OTR AC Issue

[tdelorme]

Jan and I are in Corpus Christie, TX for a few days on business. As we were coming through Houston yesterday, the OTR AC warning light started coming on. On for a few seconds then off and back on. Finally it came on and stayed on so after about thirty seconds I shut it down. Every time I stopped the rest of the way down I would turn the air on just to see what would happen but always got the warning light. Mother is not happy.
And, since the unit has been working so well lately, I did not bring any R12 or gauges along for a three day trip.
Does anyone know of a trustworthy service center in this area? I'd rather drive her home at night with only Cruise Airs than have some unknown idiot playing with the AC.

[Loc]

Ted,

Did you check the breakers for the blowers on the OTR air? In our Angola we would trip a breaker about every 9 months and it would cause the bus air to light up the warning light. Resetting the breaker generally did the trick. The breaker we would trip was for the blower so you could tell something was amiss inside because of no air. I would also call Prevost in Dallas and ask them to help you trouble shoot. They did a great job the first time our bus air stopped working.

You should have called on your way through Houston. We would have loved to have bought you and Jan lunch.

Loc

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Ted do you know if your compressor cycles while under normal operation.

I ask because usually ours did not but on the rare occasion that the clutch did disengage it would light up that warning light.

After putting close to 5000 dollars into that accessory I was concerned any time that light lit up.

Ours is an identical R-12 system as yours.

[MangoMike]

Mel Torme,

Loc is right about checking the blowers. They'll cause overheating shortly if they aren't running by a high head pressure.

On the 97 Liberty there is a set of those condenser blowers (huge) in the bay on the passenger side. There is a standard 24v automotive (starter type) relay in a grey box that starts these blowers. Mine had failed a couple of times, so it's probably worth a check. It's a standard relay found at any auto parts store.

MIke

3087

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ted,

Previous advice is good. The starting point is for you to determine if the condenser blower is operating or operating properly.

If it is not operating shut the system down to let the pressure go down and while Jan pushes the AC button in the coach measure voltage at the condenser motor connections. You should have 24V.

If not, find the AC control box at the roof of the first bay, driver side and verify the breaker is not open. If it is reset it. It is hard to reset. I have to push on if with a tool. If it is OK follow the circuit and look for any opens such as at the solenoid type relay Mike posted.

If you do have voltage at the condenser motor but it is not running it is likely the brushes. They are a ten minute job to replace and Prevost stocks them. If you have questions about their replacement I can post pictures. The Prevost standard I believe is that at 3/4" they are worn out.

The only think that bothers me is the intermittent light originally. That makes it sound like the motor was starting and stopping, indicating a faulty motor or motor relay. If it is intermittent it is tough to find the open circuit.

[tdelorme]

Thanks everyone. The condenser fan blowers come on as soon as the ac switch is pushed. The filters are clean. I will remove the material that is blocking the drivers side vents for the OTR air and see if that helps. Everything seems to be working properly, but something is causing the temp to rise and the fault light to come on so I'm thinking low freon.
Loc we were running late and it was a last minute trip so we just kept trucking through town.
I thought we (me) had picked a decent RV park, but when we pulled in and saw how run down it is, we just plugged in and came over to the Omni Marina and got a room where our meeting is. You can mark Puerto Del Sol RV Park
off the list of places to stay in Corpus.

[Loc]

I could have helped with the rv park in Corpus. We booked it a few years back over the internet and the pictures are false advertising. There are no really nice parks in Corpus that we have found. There is a state park on Lake Corpus Christi that is nice and some nice parks in Port Aransas.