Sam and Doris are not RV newbies. “We’ve been RVing for years,” Sam explained. “We never had any issue that I couldn’t fix—up to now, that is.”
As other campers joined the campfire, Doris continued to explain, “We purchased this RV a few months ago. It had been sitting on the dealer’s lot for quite a while, so we checked it out. The 2024 models have been arriving, and the dealer needed space to put the new ones. We were able to get a really good deal on this brand-new 2022 model.”
“It’s not a good deal if the RV’s air conditioning continues to malfunction,” Sam groused. “I’ve always been able to fix whatever minor problems we come up against, but this has me completely baffled.”
RV air conditioner was working, then not
The frustrated couple explained that they set the front (bedroom) thermostat at 72 degrees. The air conditioner turned on as it should and seemed to function properly. The problem was that the air conditioner turned off prematurely, when the temperature had cooled to only 78 degrees.
Sam complained, “It worked just fine until this trip. I can’t figure out what’s gone wrong.”
“We need to figure it out because I can’t sleep when the bedroom is hot,” Doris complained.
Vent issues?
Fellow RVers around the campfire were eager to help. Someone wondered, “Could something be blocking the ductwork? Or maybe the fan isn’t working properly? Maybe the filter needs to be cleaned?”
“Nope, nope, and nope,” Sam shook his head in frustration. “I’ve checked everything. Why would it work fine at first and then, without warning, stop?”
Thermostat?
Several RVers suggested that the cause of the cooling conundrum may be a faulty thermostat.
Sam just shook his head from side to side. “That was my first thought, too. So, I bought a new thermostat. Installed it myself and the results were the same. I set the temperature and the A/C came on. We had cool air blowing from the vents, and I figured I’d fixed our problem.”
“You figured wrong,” Doris chuckled. “And I had another night of restless sleep.”
Sam explained that the same premature shut-off procedure happened again. “The RV air conditioner cooled the bedroom down to a temperature of 78 degrees and then promptly turned off again.
“If we can’t figure this out,” Sam said. “We may have to take it back to the dealer, and you know what that’ll mean.”
“We won’t get our RV back from the dealer in time to escape the worst of the winter weather,” Doris moaned.
RV air conditioner mystery solved?
As the fireside conversation turned to a different topic, Sam leaned over to ask my husband and me if we’d come and take a look at the situation. “Maybe you’ll see something I’m overlooking.” Sam seemed so dejected, we agreed.
Doris scurried ahead of us to turn on the lights. We checked everything we could think of and then, suddenly, the mystery was solved.
Take a look at the photo and see if you can spot the reason why the air conditioner prematurely turned off before reaching the thermostat’s set temperature.
Vent angle
It was an easy fix. All we did was turn the ceiling vent so that the air no longer blew directly onto the bedroom’s temperature sensor.
This time when Sam shook his head, he was incredulous and a little embarrassed, too. “I never considered the vent fins’ positioning.”
Private confession
Days later, Doris privately admitted to me that she was the one who turned the vent so that it directed more cool air to her side of the bed. “I just can’t sleep when the bedroom is hot!” she shrugged. Then she smiled.
Have you experienced an RV malfunction only to discover a basic, simple solution? Tell us about it in the comments below.
Sign up for a weekly digest of my articles here.
##RVT1138
Our A/C would blow thru all the ducts/vents in the ceiling in all rooms, great. The RV didn’t come with the 2nd A/C in the bedroom so we had the dealer install one, they said it would be exactly like from the factory, wrong. T=The dealer installed a non-ducted A/C in the bedroom. That means iw would only blow out of the A/C unit’s vents, not the ceiling vents. Although the A/C would freeze you out in the bedroom, it wasn’t what we wanted. Most folks run the living A/C at night while your sleeping so you don’t hear the noise and during the day you run your bedroom A/C while in the living/kitchen area. A/C’s come in 2 forms, ducted and nonducted, make sure you have the right one.
