Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: Mike on November 07, 2012, 06:46:19 pm
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We just took delivery on a 2551 recently. The A/C (heat pump) is very loud especially when the compressor is running. Is this a common problem or do I take in in for service? I need my sleep!
Thanks Mike
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Hi Mike:
We are sleepless in Florida.
We have a 2350 on the Sprinter Chassis ..... and .... I was wondering the same thing. We tried leaving the fan running constant on low all night with the a/c on and Vince my husband has resorted to wearing ear plugs and wrapping the pillow around his head .... I can't do either and when the a/c kicks on it is like an explosion that almost blows you out of bed :'( .
I to thought that maybe something could be wrong .... does anyone else have the same problem ????
Being in Florida we HAVE to run the a/c
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The loud AC issue, caused primarily from the high fan speed required for the unit to operate efficiently, is a problem that's not unique to PC. We have a Jayco Melbourne and even on the low setting, our AC is loud enough to make casual conversation a challenge. I was thrilled recently to read about Coleman's new Mach 8 AC unit, which is engineered with two separate motors. Not only is the unit much more quiet, but it's 15 lb lighter than their other units. As I understand it, Winnebago and a few other manufacturers are starting to install them. I would think this would be something PC would have interest in incorporating into future models. It rates high on my wish-list for our next RV.
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This is same on our unit soWe keep on low once the unit is cooled. Bride says helps to drowned out snoring.
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Yep, both our 2350 and the 2552 have the same issue. After a while you kind of get use to it. Like living next to the railroad tracks or in the flight path of a major airport. At 6:25 am every morning the biggest, nosiest plane takes off and fly right over our house. The air port is about 20 miles away and this is the only time we hear planes. >(
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I agree with Tom. In all three of our PCs, noise from the AC/heater and inverter disturb my sleep. I wonder if it is because the unit is not ducted. I know that Coach House has a ducted unit. Since I am a VERY light sleeper, here is what we do so that I can get a good nights sleep:
I always wear earplugs.
We turn off the inverter each night before bed and then I turn it back on in the morning. That fan coming on all night wakes me up.
I use a little fan that I bought at Walgreens to circulate air at night.
We also bought a small electric heater although we haven't used it yet (after a year of schlepping it around).
The noise does not bother George--he snores away--but I am another story.
Judi
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I agree with Tom. In all three of our PCs, noise from the AC/heater and inverter disturb my sleep. I wonder if it is because the unit is not ducted. I know that Coach House has a ducted unit. Since I am a VERY light sleeper, here is what we do so that I can get a good nights sleep:
I always wear earplugs.
We turn off the inverter each night before bed and then I turn it back on in the morning. That fan coming on all night wakes me up.
I use a little fan that I bought at Walgreens to circulate air at night.
We also bought a small electric heater although we haven't used it yet (after a year of schlepping it around).
The noise does not bother George--he snores away--but I am another story.
Judi
FWIW, our Melbourne IS ducted, but the noise is the same. The fan speed required within the unti to keep it running efficiently creates the unwanted byproduct of noise. Again, hoping for these new Coleman units that are much more quiet.
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We had a serious vibration in our unit every time the compressor kicked in. I talked to the factory rep at the Good Sam rally in Louisville who put in contact with a local service center. They took one look at it and determined he compressor was bad. The factory replaced the whole unit. We have not used the AC much yet but have used the heat strips a lot on a recent trip to Maine. I will say the blower is loud. But the vibrations from the compressor seemed to be gone after a short test when the new unit was installed. I am not sure you can do much about the loud fan. It does not seem to bother my wife or I when we sleep. In fact we used the heat strip exclusively at night to heat heat the PC at night. The noise from the fan was minor compared to the vibrations from the compressor. I am no sure this helps you but you have my simpathy.
Dick
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When I owned a Chinook we had a "serious vibration " in the A/C one time. It rattled the whole camper. :'( I called service at Camping world and they knew right away what it was. (nod) They told me to remove the cover and look at the fan. So I did that and found a small brown mud darter (bee) nest. >( I cleaned it out and all was well again. 2o2 Live and learn. roflol
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Well we live in a small airpark community in Florida (my husband is a private pilot) and our community butts up againt I-95 .... and I am use to the small planes taking off and usually sleep through that ... and I-95 for the most part I look at that noise as ocean waves (ha-ha) but I can not get use to the noise of the 2350's a/c unit ... I have found that ear plugs and a nice glass of wine before bedtime have done the trick so far :)(: but if we put the a/c on auto ... when that kicks on and off it is with a vengenance .... so we have kept the fan on low as Judy I think suggested and that with the earplugs seem to help. Will have to check out the fan as I notice when I am outside the unit and the a/c kicks on it seems like a clunk or vibration sort of noise when it first starts up .. so maybe we have something on the blades ... I doubt it but I'm always looking for things !
Carol
Yep, both our 2350 and the 2552 have the same issue. After a while you kind of get use to it. Like living next to the railroad tracks or in the flight path of a major airport. At 6:25 am every morning the biggest, nosiest plane takes off and fly right over our house. The air port is about 20 miles away and this is the only time we hear planes. >(
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Frogs!!!!!! Not Kermit The Frog but the tree frog variety living in the blades--at least I think that Kermit is not a tree frog (WH)
While at Stephen Foster State Park, I heard this horrible noise when we started up the air. George climbed up on the roof, took off the cover of the air conditioner and low and behold there was a frog. He took it out and while up there found another squished frog.
You Never Know what lurks in the air conditioner!
Judi
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We can hardly hear each other talk on the sofa. Also, at 100% volume on the TV, we can't hear it over the A/C. Is there a way to make it louder? Seems the speaker on the TV is partially covered up by upholstery. Is there a way to use the auxiliary speakers with the TV if you aren't watching a DVD?
