Question Need your opinion on an AC issue

[pplank]

Evening,

we have a 1999 22' Thor Four Winds with what we believe is the original roof top AC. When we turn it on, it blows cold and then just peters out. I've contacted one repair place and they're saying that AC are not serviceable and that I need to replace it. Does that sound right? I will be contacting other places
to confirm

 

[Rich W.]

What they are referring to is the fact that there are no ports in the system to recharge an RV AC. That doesn’t mean it can’t be serviced - just that nearly no AC tech will do it. It would involve cutting into the system in two places and silver soldering in the two ports. So yes it can be done, and yes almost everyone will tell you it can’t (even though they know it can).

If you call enough AC techs, you’ll eventually find someone who will do it - probably an older guy, semi-retired, who does pride work, with real skills and experience and not the type to take the easy way out. It’s a shame really because it would probably add about three bucks to a new unit to add ports during manufacturing. But thats the world we live in - throw it away and buy a new one. On the other hand, it is 24 years old so maybe it’s time and a new one will be a bit more efficient for what that’s worth.

 

[pplank]

I appreciate the explanation

 

[Kevin D Pem]

What they are referring to is the fact that there are no ports in the system to recharge an RV AC. That doesn’t mean it can’t be serviced - just that nearly no AC tech will do it. It would involve cutting into the system in two places and silver soldering in the two ports. So yes it can be done, and yes almost everyone will tell you it can’t (even though they know it can).

If you call enough AC techs, you’ll eventually find someone who will do it - probably an older guy, semi-retired, who does pride work, with real skills and experience and not the type to take the easy way out. It’s a shame really because it would probably add about three bucks to a new unit to add ports during manufacturing. But thats the world we live in - throw it away and buy a new one. On the other hand, it is 24 years old so maybe it’s time and a new one will be a bit more efficient for what that’s worth.

I don't know of any inverter A/C units for RV roofs. If there were any than efficiency may be a reason to upgrade. Grid power motors have not seen improvements in over 30 years. Changes in condenser/evaporator size can boost efficiency, but that change would be more costly than a valves upgrade would be for the manufacturer.

honestly the cost to the company by the manufacturer is not the cost of the added components, but rather the loss of future sales.

This engineering principal is called planned obsolescence!!!

 

[TheLooks]

If you call enough AC techs, you’ll eventually find someone who will do it - probably an older guy, semi-retired, who does pride work, with real skills and experience and not the type to take the easy way out.

I take exception to that statement. It was argued about for the 8 weeks I was at school. There were HVAC certified people at the school. Some said they could do it but would not guarantee the results or the longevity of the repair. General consensus is it is not worth the effort. After being on an RV roof for 25 years, not much of it is worth anything.

 

[Rich W.]

Agreed you wouldn’t get much if any warranty. That’s why I opted to spend $1800 on a new unit and $100 labor to have it installed (feeling just that lazy) rather than have my 5 year old failed heat pump recharged. However I saved the old unit, brought it home, and will either use it for parts or repair it and use it on something else. But since the OP’s unit still works but just not well, it seems like a candidate for a recharge attempt, especially if there haven’t been any real design improvements over the last 24 years as Kevin pointed out.

 

[TheLooks]

You may be someone that can find a use for an old unit, but that would be rare. Most people just want it to work. And know nothing about how it works. Telling people that guys like me just rip them off is a bald faced lie. And Kevin may be one who can make something out of an old unit, but we all know he is rare. For 95+% of the population, replacing them is the best thing. IF they had any residual value I would be making money off the 10 or so I have stacked up to take to the scrap yard.

 

[Rich W.]

Telling people that guys like me just rip them off is a bald faced lie.

I never said anything like that - just that you’d have to call a lot of techs to find one that would take the time to do that job - 99 out of 100 wont. I never said or even implied that replacing a unit instead was ripping people off - just that contrary to popular belief it’s possible to recharge RV ac units but rare to find someone to do it, and that IMHO these units should have ports to re-charge them. My apologies if it sounded otherwise.

But I do think that having a five year old $1800 heat pump loose its charge (everything else still works) is a testament to poor manufacturing and the lack of service ports is inexcusable. We may live in a throwaway society but I don’t find that acceptable and usually go out of my way to find an alternative. In this case, since I was 2,000 miles from home I opted for replacing the unit even though repair was an available option because I didn’t want to be faced with dealing with it again. But given the cost of parts I wasn’t going to throw away my old one either since it’s a current model.

So to hopefully wrap this up to your satisfaction, I do somewhat condemn the manufactures, in this case Dometic, for producing inferior and intentionally unserviceable equipment, but applaud those in the repair industry who do their best to keep RVs functional and operational while faced with a multitude or fragile and poorly designed and manufactured equipment and parts. I do almost all my own work and it keeps me pretty busy just keeping one RV operational.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

You may be someone that can find a use for an old unit, but that would be rare. Most people just want it to work. And know nothing about how it works. Telling people that guys like me just rip them off is a bald faced lie. And Kevin may be one who can make something out of an old unit, but we all know he is rare. For 95+% of the population, replacing them is the best thing. IF they had any residual value I would be making money off the 10 or so I have stacked up to take to the scrap yard.

Matter of fact if your stash is in AZ, I have a project!

 

[TheLooks]

Conventional wisdom from the people that make them says don't try this at home. They only hold a few ounces of gas/oil and unless you find the leak and fix it, you just piss it into the atmosphere. I am all about fixing things but I am not going to go get my hvac license and have to deal with people complaining about how long they last. An hvac tech is a different animal, and can recharge his unit all the time. Others pay for the refrigerant so it's not a concern.
Sorry Kevin, I am in Tenn. so off to the scrap yard they go.