Georgia Mike

Dropped down the roof panel to change or clean the ac filters and found this cloth material over the intake vents. As you can see there are gaps and frankly this design has a lot to be desired. Before I start brainstorming has anyone come up with a better solution? I was thinking of making a frame of aluminum channel and slide a filter in it.

Thanks for the replies. I all ready ran an extension cord to it and it’s still dead and plugged blow dryer in microwave outlet and it worked fine. I am going to pull it down when I get back home. Thanks for the advice on taking it down i was just trying to get an idea where to look inside for the fuse or fuses

First day of the trip we are on my wife was using the microwave for awhile heating some things up and it stopped working. The screen is dead no power. I checked the plug and I have power at the outlet and there are no signs of the plug or outlet melting visible but I didn’t take the outlet apart. I know these rv outlets are crap and can cause a bad connection and I’m thinking that might have caused it to over heat and blow an internal fuse. Has anyone replaced the fuse in a Sharp 1874 before? I’m getting conflicting info some say it’s in the back near the power cord and others say it’s in the front near the touch pad. Just thought I would ask before I take it down.

Thanks, I was going to order a new Micro air that runs two of the three units I have but that seems crazy because if I have to replace one or both of them I have to get another thermostat. I’m just going to look for a used 5 button one that I have now. The problem with this one is it will work ok but after it’s on for a while the screen goes dark and you have to shut it off and back on. Anyways, I don’t like these thermostats because they are very hard to see.

Thanks for all the answers. I would have wasted my time trying to make it work. If I purchase a new Micro air thermostat for these older penguin ac units and later upgrade to the Penguin 2 will the Micro air work with the newer units?

Getting ready to leave on a trip and my 2 zone 5 button thermostat is acting up. I have this thermostat and was wondering if it will work with this system. it has the same phone jack plug on the back

I tried to bend the contacts but to no avail. I stuck a thin piece of metal between the contacts and the the motor ran fine.i have looked all over the internet for a thermal switch or some kind of motor rebuild kit but all I can find is kits for a new piston and gaskets. Anyone know of a source for parts?

I checked the thermal switch and there is no continuity. I could see before i tried to sand it that there is a small razor thin gap between the contacts. I ran thin sand paper between but i guess my next step would be try and bend the contact to make contact. When i pinch it together it has continuity.

I did see that on one side of the brushes wasn't sure what it was so i will check that, Thanks

I changed out my Thomas compressor yesterday and it is now working as it should. I ended up covering the exposed end with some breathable foam to keep the dirt out of the area with the brushes. I took the back cover off of the old unit and the brushes were stuck and very dirty so I cleaned the entire unit and fixed the brushes so they move freely and put it back together. When I hooked it directly to 12 volt source it didn’t work so I am bummed because I wanted to have a spare. It turns freely so is there anything else to check or just toss it?

I have always used Simple Green Pro HD. The main reason is that it is safe on aluminum and all metals as well as plastic. A lot of others like Regular Simple Green isn’t good for aluminum and I like to clean the radiator as well. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simple-Green-128-oz-Pro-HD-Heavy-Duty-Cleaner-2110000413421/100550784#overlay

I am replacing with a Thomas compressor so I guess the pressure switch is the same. I was looking for the psi range and I see Richard used 90-120 range. Is the psi range the same for the Dynasty as it was for his Windsor?

I am going to tackle this compressor this week. Does anyone know the correct pressure switch? I want to replace it when I take it out.

Does the orifice come apart from the burner tube? On some it looks like it unscrews but I tried and it wouldn’t budge. I have been soaking it in alcohol and would like to take it apart.

Used the arp fridge defend to monitor the boiler

I finally got my Amish unit to work. There were two problems that created the perfect storm for me. First when I had the Amish unit on the floor working on it the ammonia solution got redistributed. When I stood it up Paul from ARP said It would have helped to turn it on the burner side then stand it up which I didn’t do. Then I didn’t realize that my burner even though it had a nice blue flame wasn’t hot enough. The first time I turned it on it was on LP which wasn’t hot enough to get it circulating. The second time on AC I got the NO CO error because it hadn’t gone through its fist cycle. Then I wired the heating elements direct and after 7 hours it cooled down good. Then I went back the next day to LP and it struggled to get the freezer cool at all I thought what the hell is going on. The next day I tried it on AC with the Norcold electronics hooked up fearing the No Co again but in only 5 hours the freezer was below 0 and the frig was 27. I had the door setting on 6. Today I tried it again on AC with the setting on 4 and I had around 0 in freezer and 32 in the fridge so it seems to be working great on ac. I called JC refrigeration and they said to clean the burner and soak it in alcohol so that’s what I’m doing now. The burner wasn’t getting hot enough. I monitored the boiler temps with both and found it took an hour on LP for the temperature to get up to 370 degrees. On AC it took 15-20 min. So hopefully this will get the LP hot enough. Hope this will help someone in the future replacing there unit.

