Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Tech Forums > Repairs & Maintenance
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 12-09-2012, 08:57 PM   #1
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
Air Conditioner whistling

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, and we just got out of our first cold snap of -30 below F temperatures. The temperatures finally 'warmed' up to 5 above F so my wife and I decided to go for a walk with the dogs. As I walked past my 2012 Cougar 29bhs that I have winterized and stored outside, I heard a pretty good whistling noise coming from somewhere in the trailer. I have removed both batteries and disconnected the propane lines from the tanks, so there's no electricity or propane in any of their respective lines. I went inside and noticed it was coming from the air conditioner mounted in the ceiling. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but was wondering was it just overpressurized from the extreme temperature dip then warming up? Or would it be something more serious. It's still under warranty, but it's not moving anywhere till April, I'm too afraid to move it when it's all frozen, I'm sure something would break during the trip.
__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2012, 10:11 PM   #2
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,846
You may have just been there when an expansion valve "let go" but there shouldn't be any noise, especially any whistling noise, from a non-powered air conditioner. Like you, I'd be very reluctant to move a cold soaked RV. Something will warp, wobble, or wham if you do. I'd just check it a time or two in the next week, notify your dealer/repair center of the problem IN WRITING and next spring when it's warm enough to pull it out and still early enough to get it serviced before the rush, I'd take it in for repair. The main thing, I believe, at this time is to make sure that it's documented in writing so there's no question next spring.
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2012, 06:13 PM   #3
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
Thanks, JRTJH, I took your advice and went to my service advisor today and noted the problem. She said to bring it in when it thaws, but make sure it's before the warranty expired (duh). I was reading the manuals, and the air con units come with a two year warranty, so that helps. They didn't want to write anything up at this time, so I'll have to keep track of it and make sure I get it in as soon as I can. It's actually still whistling in there, I just looked at it an hour ago, took a video of it, too. Still just as loud as it was yesterday, man I hope this thing doesn't blow up on me, at least it's parked pretty far from the house.
__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2012, 07:25 PM   #4
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,846
My "gut feeling" is that it's not a freon leak or it would have already leaked down to zero and stopped whistling. You did say in your first post that the batteries and the propane were disconnected. Have you, by chance, plugged in the 120 VAC power cord for the winter? Is this an air conditioner or a heat pump? If it's a heat pump, it may be powered on trying to heat the RV, frozen and can't defrost itself in the cold. If that happened, just unplugging the power cable might stop the whistle. If this an air conditioner it might have been running and frozen in the cold weather and still be trying to turn the compressor. If either of those happened, just unplugging the power cable might stop the whistle.

It's not going to blow up. I can't for the life of me think of what might be whistling in an air conditioner for that long a time without depleting the freon and finally stopping the whistle. If your dealer has internet connectivity with a webpage, etc, you could establish a "paper trail" by emailing them the content of your verbal discussion with the service advisor, sort of a "memo for the record". That way, if anything does happen "out of warranty" you will be able to establish when it happened. Also, you can contact Dometic at:

http://www.dometic.com/enus/Americas...pport/Contact/

On that page are phone numbers, email addresses and "snail mail" addresses to contact Dometic. I'd urge you to contact them during one of the winter storms when you're stuck inside and can't do anything but look out the window. They might have some ideas for you and if nothing else, it will serve to let them know you're having problems in the warranty period.....
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2012, 09:33 PM   #5
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
Nope, no shore power is attached. There's no power going to or coming from the air con unit, even the thermostat is set to 'off'. Thanks for reassuring me it won't blow up! I guess if it's venting, then it shouldn't be able to build up enough pressure. I have seen a freon leak in a fridge before (build up of ice in the freezer and a coworker decided to break it up with a screwdriver, ended up puncturing the refrigerant line) and it eventually leaked out completely, so I'm really curious why it's still venting. I found out the air con unit is an AirXcel (Coleman-Mach) unit, Mach 3 Plus. You mentioned contacting Dometic, did you mean AirXcel, or are they affiliated with them?

Thanks for all your input, it's greatly appreciated!
__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2012, 09:52 PM   #6
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,846
I had assumed you had a Dometic A/C on your RV. Keystone uses Dometic for the most part, however, you have an Airxcel. They are not ( to my knowledge) affiliated with Dometic (but who really knows) LOL

Anyway, the contact information for airxcel is:

E-Mail Address [email protected]
Phone Number (316) 832-4357
Fax Number (316) 832-3417


Their technical support may be able to give you some hints, and as with Dometic, any "paper trail" will help you establish a date of failure for warranty purposes.

Hope this helps, and, like you, I'm still astounded that thing is still whistling....
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 05:09 AM   #7
Bob Landry
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 1,910
The whistling is most likely air wind blowing through the cover, coils, or under the mounting gasket. Come on, guys, an unplugged air conditioner isn't going to generate any noise on it's own.
Bob Landry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 06:13 AM   #8
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,846
Bob, I'm with you, but if it's whistling and he says it's not the wind, then ???

