New AC problem

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:sad I've had my 17'SD two months today. Went camping last weekend and in addition to the bathroom window coming apart, the AC wouldn't work--just hummed. I emailed a friend who picked up his SD the same day and he also has had this problem. Susan at Casita also said they have noticed this with the new Coleman models. It appears that when temps cool off the AC shroud "shrinks" and binds the blades (?). I'll be calling Coleman tomorrow and see if there is a fix. I tried the AC Monday and Tuesday and it worked--came on very slowly and made a loud racket, but it did work (temps in mid to high 70s). The temps were in the high 60s when I tried while camping (it was raining and I wanted to try to dry out the air--too warm for the furnace). BTW, I also tried the heat strip cause morning temp was in the 50s but it didn't work either, only hummed. Question, has anyone else with a newish Casita with the newer Coleman AC unit had this problem?

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Hi Ginny. Good to hear from you again!

I'm having trouble believing that temperature swing from the 70s to the 60s would cause the durable plastic shroud to shrink.

Our trailer is a year and a half old, with roof a/c, and we will often run the heat strip, not only during a few winter campouts, but in Canada and Colorado mountains during the summer in 40's degree morning temps ... just to take the chill off, without a problem.

A "test" for this theory would be to remove the shroud (by removing the top four bolts ... and see if the unit runs. My bet is you will have the same problem.

Something else has to be seizing or binding.

You were going to be on the road, weren't you, after retirement ... I'd have Coleman put in a new a/c under warranty. Believe the warranty on the new Coleman a/c is two years.

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:o It sounds bizarre. I've been turning it on each evening after work. Nothing has changed except the outside temperature. Sunday afternoon (temp in high 60s) it only hummed . Monday it came on slowly with a loud racket (temps in high seventies). Today it came on immediately with no racket and the temps were in the high 80s with a heat index in the mid 90s. It is so weird! However, I made an appointment with an authorized repair place to have it looked at next week. I'll let you know what they say.

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I picked up my new 17' Liberty Deluxe in Rice on Aug. 7. The A/C worked just great at that time (Thank God!!). But about 6 days later, in S. Dakota, it just wouldn't turn on any more. I took it to an authorized repair shop in Rapid City, and they quickly discovered there was a loose wire going to the thermostat. They put it back together and sent us on our way. 3 days later it wouldn't work again. This time, having observed the technician make the last repair, I was able to connect the loose wire again. It work fine for another couple of days and again stopped working. I attempted to do the same repair and discovered that the wire that had caused the problem before was not loose this time. I checked all the other wires I could see and could not see that any were obviously loose.

When I try to turn on the A/C, I can hear a very low hum. If I have any lights on, they dim noticeably when I turn on either the "Low Heat" or cooling choices. I have checked the fuses and breaker switches and all appear to be OK.

I have made an appointment at Camping World in Tacoma, about 40 miles away. As far as I can tell they are the nearest authorized Coleman repair facility.

Now that I know that other owners of new Casitas are having similar problems I wonder what we should do about it.

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Sounds like the compressor comes on, but the fan doesn't.

Seems like a batch of (new) Coleman air conditioners have a short (or two or three) in the fan wiring.

I'd say you're on the right track, taking it to an authorized center for service (or replacement?)

What a pain, though, on a brand new trailer!

:bh It reminds me of a computer I bought once, with a bad power supply. The authorized service center replaced the bad power supply with another bad power supply. (The computer company had purchased a bunch of bad power supplies.) It finally was fixed, though, with the third power supply....

Yeah, I think I'd try to get Coleman to replace the whole unit.

Good luck with it! (And let us know how it goes.)

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:wave I picked up the trailer from the repair place and the AC works as it did when I picked it up in Rice. The technician said, "found fan blades rubbing on shroud--repositioned shroud...". Tested it before hitching up to make sure. Hope it lasts. Yay! No racket! My campground neighbors will be happy too.

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Ah, my AC unit worked great all summer at a camp site. Its now plugged in on my driveway. Went to use the heat strip & the AC fan would barely turn. Ah, then releazed the problem was very low voltage caused by a thin extension cord that was 150 foot long. Result, barely enough voltage to run the unit. So before you do anything else check for low voltage. Many campground electrical outlets are not in very good shape & can also cause a voltage drop at the plug in connection. The AC unit needs full 110 volts to operate properly. Keep this in mind. MANZI

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I took my Casita into Camping World (the nearest authorized repair service for Coleman A/Cs) last week and they repaired it. It seems that the cover (shroud?) was not in the correct position and was restricting the fan from operating. The repairman moved it and refastened it and the fan now works just fine.

Tom Juelson