Cruisair repair?

[adamdegraff]

Hey All. I'm down one cruisair. As usual, my first call was to Johnny at AAP. And as usual, he went above and beyond. Volt meter in hand, he walked me through a diagnosis. Turns out my compressor is bad. So far, so good.

So I'm near Dallas/Fort Worth next week and thought I'd get the new compressor installed at either Prevost or Marathon. Bolt told me the same thing. They don't install compressors, they replace the entire cruisair. The new (I assume rebuilt) cruisair runs $2,000, plus 4 hours labor to install it. Both said they don't like messing with sweating the new compressor in and prefer to just replace the whole unit. This seems strange to me. Am I missing something? I can get the new compressor from AAP direct. (Heck, I could get a whole new cruisair unit from them for $1250.) I just can't vacuum the lines down and refill them myself.

Am I missing something here? There has got to be a way to get a new compressor installed into what is otherwise a perfectly good unit. Sure do wish this happened when I was trucking past AAP in Virginia. Anybody know of a place in central TX to get this fixed? Here is our list of stops over the next couple of weeks:

Marshall, TX
Paris, TX
Terrell, TX
Irving, TX
Brownwood, TX
Midland, TX
Carlsbad, NM
Artesia, NM
Plainview, TX

And then, if I haven't got it fixed by then, a very long trip down to Juno Beach, FL. I could take any variety of routes... especially if somebody has a good idea of where to get the compressor installed and the unit charged.

Any ideas? I'm thinking this shouldn't be so difficult. I seem to remember pictures of some dude out in the dessert somewhere replacing a compressor on a POG bus? Who was it?

Thanks for the help.

~Adam

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Marathon owners will have to tell you what is involved in replacing the condensing unit, but I replaced all three on my old coach and it involved removing the screws securing the unit to the floor, removing two refrigerant lines, and removing the three wires. Out and in in about 1.5 hours. I then drove to a refrigeration shop that vacuumed the system and recharged it.

The units from AAP come precharged, but you do have to vacuum the lines to the evaporator, and the length of the lines to the evaporator will require the refrigeration guy to add a little R22. The refrigeration guy charged me for an hour of labor.

Forget the compressor replacement. The condenser coil is not going to be as efficient as new, the condenser fan and all the capacitors are also old and prone to fail so with a new / rebuilt unit you are probably close to the same cost with lots of peace of mind.

Find some POGGER with a big driveway and some tools to help. Lubricate him with beer.

[gmcbuffalo]

After you get the rebuilt unit in your storage bay, what about dropping by a Auto AC/radiator shop that works on trucks. Thermo-King or a company like them that repairs units in refrigerator trucks. They worked on mine while they were repairing my generator. Most of these trucks have separate small diesel generators that run the refrigerators. So these companies, install and repair both.

Greg

[MangoMike]

Adam,

I would replace with a rebuilt unit. In 2006 AAP installed a rebuilt one in my Liberty for $900 for the unit plus 4 hours of labor at $75. You could easily do it in 3. My guess now they're probably $1100.

The benefit of the rebuilt vs just a compressor is they have had a number of design changes in the unit to make it work more effeciently. Including a new fan design, extra cooling tubes and I believe a change in material. A quick call to AAP will verify.

Mike

[tdelorme]

Adam, I had a new (rebuilt, actually) CruiseAir sent down from AAP last fall. I remember something like $1400 including shipping and I had my local HVAC guy do the install here at the farm. With me helping him, it was a two hour job. I know, the guy could have done it himself in one hour, very funny. Really not that big a deal if it is one of the front units that is down.
I hate to see you spend an extra grand, let's talk when we get together Sat.

[aggies09]

Adam,

I may be like Ted and with my help we can make a project last twice as long, but I live one hour north of Brownwood and have plenty of room and an electrical hookup for your coach. I would be happy to help you with replacement if you wanted to have AAP drop ship to my house. Let me know if I can help.

[garyde]

Hi Adam. Jdub had a condensor repaired or replaced while at disneyland in Anahiem a couple of years ago. He called a local Cruisaire crew who works on local Sea craft in the area of Marina del Ray. So, search the yellow pages for cruiseaire dealers.

[mike kerley]

Adam, I just had Liberty Coach in Stuart Fl. replace a compressor in one of my cruise air units. $1200 total price. Unit was just over three years old, so I did not change entire package, just the locked compressor. Troy, at 772-463-2701.

Yes, they worked on a Country Coach!!

[adamdegraff]

Sounds like the conventional wisdom is that I should replace the entire unit. I called Johnny back and he agreed that since my current unit is 13 years old that I might be better served with a rebuilt unit.

So, how much of this can I do myself? I have two other 13 year old cruisairs. I'm wondering if I should invest in the necessary equipment to vacuum down the system so I can replace this unit myself. (The others are working just fine, but one never knows... do one?)

Do I have these steps correct?