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Yes, turn on the sound sound (DVD) player, go into the menu and change the input setting to ??? Until the sound comes out the five speakers. I think it is set to aux, but not sure.
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When we looked at PC our biggest concern was the non-ducted A/C. We had had other units that were very noisy, but had read that the Coleman Mach 8 had two motors and was very quiet on low. When we ordered our unit, we had Kermit install the 15K Coleman Mach 8 heatpump. It costs a little more but on low it is truly quieter than the Dometics that PC uses. The two motor system enables low to be "LOW". You can talk above it, watch and hear the TV, and sleep at night with it running on low without the cycling bothering me like some other unducted units. It also has the advantage of being one of the lowest and lightest units on the market. That's my plug for the day!
;)
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Hi,
I must need hearing aids, we have 2 ac units in our 3100, and we run both of them at night when it's hot. sleeping is no problem for the both of us. watching tv is not a problem, most of the time, if the living room ac is on low, with high then we have a problem.
Jim & Rae Anne
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We haven't slept with the AC on yet but have a different problem. When the the AC compressor kicks on, the TV goes out for a few seconds then comes back. We were hooked up to shore power and didn't get any errors on the outside surge suppressor. Anyone have the same problem or have suggestions? We leave Friday for a three week trip out to the Black Hills and back and expect we'll be using the AC a lot.
Holly
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Holly,
Check you shore power, sounds like you are drawing too many amps and drawing down the voltage when the compress come on. Check your power plug and see if it's getting warm. If it is then get a volt meter and check out the voltage at the plug
Jim
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Yes, turn on the sound sound (DVD) player, go into the menu and change the input setting to ??? Until the sound comes out the five speakers. I think it is set to aux, but not sure.
Yep, Aux2 did it and the volume knob on the unit helps to turn it up too. Lots better now. Thanks.
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Holly,
Check you shore power, sounds like you are drawing too many amps and drawing down the voltage when the compress come on. Check your power plug and see if it's getting warm. If it is then get a volt meter and check out the voltage at the plug
Jim
Thanks Jim, we are still learning all this and haven't bought all the right tools yet. The volt meter just jumped to the top of the list.
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On this last trip my A/C quit, no fan no compressor. I had previously replaced the ceiling fixture because the original plastic filter holders had broken. Troubleshooting the unit discovered that all was good inside but no A/C. Because I'm getting too old to be making a habit of crawling around on the roof I took pictures and ordered the 3 possible parts. 47uf start cap, 20+10uf run cap and the PTCR. I ordered and replaced these 3 parts and all is well. On the bench the PTCR measure 38ohms in both directions. The 47uf start cap measured 47uf. But the 20 +10 only measure 6uf on the 20 uf section. Could have saved myself some money (the PTCR is expensive at $60) but to me it was worth it to only climb on the roof twice. BTW for some reason my A/C has always been reasonably quiet.
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I think "noise" from the AC is directly proportional to...
(A) How well was it assembled. Did the factory leave loose wires? Did they put all the insulation in place, AND in the right place? Did they tighten all of the screws, straps, brackets, etc?
And
(B) How much is the owner willing to contribute to maintain our improve this low level of noise? My AC was really noisy when I bought my PC used (@ almost 10 years old). I take the shroud off the roof unit every year and clean both sets of coils. The first time I also tapped, wiggled, shook every piece of it and added zip ties, straps, tape and insulation until it was far far quieter and air tight. Now I look for tape that gave up, or zip ties that crumbled.... Anything to allow a vibration and nose. I also inserted a large sheet of insulation between the AC and the roof to reduce noise and heat transfer back into the coach. Next time you're up there take a look... There's a 3/4 gap between the roof unit and roof. Much of the compressor noise is passed into the coach thru there and 2 rubber tipped legs on the rear end of the AC, not the vents. The fan noise comes thru the air vents. Maybe I'm too OCD, but things can have an excellent design, but it's only as good as the tech who follows the design.
So, if part (A) was done well, and you don't drive on a lot of bumpy roads, then part (B) is much simpler. Maybe this extends the adage to never buy an RV built on Friday or Monday to include AC units as well. Who knows...
It does sound like you got one of the units built on a good day. ;)
Larry
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Larry/LRUCH offers great advice about getting up on the roof and identifying anything that looks suspicious. From block foam insulation around the perimeter (assuming no ventilation is required from under the unit), to removing the top cover, clean, inspect, fasten better.
One thing I noticed with my own 2007 Duo Therm, are the special screws that hold the lid on. They have a unique shoulder on the shaft where the threads are. One day I noticed one was missing. I ordered a few off the internet, keeping one as a spare in my RV tool box. When on a ladder, just glance at the cover, making sure you see screws, not holes for screws. Wiser yet would be to make sure they are tight. You don't want to see a huge thingy sailing away in your rear view mirror.
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Excellent reminder Ron. My AC's shroud was hanging on by only 3 screws when I bought it. I drove my PC to an old fashioned style ACE Hardware with a huge offering of screws, washers, etc and found better than originals. Let me see if I have pics somewhere.
Basically I found a size to fit the slightly worn holes (and the reason the originals fell/vibrated out), short enough to not touch the inner AC wall and with a wide flange to spread out their grip across a large amount of the plastic shroud to avoid any extra stress on that plastic. Each time I found a screw that I thought would work I went up on the roof and tested it. The hardware guy was quite helpful and willing to run between my RV and the parts bins when something was "almost the right size" and swap to size up or down.
Make sure you get stainless steel. One of my 3 was not and was quite rusty. Another of the 3 was too long and rubbed a dent&scratch into the AC cabinet. I sanded & sealed that before I repainted the lower half of the AC to match my green paint theme.
Larry. (LRUCH,,, but spell chk likes to change out to lurch. :lol )