2022 TagXL Boondock. AC not blowing cold

jaredflaherty

i know this has been talked about a lot and i have read a lot but hoping to get answers bc i am camping in 90 degree heat.

i am shore power. i have the a/c fan On and it is blowing IN at both vents on the side of the ac unit and both cowbells are blowing IN.

the front of the camper is raised higher to allow runoff.

i can hear the compressor kick on.

i put my thermapen meat thermometer up to the air blowing out and it is blowing 93 degree air.

it has been on for about an hour.

please help me

zgfiredude

Not a high likelyhood, but have you made sure that the lower "exhaust" vent is unobstructed? Under the camper directly below the a/c unit there is a screen covered hole in the floor allowing the incoming air to exhaust out.

Have you checked breakers and A/C power cord (I think there is a surge protected outlet or cord in the center upper cubby in the cabin). You say you hear the compressor, but I am just curious if fans are running and compressor is not.

jaredflaherty

thanks. i just checked the exhaust vent under the camper and it doesnt look obstructed and there is air coming out. but only on one side. one side has air coming out the other doesnt seem to have any air flowing out. the air that is flowing out isnt especially warm. seems ljke same temp that is blowing out of the unit inside.

the ac unit is powered on, so i dont think there is anything tripped.

jaredflaherty

should have mentioned it has been parked in full shade.

Fourman110

Did you hit the fan switch below the radio/blueray? Cowbells clear inside?

jaredflaherty

yes the ac fan is on. cowbells seem to be clear.

jaredflaherty

i can definitely gere the compressor kick on and hum. the fact that it is blowing the same temp as the air temp outside makes me wonder what could be going on. the inside air intake vent holes and cowbells dont seem to be moving much air at all. hard to tell if they were blowing in our out until i held a leaf next to all four and all four are going in. the amount of air coming out of the unit is good and plenty. just not cold at all.

JamesDow

I would suggest contacting the manufacturer of the AC unit ASAP (in writing). A 2022 may still be under warranty.

jaredflaherty

i got under the tag again and really got angood look up into the vent that exhausts the air from the ac unit. it is 100% clear and clean and the little fan is blowing out.

of note is that even after running the unit for hours, there is zero water coming down the drain tube. hasnt had a drip come out.

Sharon_is_SAM

@jaredflaherty - make sure you crack your vent fan and a window on the first lock position. You need to circulate air for the A/C to dehumidify. Also, the air conditioners work much better if you cool the TaG down before it gets extremely hot. Our trailers are heat sinks, and even though you are in the shade, the interior can hold onto heat. Can you confirm that the A/C is not sitting in a pan of water?

GulfCoast

If the air conditioner is not cooling, it can't produce condensate and fill the collection pan. Not having ventilation to the trailer interior or to the rear of the AC would not cause the AC to quit cooling completely, just make it less efficient and possibly trip out on high condenser pressure eventually. With no ventilation the AC should provide readily noticeable cooling for several minutes at least.

If the air conditioner fan is running and the compressor is running and there's no cooling, there's likely a problem with the refrigerant charge (leak).

JamesDow

What brand is your AC?

If GE it may have a 1/5 year(s) warranty.

jaredflaherty

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/12961#Comment_12961

it is indeed a GE.

jaredflaherty

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/12960#Comment_12960

yes, it has to be the refrigerant. hopefully it is still under warranty or maybe the extended warranty i bought will cover it. thanks!

jaredflaherty

ok... I went and bought the exact same a/c from home depot and swapped it out. ah yes, blowing 18 degrees below the outside temp... perfect. had it on today and it was working great and now it stopped blowing cold air. it's blowing 94 degrees, same as the outside temp and the temp in the rv is 94. there is something wrong with the design of the system. edit to say that I am using an extension cord, but it is rated for 15amps. the little 5000btu a/c should only be pulling 4 or 5 tops.

JamesDow

Not sure if Home Depot web site has questions/answers on your unit. I checked Best Buy site and they had 102 Qs/As on their 5,000 BTU GE unit.

You may try looking at them.

Best of luck or at least better

jaredflaherty

@JamesDow said:
Not sure if Home Depot web site has questions/answers on your unit. I checked Best Buy site and they had 102 Qs/As on their 5,000 BTU GE unit.
You may try lookig at them.
Best of luck or at least better

well, it's back to working now.

i think what is happening is that the cabinetry is restricting air flow around the unit. there are vents on the sides and i think there isn't enough space for the air flow and the unit overheats and shuts itself off.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-AHV05LZ-Conditioner-Cooling-Capacity/dp/B087XCCLLT

i am now thinking the original unit in the camper had lost its freon due to the anchor screws that get bolted onto the unit from below. there's another thread on here where someone mentioned that it happened to them when they replaced their a/c. the freon line likely got punctered when the screws were inserted from below the cabinet. i opted to not put those screws back in when i replaced the unit.

i took off the front of the cabinet that frames the a/c into the cabinet. it is working much better now.

The_Rigger

I'm glad I read this thread! While in the process of other interior work today, I happened to hook Wanderlust up to my portable generator and fire up the A/C (which works well enough to let me hang a (small) side of beef in the camper - Lawdy it gets cold!) and double-check the airflow in the cowbells & floor vent... The OEM muffin fans are correctly oriented in my camper, but for all their noise I would hardly call 'em "high-cfm" or "efficient." I think I'll be up-gunning them to a set of Noctua 12v fans, once I measure what size fan housing is required - I've used them in a few of my ham radio transcievers and I've found them to be a vast improvement in both airflow and ambient noise level.

ras

standard 5.25 in computer case cooling fan as I remember. ordered from Digikey.

The_Rigger

That's what I was guessing for physical size, but I'm curious if they've got any sort of cfm specification, or if that's even worth worrying about.

ras

Don't remember what I bought when I had one die a few years ago but I researched for the best bearings/longevity and replaced both. Some folks turn them around to blow hot air out of the bells. Seems to me you'd be pulling dirt and dust off the ground. I also stuff sponges in the bells while traveling to keep the dust out. Too high a cfm, you might pull more than air in.