Coleman Mach A/C fan problems - UPDATED

[tknick]

Went on our second campout of the season (rained this time too).  Anyway, A/C worked fine the first day.  Matter of fact, got a little cold in the morning, so we turned the A/C unit off.  A little later, I turned it back on and heard the dreaded hum.  Unit was on, but the fan was not blowing.  When adjusting the thermostat, it sounded like the A/C was turning on and off like was supposed to.

I took the interior cover off and gave the squirrel cage fan a spin and it started spinning on its own.  However, it would not blow as fast as it used to.  Even at the low speed, it was definitely putting out cold air so I think the condenser part is still working.  I turned the unit off and turned it back on again.  Same thing with the fan.  Wouldn't work unless I gave it a spin.

I don't know if it is related, but the power unexpectedly went out to most of the sites at our campground (U.S. park in Uwharrie National Forest).  This was after the A/C unit conked out, but is it possible that the A/C motor "browned out"?

I was able to find someone who could look at it before June.  We are planning a trip then and won't go without the A/C (according to the DW).

Any ideas before the service guy takes a look?

thanks
travis

[wavery]

It just sounds like the fan motor may be worn out. If it will work after you give it a spin indicates that the fan motor is just tired. I can't imagine that they would cost much.

I certainly wouldn't recommend running the A/C without the fan motor running properly. It could ice up and cause damage to the compressor. You need to have the correct amount of air flowing through the evaporator coils to remove the cold (that's what makes your air cold) and keep the coils from icing. In actuality, you are adding heat to the coils, not removing cold. The air flow is what adds the heat. That is essential for proper operation.

[mike4947]

In two words...low voltage. You may or may not have ruined the AC. I did, that's why I recommend ALWAYS checking the park voltage and monitoring it when the parks fills up or the temp goes up.

Try running it at home. If it runs OK then you didn't do anything. If it doesn't time for the service man.

[Ron]

There is a good possibility that you have a bad starting capacitor if you feel comfortable with checking this out give me your email address and will go over what you have to do.  i.e. Remove ac cover and access the capacitors.

Ron

[wynot]

Went on our second campout of the season (rained this time too). Anyway, A/C worked fine the first day. Matter of fact, got a little cold in the morning, so we turned the A/C unit off. A little later, I turned it back on and heard the dreaded hum. Unit was on, but the fan was not blowing. When adjusting the thermostat, it sounded like the A/C was turning on and off like was supposed to.
 
I took the interior cover off and gave the squirrel cage fan a spin and it started spinning on its own. However, it would not blow as fast as it used to. Even at the low speed, it was definitely putting out cold air so I think the condenser part is still working. I turned the unit off and turned it back on again. Same thing with the fan. Wouldn't work unless I gave it a spin.
 
I don't know if it is related, but the power unexpectedly went out to most of the sites at our campground (U.S. park in Uwharrie National Forest). This was after the A/C unit conked out, but is it possible that the A/C motor "browned out"?
 
I was able to find someone who could look at it before June. We are planning a trip then and won't go without the A/C (according to the DW).
 
Any ideas before the service guy takes a look?
 
thanks
travis

Take out the credit card.  I just had the same thing happen while camping in NC a month ago.  Fan motor went out on my Mach unit.  I had a brown out and black out occur last year in PA which probably started our unit failure.
 
IN our case, the A/C worked, but the fan didn't spin the speed it was supposed to.  Repair cost more than I thought it should too.

[wavery]

Take out the credit card.  I just had the same thing happen while camping in NC a month ago.  Fan motor went out on my Mach unit.  I had a brown out and black out occur last year in PA which probably started our unit failure.
 
IN our case, the A/C worked, but the fan didn't spin the speed it was supposed to.  Repair cost more than I thought it should too.

Are you sure that it was the fan motor that they replaced and not the compressor :confused: . The fan motor is nothing more than a tiny little electric motor with a squirrel cage attached to it.........$50 tops really shouldn't be over $10 (plus labor).

