groundhogy
PA
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Joined: 12/17/2014
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No. It is a pretty slow leak.
It was charged in the very beginning of the summer. So it has almost made it through the whole summer.
I originally put the port on. If you put one on yours, be careful. The gaskets on mine were put on so haphazardly, it would have certainly leaked. I pulled the gaskets, cleaned and reseated them with some automotive gasket dressings, etc.
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C Schomer
Pueblo West, Co.
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Joined: 12/26/2000
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I missed that it has a tap valve... not a good sign. It's also not good to be putting refrigerant into the low side without seeing what the high side is doing. Occasionally, a restricted drier, if it even has one, or restricted cap tube will starve the evap, so only going by the low side reading is bad. IF it leaks on the low side and goes into a vacuum air will be sucked in and it ends up in the condenser and raises head pressure. Craig
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groundhogy
PA
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Ok. Tech was just up on top.
I am not at the RV (Parker).
He found a tube rupture. I did not see this last night, so I am assuming that after I climbed down and restarted the unit, the leak opened up.
My theory at this time..
I was up there last summer when the leak first showed up. At the time i noticed that that compressor wiggled like hell. I was immediately concerned for the long copper tube comming out of the wiggling compressor.
I think the original leak was in that wiggling tube, maybe right near the compressor. And as the unit put up hours, that section became more and more work hardened and brittle. Finally resulting in rupture.
What do you think?
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groundhogy
PA
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I have an airstream currently with the low profile ac on top.
There is an ac shortage going on. The tech can only get a regular 15k coleman right now.
I ordered an easy start.
Oh, if anybody wants to order one, you can get $40 off right now.
Use coupon code AIRSTREAM
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groundhogy
PA
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Bad Design:
Having that long soft copper tube hanging out there and wiggling like that IS a bad design.
I am not a mechanical engineer and it totally captured my attention.
On the other hand, I’m not sure how the engineer would cheaply address that. Maybe put lead tape on the compressor to limit wiggle? The compressor mounts on rubber.
Its the compressor people that should be reducing the wiggle on their product. Tecumseh is mfr.
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time2roll
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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I would have a new high efficiency unit installed. This thing is done.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675w Solar pictures back up
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sayoung
Tx
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Joined: 09/17/2012
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garyemunson wrote:If someone put a charging port on it in the past, sounds to me like it's time for a new A/C.
If OP had it charged then it's got a hole somewhere. Get that fixed or replace the unit. Those compressors need the proper amount of returning gas on the suction line to cool it.
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groundhogy
PA
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The new a/c is a Coleman mach 15.
It is called a 15kbtu, but i think i saw on a lable it listed as a 14.5k.
The last a/c was a 13.5k mach 8 low profile.
I can report these observations.
Cooling: Not a dramatic difference although the mach 15 seems better. Mach 15 a simpler design. The Mach 8 literature says it is a more efficient design i think because they separatet air moving with 2 fans. Allows condenser fan to run full anytime its desired? So maybe at 13.5k and more efficient, it approaches a standard a/c at 14.5k? Idk.
Compressor quietness: When the two techs came inside to do the first turn-on, they thought the mach 15 wasn’t working. Thats how quiet the compressor is. I assume compressor vibration is low also. The mach 8 compessor was louder and wiggled alot. I think this caused/assisted the eventual copper tube rupture.
Note that the above may not hold for all purchases for all time as the mfr may use several different compressor brands on their factory line.
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dougrainer
Carrolton, Texas
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Joined: 06/11/2007
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groundhogy wrote:The new a/c is a Coleman mach 15.
It is called a 15kbtu, but i think i saw on a lable it listed as a 14.5k.
The last a/c was a 13.5k mach 8 low profile.
I can report these observations.
Cooling: Not a dramatic difference although the mach 15 seems better. Mach 15 a simpler design. The Mach 8 literature says it is a more efficient design i think because they separatet air moving with 2 fans. Allows condenser fan to run full anytime its desired? So maybe at 13.5k and more efficient, it approaches a standard a/c at 14.5k? Idk.
Compressor quietness: When the two techs came inside to do the first turn-on, they thought the mach 15 wasn’t working. Thats how quiet the compressor is. I assume compressor vibration is low also. The mach 8 compessor was louder and wiggled alot. I think this caused/assisted the eventual copper tube rupture.
Note that the above may not hold for all purchases for all time as the mfr may use several different compressor brands on their factory line.
Your new model the Condenser fan runs ANYTIME the compressor runs. Yes, it is quiet. Funny thing is, the original 15, the Condenser fan system sounded like a jet engine. RVP redesigned the fan blade and Condenser motor system to be quiet like you have now. Doug
PS, you must have a OLD Airstream to have a factory installed RVP AC unit. A/S has used Dometic for almost 20 years now.
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groundhogy
PA
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Yes, the mach 15 fan is quiet , but also the compressor sound is quiet.
You listen for the compressor sound when you want to see if it’s actually on.
The tech was not approving of dometic penguins (their low profile offering?). He said he has a small pile of them at his home base that are broken and he said like 3 years old.
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