My Old doutherm Penquin (the rear one) needs to be recharged. I replaced the run capacitor and also installed a hard start capacitor. It got the compressor running but no cold air. So there must be a leak or just discharged ? Have any of you had one of the old RV A/c's recharged. I guess I don't know where to look for a qualified service person around here.
93 Airstream 35' Dp
5.9 230 uprated to 300 HP
Allison MD 3060
Dutchess and Shadow Golden's Daktari Cavalier King Charles (fur Bearing Children)
Gale Hawkins wrote: The best way to fix the leak is with a new unit from what I can read. Our two 1992 units still had their Freon as of three weeks ago thankfully.
I concur! Lots of times these units are sealed, similar to window ac units and there are no hi/lo ports to be able to add the refrigerant. Once they loose their charge they are done.
Not just some but all of the rooftop A/C units are "sealed for life".
As for "recharging" first you have to find where the unit leaked from and fix that. BUT, unlike auto units there is no rpovision for recharging and nothing like the dryer in them.
Then you can think about recharging it. After having ports put in.
So by the time you spend the $90+ an hour to fix the leak and then recharge it (and remember some older units take freons that are either no longer available or really expensive) you got a multi year old unit with at best a 30 day warranty at the cost of a brand new A/C.
Might not be Freon but your compressor might have let go internally. It's time to replace because repairs will cost you more than the replacement cost.
I did recharge a A/C for a friend, it took me about 4 hours, and I charged them about $100. I found the leak right away, installed a freon access valve, and had to go get my torch, vacuum pump, and other tools to make the repair.
So I agree, not really worth it when you don't know how long it will take for the person to find the leak, and labor is $100 a hour, with $25 truck charge. The service bill can be close to the cost of a new unit.
A local appliance repair place is probably the best place to find a good deal on a repair, but get a price quote in advance. One plumbing company advertised they would fix window A/C units, $45 an hour (some years ago) and would send out two guys to pick up the A/C unit and take it to the shop (two hours) and one hour to wash it (that sometimes fixed it) and one hour for a real tech to look at it and determine what part is broken. If a shorted out compressor, then a estimate to repair was given (already 4 hours into the job, now they say $365 to install a new compressor) if a lower cost part such as a $45 capacitor was needed and it works, then they had 2 hours labor for the 2 guys to re-install it in the window, or put it back at the customer's house. So at least 6 hours labor, and perhaps 4 hours if they found something so expensive it was not worth fixing.
Usually it was less expensive to buy a replacement unit.
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