I can't imagine them charging more than $100-$150 (parts & labor) to replace the fan motor. If the compressor goes out, you are usually better off replacing the entire AC. The compressor is probably $200 and labor another $200 and probably another $50 for Freon and misc charges. A new AC is not much more than that and you end up with everything new.

[tknick]

UPDATE

I found the RVP Products website (makers of Coleman A/C units) HERE.  Once there, using the TECHNICAL SUPPORT manual for my model.  It literally has statements like "customer says (in my case) fan does not work."  Then it lists possible causes and the testing techniques for the problems.  In my case it was the fan capacitor.  It took me about 5 minutes using an analog volt/ohm meter to locate the problem.  I purchased the capacitor from my local dealer for about $25 and replaced it in another 5 minutes.  

Just FYI, the motor for my unit would have cost about $100 plus another $100 in labor to replace.  I had initially tried to get the unit into the dealer for service because I had no idea what could be wrong.  They said it would be June.  It's a good thing they did, because their shop rate for labor is $99/hr.  That little repair would have cost quite a bit.  Using the website I would have felt comfortable diagnosing any problem.  About the only thing I think I couldn't have done would have dealt with the refrigerant and its charge.

If you own a Coleman A/C I highly recommend bookmarking the site.  Thanks for all the help.

Travis

[woodthumb]

sounds sooooo very familiar..... i had all three caps go on me after a Ft Wilderness lo vo experience few years back... pretty sure your problem is just the fan capacitor, but change all three while your at it.... very easy... two snap leads to each... get from local rv shop or order from coleman dealer...should be about $20 each..... fan, run, and compressor all together under shroud, behind access panel on driver side of unit.  good luck.... nothing major I believe.

[wavery]

sounds sooooo very familiar..... i had all three caps go on me after a Ft Wilderness lo vo experience few years back... pretty sure your problem is just the fan capacitor, but change all three while your at it.... very easy... two snap leads to each... get from local rv shop or order from coleman dealer...should be about $20 each..... fan, run, and compressor all together under shroud, behind access panel on driver side of unit.  good luck.... nothing major I believe.

You might want to try taking the capacitors out and take them to an electronics warehouse. You may get them for $3 each . Might have to modify the connector but I'll bet you'd save a bundle over the dealer price. The connector may even be the same (if you're lucky).

[wynot]

Are you sure that it was the fan motor that they replaced and not the compressor :confused: . The fan motor is nothing more than a tiny little electric motor with a squirrel cage attached to it.........$50 tops really shouldn't be over $10 (plus labor).
 
I can't imagine them charging more than $100-$150 (parts & labor) to replace the fan motor. If the compressor goes out, you are usually better off replacing the entire AC. The compressor is probably $200 and labor another $200 and probably another $50 for Freon and misc charges. A new AC is not much more than that and you end up with everything new.

Yes, I'm sure it was the fan motor and not the compressor.  And the price was about $168.00 all totalled.  I asked about the compressor originally and they said that would be $400.00 + labor and they would recommend replacing the unit if that were the case.
 
Do I suspect one of the circuits (to include capacitor(s) could be bad, yes, except for the fact that the fan motor did spin on its own and start up without assistance (starting cap is obviously good); speed increased when put on high, etc.
 
IF I had experienced the problem originally cited, meaning, had to spin the fan to get it going, then I would have gone straight for the starting capacitor first.
 
As a general comment, unless one has the desire to chase down some of these issues, I feel no guilt in getting a shop to look at it.  I am professionally trained in electrical and electronics and a daggone good DIYer, but I had neither the time, proper power, or inclination to tear it overly apart.
 
I'm sure there are a number of us who have gotten deep into money saving projects that could be done faster (not necessarily better) by someone else, that we wonder why we bothered.  On the other hand, if I actually trusted someone to drain my motor oil completely, I wouldn't be crawling under my cars every 5,000 miles and messing with that.  But that's a whole another thread...