Cruisair all-in-one air con not cooling

[jimmy_the_builder]

I've got a single 16000btu all-in-one air con unit in the T40. It's been in dehumidifier mode all winter and as far as I am aware has been working fine. I switched it off a couple of months ago, and today for the first time this summer I switched it on in cool mode.

The fan works, and there's no warning messages on the controller about eg lack of water flow - but the compressor does not kick in.

Anyone know what makes the compressor start? I don't really know where to start troubleshooting.

 

[alt]

I'm going back to car mode here, but may be worth thinking about...

In a car aircon system, if the gas pressure goes under a certain level, the compressor won't kick in. This is to prevent it seizing in the event of no gas in the system (as it lubricates)

May not be the answer, but certainly worth thinking about.

 

[Nick_H]

I don't know the answer, but if you need it fixed then Phil Hooper at Penguin Marine in Antibes is a pleasant and helpful guy, and will be cheaper than Lyvio, more so if you talk to him in person.

 

[jfm]

You can hot wire start the compressor just by bridging the relevant 2 leads in the electric control box, just to see it run. I thought on those combined units there was a simple thermostat measuring air as it enters the fan, and that's all that turns the thing on or off. In other words there is not complex measuring of pressure rise in the gas or anything. This is why they can turn into a block of ice if you run them indefinitely in certain conditions. So if the fan is running but the compressor isn't something must be wrong. There are wiring diagrams online.

As well as Penguin, cool marine in La Nap are good, and they cover Antibes

I have a whole unit on my garage floor if you want to borrow or nick it or cannibalize it. Jenny is around and alec has key and you know where my van is (one van man talking to another here)

 

[Portofino]

Another thing to check is the reversing valve .Lack of use ceased .
Provionsal arm chair diagnosis would be this -its stuck -therefore be tap it a few times and check for ver d gris on all the spades .
Be mindfull of the 220 V AC side .

Does it still work in heat mode ? Should do if valve is stuck in that position .

 

[jfm]

Another thing to check is the reversing valve .Lack of use ceased .
Provionsal arm chair diagnosis would be this -its stuck -therefore be tap it a few times and check for ver d gris on all the spades .
Be mindfull of the 220 V AC side .

Does it still work in heat mode ? Should do if valve is stuck in that position .

The valve is in the cool position when the thing on dehumid function

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Another thing to check is the reversing valve .Lack of use ceased .
Provionsal arm chair diagnosis would be this -its stuck -therefore be tap it a few times and check for ver d gris on all the spades .
Be mindfull of the 220 V AC side .

Does it still work in heat mode ? Should do if valve is stuck in that position .

Not heating or cooling, and no compressor - so if it was a sticky shuttle valve I would expect to get one or the other, and I'd expect the compressor to start.

I've got raw water flow, and the control head says that the compressor has been requested (little dot in the display comes on) but the compressor doesn't start.

 

[GSL]

Is the control unit mounted on the wall displaying the low temperature that you want to acheive?

Graham

 

[jfm]

Not heating or cooling, and no compressor - so if it was a sticky shuttle valve I would expect to get one or the other, and I'd expect the compressor to start.

I've got raw water flow, and the control head says that the compressor has been requested (little dot in the display comes on) but the compressor doesn't start.

Are you seeing 230v AC across the two screw terminals (in the chocolate bar strip of 8 terminals) that send 230v to the compressor? 2nd terminal from left, and 3rd from right I think, but there's a sticker showing the wiring diagram. If you are the problem is with the compressor motor or cabling to motor; if you aren't then the problem is on the control circuit board. Let me know if you need parts

 

[Portofino]

Is the control unit mounted on the wall displaying the low temperature that you want to acheive?

Graham

Along the same lines - are - you are sure there is actually 220V coming in ? of the right type . Fan is 12/24V .
Try it on the geny - different type of AC ??

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

You can hot wire start the compressor just by bridging the relevant 2 leads in the electric control box, just to see it run. I thought on those combined units there was a simple thermostat measuring air as it enters the fan, and that's all that turns the thing on or off. In other words there is not complex measuring of pressure rise in the gas or anything. This is why they can turn into a block of ice if you run them indefinitely in certain conditions. So if the fan is running but the compressor isn't something must be wrong. There are wiring diagrams online.

