Duo Therm Penguin A/C

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.    )