Beaver roof A/C

[Gunther Hektor]

Patriot Thunder 2001, front A/C draws the maximum current when turning on the unit.
It kicks out everything else! 
The rear A/C turns on and the fan runs, but the A/C does not kick in.
Any ideas what I can do?
Gunther

[David T. Richelderfer]

Uhhhhh... move further North to cooler weather.

Seriously now...  when one of my roof air conditioner's compressor seized (Bad bearing?  I don't know.) when turned on it would cause the Aladdin to show a momentary 75 amp draw on one of the two legs.  The unit would shut down, wait for a minute or so, and try to start up again.

I ended up having the unit replaced.  Cost was $1,800 or so as I recall.  I have possibly two thoughts regarding your other air conditioner - its compressor is shot and/or it has lost all its coolant.

Gotta git... golf tournament!

[Edward Buker]

Gunther,

What David is saying is the most likely cause of the over current. Basically the motor tries but cannot turn the compressor due to it being seized. The symptom would be the fan comes on in the unit and after the delay cycle when the compressor normally comes on, that is when you get the over current that kicks the breaker. If that is so then pretty sure that is what is happening. In that case turn off the breaker until it is replaced or fixed. You may also consider replacing that breaker also which is likely one made for air units which is more tolerant. If for some reason the breaker kicks as soon as the fan starts that may be a bad fan motor or something else and is worth having a repair guy come and look. There is also a starting capacitor that could be bad and could kick the breaker if shorted.

As far as the other unit is concerned all you can do is either download the troubleshooting info from the web and see what you find or get someone familiar with that system to trouble shoot it. I do not think one unit should have affected the other but it seems strange you would have trouble with both. Low voltage will stress those units so if they have been running on low voltage maybe that has affected them.

Later Ed

[Gunther Hektor]

Dave - Thank you for your response.  You are right, we did move North, but when we return to AZ we need it fixed.
Gunther

[Gunther Hektor]

Ed - Thanks for your input.  In thinking about it, you could be right that it is low voltage because it is only at the time
of starting up that it draws max amp.  After it runs it drops down to 14 amps which is normal.  I will consult an A/C
repair shop and have it checked.
Gunther

[Edward Buker]

You should have some readout in the coach that gives AC voltage. If not use a meter. See what the voltage is at several outlets with the Ac on and off. See if you can measure an outlet on the same side of the 120V leg. As a source 120V would be nice, 115V would be acceptable, 110V or less is pushing it.

I was under the impression from what you wrote that the air would not work. If it works then you probably do not need an air cond guy. You may need to be sure that all the connections are good electrically and that the power source is supplying what it should. As a check you can run on the generator and see if that performs better. If it does look to the park power source and see if the outlet, the park breaker, and AC voltage is where it should be.

Later Ed