John Stephens
Well-known member
I finally got my Adventurer back from the mechanic. The a/c expert looked at it and found each compressor to be working, the start and run capacitors were all good and at the compressors, #1 was drawing 7.9 amps and #2 was drawing 8.2 amps. He said for a ten year old unit, this was acceptable because he looked up what the amp draw was supposed to be from my model plate on the a/c unit and found the compressors were supposed to draw 8.9 amps each for a total of 17.8.
He cleaned all the wires and connections, getting rid of any rust or buildup. Now, when I start the a/c, it shows a 27-28 amp draw for the startup and then immediately drops to 18-19, which is right where it is supposed to be. I'm not sure how accurate the reading at the EMS is compared to the reading directly at the compressors. The a/c blows cold air but not freezing.
The expert told me that down here in South Florida where the sun is hitting the ground at a more direct angle than up north, it is almost impossible to get one of these units to cool off more than 10 degrees less than outside ambient air temp. I told him I thought it was supposed to cool to 20 degrees below OAT and he said that up north, that is correct, but down here, it won't happen. He said the only other thing he could do for my a/c unit would be to install fittings and recharge the freon at a cost of around $500. And there was no guarantee this would help.
My mechanic told me to take that $500 and use it to install a new roof unit and run 50 amp service for the coach for a total cost of around $1500. That sounds a lot more sensible to me than putting more money into a ten year old basement a/c that wasn't that good to start with. That will have to wait until next year before our desert trip out West. For now, I can live with 80 degrees in the coach when it's 90 outside and when we go to the Midwest in a few weeks, I don't think the need will be that great.
I want to thank everyone that contributed to this thread for the information I needed on this subject. You guys are great.
He cleaned all the wires and connections, getting rid of any rust or buildup. Now, when I start the a/c, it shows a 27-28 amp draw for the startup and then immediately drops to 18-19, which is right where it is supposed to be. I'm not sure how accurate the reading at the EMS is compared to the reading directly at the compressors. The a/c blows cold air but not freezing.
The expert told me that down here in South Florida where the sun is hitting the ground at a more direct angle than up north, it is almost impossible to get one of these units to cool off more than 10 degrees less than outside ambient air temp. I told him I thought it was supposed to cool to 20 degrees below OAT and he said that up north, that is correct, but down here, it won't happen. He said the only other thing he could do for my a/c unit would be to install fittings and recharge the freon at a cost of around $500. And there was no guarantee this would help.
My mechanic told me to take that $500 and use it to install a new roof unit and run 50 amp service for the coach for a total cost of around $1500. That sounds a lot more sensible to me than putting more money into a ten year old basement a/c that wasn't that good to start with. That will have to wait until next year before our desert trip out West. For now, I can live with 80 degrees in the coach when it's 90 outside and when we go to the Midwest in a few weeks, I don't think the need will be that great.
I want to thank everyone that contributed to this thread for the information I needed on this subject. You guys are great.
