Cruisair follow up... tight space

[adamdegraff]

Last week I posted a question about my cruisair that wasn't working and got lots of good info, so, here's a follow up.

Dropped the front bumper, which revealed all three units, as Jerry advertised. All were clearly marked as to which was which. Front, Mid, Rear. Easy enough. The front one swings out, giving access to all three units. But I have no idea how one would go about removing the rear unit from this really tight space. Obviously, the lines would have to be removed first. Can you just take the lines off, or do you have to suck the R-122 out of the units first? Then, does anybody know, once you take the lines off, will the unit just slide out, or is it bolted down somehow? I would think it would somehow be attached to the floor. Or, should I just leave it there and get somebody to vacuum test the unit and fill 'er up if need be?

Also, where is this much talked about sight glass? Do I have to take the top off the unit to see it? If so, do I really have to remove all of those hex-head screws to get the top off? There sure are a lot of them.

OK, now for the A/C neophyte questions. (Oh, you thought I already asked those?) Can I do a vacuum test myself? When you suck out the refrigerant, where do you put it? What sucks it out? Do you reuse it? Can you get R-122 from any old A/C outfit? Do they have to fill it up?

Any suggestions how I should go about fixing this rear unit? Could I take it out myself and tinker? Is this the kind of job that I should let the pros deal with? Can I remove the unit, throw it in my car and bring it to a shop? or do I have to bring the whole bus in? The more I type, the less qualified I feel to deal with this issue.

Thanks for any advice.

~Adam

[Joe Cannarozzi]

There are bolts from underneath that secure it to the floor.

The site glass is usually in line very close to the unit.

Along with the freon lines there is also the power cord that has to be removed.

If you are one that is environmentally conscious you would capture the existing freon if you evacuate it.

These units are a little pressure sensitive to get just right. I would hit one of the site sponsors or a converter or a Prevost shop if I could. If that is not convenient maybe try a Marina that does service.

The charts for the correct charge in relation to ambient temps. is under the thread Cruisers Demystified in one of my posts, scroll down to page 12 and 13.

[MangoMike]

Adam,

If you're in the Virginia area these guys are the best as they are the distributors and rebuilders.


AAP Distributor
16388 Industrial
Milford, Va. 22514
804 633-9454

Mike

[garyde]

Hi Adam. Disconnecting, Pressure testing, Connecting & re-charge all needs to be done by someone who has the appropriate tools and equipment. This is typically a HVAC Contractor, Refrigeration Contractor or a Company which does several similar trades. You can buy the tools and equipment, but they are not cheap and you still have a learning curve which a trained individual would have to instruct you. I would recommend opening the yellow pages, and simply call a contractor out , they are used to making Service calls .

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Ditto both Mike and Gary's comments. I have dealt with AAP they are first class. They were always happy to take time over the phone and answer service and tech. questions about Cruisair.

IMO out on the road where I will probably will not return for a while I would not want anyone to touch it who was not familiar with Cruisair specifically and if I did I would be up his ass the whole time and would make sure I had those pressure charts in hand. I would also have it done during daytime business hours for AAP so if there were any questions from the service guy I could call their techs and for sure get the correct direction for him.

Jack 14R seems to enjoy as well as understand these units.

Wrongagain is a profesional HVAC.

There is TONS OF INFO in the archives on the things, I use it all the time.

Here is a tidbit I have never seen there.

Beware, if you are trying to turn a valve on the back of one of these condensing units to charge it, or remove it for any reason and it has been a long time or it never has been serviced before, make sure you have a good, tight, correct wrench. Sometimes they can be very very stubborn to brake loose and that is amplified by often undesirable body positions and damage to the square head will occur. Then it could get ugly.

[wrongagain]

First things first,
1, No you cannot just take the lines off, you must have the freon "R-22" recovered first this is supposed to be done by a licensed individual.
2, There is an EPA $10,000.00 fine per incident for the release of freon into the air.
3, Once that is done unbolt and remove, personally I would test in place to see whats what, before removing a/c units just for the sport of removing them.
4, You can test for a leak with a freon sniffer tool, or by filling the now empty of freon unit with nitrogen, be careful of the nitrogen you can hand grenade the unit with too much pressure, but at max allowable nitrogen pressure I assure you, you will hear the leak, especially if you have a ultrasonic leak detector, but you should not need one to hear it.
5, After leak is found and fixed the put into a vacuum and refill with the correct freon which I am going to assume is R-22, which you cannot legally buy without a license.
6, The sight glass is usually within inches of the unit and is on the small "high pressure" side of the unit.
7, Yes you could put it into a vacuum yourself if you have a vacuum pump, its not going to do you much good since you should not have any freon without the license.
8, Yes you could reuse the freon if it is not contaminated, I would not in any case "personal preference".
9, And for anyone else who is reading this they are setting up to phase out R-22 by 2010 so get ready for the same thing that you went thru when they did it to R-12, right now it is selling for around $200.00 for a 30 lb tank, up from about $40.00 a few years ago.
I think this is about enough prattle from me, if I can answer anything else let me know, I tried to cover all points, good luck.
Just trying to answer on the fly I am running late getting out the door.
See you later.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

To add to Ed's comments from personal experience.

The sight glass is right at one of the valves easily seen. I cannot speak about other converters but Liberty does not have any joints in the lines from the condenser to the evaporator so if there is a leak it is in my experience right around the valves. Every leak I have ever had was at the condensing unit valves and a dark spot of oil was the first clue.

If it has a leak and the leak is repaired it is not likely you need to remove any of the units from the bus. If the compressor or the condenser fan is not working, then the unit needs to be removed because there is no room to access those components from the top.