Basement Air Issue

[Dick Simonis]

Of all things, shortly before we're leaving for the summer, the basement air has taken a dump

I ran it yesterday and it was fine, started it this morning and all was good.  Than I went back to the barn a few minutes ago and it sounded real odd..sort of clunking and groaning.  Shut if off figuring I would start one thing at a time, fan, compressor 1, compressor 1, and etc.

As soon as the fan came on, it was laboring, making bad noises and even slowed down to almost a stop so I figure the fan lost a bearing or some such but don't know if it's direct drive, belt driven, or what.  Of course getting into the unit is not so easy.

So, any thoughts on what i'm facing and does any know of someone in Tucson with experience with these units.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Dick

[Gerald Farris]

Dick,
Your basement A/C unit has two fan motors, and they are both two speed direct drive motors. The evaporator fan uses a squirrel cage fan, and the condenser fan uses standard fan blades.

I have never replaced an evaporator fan so I do not know the availability of that motor, but the condenser fan motor has been discontinued. Therefore if you need the condenser fan motor, you will need to get a compatible three speed motor an only use the top two speeds while tapping off the low speed leads.

Unit removal is required to make any repairs, and it takes from 2 to 4 hours to remove the unit depending on your experience level. Repairs are fairly straight forward for anyone with A/C experience. The only problem that you might have is if the circuit board is bad. If the circuit board is burned by excess amperage, you can have it repaired by Flight Systems (https://www.flightsystems.com/rv-generator-controls-repairs/scs-victory-climate-control-repair-service.html) for about $85, or buy a new replacement from Victory Climate Systems in Forth Worth Texas.

If you need R&R instructions, call me (713-254-4156).

Gerald 

 

[Dick Simonis]

Thanks Gerald.

I suspect it's the condenser motor.....that's the one the circulates the air through the coach..right??

I'm on my way to Premier this morning to have them look at it.  Pulling the unit is beyond my skill set so off to the shop it goes.  Erick is familiar with the SCS unit and may even have a compatible motor in stock but that could be wishful thinking.

My control board was shot when I took delivery and the shop in Bend replaced it with relays that seem to do the job ok.

[Gerald Farris]

Dick,
The evaporator fan is the one that circulates air inside the coach. The condenser fan sucks air in the large ducts on the side of the coach and exhaust it out the bottom of the coach.

Gerald

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Dick,
If they happen to find the control board is bad and replace it, be sure to get the bad one. Then send it to Flight Systems for repair which will yield you a spare.
Teve

[Dick Simonis]

An interesting day yesterday at Premier.  We got the AC out of the coach and set it along side the coach.  Hooked up all the wires and ran the unit.  The evap fan was only slowly rotating but no bad noises from either motor.  We check the current draw for both fan motors and the cond. motor was normal but the evap motor as drawing very little little...around 1 amp or so.  Everything else was great.

After some head shacking and checking the capacitor, Erik reached down and put his finger on the evap fan.  The fan stopped and the shaft kept spinning.  The whole problem was the set screw had loosened.  Once what was tightened everything was good.

This morning they will reinstall the unit and I'll pick up the coach.  kind of a pricey loose screw but at least I'm back on track.

Regarding the control board.....ain't got one.  Griffen (sp) in Bend had replaced it with four relays.  Fan Lo, Fan Hi, Y1, and Y2.  Seem to work OK so I guess I happy with that.  If there is a loss in functionality it'n not noticeable.  When I'm get to BCS next month I am going to try and get a wiring diagram from them.....not very optimistic but worth a call.