I had a new 5th wheel that would freeze you out when watching TV, this was back in 1999 before every TV was a flat screen. We had a 19” portable TV sitting on the TV shelf. Though most of the internal components were modern electronics the picture tube was giving of heat. The trailer engineers had thoughtfully put the thermostat directly above the TV shelf where the heat off the TV kept the A/C trying to overcome the TV heat. Fabricating a temporary heat shield from a piece of cardboard restored normal operation. Later at home I made a better looking heat shield from plexiglass. Problem solved!
One of my AC units never worked well from new. It had weak air flow and it short cycled. The dealer tried all kinds of fixes to no avail. The unit finally died and the mobile tech installing the new unit found the reason. Sloppy mfr installation (hmm). Where the unit mates with the roof, there are 2 holes. One is for the air from the return vents, the other is the exhaust sending cooled air to the outlets. These 2 adjacent holes must be sealed and isolated from each other…or cool & return air mix causing the unit to fail. They were not sealed and rubber roof material was left untrimmed further blocking air flow. He said this was a common issue. Now it cools like artic wind.
Got my lesson in the 80’s and it has carried forward… office PC’s had just arrived. One co-worker had an on & off terminal driving everyone crazy. Before calling for service, I was asked to take a look. Checked a variety of things including the wall power outlet, the data cable, the … Finally said we had to call service.
The service rep looked at the issue and asked the worker if she had recently moved her desk? Why yes but only a couple inches. The service rep pull the desk about a 1/4″ from the wall, reached behind and pushed the power cord at the back of the terminal. It had been just barely unplugged by the desk move and minor movements disconnected it.
The lesson was to use a troubleshooting method that did not jump around but methodically checked both ends of every function, even if it looked fine. Still get stumped now and then, but not very often.
Thank you, Gail! 1)En-route to Alaska with DW’s parents in the summer of 2019 and all four of us were in our RV on the side of the road. I turned on the generator and turned on the AC. No AC at all. So, we opened windows and melted. A few days later a Canadian shop checked the generator, finding nothing wrong. They told me that it takes the electrical system ~90-seconds to switch from batteries to the generator. 2)Three years later, new RV and the system never switched from batteries to generator. No breakers were tripped, so I called Newmar. The next morning they called back and told me the generator had its own breaker on the unit. After I reset it, the generator began powering the RV. 😉
Bought a new Grand Design fifth wheel in 2017…the A/C vents were not working right so I set about trying to find out why…make a long story short…the donuts they cut into the ceiling for the vents were never removed and moving down the trail they managed to wiggle their way back into the holes they were removed from. After fishing the donuts out…A/C worked OK from then on. What happened to quality control and work ethics?
I do remember one time after not using our rv for some time that I ought to test run the generator and other systems before our upcoming road trip. Couldn’t get it to start. I kept trying and nothing it would crank over but not fire up, I was perplexed , oh well I thought time to get it serviced. That was until I decided to test the refrigerator and furnace, went outside to turn on the propane and then it dawned on me, our generator runs on propane!!! Lmao.
Happy you remembered before calling for a technician.
Safe travels, Gary!
I guessed the vent louver. Somewhere in the past I remember reading about positioning the louvers for cooling.
First time I’ve ever heard “my wife was too hot” said no husband over 50, ever! LOL!
Common issue with original RPods…the ceiling AC was right over the wall-mounted thermostat blowing directly on it. The fix was to cover the thermostat with foil or something to keep the air from the AC vent from hitting it directly.
Good lesson learned. When in doubt ask around.
Absolutely!
Have a great day, Bill.
a set of fresh eyes to solve the problem….love it
The one time I actually thought I knew the answer before getting to the solution. This happened to me a few summers back. Took me a bit to figure it out.
I knew the answer before it was revealed. Found it on the first trip in the Grand Design Reflection 337RLS we bought new in 2018. Proudly, I’m the one that figured it out!
Great job, Dick!👍 Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com