Another basement air problem

[folivier]

Enjoyed a few days at Trace state park near Tupelo, MS.
However about 2am the bedroom basement air started trying to come on for a couple seconds. Did this repeatedly, start blowing, shut off, until it work me up. Power switch was off. Had to turn off the breaker to shut it off.
Any ideas if it is the control board or thermostat?
Searching I see Dometic makes a new control board/thermostat that supposedly fits our basement airs. Has anyone replaced theirs?
My other option would be to start changing out these for roof airs, which I may have to do eventually.

[tuga]

Forrest,

Sounds like a bad power switch to me. I'd try that first.

I had trouble with the basement ACs on my 1993 Newell. The condensor fan motors kept burning up. I changed 5 motors in 8 years!

I never had a problem like yours. Talk to Newell and see what they recommend. It sounds like you are on the right track.

With regard to changing to roof airs: that is going to be a big job. It would involve removing the ceiling material, running wires, cutting holes in the roof, etc. I would try fixing your power switch problem first.

[Richard and Rhonda]

Forrest,

First thing I would do is turn the breaker back on and replicate the problem, then turn the desired temp up on the thermostat until the thermostat no longer tells the AC to cool. See if that stops it. If it does, I would suspect a thermostat problem.

Find the control box, its a little silver box, usually located inside the return air plenum. Check to make sure all the AC wires in there are making good connection in the wire nuts. I have had several failures there.

The control boards are obsolete. That's straight from Dometic's mouth. I know, I know they show them on their parts website, cept you can't buy them anymore. I had to replace a relay on one of my boards.

Call me, I'm around all weekend. Ate one sevin, too two 3, too zed fiver six.

[larryweikart]

FYI: An expert on this subject is Dave Holmes,(574-266-1586) @ Holmes on Wheels. He was Dometics trouble shooter for many years and has helped me trouble shoot my basement airs, and continues to do so. If it weren't for the huge expense I would change to roof airs today and will never have another coach without them! Good Luck.

[smagown]

Forrest:
I replaced my basements with three Dometic roof airs. Total price = $1900. Cost of drilling the first hole thru my beautiful headliner = PRICELESS.
Thanks,

[HoosierDaddy]

Steve,
How do you heat your coach? Are the Dometics heat pumps?
Just curious...
Dean

[smagown]

Dean:
I've got Aquahot for heat. I wanted the heat pumps but they weren't available in the manual control model I used. I wanted the controls in each unit in the ceiling because I couldn't figure out how to route my wires over to the thermostat/control unit on the wall.
Thanks

[folivier]

Didn't get to spend much time on it the last few days. Here is what's what so far.
I swapped the thermostat with one of the others, I'll see if that makes any difference. Tomorrow I'll try and look at the wiring on the controller.
Still haven't ruled out roof airs yet. Kinda scared to start cutting holes in the roof! If I do I don't think it will be too bad running wires since I have the stretched vinyl roof. There seems to be at least 1/2" space to run the wires. Steve If I decide to go that route I'd like to talk to you. I don't think I'll be lucky enough to have pre-framed cutouts like Tom did.
Which ever route I go, either fixing the basement airs or changing out to roof's I want to get it done before this summer.

[zcasa]

Forest, with your size being 39', can you get by with two roof airs if you went that route, or would you still consider three? It seems to me, that if three roof airs are $1,900, that depending on how long each of us decides to keep our coaches, that there would be a cross over point that makes total sense to add the roof airs. For those fortunate enough to be able to work on their basement airs and keep them running on a regular basis, no worries. For others of us, particularly with my three total tools, the roof airs make a very tempting option.

Good day to all.

David

[prairieschooner]

What does that do to your overall height?

[folivier]

If I go with roofies I'll go with three 15ks, that'll give me the same cooling I have now. It'll add up to a foot of clearance depending on which unit (I do have enough room in my shed).
Decisions, decisions.

[chockwald]

We love our roof A/C's. Our coach height with roof A/C is 11.5'. Now Jennifer's '87 looks to be over 13' with roof A/C. Went through a few low bridges yesterday at just over 13'7"...glad to have a short coach...LOL!!

[folivier]

Just spoke with Newell. They have a "circuit board upgrade kit" which includes a board and thermostat. Ordered one and will try that. Price was $285.74, but if it gets my basements working again it's worth it. Talked to Mike in service about adding roof airs. He said the biggest problem is running wires to the unit. They charge about $4500/unit to install.

[zcasa]

Ouch, $4,500 per unit is a large investment right now. Be a high quality job for sure. My coach #303 needs 12' clearance. I have a satellite dome on top, so I don't know if the roof airs would add more to it or not. This fall when we went through the northeast, Denise had me ride on top a few times to make sure we were going to clear. Hmm.

[folivier]

There are some low-profile units that are only about 8" high. Most of the others are about a foot. Probably about the same height as your sat. dome.
Yes I'm sure Newell would do a top-drawer job, but...
I'll probably install them myself when I need to.
I was wondering what those handles are for on the roof! HA!
On the Natchez Trace at Jackson, MS we were looking for a pullover to eat lunch so decided to take a turn. Wrong turn! ended up having Cindy stop traffic so I could turn around because up ahead was a low overpass with a hard dip and the street I turned around in was marked "no outlet".
Makes for an interesting trip, just glad we weren't pulling the car.

[zcasa]

Good information, thanks Forest. I ran the marathon on that portion of the trail. Pretty for sure. Sounds like you are getting some good use out of Cindy on your adventures. lol. I'm sure she loves some of your decisions. lol. That is what makes all of these trips memorable though. Imagine a boring lunch time trip with nothing to remember. We intend to come through your way on our way back to CO in late March. Going to be around?

[encantotom]

if it was me, i would keep the basement airs going if possible. then when that was too difficult, add the rooftops like steve m. did. 4500 each to install sounds a tad high, quality or not. steves are done first rate and i think he said it was a day or two to do. if you put roof airs in, running the wires inside would be to run the romex to the side of the coach and down the chase. you would have to take the headliner down there and chip out the foam insulation.

the easiest is the way steve did his. he found a place to go up in the back and ran conduit on the top of the coach to each unit.

btw, the reason i added a third roof air is that 2 was not enough when it was much over 105, so being in bayou land i would put 3 in.

yea, they are not much higher than the sat dome i have.

steve hoisted his up a ladder. i wish i could have seen that. i had a buddy come over with a forklift and it took about 90 easy seconds to get it on the roof. they are not light.

thats my two cents worth and i am sticking to it......i stole that from wally

tom

[folivier]

Running the wire on the roof sounds much easier.
Should be around David, I'll be officially retired then so life should be great! Come visit for a few days if yall can, I have space and a hookup ready for ya!

[zcasa]

Thanks, Forest. Be cool to hang with another retired dude. Cindy and Denise can chat about work and you and I can fish. lol. Gotta love it. Won't be long and Clarke will join us as well. We will look forward to seeing you guys for sure. Have a good week.

[folivier]

Just installed the new board: "Dometic climate control kit part # 3307713.010 for a total cost with shipping of $$324.81 (may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere).
Had a few questions that Creslie at Newell answered and it was a pretty easy install. Seems to work ok, and I now have a nice digital thermostat! Nice to know that some parts are still available for our basement airs.