1. Make sure power is off.
2. disconnect three wires.
3. vacuum lines
4. unbolt unit from floor and remove.
5. put new unit in place.
6. recharge lines? (Can one recharge their own lines or is this something a pro needs to do?

Am I just spinning my wheels here? I really enjoy know how to fix these things myself. Especially in a case such as this where I have two more older units.

Thanks for all the input. You guys are great.

Ted and Jan... see you Saturday!!

~Adam

p.s. thanks for the offers of help. I may be taking some of you guys up on the offer. Jon, how exactly do you lubricate with beer? Just kidding.

[Jerry Winchester]

Adam,

With the potential inflexible schedule you have, you might be ahead to have it done by Prevost or Marathon. If you were at my hanger or someone's shop with ALL the tools you might need, then I would say do it yourself.

And there is nothing worse than having to pull the bus into Prevost with all the parts laying in the bay after you hit a snag trying it yourself and having to get them to fix your mess.

I had a condenser fan changed out in the RV park in Anaheim two years ago and it was easy in the Royale, but is even easier in the Marathon.

[adamdegraff]

Adam,

With the potential inflexible schedule you have, you might be ahead to have it done by Prevost or Marathon. If you were at my hanger or someone's shop with ALL the tools you might need, then I would say do it yourself.

And there is nothing worse than having to pull the bus into Prevost with all the parts laying in the bay after you hit a snag trying it yourself and having to get them to fix your mess.

I had a condenser fan changed out in the RV park in Anaheim two years ago and it was easy in the Royale, but is even easier in the Marathon.

Jerry,
thanks for the advice.... old man :p Happy birthday!!!

Anybody heard of Blue Moon Mobile RV service out of Dallas? (Actually Carrollton, TX.) Johnny at AAP recommended them to me. He said they'd fix me up. Now I just have to get them the rebuilt unit in time to install on Wednesday.

~Adam

[tdelorme]

Adam, I have never used Blue Moon, but they have a contract with Texas Motor Speedway to be the only on site RV repair company. I see their mobil repair trucks at every race and I have never heard anything bad about their work. If the track was getting complaints about them, they would not still be around TMS. If I needed something repaired that I couldn't do myself, I would give them a shot.

[Pete]

They were brokering a late model prevost that I looked at a year or so ago, I don't know how large of an operation they are because I was dealing with the guy who is "Blue Moon". So it may be a one man operation. (nothing wrong with that if he knows what he is doing)

[merle&louise]

Adam,

I used Blue Moon RV service in Carrollton, TX in Sept. 2003. Vehicle Systems recommended them. They fixed my Aqua Hot; rebuilt my fuel pump, changed filter, changed nozzle, and cleaned up(it was leaking diesel). They were fair on the price and did the work quickly. $70 labor and $387 in parts. Today the fuel filter is about $30, the nozzle $18, so that would put the re-built fuel pump @ $339.

You can judge for your self if the price was right!

I forget the man's name who owned the shop, but I do remember that he loved Prevosts. They do good work and if I remember correctly, at that time they had a mobile service van. They would come to you and repair your bus.

[adamdegraff]

Blue Moon it is. Johnny/AAP sent out a rebuilt cruisair unit to them. They'll be meeting me at Texas Truck AC on Wednesday. Why TTAC you ask? They will simultaneously be replacing my Marathon "MACH" air (Marathon's OTR air.) They guys at TTAC wouldn't do the the cruisair, but they were amenable to having Blue Moon work on my bus while it was at their shop.

I hope it's really HOT on Thursday so I can try out all my new AC systems.

~Adam

[jack14r]

Adam,Have them adjust the freon on the suction side until it is(beer cold) about 35 degrees,you won't believe how well it will cool inside the coach.

[adamdegraff]

Adam,Have them adjust the freon on the suction side until it is(beer cold) about 35 degrees,you won't believe how well it will cool inside the coach.

Can you expand on this? I definitely want it beer cold:-) When you say "suction side" I assume you mean at the lines where they hook up to the condenser units?

She goes under the knife on Wednesday morning, so any advice is most welcome. I assume the tech that is performing the swap will know what he is doing, but I realize these are finicky units. Johnny said I can call him during the process, but I'd like to know what I should be looking for. If it is really cold, is that good enough?

Thanks,

Adam

[jack14r]

Adam,Johnny is the guru he will explain it to the tech,basically once the unit is charged with freon and running,grasp the suction line(the larger one)and add a very small amount of freon and when you feel the suction side get cold,STOP adding freon.You can really tell the difference once the freon is just right,I bet you will want the other 2 done also.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

And when the charge is correct the sight glass will not be foamy, or clear, but will show the refrigerant running with bubbles.

Hard to explain, but when you see it it will make sense.

An ounce can make a difference in the Cruise Airs. They are that sensitive, but when they are working like Jack says they really do a good job.