand...
Exactly.  That's why I recommended he consider adding a roof air like we did.

John Stephens said:
I have had the same problem with my basement air, living in SW Florida. I went to CW to see if they could do anything to assist, but they said no - it's a sealed system, no recharging the coolant. ..
Click to expand...
While they are technically correct that it is a sealed system with no service fittings, the fittings can be added as John Hilley mentioned early in this thread which they either weren't aware of or had no capability to do so.  However being a sealed system, there should be no leakage of Freon unless something failed in which case the unit has to be pulled and repaired.
 
Thanks Guys of your comments.

I thought there are valve fittings which I can recharge the A/C or check if it is losing freon. If there are no fittings, I may have to have schrader fittings installed.
A roof A/C is out of the question for now, not until I find out the condition of the basement unit. Yeah it has a 50 amp electrical service.

Thanks again for all your feedbacks...
 
There are no fittings.  Before you assume the problem is low refrigerant, you need to determine if the unit is operating nominally by doing the checks I detailed in my earlier response.
 
To add, I had issues with mine, It never seemed to cool good when it got hot, like in the 90s. I found out when parked at the beach a nice HVac guy got in and looked at the wiring. I had blow starter caps and my 2nd compressor was never even running. He rewired me and got me running. It blows 40 degrees cooler now and pulls 27 amps on full bore. If you have it plugged in you can see this on your amp meter. Set your fan to High and it must be several degrees lower on your thermostat to kick the 2nd Compressor in. I was so grateful to have met that guy. ;D
 
I never let the inside temp to rise above the comfortable level before starting A/C.  While our coach was mfg. by National RV, the basement A/C units are the same.  When the OAT is in the high 90's, we are able to maintain 75 degrees inside.

Fred
 
To continue my posting back on July 5, I went ahead and remove the basement AC unit cover exposing circuit board, capacitor and wiring. I found out one of the jumper wire was fried (see photos). Can anyone tell me why this happened? I made another jumper wire from a 14 ga to replace the burnt one, but before I put them on would this burn again?

Thanks,
 

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Artstang, that's the exact jumper wire that I found fried in mine. Usually due to high current so you got to find the cause. Check your start capacitors, I found mine was fried by just looking at them closely. I ended up replacing the jumper and the two start capacitor/motor assemblies. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RCOW5Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00
Good luck.
PS: half the price on EBay these days
 
Thanks APRS, I will check the two start capacitors tomorrow. I'm convinced that one or two capacitors are bad.
 
you might want to replace that contactor also....looks like the contacts on it probably got pretty hot.....I did away with the circuit board on mine and replaced it with components normally used for AC systems.....where are you located in FL...we are next to Mickey Mouse
 
I think the wire got so hot it melted the insulation due to the start and/or run capacitor being bad.  Without the start capacitor functioning, the compressor draws significantly more current when starting, with a bad run capacitor the compressor draws more current when running.
 
@Will, I was thinking about replacing that relay/contactor too. I'm sure that got pretty hot inside. We're located in Jacksonville.

@John, the next order is to replace both capacitors. I have not actually remove both capacitors yet, but one is a run capacitor 30uf which Temco Industrial Power carries in their stock.

I started noticing my AC were not cooling well like it used to a year ago. Out of the two compressors, I think only one is running. Setting of 2 degrees below coach temperature suppose to kick in the #2 compressor. It used to feel like a "freezer" inside back when.

Will keep ya'll posted as I replaced these parts.
 
Have you pulled it out yet? Pulled mine again last month while getting ready for a trip to sebastian inlet area. I replaced one of the gaskets again even though it was still serviceable. The first time I pulled it out the foam gaskets were all but missing, this let the cold air leak to the outside and the return air pick up outside air instead of the cooler coach air. It's worth a look at if you have the time.
 
I have pulled two start and two run capacitors. Run capacitors are still checked out within their tolerance using a uf tester. But one of the start capacitor was completely blown. I am lucky that it did not caught fire in the whole circuits and that could be the worse.
Next week, I will replace both start and both run capacitors. They're about $40 for all. I did also replaced one burnt jumper wire, and four terminal connectors. All switches checked out okay. Once everything are replaced and connected, I will fire up the AC and see. Keeping my fingers crossed everything will be okay.
 

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