Front rooftop hvac issues -2007 diplomat

[Dr4Film]

After trying everything but the kitchen sink to fix the short cycling of the front AC in the Windsor, I gave up and purchased two new Penguin II's. The rear AC quit running the day were were leaving to return to Florida. Removed the old set of Penguins and installed the new Penguin II's. They are better built and ran perfectly since day one. They are now being used by the new owner of the coach, LennyD, a member here.

[Lenny D]

Hello .. I have the 02' Windsor "Dr Film" mentioned .. My front AC has been giving me problems for about 4 months now. It will start up intermittently. When it does, the fan starts up then the compressor kicks on .. It will run on all speeds for about 15 minutes. Then, as I sit I hear the fan motor begin to get slower and slower till it finally stops. I can still hear the compressor humming so I shut it down. It will not restart at this point. We tried changing the capacitor but to no avail. My next move is getting a new fan motor. At which time I will also switch out the two capacitors ... I'm currently in NJ and the AC isn't being used as our temps are dropping weekly. We leave for Florida last week in November. I'll have it fixed in Fla. Getting a mobile tech in Jersey is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

You're problem sounds like what was mentioned. Low Freon ... These Penguin II's are great units. I'd get a meter on the capacitor which may be losing its ability to hold a charge. Good luck .. We turned our rear unit on and used a fan to help blow air up front .. Works like a charm.  

[Joe Lee]

Ok, smart people!  Please let me know what you think about this.   I have discovered that the 3 copper tubes as shown in the attached picture (2 in the foreground and 1 behind and they are marked with silver foil tape) are not nearly as cold as the same copper tubes on my other a/c unit as I’m running the unit in cooling mode. 

what does this mean?

Thanks!  
 

Joe

[Gary Cole]

Joe have you taken an amp reading? That is a good indication of charge state. Should be close to marked amperage on a warm day with full charge. If you have a low charge it will cause below freezing temp of the remaining refrigerant due to low evaporator pressure. Try disconnecting the freeze protection probe from the evaporator. Does anything change? If it did then maybe the probe was near a refrigerant puddle and sensing freezing temps which would short cycle the compressor. In this condition the evaporator fan should remain running.

[Joe Lee]

1 hour ago, Gary Cole said:

Joe have you taken an amp reading? That is a good indication of charge state. Should be close to marked amperage on a warm day with full charge. If you have a low charge it will cause below freezing temp of the remaining refrigerant due to low evaporator pressure. Try disconnecting the freeze protection probe from the evaporator. Does anything change? If it did then maybe the probe was near a refrigerant puddle and sensing freezing temps which would short cycle the compressor. In this condition the evaporator fan should remain running.

I don’t know where to take an amp reading to determine my charge state.  Could you please advise?  I do have a multimeter with an AC 400 amp clamp. 

[Ivan K]

Probably the easiest, for me, would be to clamp it at the wire leaving its breaker rather than pulling wires on the roof. That way I could easily compare between units.

[Dr4Film]

It would need to be clamped around the 120VAC Romex coming from the AC going to the junction box in the roof opening where all of the connections are made.

Or do it at the circuit breaker panel as Ivan has suggested.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Dr4Film

[Gary Cole]

Clamp the meter around one compressor conductor.

[Dr4Film]

Their ideas are easier than messing with the junction box where the AC connections are made.

[cbr046]

Connect to a 30A supply and watch the Intellitec (or whatever EMS you have) display.  Compare amperage with the rear unit. 

No meter necessary . . . I'm guessing a low refrigerant charge.

- bob

 

[Bill R]

X2 with @cbr046.  Just recently when I suspected my front Penguin II AC was low on refrigerant, I compared the Amp draw of my AC's on the remote EMS display.  The rear unit was drawing about 12-13 Amps, as you would expect, but for the front unit the EMS remote showed only about a 7-8 Amp draw.  Confirmed for me that the unit was possibly low on Freon.  And it was.  Found leak and fixed leak (4 way switching valve replacement), recharged and been running cool for the past month.