A/C help or advice....

[Don s/v Tellico]

The compressor on my reverse cycle a/c unit (King Air 19k btu) won't start. Heat side works fine, but when I switch the selector over to cool and turn down the thermostat all I get is an electrical "click" down there. Blower runs, but no compressor.I'm guessing this is a technical issue and will call for a repair, but thought I'd post here to see if anyone had advice/suggestions on possible cause, tests or repair. I'm medium mechanically inclined, and will try most anything once. Appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Terry Cox]

Don, not familiar with the King Air, but...

with the 19K btu Marine Air on our boat the compressor comes on when the thermostat calls for heat or cool. I had a bit of a problem with our thermostat in that it would call for heat just fine but when it called for cool nothing would happen.It turned out to be a minor adjustment in the thermostat. Marine Air technical support helped me find the set screw that was covered over with a factory seal. After making the suggested thermostat setting the unit has worked fine ever since.Hope this helps.Terry

 

[Steve Kamp]

Don

are you running two 30 amp connections from shore power or one 50 with a splitter? The 50 amp with splitter may not move enough electrons to start the compressor.Steve

 

[Don s/v Tellico]

Thanks so far...

don't think it's the thermostat per se, because there's an entirely different issue with that. I've bypassed the thermostat for now to make the compressor run WOT. It does in heat, but not in cool mode.As for the power supply, hmm. It's worked in the same spot for 4 years with the same 30 amp supply. But doesn't the heat side draw more current that the cool side? So, if the heat is working fine, doesn't seem that the power supply could be a problem. There might be some degradation of ac power, so I'll give it a test.Otherwise, it's hot here.Steve: how's the new boat?

 

[Steve Kamp]

Don

Will close the deal with Crazy Dave on Saturday coming. Her name will be "Carolina", homeport Washington, N.C. (McCotter's Marina on Broad Creek). We are looking forward to meeting Mike Collier and others involved in OBXHSA.Steve

 

[Captain Al24233]

Similar problem

When I installed a new thermostat this spring I had a similar problem. I checked and double check all wiring. Finally I loosened all wires including the jumper wire in the new thermostat. The minute I reinserted the jumper wire and tightened it down, it worked fine. I believe that the factory had tightened the jumper wire on the insulation vs. the stripped wire end.

 

[Don s/v Tellico]

Thanks Al....

will double check that. Ironically, exact same thing happened on my then new A/B refrig. Worked, worked and worked on the darn thing - no use. The my father happened to pull on the end of a wire, fitting slid right off - wasn't connected properly at the factory. Took at least a year off my life.