Most RVs can have air-conditioning items mounted on the roof, the place it tends to be out of sight and out of thoughts. That’s, till it breaks down. Thankfully, most points might be traced again to an absence of upkeep or incorrect operation. We present you 5 issues you’ll be able to verify to get your RV air-con working once more.
Our caravan was fitted with an Ibis AirCommand III rooftop air-conditioner. For five years, it had operated with none points in any respect. That was regardless of the very fact we had achieved nearly no upkeep to it throughout that point. Then, throughout an prolonged keep in Townsville, Queensland, we began to expertise some issues. It wasn’t cooling down the van wherever close to prefer it used to. It additionally began leaking a gradual stream of water via one of many lights within the ceiling. On the similar time, an error code flashed on the LED show.
We switched it off, bewildered as to why our RV air-conditioning wasn’t working. For the following 20 minutes, we may hear what gave the impression of chunks of ice falling contained in the unit. It was time to do some investigation into what should be blamed for the issues. After researching the problems on the web and taking aside our air-conditioner, we discovered these 5 widespread issues and what to do to attempt to repair them.
Appropriate settings
One factor our analysis revealed is that, like most homeowners who expertise points with their rooftop items, we had the thermostat set at too low a temperature. These air-conditioners are good, however they cannot carry out miracles. If the surface temperature is above 35 levels and the relative humidity is above 50%, the unit will wrestle to get the interior air right down to the set temperature.
The compressor will run constantly, attempting to maintain up. This builds extra condensation on the radiator fins, which might freeze into ice, additional lowering the cooling impact. By setting the thermostat to a temperature between 23 and 25 levels, the unit doesn’t have to work as arduous. This implies it will probably cycle successfully, sustaining the set temperature and lowering the danger that your RV air-conditioning will cease working when the going will get robust.
Inside filters
The subsequent factor to verify when your RV air-conditioning is just not working is your inner air filter(s). Be certain that its not clogged up with mud. We already knew that this wanted to be cleaned repeatedly. However what we discovered was, as a result of we had been working the air-conditioner all day, it required extra frequent cleansing. Generally as usually as as soon as each couple of days. Cleansing the filter is just not troublesome, however you’ll want to make sure you do a radical job.
We used a blower instrument to take away the majority of the mud after which cleaned the remaining off utilizing a bucket of soapy water and a small brush able to moving into the grooves of the filter. You should be very cautious cleansing these filters. Some are extra fragile than others.
Exterior drain holes
As soon as the interior filter is clear, the following job to get your RV air-conditioning hopefully working once more, is to verify the roof-mounted unit itself. This isn’t a job for anybody afraid of heights or not assured on a ladder. It includes eradicating the plastic screws across the decrease portion of the unit and lifting off the duvet to show the interior workings. After I checked out ours, I used to be shocked at how filthy it was below that cowl.
CAUTION
Guarantee your caravan is disconnected from the 240v mains earlier than cleansing the rooftop unit!
After blowing out all of the free leaf matter and different particles, you’ll want to verify the drain holes on the base of the unit. Now, all air-conditioners can be barely completely different, however they need to all have a drainage system of some kind. It’s more likely to be very fundamental.
Within the case of the AirCommand III, there are a collection of holes across the exterior of the bottom.  These are all remoted from one another by plastic mouldings. Over time, these holes get blocked with mud and finally stop the condensation from draining away. For my part, it’s a silly design as all it takes is for one or two of those drains to dam up, and you’ve got the potential for condensation to run onto the warmth exchanger radiator fins, icing up or leaking again into the roof area.
Practically two-thirds of ours had been blocked up with hard-caked advantageous mud. Thankfully, unblocking them is an easy job.  Utilizing a small screwdriver, I loosened the mud and blew out all of the grime utilizing a blower instrument. No marvel our RV air- conditioning wasn’t working very nicely!
Warmth exchanger radiator fins
If you take away the principle cowl from the rooftop unit, you’ll expose the exterior fan and warmth exchanger radiator. Subsequent to that needs to be a separate polystyrene cowl over a second warmth exchanger radiator and one other fan. These radiators are produced from very skinny aluminium, and the fins are positioned very shut to one another. After some time, mud builds upon these fins and finally blocks the area between them, stopping the warmth exchangers from doing their job and lowering the effectivity of the unit itself.
In our RV air-conditioning unit, each of those radiators had copious quantities of mud caked over the fins, stopping it from working correctly. Cleansing these requires a level of care as it is rather straightforward to wreck them. You should utilize a mild brush and a blower instrument to take away as a lot of the mud as potential. In the event you do harm the fins, you should purchase a particular instrument that appears and works like a comb. Successfully you employ it to bend the fins again into their authentic form. It may also be used to take away the grime in between the fins.
In actually unhealthy instances, you should purchase air conditioner cleansing kits that use a particular chemical sprayed on the coils and washed away with a mild hose.  I attempted it on our unit and I didn’t discover all of it that efficient. In actual fact, it appeared to create extra mess than it cleaned up. I believe in case your radiator fins are that badly clogged up, its time to get them cleaned by an expert.
Low or no refrigerant gasoline
In the event you’ve tried the entire above and your RV air-conditioning continues to be not working correctly, chances are high the refrigerant gasoline has both partially or absolutely leaked out of the cooling system. This isn’t a simple repair and would require an expert air-conditioner service technician.
Right here’s the difficult half. Air-conditioner service technicians are straightforward sufficient to search out all through Australia particularly up north.  What was troublesome to search out was a service technician who was prepared to work on an RV rooftop air-conditioner. I will need to have rung round 20 of them within the Townsville space, and all however one stated they didn’t contact these methods. I think you’ll get that response it doesn’t matter what city you end up in.
The one man who did come out defined to me that in instances the place the gasoline has leaked, regassing these methods could be very troublesome. Firstly it includes discovering the leak and repairing it. Then, the remaining gasoline must be purged and new gasoline pumped in. Not like a automotive air conditioner, these rooftop items seldom have a correct connection for the regas system. As a substitute, they are usually sealed by the copper pipe being bent again onto itself. Only a few technicians will try and regas these methods, and those who do are unlikely to supply greater than a three-month assure.
In our case, this gave the impression to be the reason for our RV air-conditioning not working. The warmth exchanger radiators had been subjected to fixed vibration from the van travelling on the roads and, most probably worsened by our intensive grime street travels. We had no selection however to buy a brand new air-conditioning unit.
Common upkeep
The ethical of this story is that you have to have your rooftop air-conditioning unit checked, cleaned and maintained regularly to maintain it in good working order. I’d suggest as soon as each two years on the very least, even for those who don’t use all of it that always. The grime and dirt will accumulate even with the van sitting in storage and it’ll finally result in extra issues. In the event you journey off-road otherwise you dwell in your caravan for prolonged intervals, you could want to have a look at extra frequent servicing. Belief me after I inform you it’s no enjoyable being caught within the tropics, in 38-degree warmth and stifling humidity, with out a functioning air-conditioner.
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