A/C compressor won't start

[geO]

Was taking a nap today and woke up sweating. Inside of the trailer was 90. I reset the breaker and still noting. My thermostat is not sending any error codes and noticed the compressor was sounding a little strange over the past few days. Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?

[Try2Relax]

Mine was a broken fan on the roof. Everything seemed fine just no cooling.

[Overland]

What did it sound like before? If it sounded like the compressor was having trouble kicking in then it’s possible that the start capacitor has blown.

 

I’d also check the campsite voltage just to rule that out.

[geO]

What did it sound like before? If it sounded like the compressor was having trouble kicking in then it’s possible that the start capacitor has blown.

 

I’d also check the campsite voltage just to rule that out.

 

That is exactly what it is doing.

[Overland]

If you're going to troubleshoot it yourself, I guess that's a decent place to start then.  You can search youtube for start capacitor and you'll get a million and a half videos on diagnosing and replacing them.  If you think that's the issue and it's nothing you want to deal with, it should be something that most any service center can fix and I can't imagine that it would cost too much to get replaced.  I'm sure it's covered under warranty regardless.

 

Also, if it is the capacitor, this would be a good opportunity to upgrade to an easy start.

[geO]

Thank you Overland for the advise. The A/C is still under warrantee and I was wondering if you know if I must take it in to a Dometic service center for any work that will be needed or will any service center work?

 

 

 

Thanks

[Overland]

Couldn't say.  Jason at Oliver could probably tell you.  I know that my Truma water heater had to be either taken to one of their few service centers or be swapped out by Oliver, but I don't know how Dometic operates.

[SeaDawg]

Most camping world facilities are dometic service centers. Call the closest one and check.

We had good experiences with camping world new port richey on our old dometic fridge. they handled everything under warranty, with no cost to us.

A capacitor is easy and quick. Hope, for you, thats all it is.

 

Sherry

[geO]

Hey guys I've taken the start capacitor out after  properly discharging it and I've put my digital multimeter over the leads set @ 200k and get nothing. The display stays at 1 despite reversing the connection. I'm I doing this wrong?

 

 

[geO]

Ok found out I had the wrong setting on the meter. I get a reading of 192K before it goes to 1 again. What reading should it be?

[Overland]

Assuming you have the meter set on Ω, the reading should spike and then return to 1.  The number that it jumps to doesn't matter.  You can also test between the leads and the case to see if there's a short.  The meter shouldn't move for that test.  If you have a meter that will test capacitance then you can do the same test and compare the number to the range written on the side of the capacitor.

[BackofBeyond]

As has been stated by others, in numerous posts, the voltage should always be verified - first, before assuming something else is wrong. Low (and high) voltage will cause problems that have long term consequences. For that reason, I carry a multi meter, just in case. Yes I know how the Progressive Industries EMS Surge Protector "checker" works, but training and past experiences forces me  to verify. Once I know I have correct voltage and "amperage" capacity, as  power wise, under load, voltage drop can become an issue. , I can move on to trouble shooting the rest of the problems. I am sure you have done this and its as simple as a weak capacitor.

 

Good luck on your issue.

[RnA]

Consider the time of day when you take the voltage readings at the pedestal. During the heat of the day when lots of ACs are on in the park voltage can drop. If you measure any other time the voltage may be normal.

[geO]

Assuming you have the meter set on Ω, the reading should spike and then return to 1. The number that it jumps to doesn’t matter. You can also test between the leads and the case to see if there’s a short. The meter shouldn’t move for that test. If you have a meter that will test capacitance then you can do the same test and compare the number to the range written on the side of the capacitor.

 

Thanks Overland, after scratching my head last night I determined my cheap multi meter does not read capacitance. A phone call to Jason on Monday. I need the A/C working because I'm planning on a 3 month adventure out west.