cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

A/C randomly quits

Hemling
Explorer
Explorer
I have had a recurring intermittent problem the last year or so of using our camper. We have a 2017 Keystone 33bh. The A/C will randomly just shut down. Sometimes it will do this a few minutes after we setup and get everything connected, sometimes it will run flawlessly for days and just up and decide to die. What makes it even more confusing is that sometimes just the A/C and fan shut off, and the thermostat is still on. In this case, I can just reset it to 'hi cool' and it snaps right back on and is fine, until it decides to randomly shut off again (which could be minutes, hours or days later). Sometimes, though, the entire thermostat goes blank. In this case, there is nothing you can do. You just have to wait until it comes back to life, and then you can reset the temperature and it's all fine again (until next time). When the A/C is running, it cools great. I should mention that we only have the one unit for a relatively large Travel Trailer, but we bought it in Wisconsin and recently moved to Southern Florida. It isn't like the unit is working too hard and then shutting down, because sometimes it randomly shuts off after only a little while, and other times it runs like a champ for days on end. This isn't a big problem if we are just hanging around the campsite for the day, and can catch it in the 'act' and reset it to keep up. What sucks is when we take off for the day, it shuts down while we're gone, and no one is around to reset it, so we get back home to a 100+ degree camper that takes hours to get back to normal temperature. Filters are religiously changed. I'm thinking the thermostat is the culprit (it's a Coleman, basic unit, with the two triangular temp buttons and one large rectangular button on bottom for mode selection, nothing fancy at all) simply because it's such an odd electrical sounding issue. The A/C unit performs admirably.
3 REPLIES 3

Hemling
Explorer
Explorer
I did have a mobile tech come out and check it out. He took off the thermostat, inspected the wires that go into the thermostat, and noted that the wires had bare wire showing for about 1/2 inch before going into the unit. There were 7 wires, I think. Several of them had burn marks. He cut the wires back, stripped them and reinstalled so that there is no bare wire showing (the insulation goes right up to where the wire connects now). That was two days ago. Yesterday we were gone all day and sure enough it cut out while we were gone again. I can get a replacement thermostat for like $30. I think I will just replace it. He thought that maybe moisture got on the wires, but I'm thinking if moisture got on the wires, it got inside the unit too, so there's got to be something still shorting out or not right within.

CavemanCharlie
Explorer II
Explorer II
I agree that it is probably the thermostat. Even if it's not the thermostat is cheap and easy to replace so why not give it a try ?

Flute_Man
Explorer
Explorer
Possibly you have a loose connection either at the thermostat or up in the unit itself. I would check the connections on the thermostat and on the AC itself. If you do not feel comfortable I would call the mobile tech or get help from an electrical person. The control board may also be going bad but I would check the connections first.You may call me and I may be able to help over the phone.
Jerry Parr
05 Mandalay 40B
Cat C7 350
04 Honda CR-V
Ham Radio K7OU
Retired EE
Jrparr32@gmail.com
602-321-8141
Full-timer