What's wrong with the AC?

[NewRVFamily]

Let me first apologize in advance if someone else wrote this and I missed it in my search. We just purchased a 1999 Georgie Boy Pursuit (literally we flew from VA to OH and drove that beast back thru the mountains, yeah that was interesting). Anyway, when we were checking everything out with the previous owner, he turned on the AC unit and it blew extremely cold air, later on in the day when we stopped for lunch, we tried to turn it on and to our surprise there was no longer any air coming out. We have it on cool, auto, and below room temp. We had the generator on for about 3-5 minutes before trying to turn it on too (like the manual said) still nothing. The fan comes on, just not the air. We checked the circuits and fuses, and we believe everything looks okay. The generator works, because other things will come on. I'm highly confused, and was hoping someone might have some sort of advice, suggestions, something.

Thanks
The New RV Family

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

"no longer any air coming out", meaning not even the fans were running? The a/c unit was dead silent?

When the owner demo'd it, was it on the generator or connected to shore power?

I suspect the Georgie Boy has a 30A shore power system, which means it can only run one a/c at a time on shore power.  Are there two a/c's (front and rear) in this coach? If so, there is probably a switch somewhere that allows you to select which a/c runs and perhaps also allows both to run. Typically both can be powered only from the generator but the switch has to be in the right position to do so.

 

[NewRVFamily]

Oops, sorry, no the fan doesn't come on anymore.  So yes, it's now dead silent.  When the past owner showed us, it was on generator.  It only has one AC in the main part of the RV (not including that dash one) with the thermostat on the wall when you first come in.  I feel so stupid for asking this, like we're completely missing a step or something, just seems weird it worked and suddenly doesn't.  I think we feel worse that we don't know what to look for.  We flipped the circuits to see if that helped..hubby said he checked the fuses too, said nothing looked weird, and he checked the generator to make sure it was plugged up right.

 

[PancakeBill]

Have you had a chance to check the unit on shore power yet?  Do you have to plug shore cord into an outlet for gen or do you have the transfer switch?  The transfer switch automatically switches you between gen and shore.

If gen is running an plugged or on transfer, and still not working, check breaker at the genset. 

Does your fridge switch from LP to AC when gen goes on?  This is a good indicator that the gen is providing power.

 

[NewRVFamily]

No, not at this time, we will try that in the morning and see what that does.  Yes, you have to plug the cord into an outlet for gen.

Yes, I think the fridge does switch, but I can double check that again as well.

 

[KodiakRV]

I agree with checking the breaker on the generator.  On mine I turned the thermostat down too quickly after the AC cut off (before the compressor could cool down) and the AC stalled, cut off, and wouldn't come back on.  It turned out to be the circuit breaker on the generator.

 

[John From Detroit]

I have had a few issues like that.. I think I traced most of them.. However we are not at the point in testing I got to yet

Is your rig 30 or 50 amp?  Some 30 amp rigs have a switch somewhere, your choice of Microwave or Air Conditioner

Also, though all the RV A/C units run on 120 vac.. Some of them are CONTROLLED by 12vdc so unless your 12 volt systems are on it may not work..


Now for what I found

I'm fond of saying we RVers often have a few screws loose

Usually the screws that anchor the wires in the  breaker  box  Before attempting to tighten them make sure the rig is UNPLUGGED (in fact it would be nice if the plug was where you can see it) and the Generator is OFF

There are also possibilities that the Auto Transfer Switch ... Is faulty  (others have hinted at that above)

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'm betting you have a switch that is in the wrong position, either one for microwave (or washer/dryer) vs the a/c or the front/rear/ a/c switch I mentioned earlier. You may have such a switch even though you do not have the optional appliance installed.  It may look like a regular household light switch.

It won't be a fuse - the a/c's have circuit breakers.  You said that other 120VAC things work (not house lights - they are 12V). Please verify that, but if that is so the transfer switch is OK. However, there may be a breaker tripped on the generator itself.

Have you been able to try it when plugged into shore power instead of generator?

 

[NewRVFamily]

ok the fridge does switch to Gen.
I am not sure of where the microwave/ac switch would be,weve been trying them all...microwave works though
the breaker seems fine,it has not tripped..Is it possible for the breaker to be bad?
everything else seems to work,hmmm

 

[Karl]

The switch Gary is referring to will look like a normal light switch you would see in a house, except one position would supply power to the a/c unit, and the other position supplies power to the microwave (or some other high-power appliance). It may have a center "OFF" position as well. Breakers can and do go bad, but you would usually experience them failing intermittently before failing completely. Still, it wouldn't hurt to flip each of them off and on a few times; this helps clean the contacts.

 

[Ron]

The switch could also be a rotary switch in one of the cabinets like our Bounder had.

 

[John From Detroit]

Re Reading this thread..........

When I was looking for some info on my ATS I came across a diagram for one model (not the one I have) but again this was for a 30 amp rig (my rig is 50) which clearly showed a Generator with two circuit breakers

One ran everything in the house save one Air conditioner.. The other.. That specific Air Conditioner

I think this design was for a rig with TWO A/C's however not one.

So, Check the Generator for a tripped breaker.. IF, like mine, they move right and left,, Consider a label to show when they are ON or OFF (other than the one that is next to impossible to read that's moulded into the switch)

And check the main breaker box

And look for a "Selector switch" set to Microwave or Washer or some such

 

[NewRVFamily]

Thank you all for all your help.  We were unable to figure this out on our own (however, we've learned alot about the RV in doing so) so off it goes to the mechanic, and hopefully we'll be on our way to the beach in no time

Thanks again everyone, it's nice to know we have a place to go with our questions, and super nice people will help.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Please lt us know what the fix is, so we can be of more help to the next person who encounters this sort of problem.

 

[NewRVFamily]

Turns out the control board for the AC was bad, simple fix, part is being overnighted to us, and we'll (hopefully) be on the road tomorrow. 

 

[Ron]

Thanks for the followup.  Glad you are getting it resolved.

 

[John From Detroit]

Now.. of all the A/C don't work threads I've read..

I think this is the first "Control board bad" I've seen.

Water heaters, Refrigerators and some other stuff often have bad boards.. But I think this is the first A/C.

(Rule says.. There has to be a 1st one,,, I mean if no first one how you ever gonna see a 2nd one?)