Side A/C not working, remove, or?

[B_and_D]

We have the side A/C on our 2720, and have only used it once, on the way home from Oregon where we bought it. It worked when we had it plugged into the campground service, but here at home, it doesn't seem like it is working at all. The circuit it's plugged into is probably 15A (it's 20A, I just checked, however there is a 25' extension cord running out to the TM). I have never had to deal with A/C units before, being in the summer fog zone, so I know very little about how they work. Is 20A enough power to make the A/C work? I hear the compressor come on when the dial is turned way up, but the air outside is colder than what's coming out of the unit. We camp at places without hookups mostly, or with hookups in the winter, but possibly this summer might do an Oregon/Washington/Idaho/Wyoming trip where it might be needed.

Do these A/C units lose freon (are they similar to a car A/C?) over time? I could probably replace it with another unit (if I could find one that fit) but I really would like to just take the darned thing out, since we never use it, and put in a slide-in drawer that I would build and fit into the empty space with the option to replace it in the future.

Has anyone replaced a side A/C?

We could really use the extra space where the A/C is for storage...and then could probably get rid of the plastic stack of drawers next to the wardrobe.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. DH says to take it out if I want to...?

[Joe]

If yours is like mine, it is just a small window-type room AC. You could buy a replacement almost anywhere. Your main concern would be to get one that had about the same dimensions. Several years ago ours quit working and I found that the switch was bad. It would turn on the compressor but not the circulating fan. Replaced the switch and now it works OK.
It would be fairly easy to remove the AC. Pull the grille off and see if there are some screws on the sides into the frame. If so, take them out.
Then go outside and remove the outside grille. There is probably a couple of screws or brackets securing the rear of the AC to the floor of the opening. Remove those, unplug the AC from the 110 volt outlet and slide the AC out of the trailer. Be careful, it's heavy. Get someone to help if you can.
Now you can
check it out to see why it's not working,
or
measure the dimensions and check the BTU rating to buy a replacement.

If you decide to remove it and not replace it you will have to find a way to cover that hole where the grille was. I don't have any suggestions as to how to do that.

[B_and_D]

After some discussion DH and I have tentatively decided to leave the AC unit in until we can test it out in a campground with 30A service. Or, I thought about dragging our old Coleman generator out to the TM and trying to run it off of that, it's horribly noisy, but effective when we have power outages for more than 24 hours. Sometimes our power is out here for a couple of days, and we just use it to run the refrigerator and freezer to keep the food cold.

It's so loud that if you tried to run it at a campground, you would be surrounded by angry people with whatever they could pick up to assault you with in a moment...BBQ utensils, tire irons, rocks, etc. It wouldn't be a pretty sight.

But we need to start it every 6 months or so to make sure that it works and to keep the gas fresh, so this would be a good opportunity to check out the AC unit and exercise the generator.

[Bill]

D' -

IIRC, the side mount A/C is only 5000-10,000 BTU, which should run very nicely on a 15-amp circuit. As Joe suggested, it is just a household small room airco, all of which run from a 15-amp plug in the room's wall.

Again as Joe suggested, I would simply replace it with a new unit of the same physical size. They are inexpensive, you may enjoy it, and it will enhance trade-in value.

Bill

Our 2720's side a/c will work fine on a 15 amp household circuit. I had the inside cover off a while back and read the label on the unit. IIRC, it said 10 amps, however I'm sure it pulls more than that when the compressor initially cycles on.

Now for a related question:

The side a/c units have some sort of molded black plastic drain pan underneath them with a plastic drain tube that leads to the wheelwell. We can run ours continuously for a couple of days and see little to no condensate water drain from the tube. Yet, during our drive home, water comes from somewhere under the unit and runs down our cabinet door and onto the floor. I've checked the tube and it seems to be clear all the way up through the pan.

I can't figure out why the darn thing only leaks inside the trailer when we're driving, doesn't overflow when parked & running, and drains little to nothing during operation. Anyone else have this problem? If nothing else, I'll just tear into it but would rather know where I'm going first...

Thanks,

Steve

[B_and_D]

I would suspect that the drain hose might be pinched at some point, or that there is accumulated dirt/dust in the pan itself that keeps the moisture in the pan. It wasn't a big deal to pull ours out. I started with the inside, took off the trim, etc, but it wouldn't come out so I took off the outside grill. There were just a couple of screws holding the unit in that went from the inside trim pieces into the body of the a/c. If you take off the outside grill you will see the pan that the unit sits on and also a sheetmetal band that wraps around the sides and top and is screwed into the bottom; this secures the unit. Next time I'd start with the outside. When we did the wheel well modification we had to kind of route the drain hose around the sheet metal we were installing (we had some extra that we wrapped around under the frame). As I recall, it came out right next to a cross-beam in the frame right behind the wheel well.

We just left the grill on and cut a piece of 1" foam board to fit inside where the opening is. There sure is a lot of extra room in there now! It's a great place for a microwave, or a big tub full of whatever. I've been looking for a replacement unit, have seen several that would fit, but just haven't bought one yet.

The lip around the pan is only about 3/4" high, perhaps it could be made higher somehow in order to keep the moisture from spilling out while driving, while it manages to make its way down the drain tube. Maybe some duct tape with some plastic material around the edge?

[B_and_D]

Here's some pictures of the pan and the empty space:

Thanks for the reply and the photos. The pan photo is especially helpful, as that's what I was guessing it looks like...

I believe you're right - there's probably something obstructing proper drainage in the pan (or maybe the a/c unit isn't draining into the pan like it should?). In any event, I think my next "little project" is a/c removal and investigation.

It's a trailer...it's a hobby...it's a trailer...it's a hobby - wait! It's two things in one! What a bargain! :^) (too bad I'm already full up on hobbies...) At least I'm learning new stuff!

Steve

[Joe]

Steve,
Look in the cabinet under the AC and you will see that the plastic drain hose is kinked just as it comes out of the drain pan because there is very little clearance (maybe a little over an inch) between the bottom of the AC shelf and the top of the wheelwell. I pulled the hose off the drain pan outlet and went to a hardware store and bought a small plastic elbow that the hose would fit on and that would fit onto the drain outlet. It was close quarters but I put some RTV sealant on the fittings and then worked the elbow onto the drain outlet. Be sure to route the hose so that it goes out the bottom of the trailer without any more kinks.

Joe