Air Conditioner Capacitor

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tdashmike
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Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

Hi,

Does anyone know what value the run capacitor is? Mine is completely rusted. Apparently mine also came with a start capacitor with a PTCR. I'm going to "upgrade" the start cap and PTCR to a Supco SPP6 to see if it will help with my generator shutting down when the compressor kicks on.

EDIT:
I called Dometic with the model number listed in the manual and they told me the product number for the AC unit is 991760394 and the run capacitor part number is 3313107.003. It is a 35uF+10uF, 370V dual cap. However, if you look up the run cap with the model number that's actually printed on the AC unit the cap is a different value. I don't know why this is but I looked at the label on the blower motor and it states to use a 10uF cap. The compressor cap value is the same for both model numbers.

AC Label:
IMG_2971.jpg
IMG_2971.jpg (114.95 KiB) Viewed 14633 times
Parts list for 600312.321:
http://beamalarm.com/foretravel-links/P ... manual.pdf


Caps and PTCR:
IMG_2922.jpg
IMG_2922.jpg (151.3 KiB) Viewed 14709 times
Last edited by tdashmike on Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:56 am, edited 3 times in total.
slapthecat
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by slapthecat »

Oooo! Cool project. Interested in what you find - have been wondering about my ac as well. Take some pics, please!
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Kentuckian
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by Kentuckian »

Not a direct answer to your question... However, it is related. EasyStart is a soft start controller designed to dramatically reduce the start up surge current of the compressor motor.

https://www.microair.net/collections/ea ... t-starters

There are some informative videos on youtube that show measured surge current for the factory air conditioner vs a start capacitor vs the Easystart. Here's one with lots of detail...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soP0uZFd0nQ&t=1809s
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tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

Kentuckian wrote:Not a direct answer to your question... However, it is related. EasyStart is a soft start controller designed to dramatically reduce the start up surge current of the compressor motor.

https://www.microair.net/collections/ea ... t-starters

There are some informative videos on youtube that show measured surge current for the factory air conditioner vs a start capacitor vs the Easystart. Here's one with lots of detail...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soP0uZFd0nQ&t=1809s
I would much prefer to buy the EasyStart but it is too expensive for me. I went and bought new capacitors and actually the AC works fine on the generator now without any start capacitors. I think the colder you have the thermostat set at the faster the compressor kicks back on once it reaches temp. If it starts up too quickly, the system is still under pressure and requires even more current to start the compressor. I have the thermostat set at 3 and it ran fine for a couple of hours. When on 3, the compressor turns back on after about 1 minute. When set as cold as it will go, the compressor kicks back on in 30 seconds which I don't think is enough time and shuts the generator off.

On another note, I think because I was on the roof, somehow I made a crack in the seal and now the AC unit is leaking water into the cabin...

I put 2 layers of plywood down where I put my knee down so that is a real bummer. Instead of pulling the whole AC unit, I'm going to put a weatherstrip around the unit and then use Dicor or the Loctite linked below. People seemed to have had good experience with the Loctite since the Dicor is more expensive and not as widely available. There is an orange foam that goes around my entire AC and it's completely hardened with no bounce.

Loctite PL S30 10 fl. oz. Black Polyurethane Roof and Flashing Sealant:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-PL- ... /203163733

$40 Off Coupon for EasyStart:
https://networkrv.com/review-easystart- ... enerators/
Last edited by tdashmike on Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Kentuckian
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by Kentuckian »

Great news that your new capacitor has you up and running! Glad you got buy with the cheaper solution!

As far as sealants... I have taken to using "3M Marine Adhesive/Sealant Fast Cure 5200" for anything on the exterior. It is of the polyurethane family of sealants, sticks very well, stays pliable, waterproof, robust against sunlight, will cure even when wet, cures fast and is very strong. Can definitely recommend it.
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tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

Kentuckian wrote:Great news that your new capacitor has you up and running! Glad you got buy with the cheaper solution!

As far as sealants... I have taken to using "3M Marine Adhesive/Sealant Fast Cure 5200" for anything on the exterior. It is of the polyurethane family of sealants, sticks very well, stays pliable, waterproof, robust against sunlight, will cure even when wet, cures fast and is very strong. Can definitely recommend it.
Thanks for the tip, I'll look into that.
tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

So I was running the AC yesterday but I ran out of gas so I can't tell you if the start cap fixed my issue. Will try to test it out tonight.

New Run and Start Caps:
IMG_3011.jpg
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tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

Well, it looks like it still won’t work on the colder settings. I think I’ll just leave it as t is for now, the only thing left to try is the Supco SPP6E which has a potential relay that resets immediately. With the SPP6 I have now it takes a longer time to reset which given that the compressor turns back on within 1 minute might not be enough time to reset the PTCR.
Last edited by tdashmike on Tue Jul 31, 2018 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

slapthecat wrote:Oooo! Cool project. Interested in what you find - have been wondering about my ac as well. Take some pics, please!
OK, so I switched out the SPP6 with a SPP7E and it fixed the problem. You can hear the generator bog down but it won't shut it off anymore. The main difference between the 2 is that the SPP7E is able to operate every time the compressor re-starts while the SPP6 needs a few minutes before it connects itself to the circuit again.
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usachris
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by usachris »

Thanks for the updates! I wish I still had my original AC unit but a clearance overhang at the mall decided it wanted my AC more than me. :oops:
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by 190-b-651 »

usachris wrote:Thanks for the updates! I wish I still had my original AC unit but a clearance overhang at the mall decided it wanted my AC more than me. :oops:
O no thats a lesson you'll never forget. No more boondocking at the mall for you my friend LOL.

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tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

usachris wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:05 am
Thanks for the updates! I wish I still had my original AC unit but a clearance overhang at the mall decided it wanted my AC more than me. :oops:
Which AC unit did you end up getting? I was really worried this weekend that my AC was breaking. It sounded like the compressor would not start, the buzzing of the compressor starting up was way too long. This was during labor day weekend at a KOA, on Monday the AC appeared to be working fine again since almost everyone was gone. I suspect the voltage was low at the KOA causing the compressor to malfunction.
Last edited by tdashmike on Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by 190-b-651 »

tdashmike your probably right especially if the campground was full with everyone running a.c.
I've got a friend had the same thing happen a year or two ago he carrys a volt meter with him now. I usually do myself but I also picked up one of these plug in meters. It lets me know what my generator is doing also.[IMG]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201809 ... b2d858.jpg[/IMG]

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usachris
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by usachris »

tdashmike wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:39 am
Which AC unit did you end up getting?
I got an 11,000 btu Dometic Penguin II. I wanted to keep it within the specs Airstream used with the original AC so it would still work with the 2800kw Onan generator.

https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-Penguin- ... B00FNI3JPW

I was able to reuse the inside portion of the unit and just added a new gasket when I installed it.
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tdashmike
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Re: Air Conditioner Capacitor

Post by tdashmike »

usachris wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:00 am
tdashmike wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:39 am
Which AC unit did you end up getting?
I got an 11,000 btu Dometic Penguin II. I wanted to keep it within the specs Airstream used with the original AC so it would still work with the 2800kw Onan generator.

https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-Penguin- ... B00FNI3JPW

I was able to reuse the inside portion of the unit and just added a new gasket when I installed it.
I was wondering how you would figure out if you could use the inside portion with the newer models, thanks for letting me know. Hopefully I won't have to replace it though. :)
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