As well as Penguin, cool marine in La Nap are good, and they cover Antibes

I have a whole unit on my garage floor if you want to borrow or nick it or cannibalize it. Jenny is around and alec has key and you know where my van is (one van man talking to another here)

Tee-hee, thanks J, in fact I have swapped the poorly uberscooter for the big bike today (hilariously, I hadn't told them I was coming and to get the big bike out, they had to move a brand new Aventador (in orange, natch), some gigantic Roller, a Ferrari FF, a 360 (letting the side down a bit there I thought) and a McLaren. Very entertaining). So no van required, although I did pop round to Alec today to drop a thank-you off for clearing his tools out of the van last night so we could use it. Thanks again for that.

I'm a bit reluctant to start injecting power into the unit because I very much don't know what I'm doing. I think at present I might be better advised to (a) go boating tomorrow (the forecast is lovely) and then (c) at some point in VF prolly I can take the stairs out of the boat (a bit non-trivial) and then decide if I'm capable of having a go at it, or if I'm better off calling Penguin.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I don't know the answer, but if you need it fixed then Phil Hooper at Penguin Marine in Antibes is a pleasant and helpful guy, and will be cheaper than Lyvio, more so if you talk to him in person.

Cheers Nick, noted. I suspect I'll be calling him tomorrow.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Is the control unit mounted on the wall displaying the low temperature that you want to acheive?

Graham

Yes it is - you need to have a temp set a few degrees away from ambient in order to trigger the compressor - and you can tell if the compressor has been requested if there is a little dot in the display next to 'cool' or 'heat'.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Are you seeing 230v AC across the two screw terminals (in the chocolate bar strip of 8 terminals) that send 230v to the compressor? 2nd terminal from left, and 3rd from right I think, but there's a sticker showing the wiring diagram. If you are the problem is with the compressor motor or cabling to motor; if you aren't then the problem is on the control circuit board. Let me know if you need parts

Thanks J. Because the unit is installed under the stairs, and the stairs have to completely come out in order to get at the unit, this is for tomorrow now I think. Thanks for parts offer. (Why have you got one of these in your garage? Is it for the tender? )

 

[jfm]

Is it for the tender? )

Yep, it's to help combat the heat from the genset, which is needed for the Teppanyaki

Silver Dee is all done with selfies (to use Porto's nomenclature! :encouragement and it's just a spare because they break now and again. As, er, you know! I have a selfie in crew cabin too. So its a shared spare basically. Think its a 16kbtu/h - certainly close to that. Anyway, post diagnosis @VF, you can cannibalise it if there's an item you need, then just source the cannibalised bit and send it to me later

Will look out for you on webcam tmrw. Try to line up centre frame

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Didn't go to VF in the end, but I did manage eventually (and, disappointingly, destructively) to get the stairs out so I now have access to the unit. This is what it is:

On the inside of this lid, helpfully, is a wiring diagram:

This is the inside of the module (brightened up a bit for clarity):

And this is the top of the compressor:

I called Phil Hooper at Penguin but they are too busy to look at it this week.

 

[rafiki_]

Jimmy, have you tried calling Dometic? I have found their service people helpful when diagnosing fridge problems. They might be able to diagnose your compressor problem?

 

[GSL]

Just a thought, I have remembered now that I had a problem two years ago that the guy in Southampton at the UK Agents, (Matt I think) diagnosed as a circuit board fault, on the telephone from Spain he was able to diagnose the fault, and told me which wire to take off the circuit board and the unit ran fine then just on cooling, which was all I nedded for the summer anyway.

Give him a call, very helpful and a bit clever with these systems.

At least you will not have wasted your time removing the stairs for access.

Seem to recall it was the big blue wire, call him, maybe the quickest solution.


Graham

 

[jfm]

Matt Fry is his name

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Thanks for the suggestions re Matt Fry - I'll call him later this morning.

Beautiful morning here - so we are now at VF, middle of the webcam pic, just to r of prominent tree.

http://vsm.shinshu-a.com/

Still, it never rains but it pours: as well as the moody uber scooter, the air con that doesn't - the generator wouldn't start this morning. Impeller has failed, bah. Not Onan's finest design either - the whole water pump has to come off in order to get at the impeller - but 30 mins of pre-breakfast spannering got that one sorted, at least.