AC turning itself on...

[rvnovice]

We recently purchased a 2018 Escape 5.0 TA. Several times now, the AC turns itself on even though we weren't using the trailer and the thermostat was set to "OFF". This has happened 3 times in the last week.

I have been careful to set the thermostat to "OFF", but then we will find the AC running and the thermostat is back to "COOL" mode with no one having been in the trailer in the interim. The trailer has a Dometic 3316410 thermostat (see attached).

Has anyone encountered and resolved this issue? We are connected to house power (110), so this is not impacting the battery, but we need to know how to prevent it from happening.

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by rvnovice

We recently purchased a 2018 Escape 5.0 TA. Several times now, the AC turns itself on even though we weren't using the trailer and the thermostat was set to "OFF". This has happened 3 times in the last week.

I have been careful to set the thermostat to "OFF", but then we will find the AC running and the thermostat is back to "COOL" mode with no one having been in the trailer in the interim. The trailer has a Dometic 3316410 thermostat (see attached).

Has anyone encountered and resolved this issue? We are connected to house power (110), so this is not impacting the battery, but we need to know how to prevent it from happening.

Hi rvnovice, It IS confusing! We have a slightly different looking thermostat, but I think they operate the same. When our heater or air conditioning is ON, the thermostat reads OFF because that is the next option. When the heater or air conditioning is OFF, the thermostat reads ON, because that is the next option. It is confusing because our home thermostat reads OFF when the thermostat is OFF and ON when the thermostat is ON.

I think that is what is happening!

[CharlesinGA]

Thermostat manual from the Forest River website.

Page 4
On / Off
1. To turn On the CT thermostat, press / Mode button. To turn Off the CT thermostat press the (inert power symbol here)/ Mode button and toggle through modes until Off is shown is lower right hand of LCD. LCD will remain backlit for approximately 15 seconds, then go out.

Clearly, a non-native English speaking person wrote these instructions. The procedure is convoluted at best, push one button, then scroll up or down thru a bunch of selections till you find OFF, and don't touch it after that. NOT intutive.

Kinda like Windows, you press the START button to begin the shutdown process.

Charles

[Centex]

Is the air conditioner on a dedicated breaker in your power center which can be toggled OFF when the trailer is 'stored' to preclude it running regardless of thermostat shenanigans?

[rvnovice]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

Thermostat manual from the Forest River website.

On / Off
1. To turn On the CT thermostat, press / Mode button. To turn Off the CT thermostat press the (inert power symbol here)/ Mode button and toggle through modes until Off is shown is lower right hand of LCD. LCD will remain backlit for approximately 15 seconds, then go out. [/I]

I have been using the process described above, leaving the thermostat showing "OFF" in the lower right. The AC turns off, but within a day or two, I will find that it is running again. When I enter the trailer, the thermostat is set to "COOL", even though I left it set to "OFF". I will see if there is another switch or breaker I can use to turn it off.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by rvnovice

I have been using the process described above, leaving the thermostat showing "OFF" in the lower right. The AC turns off, but within a day or two, I will find that it is running again. When I enter the trailer, the thermostat is set to "COOL", even though I left it set to "OFF". I will see if there is another switch or breaker I can use to turn it off.

Leave it plugged into the “house” outlet and turn off the breaker for the A/C in the trailer. It is a dedicated circuit. Doing so will allow you to use everything else in the trailer. If I were you, however, and if you are finding that the A/C has been mysteriously turning itself on, I would consider replacing the thermostat. I wouldn’t want to be camping in cooler weather and have the A/C lowering the indoor temperature.

[sumac.rhus]

Sorry, I'd have to look at the instructions to know how to do it, but I think you would benefit from turning off the "AUTO". Furthermore, I have to admit, I don't remember the why, because I was so glad to get the problem to stop.

I had problem with AC turning on unexpectedly, when I was intending to turn on heater. I pulled the AC fuse, until I could ask my RV service people about it. They turned of the "AUTO", and it's been sweet ever since.

[Chamberman]

Originally Posted by sumac.rhus

Sorry, I'd have to look at the instructions to know how to do it, but I think you would benefit from turning off the "AUTO". Furthermore, I have to admit, I don't remember the why, because I was so glad to get the problem to stop.

I had problem with AC turning on unexpectedly, when I was intending to turn on heater. I pulled the AC fuse, until I could ask my RV service people about it. They turned of the "AUTO", and it's been sweet ever since.

The "Auto" is for the fan control. In auto mode it switches between High/Low speeds as needed. It will also leave the fan on continuously if you switch the fan from Auto to High or Low. In auto mode the fan will shut off when the thermostat reaches the setpoint.

[MVA]

Have you tried to change the set temperature much greater than the trailer temperature?

[Chamberman]

Its possible that its the "Mode" button that has gone bad. Dometic probably used one of those miniature surface mount momentary switches for this purpose. The button may be opening partially but not fully, in other words instead of going fully open when released, its just going to a high resistance of a few meg-ohms. This leaves the switch in such a state as to be partially activated all of the time. To see if the switch is getting flaky try just barely laying your finger on the Mode button with virtually no pressure to see if it switches Modes on you. The Dometic thermostat in our E19 takes a decent amount of pressure for it to change modes.

Unfortunately this is still going to require you to replace the thermostat.

[rvnovice]

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. For now, I am avoiding the issue by turning off the breaker for the AC on the Escape 5.0's electrical panel. This won't help when we are actively using the trailer, so I plan to replace the thermostat.

As noted by others, it is difficult to use this thermostat which has sensitive controls. Has anyone replaced their Dometic 3316410 thermostat with an improved option? If yes, what did you install? Is it a straightforward swap - just some wires to disconnect and reconnect?

I appreciate the help from this group!

[rvnovice]

I found the Micro-Air EasyTouch RV Thermostat which per their web site replaces the Dometic 3316410 Thermostat.
https://www.microair.net/collections...43034181337302

I found a YouTube video that shows the installation (swap) is fairly straightforward.
https://youtu.be/7KlX7FNNWxM

Has anyone done this replacement for an Escape 5.0? Any other thermostats to recommend to replace the Dometic?

Thanks!

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by rvnovice

I found the Micro-Air EasyTouch RV Thermostat which per their web site replaces the Dometic 3316410 Thermostat.
https://www.microair.net/collections...43034181337302

I found a YouTube video that shows the installation (swap) is fairly straightforward.
https://youtu.be/7KlX7FNNWxM

Has anyone done this replacement for an Escape 5.0? Any other thermostats to recommend to replace the Dometic?

Thanks!

I used the MicroTouch thermostat for a couple of years before I changed my AC to a Houghton. Worked well as long as you did the firmware updates. The Bluetooth capability as well as WiFi is handy and it shows the inside temperature.

Overall, an expensive, but nice replacement.

[mfschu]

The Houghton I installed seems to come back on by itself if it loses power and then power is restored. I don't have it connected to a thermostat, just use the remote to control. I usually just turn off the breaker if I notice it happening and want to be sure it's off.

[rvnovice]

My first repair/mod was successful. I installed the Micro-Air EasyTouch RV Thermostat to replace the faulty Dometic 3316410 Thermostat. All went well and it seems to be fully functional. There was limited slack on the wires, and I had to trim and strip them to get a solid connection, but after some fiddling, success. I also now know which 12v fuse feeds the thermostat.

Thanks to the group for the help!