I had the electricians out yesterday to install a 30A outlet on my house to plug the beast. Took them awhile to get it wired correctly, not sure what the problem was. Finally, I checked the wiring with a circuit tester and all was well. I tested the front AC, microwave and refrig on AC - all ok but when I tried to start the rear AC - there was no LCD panel display. I believe I have Duo-Therm Penguin units. We pulled the shroud down from inside and opened the AC inlet box and there is 122VAC present at the wire nuts. I took the shroud and panel to the front unit and the LCD panel worked fine. So my questions is this. Am I lucky or what. Am I missin anything. If I have 120 volts to the unit, then its not the electrical - right? I also fired up the generator and they still don't work. I used the AC's last about a month ago and all was fine them. Are the broke? and are they worth repairing or should I replace it. I know know I should have tested them prior to beginning work. Hindsight is everything.

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Russell and Donna
33' Barth Regal
Gibson Exhaust, Bilsteins, ipd sway bar

If the compressor is siezed, it's probably not worth fixing... replacing it would be my call. It's a good idea to start these A/C's up and run them for a few minutes every other week or so, just to keep them oiled nice. Amazing how a little used unit can sieze... Did you try it without anything else drawing current?

Yes - it was tried by itself - but there is no panel display - totally dead - fan won't run - heater won't work. No physical display

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Russell and Donna
33' Barth Regal
Gibson Exhaust, Bilsteins, ipd sway bar

Yes - it was tried by itself - but there is no panel display - totally dead - fan won't run - heater won't work. No physical display

Does anyone know where I can obtain a manual for this unit?

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Russell and Donna
33' Barth Regal
Gibson Exhaust, Bilsteins, ipd sway bar

Russ, you mentioned that "it took them a while to get it right"............

One of the possibilities is that they could have wired it like the (older) dryer or welder outlets-----that is, with two hot legs and one ground. That could have supplied 240 volts to whatever was connected. Was anything connected before they got it right? Could the rear AC have been subjected to an overvoltage?

The typical failure mode of a frozen compressor is a bit of humming for a moment, then a popped breaker. There might be an automatic-resetting thermal breaker in the air conditioner itself. If you have a frozen compressor, the unit would work OK on "fan-only" settings, and would work if the temp knob were set at a warm setting.

Does the voltage at the wire nuts stay at 122 when the AC is turned on?

Sometimes a frozen compressor can be jump started by doubling the voltage for a very short time. I've done quite a few times in the A/C business, but should be left to someone who knows what they're doing. It can explode! It sounds like a shotgun going off and could spray you with a lot of compressed oil.

bill h - the microwave was connected to AC and is the only thing that would have received power when connected.. It's display flashed as normal to set time. The AC's were off and were not turned on until they were done. Only then did I test it. The voltage stayed at 122vac when the switch is pressed. There must a control board or relay that switches the AC - again their is no indication what so ever on the LCD panel.
does this unit use any 12volts ? Could it have received an overvoltage - anything is possible I guess.

Additional question - to the left of my circuit breaker panel ,under the sofa, is a box - about 12" high by 4 X 3 that has a row of what looks to be push type ciruit breakers. The only thing on the cover are the words "POWER BREAKER" What is the function of this unit? any guesses?

[This message has been edited by kc_rusty (edited September 23, 2003).]

My a/c are control with 12 volts.You have 12 volts control power to start the fan or the a/c,and it light a green light on my switch for the a/c.

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br2409

Will the questions never end..... The breaker box attached to the left of the main 120ac breaker panel - could this be for the 12v curcuits? and could one be for the AC units? Also - on the back wall behind the transfer switch is what looks like a wall mounted relay - what is its purpose?

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Russell and Donna
33' Barth Regal
Gibson Exhaust, Bilsteins, ipd sway bar

My 12 volts fuses are at the back of the main breaker box,but all of my power in under the ref.and at step well.Your a/c 's must have the 12 volts and the 12o volts if your barth is like our barth?

My 12 volts fuses for the a/c's are on a fuse blocks with 6 fuses.A 3amp fuse for front a/c and a 3amp fuse for the bebroom a/c.

UPDATE - finally discovered a tag on the outside of the attached "BREAKER BOX" listing all 14 of the breakers - it is a 12 breaker distribution box .. but NO AC breakers. My gut feeling is it isn't getting a 12vdc feed. But I cannot locate the fuses for the ACs. All my apparent wiring is under the sofa. Any idea where the 12v feed/fuses might be on this '88 ?
Missliltiny is probably on the right track with the fuses.

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Russell and Donna
1988 33' Barth Regal
Gibson Exhaust, Bilsteins, ipd sway bar

[This message has been edited by kc_rusty (edited September 24, 2003).]

Your barth and our has same # of breakers. Our has 4 20 amp breakers 1 for water comp. heater,1 for micro-oven,1 each for the a/c. 8 breakers are 15 amp. 95 REGENCY-300hp 34ft

I had the same problem with both my Penguin units in the past - all indications of no 115V power. Turned out Duo-Therm (at least in these 1991 units) ran the 115V on a flimsy little printed circuit board trace. Where the spade connector plugged in, it overheated and melted the solder and trace. I repaired by paralleling the trace with bus wire and resoldering well. First one took a long time to find. When it happened to the second one a year later, it was only about a 30 minute fix. The PCB is accessible only from the roof. Remove the top cover and right front sheet metal cover right by the drain and it's right there. If you do it yourself (1) Unplug the coach...power on the PCB even when unit is turned off; (2)If you're doing it yourself, make a good drawing of all the spade connectors before you pull them off. I did this about four or five years ago and never had another problem. Good luck.