Greg, only an hour to pull old fridge and bring new one in? Does it fit through the door? Just curious

So I went over today and installed the new thermistor and started the frig on gas. The boiler temp rose in an hour to over 430 degrees it just sat there and the back side of the frig coils didn’t even get warm. I’m so surprised because yesterday wiring it direct on electric it cooled down perfect I don’t know what the difference gas would make so I shut it down. I’m going to call J.C refrigeration on Monday and try and get this resolved.

Yes, the K3A is confusing because you have the thermal fan switch for the fans and It shows the flapper heater is before the fan the thermostat so it should be live all the time is what I’m thinking.

Here is a picture of the wires I’m talking about. The small gauge black and white wires piggybacked on the larger gauge wires.

I installed a Amish unit on Monday and need some advice. First, my old cooling unit worked fine except the cooling fans never came on both times we went on a trip. It was cool weather and it seems to keep the temps in range. When installing the new coil I put in a new thermal switch and fans. Just before installing it back in the wall I tested the fans by heating the switch with a lighter and the fans didn't work. I traced the wires down to the control board and found I didn't have 12 volts on the one prong for the fans. Tell me if i am wrong but shouldn't there be a constant 12 volts on that circuit and the thermal switch just opens and closes to run the fans? I figured the fan part of the board was bad so i ended up wiring the fans to the Frig Defender. I installed it back into the wall and hooked everything back up and it went down hill from there. After about two hours of running on gas the frig defender shut it down. I then tried it on AC and it started to cool a little bit but after a few hours the Frig Defend shut it down again. I disconnected the Frig Defend and ran the factory Norcold Electronics. The boiler temperature kept going from 350 to 450 range back and forth but i figured it needed to do this. I left and came back a few hours later and it was shut down again and had the No Co error. I then wired the AC heating elements direct bypassing the control board and hard wired the fans and after about 7 hours i was below 0 in the freezer and 28 in the frig so I guess I have a problem with the wiring or control board. Even though it worked before the change out i was wondering if the thermistor is bad. I have the Snip it to install so I am going to install that tomorrow and see if it does anything. I noticed on the two heavy gauge fan wires (black and white) that connect on the bottom of the control board there are two thin gauge wires piggy backed to those same two prongs that go in a plug harness on the bottom of the board. I am not sure what they control but since there is no 12 volts on that fan circuit what ever those thin wires control isn't working. I looked at a Norcold schematic but it really didn't show what they connect to. The control board worked fine before the change out so those two small wires on the fan circuit didn't have power then. My plan is to hook everything back up with the new snip it thermistor and hope it works. Just a few Points.....the frig is level and both of the fuses on the board are good. I have been working on this all week and im tired of looking at it. If anyone has an idea what those wires go to that would help.

In the 3 months of ownership I have done a lot on it. When I purchased it the batteries and tires were all brand new so that was a plus for sure. The batteries were Trogan as well. I replaced the skylight because it had cracks in it. I changed all fluids and filters for a baseline even though the previous owner had them changed recently. I installed a wax valve from Source engineering because the fan was running full speed and I replaced my Norcold coil with an Amish unit and installed the Frig defend. I have a new Thomas compressor sitting on my work bench so that’s the next project I’m going to tackle and I have some air leaks I have to find even though I have replaced a lot of push fittings. Some surprises I found was I have the Safety Steer on it and I’m pretty sure it has the Watts link installed on the front. When I was under looking for leaks I saw this thing on a pivot with two arms going from it and later saw someone commenting about the Watts link so I looked it up and I’m almost positive that’s what I have. Anyways as everyone knows there’s always something to do on these rigs but I enjoy doing it. So far I have been on two long trips and I sure does drive super smooth on the road.

When I was young my family camped in a 1978 Apache Roamer. Later on my ex-wife and I bought a 22 foot Sunline travel trailer and camped every year in the Smokey’s. Later in life in my 30’s when I got remarried we got a Coachman travel trailer but sold it after a few years because our new house wouldn’t allow parking it outside and storage lots where to expensive. I wanted my two young boys to experience camping so I tried to find something I could fit in our garage. I ended up finding a 1977 Apache Ramada that I gutted and rebuilt with a tub and shower and repainted the outside. It took me a year on weekends but when it was done it was nice. People in the campgrounds thought it was new. We went all over the eastern part of the United States in that thing. We finally out grew it after about 6 years and bought a new Keystone Passport with bunk beds and had that for about 5 years when my wife one night found a 2000 Fleetwood Discovery on Craigs list. I was a little hesitant being since I liked our setup so I reluctantly went and looked at it. Well we went the next day and man this thing was like brand new, I was hooked. After driving and camping in this I thought this is the way to travel. Well, after about about 9 years we wanted something nicer and I wanted a tag axle. That’s when we found our current Dynasty this last December and so far we are very happy.

Richard, I found this video that shows you how to get into the system and calibrate it. Oops didn’t see someone already posted it

Thanks, I am going to crawl under and see how exposed it looks and wrap it in some water proof material.