Basement A/C Heat pump again

Fossilhog · 02-20-2007, 09:17 AM

Here I go again 3rd year in a row. Temps got up to 55 today. Turned on the electric heat, heard the thermostat click, nothing. It didn't even look for the gas furnace. Turned it on gas, that worked fine. Got the rig up to 80 degrees, then tried the energize the A/C. Nothing again. No breakers popped, no burned wires (like last time). Got power to the unit, blinking light on. I've just had it with this basement unit. Thanks for letting me vent.

Fossilhog · 02-20-2007, 09:17 AM

Here I go again 3rd year in a row. Temps got up to 55 today. Turned on the electric heat, heard the thermostat click, nothing. It didn't even look for the gas furnace. Turned it on gas, that worked fine. Got the rig up to 80 degrees, then tried the energize the A/C. Nothing again. No breakers popped, no burned wires (like last time). Got power to the unit, blinking light on. I've just had it with this basement unit. Thanks for letting me vent.

rvten · 02-20-2007, 04:36 PM

Remove the cover by the controls. Remove the glass fuse. Leave out for about 20 seconds. Put it all back toghether. Hope it works. If you heat pump fails to start after 3 try's it shuts down. I found this out while in FL. several years ago. Removing the fuse resets the the unit.

Fossilhog · 02-20-2007, 07:11 PM

Tried it, didn't work. I hear the click at the thermostat, nothing at the basement unit. Same with A/C mode. I CAN put the fan on, and the gas furnace works too.

rvten · 02-21-2007, 05:40 AM

Check fuses on AC/Heat pump unit. OPen side panel. There shpuld be a little green light that comes on if it is working when you have the panel off.

Fossilhog · 02-21-2007, 05:58 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rvten:
Check fuses on AC/Heat pump unit. OPen side panel. There shpuld be a little green light that comes on if it is working when you have the panel off. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Read my top post, I have a blinking geen light on the circuit board. It's blinkiing quickly. The service manual says if slow, its in 3 minute time delay. If fast, one of the thermisters may be open......ok here I go, brb.

Uptate: I bypassed the top thermister and waa-la everything works. A/C and Heat pump both work, solid green light on board. Now I hooked up the thermister wires again and wouldn't you know, everythings working fine. A/C and Heat. Gremlins? Or did somthing un freeze. I had made an appointment to get this checked, March 6th...so we'll see how it acts between now and then.

BTW the courage to dig into this was given by the RVGUY from our forum here who was nice enough to call me last year and talk me thru all this stuff and had me make that jumper wire.

rvten · 02-21-2007, 07:44 AM

OK at least now you have it pin pointed.

DReiser · 12-26-2009, 06:02 PM

I have a 2005 Winnebago Journey and it would seem as though I have the same problem as Tim in NJ. Could somebody please describe how to by-pass the thermister as Tim describes?

"Uptate: I bypassed the top thermister and waa-la everything works. A/C and Heat pump both work, solid green light on board. Now I hooked up the thermister wires again and wouldn't you know, everythings working fine. A/C and Heat."

Any assistance you could lend would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug

Fossilhog · 12-26-2009, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DReiser

I have a 2005 Winnebago Journey and it would seem as though I have the same problem as Tim in NJ. Could somebody please describe how to by-pass the thermister as Tim describes?

"Uptate: I bypassed the top thermister and waa-la everything works. A/C and Heat pump both work, solid green light on board. Now I hooked up the thermister wires again and wouldn't you know, everythings working fine. A/C and Heat."

Any assistance you could lend would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug

Ok Doug, open the control palnel and in the upper left is what looks like a lamp cord, 2 wires in tandem going to the circuit board. Make yourself a jumprwire with the same female ends that would snap onto the circuit board. Give it a try and see what happens. My experiance over the years with these units is low voltage most of the time. Let us know how you make out.

KIX · 12-28-2009, 09:40 AM

Another problem that seems to recur on our RVP basement unit is loose female spade connectors. They can be tightened up by unplugging them from the male spade then tightening the female with pliers. Seems ot work for quite awhile before having to repeat the process.
The above may be the issue with your seemingly intermittent thermister problem.

dirko · 12-28-2009, 07:14 PM

Hi Ho: Kix has it right. Connector failure using Amp fast-ons is pretty common. It is much more common than component failure. But they are cheap and quick, so they are used a lot. If a film builds up on the surface of the connnectors it can prevent a good connection. This is common on dry (very small current) connections. Contact cleaner (or acetone etc.) and a Q-tip will help here.

