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OTR
Well, was finally able to get on this site,” forgot the hieroglyphics that was my password”, Tom says it’s CRS, Heck how many know how to decifer hieroglyphics? Ok on to the matter at hand. Make sure you check your fan clutch for bad bearings this can be done by simply turning your fan”with engine off” and listen for rough sounding noise as you turn if you hear it replace the thing, just did it cost 1600 for parts and 1300 labor 2men 8hrs. After that while I was under way home turned on the OTR and nothing! worked fine before, Jon has sent me some things to check, and I have not been able to get to barn to look at them because of tax time and four months of paper work to file, will get back when I check them out , Thanks Jon for the info!
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25 Replies
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Thanks for the bearing tip, I’ll check mine the next trip to the bus barn.
Gary, great to have you on the PC site and just in time with this post you might be the lucky winner for the Flying J card.
Update; there was some talk instead of Flying J bucks. Door # 2…. Hooter bucks
You have a lot of homework here to get caught up.
AL
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For the more ambitious among us a fan clutch replacement is about a morning’s worth of work with a few tricks to make it easier. It is heavy, you are lifting it with your arms outstretched and if you have back trouble you might consder asking your wife to lift it.
Once it is out you have the option of installing a new one, or if you are looking for a way to fill your afternoon you might consider rebuilding it. The last time I spoke to Prevost parts they indicated there was a kit for rebuilding. I did not remove my radiator and the available space was minimal but once I learned I had to remove the fan from the clutch, and lean it against the radiator (carefullly) and then remove the belt tightening bellows so the clutch mounting bracket could be tipped more towards the engine the removal and replacement was quick and easy but it sure pulled on my back muscles (at least those that remain).
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Jon, you do exactly like I use to,every thing to the limit. My 70 year old mind says yes but the body will not do it. I have decided after a long time of back pain, to do the surgery, Dr says he can fix it will be in brace for six months in the day time only, thinking of scheduling it in June, Doc says I will be able to cut wood ,bushhog, mow ,you cannot believe how I miss doing those things!
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Hope it works out well for you Gary, I can’t imagine a day without lower back pain. I’ll run up there and do the bushhogging for you.
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Hmmmm , Bushhogging, here in Arkansas, that is a dream come true
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Since this started as OTR let me tell you what mine is doing. It seems that everything works it just would not cool, so I took it to a local RV dealer who sells a few and maintains a few Prevosts. They worked for 1 1/2 hours at $110/ hour and said they could not get the compressor clutch to engage. When I got home I tried and did not see the clutch engage, however, after reading the service manual and finding the slide out door the AC Control modules, I was able to watch the leds while the unit was running. I saw that the cool led was lighting and about every minute or so the Low Pressure led was flashing. I had already seen this light flashing on the dash when running the AC. So I went back and stood at the compressor for a few minutes and found that the clutch was in fact engaging for about 15 seconds and would then disengage with the flash of Low Pressure. Then it would cycle agin after about a minute. Does it simply need a charge or is something else going on? I will probably take it next week to another garage to see if they can charge. Thanks again!!!
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It’s probably just a charge issue. The system cannot be
charged without the compressor running. Suggest you unplug the wire to the
compressor clutch and power directly. This will remove the low pressure cut out
from the control system and should be done only during charging. Your system
should have a liquid receiver on the tube coming from the bottom of the
condenser. Locate the sight glass on the receiver and observe that no bubbles
are present with compressor operating. With all fans operating charge until the
sight glass is clear and pressures are normal. -
It sounds very much like the Freon charge is low. Your system is R-12 so you are going to be faced with making a decision. Step one is to have the AC guy pump it down, recover the R-12 that remains and check to find out where the system is leaking. It could (and is most likely) be the leak is around the seal on the compressor behind the clutch. That is a relatively inexpensive repair involving I think less than $100 for the replacement seal kit and a couple of hours labor.
When you are confident the system is leak free you are going to have to opt to replace R-12, or switch to 134A. Switching to 134A will use less expensive refrigerant, but if it is done it involves changing the expansion valve and the system oil at the very least, and may involve hoses if it is to be done right. Performance will suffer a loss of efficiency of about 15% if you switch to 134A.
If you stick with R-12 you may have to pay an expensive price per pound unless you can find a source for a lower price. If it was me I would stick with R-12, but only after making sure the system is leak free.
Stick with an AC technician that has experience with the Carrier AC systems.
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All great advice. I have already found how to straight wire the compressor so that will not be an issue. This coach has already been changed over to 134 so that will not be an issue either. Next thing is to check out the leaks.
Thanks, -
To add to John’s remarks, you can add liquid at the receiver and when the system is charged pretty close to the correct amount the liquid should be about halfway up the lower sight glass.
John is the resident AC genuis and what he says you can rely on.
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To add to John’s remarks, you can add liquid at the receiver and when the system is charged pretty close to the correct amount the liquid should be about halfway up the lower sight glass.
John is the resident AC genuis and what he says you can rely on.
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So do you add liquid to the receiver tank while it is running or not running? I am not going to attempt this without an expert on hand, but just curious.
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For all you folks still running r12, their is a product called Freeze 12 that I picked up last year from napa. About the same price as r134. You have to change oil .They said they were gonna quit making it so I bought about 90 lbs. to make sure I had a enough. They say it has a propane gas for propellant. That might not be good. Already got it so we are using it. I slept at a Holiday Inn a couple nights ago so you can see where I’m coming from.
glen
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With the compressor running add refrigerant to the low pressure side of the compressor. It will be the larger of the two compressor connections. The compressor connection will have a manual access valve connecting the suction line to the compressor. Attach a refrigerant charging manifold to the manual access valve. The hose from the manifold should be blue in color. Add refrigerant as required.
If you are not aware of the required procedure, PLEASE take the bus to a trained tech. You can be badly injured if you make a mistake.
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Thanks John. I am going to go to someone qualified. I thought I did the first time but that proved to be wrong. I just hope there are no major leaks to contend with.
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