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Roof Air Fan Motor Sound Fixed
I may have mentioned this a couple of weeks ago when I discovered the problem but if I did I can not find the thread. It has now been resolved and repaired so I thought I would post it all for informational purposes.The four roof airs on my bus are Dometic Penquin 13.5 units that I had installed in November, 2009.
The roof air that we use the most had been acting up and it was time to climb up and find the problem. The fan started making a “different” noise and I knew it needed attention.Of course after I was up there with my tools spread out and the AC cover removed the 10% chance of rain became 100%. I looked like a drowned rat, a HUGE drowned rat perched on top of a bus! I was able to see the problem and get it going again temporarily. My Dad guessed the fan motor was loose and he was right on target.One of the brackets to the fan motor broke.
I was parked at a church and the neighbor came over to see the sight of me up on the roof. He was standing there when I discovered the problem and he said he could weld it right up. I took it over to his shop and it was ready to go in a few minutes.
The noise that alerted us to the problem was the plastic squirrel cage fan on one end of the motor rubbing against the plastic housing. The broken bracket allowed it to sag. It will worked fine but I could tell from the sound of the fan it was now out of balance. I ordered a new fan
The new fan caught up to me this week in Illinois and the weather is perfect for climbing up on the roof. It was a beautiful day.
I had to remove the whole fan unit again to change the fan but it was not too difficult.
It purrs like it is brand new. The replacement they sent me is metal but other than that it is the same. If the bracket breaks again and it starts sagging the metal fan will let me know in a hurry. The smaller fan on the other side is already metal.
While I was up there on my hands and knees I took some time to look things over and cleaned up a few things.
Davy -
3 Replies
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Sure feels good when you can fix a problem without spending a lot of money!
I guess now we know one thing that can cause an A/C noise issue and add it to the list of things to check.
Thanks for the info.
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Maybe this is the pilot in me, but I pay close attention to the details.
When we get familiar with our coaches we develop a keen sense of “normal”. Normal means certain noises, it means the needles on the gauges point at a specific value, and it means we have an expectation of how fast we will climb a hill.
I think we need to always react to anything that deviates from what we know to be normal. Davy’s example is a good one because he caught an issue before it grew into a larger problem. Some things are abnormal but are OK and do not require much action. If I fail to put the toilet seat down and I hear it slam down I know I forgot it on my checklist, but I also know what the noise was. But I also know that loud squeal is not the fan belt slipping, but is the sound of tires being rubbed flat on the bottom. My point is it would have been a lot cheaper if I responded to the squeal immediately instead of trying to figure out what it was as it got louder.
The same is true of gauges that are not reading normal, strange noises, or even vibrations. We have to pay attention because our coach does often give us early warning something is wrong, and if we take care of it immediately by checking out what is causing the new noise, gauge reading, or vibration we are likely to have a far less expensive outcome than if we defer addressing the issue.
Good job DKO -
If I fail to put the toilet seat down and I hear it slam down I know I forgot it on my checklist, but I also know what the noise was.
That’s not on my checklist, Jon, because in my household it is ALWAYS down when not in use.
Davy
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