A/C Non-Functional

[montazonalinda]

We spent 28 trouble-free nights in our E19 and then . . . a few days ago we pulled into Picacho State Park, Arizona, where it was a toasty 95 degrees, with no shade. We had 30 amp service, so for the first time we tried to use the Dometic 11,000 BTU air conditioner. When it came on it made a bad noise, a combination of a grinding sound plus something sounding like a fan blade hitting a cowling or something like that. No idea what that was, but it didn't sound good and immediately turned it off. Tried to troubleshoot. No manual for the device whatsoever in the packet we got from Escape, nada. I poked around looking in the vents for an obvious issue but couldn't see anything obvious. Quit the campground and came home (too hot). Today I turn it on, tentatively, plugged into shore power. It seems to go on, there is a fairly normal humming sound, none of the grating obnoxious noise we heard yesterday; it just seems to be kicking into gear. But nothing happens, not a breath of cool air or any kind of air coming out of the vents. It runs, without any effect, for several minutes, then shuts itself down. Anyone have thoughts about what the problem is here?

[elongest]

Sounds like you have an evaporator fan or fan motor issue. (Inside air fan.) Could be as simple as a loose set screw on the fan blades. With the fan not running it can cause the system to lock up. There is also an outside condenser fan sometimes both fans use the same motor some units have separate motors. Check to see if you have outside air flow. The outside fan will be visible from above the unit. The evaporator fan is sealed up with your evaporator coil.
Eddie

[nepaweb]

Could be your fan motor mounting bolts are loose or backed out causing the fan to grind against the vent duct.
This is what happened on my new air conditioner. When I checked the motor mounts I found that one mounting bolt was very loose and the other had fallen completely out.

The fan and motor are easily accessible by pulling the top cover off of the air conditioner unit.
If you find your bolts are loose you may want to consider reinstalling them with locking nuts to hold them more securely.

[Padre]

My A/C had the same loud fan noise. I've had rv acts for years, none were quiet, but this was like a fleet of b52's on the roof. Unusable. Escape basically said 'see if anything is loose'. I finally took it somewhere, they diagnosed it as a missing fan bolt. They repaired it($15). When I asked was it a Dometic or Escape issue, they said definitely Dometic.
I frequently show our 5.0 TA as part of the Ambassador program. My number 1 recommendation is to wire for ac and have a heat pump installed after market.

[Rockhead]

It could be a dirt dauber got in there and made a nest. This happened to me once. Now when storing our 21 for winter in the trailer barn, I wrap up the ac unit to prevent this.

[Deva]

Originally Posted by Padre

I frequently show our 5.0 TA as part of the Ambassador program. My number 1 recommendation is to wire for ac and have a heat pump installed after market.

Ok, here’s me showing how much I don’t know…Do you mean have the wiring done by Escape with a “regular vent” where the A/C should go, then have a different unit installed? Would this be done by and RV shop or by a heating/cooling company..? Can this be done utilizing a “soft start” as well? How does this affect energy consumption when hooked up? Also, I imagine this would be “dry” air vs. “moist” propane when heating..? Thanks in advance for educating me!

[Padre]

I would have Escape put no hole at all, just the wiring. I expect they would not charge a lot for wiring only. Recpro makes several units, I would find a reputable RV shop to do the cutting and installation.
https://www.recpro.com/rv-air-conditioners/
Padre

[Rockhead]

I’d let escape cut the hole n install the fan. Installing the recpro would be a lot easier to instal that way also faster n cheaper if you or an installer had to cut the hole. Several of us have removed the dometic and installed the houghton ac from recpro. They are so much quieter than the wind tunnel dometic ac.

[MyronL]

My plan was to save big bucks so I ordered my 19 without the air conditioner. So it came with a manual vent installed where the ac would have been. I thought that was standard (intelligent) Escape practice. Very happy. A couple years later I ordered an 11,000btu from Dometic and installed it myself. I found the ac wiring had been pre-installed in place during the build. All that was needed was a breaker fuse in the WFCO.