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Old 01-10-2021, 12:18 PM   #21
CaptnJohn
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I have only 2 statements about Dometic 15K AC units! The 1st is I was not too bright having one with the heat pump option, should have done that
with BOTH! The other is wife flipped the thermostat from F to C lst night. She doesn't know what she did ~~ surprise. Now I have to figure to return to F.
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Old 01-10-2021, 12:32 PM   #22
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Just tap the temp UP and DOWN at the same time.
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Old 01-10-2021, 12:42 PM   #23
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You can still buy R410 refrigerant; heck, you can buy it on eBay. Find a local heating and air company and they can find your leak and solder it and add a fitting for filling the system with R410. Will be cheaper than buying a new AC.
Five years ago we had at least two shops out here would be happy to do that for you. Last year I looked for one and there's not a single tech who will add valves to an RV air conditioner unit anymore. I don't know whether it's our government "protecting us" harder or what.
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Old 01-11-2021, 05:19 PM   #24
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Just tap the temp UP and DOWN at the same time.
Thank you, saved a bunch of time digging the manual out or seARCHING ONLINE!
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Old 01-11-2021, 06:40 PM   #25
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Five years ago we had at least two shops out here would be happy to do that for you. Last year I looked for one and there's not a single tech who will add valves to an RV air conditioner unit anymore. I don't know whether it's our government "protecting us" harder or what.

My pastor owns a large A/C & Heating company and a really good riding buddy owns a small A/C & Heating company; he put in our 4 ton A/C about 3 years ago for parts cost and free labor and I rebuilt his V-Max carburetors for him. I am pretty sure it can be done if you look around a bit.
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Old 01-11-2021, 08:49 PM   #26
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With $8.59 you can buy 10 vacuum/recharge valves. A little "silver solder" a vacuum pump, a gauge set and a can of freon, you can do it yourself. There's hundreds of "you-tube experts) to show you how to do it.

You can buy the valves on EBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-Service...EAAOSwg3hfFwgF
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Old 01-11-2021, 09:47 PM   #27
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Make sure you have some flux as well.
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Old 01-12-2021, 06:48 AM   #28
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And a torch that's hot enough to silver solder, and that's if your a/c has copper pipes and if you've never done it before find something to practice on. The price on the valves listed are price for "each" not for 10. Ebay does that a lot, can make it confusing.
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Old 01-12-2021, 08:02 AM   #29
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If someone is uncomfortable with soldering copper tubing, then a saddle valve will work without soldering. It basically clamps around the tubing and penetrates it and adds a service port to the system. This is the service port saddle valve shown in the video:
https://www.amazon.com/TJ90BPV31-GEN...18da41b18feae6


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Old 01-12-2021, 08:08 AM   #30
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And a torch that's hot enough to silver solder, and that's if your a/c has copper pipes and if you've never done it before find something to practice on. The price on the valves listed are price for "each" not for 10. Ebay does that a lot, can make it confusing.
No, it's a package of 10. The "buy 1, buy 2, buy 3" is how many packs of 10 you want to buy. They are, essentially, 85.9 cents each.

My point, apparently somewhat "mis-understood" was that you don't need an "accomplished magical technician" to add a valve to what essentially is a "low tech window air conditioner unit"...
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Old 01-12-2021, 08:24 AM   #31
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If someone is uncomfortable with soldering copper tubing, then a saddle valve will work without soldering. It basically clamps around the tubing and penetrates it and adds a service port to the system. This is the service port saddle valve shown in the video:
https://www.amazon.com/TJ90BPV31-GEN...18da41b18feae6


Personally I would not go with a saddle valve if I were planning on keeping the unit for any length of time. IMHO you're just adding another leak. If your goal is to sell it (depending on your morales there, I wouldn't do this myself), or just "get thru the season" until you either fix or replace it then maybe.

My thoughts are that if the unit is low on refrigerant then it has a leak. To fix a leak you need to repair the source of the leak, replace the receiver dryer, vacuum down the system and then charge with the proper refrigerant including the proper oil charge if the system requires it. Doing that work would call for the equipment and knowledge to weld the lines so insert T and install service ports on the high and low pressure side.

RV a/c units are nothing more than a window air conditioner and are disposable IMO. If there's a leak in the coils chances are you won't be able to get to it to repair and a replacement coil won't be available because it just isn't economically feasible for a repair company to charge the necessary labor.

Bottom line, recharging the a/c doesn't fix the leak, it just kicks the can down the road.
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Old 01-12-2021, 08:27 AM   #32
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No, it's a package of 10. The "buy 1, buy 2, buy 3" is how many packs of 10 you want to buy. They are, essentially, 85.9 cents each.

My point, apparently somewhat "mis-understood" was that you don't need an "accomplished magical technician" to add a valve to what essentially is a "low tech window air conditioner unit"...
I stand corrected. After looking at it on a larger screen I see the 10x at the beginning of the listing. Must be some high quality stuff.
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Old 01-12-2021, 08:39 AM   #33
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I stand corrected. After looking at it on a larger screen I see the 10x at the beginning of the listing. Must be some high quality stuff.
Yep, quality is not one of the "best selling points" for sure. That said, all that type of Schrader valve is, is a truck valve stem with the rubber removed.