The one that got us is the power connector on the electric heater of the hot water heater. The problem here is that WI used the wrong connector and with movement it became loose enough to cause a high resistance and a melt-down. The current here is high and the I-squared R loss could easily have caused a fire. This is something worth checking out if you have an electric heater.

Dirk

DReiser · 03-06-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fossilhog

Ok Doug, open the control palnel and in the upper left is what looks like a lamp cord, 2 wires in tandem going to the circuit board. Make yourself a jumprwire with the same female ends that would snap onto the circuit board. Give it a try and see what happens. My experiance over the years with these units is low voltage most of the time. Let us know how you make out.

OK, I'm just now getting around to looking at this... I'm sorry about that.
I found the wire that you refer to and I made a jumper wire. If I understand you correctly, I'm supposed to replace the wire with the jumper but is this supposed to be a permanent fix or just a test method? If it's just a test, where can I get a new part to replace what's broken? Any ideas?

Thanks again- you guys are the Best!!
Doug

wagonmaster2 · 03-06-2010, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fossilhog

Ok Doug, open the control palnel and in the upper left is what looks like a lamp cord, 2 wires in tandem going to the circuit board. Make yourself a jumprwire with the same female ends that would snap onto the circuit board. Give it a try and see what happens. My experiance over the years with these units is low voltage most of the time. Let us know how you make out.

I'm not having any problems with my A/C Heat Pump (but I'm sure its coming), - Fossilhog - can you explain where this control panel is and how do I get to it? Is it inside the coach or outside at the unit underneath and behind the right rear tires?

Thanks for your great answers

Wagonmaster2
2004 Mereidian 36G.

KIX · 03-06-2010, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wagonmaster2

I'm not having any problems with my A/C Heat Pump (but I'm sure its coming), - Fossilhog - can you explain where this control panel is and how do I get to it? Is it inside the coach or outside at the unit underneath and behind the right rear tires?

Thanks for your great answers

Wagonmaster2
2004 Mereidian 36G.

Alan, the panel being referred to is at the outside unit. Once you have access to the outside unit remove the screws that hold the sheet metal panel in place on the left front of the unit. This will expose the capacitors, control board, etc.

Fossilhog · 03-06-2010, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DReiser

OK, I'm just now getting around to looking at this... I'm sorry about that.
I found the wire that you refer to and I made a jumper wire. If I understand you correctly, I'm supposed to replace the wire with the jumper but is this supposed to be a permanent fix or just a test method? If it's just a test, where can I get a new part to replace what's broken? Any ideas?

Thanks again- you guys are the Best!!
Doug

Ok what you're doing is bypassing the thermister. In my case it may just have been a poor connection, but once I hooked up the jumper, I got a solid green light and all ran well. Thne I re attached the 2 white wires and everything was fine, making me think it was a poor connection.

Izzyblueye · 03-07-2010, 05:18 AM

I have had the same problem with my Suncruiser basement A/C. A mobile mechanic looked into it and found the burned wire. He was not familiar with basement A/C's. He called the manufacturer, they talked him through the problem which they knew right away about the wire. They told him to replace it, make sure the end connections were tight. When they get a little loose the wire heats up, mine literally melted. Never had another problem after that.

Duner · 03-07-2010, 08:49 AM

Seems everyone commenting in this thread is pretty good at fixing things.

I just wanted to let folks know if you have to get deep inside the unit, I have created a step-by-step procedure to remove the basement unit and how to replace the blower bearings, motor, and squirrel cage blower.

You can download an illustrated 30 page pdf on my website here:
Bill's Website (bill&marie2008)

I've been fulltiming now for 1.5 yrs since I did the repairs and it's running fine.

Happy Trails,
Bill

kcaravelli · 03-07-2010, 01:58 PM

Very cool. Good advice. Pulling the fuse worked like a charm. It is pretty cold, below 40 today. Not sure if that affected it but it is running fine now. We will take it into the shop and get it serviced soon just to be sure.