Air Conditioner Start Cap Replacement/Upgrade

Last Sunday, while preparing for a 3 week outing and luckily still at home, the A/C shot craps and stunk up the camper with a terrible burning electronics smell. This happened right at first startup (for the day) when the compressor tried to kick on. I pulled power and crawled up on top to have a look. Just as I thought, the starting capacitor had puked oil and the "motor relay" had a gaping charred hole in it. See black cap and black square thing attached on top of cap in pic. Of course I got online and found this to be a common problem with these A/C units. Mine is a 3 1/2 yr old 9000-series Polar Mach (read no warranty). I found a bunch of good ideas over at rv.net about upgrading the start cap/relay with something more robust commonly referred to as a 'hard start kit'. I was lead to the Supco SPP6 or 6E as a suggested easy fix. So on Monday I tracked down an SPP6 at a local Johnstone supply store. (Also very easy to find online if you're not in a hurry!) See pic. It was $15.10 including tax. It was easy, very easy to replace. A simple remove old cap and wires and plug in two new wires. Tools needed are a screw driver for disassembly and side cutters to cut plastic zip tie. New start cap is larger but easily fits in place. See pic.

While I had the A/C open I removed the 4 paper wasp nests (vacant), vacuumed out the pine needles and other debris from inside and also gave the coils a thorough cleaning. I liberally sprayed them with the Totally Awesome Cleaner and let it soak for 10 minutes or so. Then sprayed it off with the hose sprayer. The coils now literally look brand new again. It works!

I also took some time to inspect the compressor, tightened its mounting and also figured out the source of a slight buzz/rattle we had in the A/C. I found the black rubber covering on the lower line had moved and was allowing the line to rub against housing. I slid the rubber back down and tightened the zip tie. See pic. Again easy to do. Shell back on, 3 screws to tighten and she's ready to rock and cool!

The really good news came when I powered her back up. The compressor started with the greatest of ease. I mean smoooth! Granted I've only had the TM for 2 months, but the compressor has never started or ran this smoothly and quiet before. Compressor 'thump' and growl - gone. So was the rattle. I had to grab my SPL meter. In low cool mode I measured 70 dBc sitting on the couch. This is with the sound dampening material in place as well. Outlet temperature was a chilly 51 degrees. Outside was 86 degrees.

What did I learn? A good A/C service once a year to clean things out and tighten things up should be a requirement. The internet forums are awesome! and Carry a spare SPP6 kit for you or your camper neighbors. Who knows when the marriage you might save could be yours! or atleast the camping trip?

Careful though... Before attempting this repair make sure the power to the camper is OFF, work slowly, and make sure to short across the terminals on all the capacitors with a screw driver before touching the leads to avoid a shocking surprise.

Troy