After all, stranger things have happened, it is an RV, assembled by Keystone and in Alaska.....
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 06:28 AM   #9
Bob Landry
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 1,910
It doesn't matter. It's an inanimate object with no power. It can onlu be wind noise going through some kind of opening.
Bob Landry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 06:37 AM   #10
hankpage
Site Team
 
hankpage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Venice
Posts: 5,346
Talk about stranger things ..... is it possible there is a hornet or bees nest in the A/C shroud???? They beat their wings to keep the queen warm and make a buzzing sound. Had one in my stick home's soffit and it drove me crazy until spring when I saw them coming in and out. I'm grabbing at straws here but I can't see a unit without power making sounds for that long a time.
__________________
Hank & Lynn
2007 Cougar 290RKS, E-Z Flex, 16" XPS RIBs ( SOLD .. Gonna miss her ... looking for new 5r)
2004.5 Dodge 2500 QC, LB, 5.9HO, WestTach gauges, Ride-Rite
hankpage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 08:37 AM   #11
Festus2
Site Team
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Fraser Valley BC Canada
Posts: 7,015
You might try placing some kind of temporary shroud or cover over it to see if, by doing so, the noise stops. If it does, then you can be sure it is the wind.
__________________
2008 Cougar 5th Wheel 27RKS
2005 2500 GMC Duramax
Festus2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 09:43 AM   #12
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
I know it's not the wind, we haven't had any for a month or so. I have an ADCO Tyvek cover over it (which wouldn't stop wind blowing through it but would retard it) and there's about 1 1/2 feet of snow over the top of that. It's definitely something mechanical, the pitch is constant, doesn't fluctuate in tone, and is definitely coming from the AC unit (I bent down and listened to the fridge, but the whistling was still coming up from above). I took a video of it, it's all dark, as is Alaska at around 4:30pm, haha. I'll try and get a link to it here...

I just took out the dogs a second ago, and it's STILL whistling, you can hear it from 100 feet away. This is really odd, I'm calling AirXcel today to try and get some answers on this one.
__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 10:51 AM   #13
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
I uploaded the video, it's all dark in the trailer so there's nothing to watch, but you can definitely hear the whistling. It is not the carbon monoxide or smoke detector, either, since there's no power going to it and I took the batteries out of the smoke detector.

__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 10:58 AM   #14
hankpage
Site Team
 
hankpage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Venice
Posts: 5,346
That is strange. The only thing that I have heard make that sound is the gas detector when the battery is low and that would be close to the floor and usually not a steady sound. Definitely an electronic sound.
__________________
Hank & Lynn
2007 Cougar 290RKS, E-Z Flex, 16" XPS RIBs ( SOLD .. Gonna miss her ... looking for new 5r)
2004.5 Dodge 2500 QC, LB, 5.9HO, WestTach gauges, Ride-Rite
hankpage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 11:20 AM   #15
fla-gypsy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: North Florida
Posts: 1,241
That is no doubt one of the detectors giving a low battery alarm in my opinion. One of mine, can't remember which was hardwired but had a battery also I did not know about and did something similar. Check every detector for a battery and you will stop the whistle. I do not believe it is the AC.
__________________
2006 Keystone Hornet 29RLS (The Cracker Cabana)
2009 F-250 SuperDuty CC 6.8L/4.10 (The Black Pearl)
fla-gypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 11:33 AM   #16
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
It does sound electronic, but it sure sounds like it's coming from the air conditioner. I put my ear up to the carbon monoxide detector and the sound wasn't coming from there or the detector in the bedroom, the red/green light was off. Is there a battery in the carbon monoxide detector? I know it's hardwired in, but both RV batteries are disconnected and stored up on my garage shelf. Another thing I did was stand in the center and wiggle the trailer side to side, the sound did fluctuate a little, then got louder. Then it went back to the same tone.

This thing is starting to drive me nuts. I can't take it in to the service center since it's winterized and I don't want to move it for fear of cracking/breaking/crashing it on the icy roads.
__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 12:37 PM   #17
Htfiremedic
Senior Member
 
Htfiremedic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Hickory Taver SC
Posts: 381
Smoke detector?
Htfiremedic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 12:41 PM   #18
Alaskan Cougar
Junior Member
 
Alaskan Cougar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 22
Haha, figured it out!!! I called AirXcel and talked with Mike, one of the technicians there, he reassured me it wasn't the air conditioning unit, he even went to this forum, tracked down this thread and watched the video. He was a HUGE help, gave me tons of info and what-if scenarios, this guy rocked! After that, I called Keystone and talked with Sandra, gave her a rundown on the situation, and she asked what kind of radio I had, told her it was the Jenson AWM970 model, and she said she has delt with this model doing the same thing, emitting a high pitched tone through the speakers during alarm mode. She put me on hold and contacted AWA Electronics, and they gave her a rundown on the alarm feature and that it may be a defective unit. She wasn't sure if there was an internal battery in the unit....

Ok, hold everything, NOW I figured it out, I went down to the trailer one more time and held my ear up to the speakers, and it didn't sound like it was coming from there. Aggh, then I saw it. As I was peering at the ceiling over the slide out, there she was.....the smoke detector above the dining room table. I couldn't see it because the slide out was in, so it was blocking that one. I forgot to take the batteries out of that one, I know that for a fact. The batteries were dying, so what does it do, it warns me with a long, audible beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Much thanks to all of you that have chimmed in and helped out, I feel about an inch tall right now, but glad it's been discovered
__________________
2012 Keystone Cougar 29BHSWE
2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab LB 6.0 PSD
Alaskan Cougar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 01:27 PM   #19
Htfiremedic
Senior Member
 
Htfiremedic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Hickory Taver SC
Posts: 381
Figured that's what it would be. They are all batt operated and chirp for awhile then whistle until they die.
Pain in the rear...
Htfiremedic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2012, 02:31 PM   #20
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,846
Don't worry about your "height" Being an "inch tall" will make it hard to walk around in all that snow. So, get tall again, keep posting and know that all of us have been so far into the forest that all we could see was trees....

At least you got it figured out and now can let the trailer 'rest" till spring.....
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.