I agree with your comments about doing it "the right way" or "the get through this season way" ... There is a difference in long term and short term repairs.

My point, again, was that it's not some "mystical process that's reserved only for a purveyor of magic" called a HVAC technician. In other words, if, after searching all of southern California or all of Tennessee and you can't find someone to fix a "junk A/C that you're going to throw away" some might want to consider "learning a new process that's not technically challenging or impossible for the average tinkerer with a work bench in the garage".... It ain't impossible to just fix it yourself with a little research and some courage to pick up a tool.....

All that said, yes, I do realize that freon is not always a "friendly environmental substance" but neither is ammonia if you've ever spilled some in a closed room.....

ADDED: IMHO, the reason most HVAC repair businesses no longer repair this type of A/C unit is not because it "can't be done" but rather because "they can't make enough money to justify the time/effort/governmental regulations regarding freon recovery/use to justify the few times a year someone would request the service from them. In other words, most of us would probably just throw it away rather than repair it anyway, so why offer a repair service that nobody would use and the government makes "near impossible" to maintain.....
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Old 01-12-2021, 10:01 AM   #34
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"Back in the day".... Several decades ago (before the ramifications of R-12 were highlighted) we (DW & 2 young daughters) were about 3 hrs from home on a sweltering August day. About 97° F and 90% RH. The a/c on the 1985 Pontiac Perisian started blowing warm air. I pulled off the highway into the parking lot of a shopping center that had annoutparts store. Told the DW to take the girls into the pizza shop next door for a bite and cold drinks.

I bought a cheap a/c recharge kit and 4 cans of R12. Refilled with 2 cans and checked and attempted to assess the situation not having my hose and gauge set with me. Drove about 2 hrs and had to pull over and put in 2 more cans that kept us cool until getting home.

Point is the refrigerant was leaking out. Simply replacing it doesn't fix the leak. Unlike the cooling system for the tow vehicles engine an a/unit is a sealed system. In a vehicle engine cooling system it's an open system. The radiator cap controls the pressure by venting it to a "coolant recovery tank". If you continue to drive while it's boiling out then the volume will overcome the tank and you will have a loss of coolant.

As an a/c system is a closed loop the only way for it to be low on refrigerant is via a failure in the plumbing, a leak. Leaks don't fix themseves so adding more refrigerant doesn't fix it. Just want to make it clear so someone's first experience doesn't end up with a "but I added refrigerant last week and now it's not working again".
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Old 01-12-2021, 03:32 PM   #35
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"Back in the day".... Several decades ago (before the ramifications of R-12 were highlighted) we (DW & 2 young daughters) were about 3 hrs from home on a sweltering August day. About 97° F and 90% RH. The a/c on the 1985 Pontiac Perisian started blowing warm air. I pulled off the highway into the parking lot of a shopping center that had annoutparts store. Told the DW to take the girls into the pizza shop next door for a bite and cold drinks.

I bought a cheap a/c recharge kit and 4 cans of R12. Refilled with 2 cans and checked and attempted to assess the situation not having my hose and gauge set with me. Drove about 2 hrs and had to pull over and put in 2 more cans that kept us cool until getting home.

Point is the refrigerant was leaking out. Simply replacing it doesn't fix the leak. Unlike the cooling system for the tow vehicles engine an a/unit is a sealed system. In a vehicle engine cooling system it's an open system. The radiator cap controls the pressure by venting it to a "coolant recovery tank". If you continue to drive while it's boiling out then the volume will overcome the tank and you will have a loss of coolant.

As an a/c system is a closed loop the only way for it to be low on refrigerant is via a failure in the plumbing, a leak. Leaks don't fix themseves so adding more refrigerant doesn't fix it. Just want to make it clear so someone's first experience doesn't end up with a "but I added refrigerant last week and now it's not working again".

To piggyback on that, since we have lots of folks that can relate, I'll add another note to adding refrigerant.

Years ago ACs seemed to have lots of leaks for various reasons. You could get R12 and all kinds of little "charge kits"; screw it into the proper port, turn the little twisty handle until it punctured the can and there it went, right into the system and "instant cool air". Well, one of the ways I was told to assess low freon were the bubbles in the sight glass - which there were many. So, took the little hose kit and started adding freon waiting for the bubbles to go away - no gauge..... Well, did you know you can overcharge a system and still see bubbles? I didn't, but do now. Kept putting that freon on in and while intently staring at that little glass "POW"!! I thought something had blown up inside the compressor! I had overcharged the system and although it sounded like it must have split that compressor in half it didn't. It did however necessitate a quick trip inside to "straighten things out". Oh, and I did buy the kit with a gauge....
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Old 01-13-2021, 12:25 PM   #36
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With the derecho last summer there are a lot of trailers being parted out.

I wanted to add a bedroom a/c. Found a guy local the buys up damaged rv’s and parts them out. Got a bedroom a/c of a trailer that had a tree fall on it. Only 6 months old. $400 and that included the inside control head. Scored big time.
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