Air conditioner

[nightcrawler]

front air conditioner on tiffin 40ft 2010 Pheaton is making a terrible noise. 95 degrees here.

[wolfe10]

We will need more information to be able to help you.

What is the noise-- either what component or what does it sound like?

Is it still there if the fan is on, but compressor off?

What brand/model is it?

What is voltage?

Any sign of physical damage?

[wildebill308]

7 minutes ago, Nightcrawler said:

front air conditioner on tiffin 40ft 2010 Pheaton is making a terrible noise. 95 degrees here.

First guess is a bad fan bearing. Does it make noise when it starts then tapers down? Do you have any sticks or branches sticking into the fan? In the past I have added a little light oil to the shaft bearing and it helped. With the fan off use a piece of duct tape to make a little pan under the fan shaft. Then squirt a little oil on to the shaft where it goes into the bering. The tape will help it to stay in place for it to be sucked into the bering.

Let us know what you find.

Bill

[nightcrawler]

20 minutes ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

First guess is a bad fan bearing. Does it make noise when it starts then tapers down? Do you have any sticks or branches sticking into the fan? In the past I have added a little light oil to the shaft bearing and it helped. With the fan off use a piece of duct tape to make a little pan under the fan shaft. Then squirt a little oil on to the shaft where it goes into the bering. The tape will help it to stay in place for it to be sucked into the bering.

Let us know what you find.

Bill

It makes the very loud vibrating sound with just the fan on

Having hard time getting one screw out of cover 

[wolfe10]

Could be a loose or broken fan motor mount.  Could be a squirrel cage hitting the housing. Turn off breaker to the A/C and check it out (from the roof).  If you are not safe working on the roof, have a professional do it.

[nightcrawler]

Thanks. Still having a hard time getting one screw out of cover.

[dickandlois]

Should the noise be a squalling sound, the main problem is the front blower motor bearing.  One can clear the problem. 

First big question is what are your skill sets? No real electrical skills needed, but if your coach is equipped with a solar panel indicator / indicating the small panel is producing power.

Need to carefully drop the intake cover on the inside of the coach.

With that removed - remove the metal blower cover, most commonly held in place with 4 screws. The plate then slides back slightly and will drop down out of the way. you can now see the squirrel cage fan assembly. The trick now becomes cleaning the bearing where the motor shaft exits the motor.

One does not need to remove the motor or any items requiring working on the roof. 

I use one of those long fireplace wooden lighter sticks wrapped with a paper towel or long plastic stick.  The remaining portion of the towel needs to be held in a way ----So it never comes in contact with the fan assembly. !!!!!!! 

NOW ! start the fan motor only,  with a light amount of light weight oil ( WD-40) will work in this case even if it is not a lubricant, IT Is a Water Displacement formulation)  Carefully hold the stick or plastic item long enough to hold the paper towel in contact with the shaft.  You will see the dirt and even some rust is many cases build up on the tip of the tool.  Repeat this process until the towel is clean. NOTE even this might reduce the noise level, BUT the job is not done.... 

The next step is to spray some CRC onto the area you just cleaned.  Repeat cleaning the area with a clean portion of the towel. THIS step might also reduce the noise level, But the job is still not done !!!!!!

Using the tool you have created place some silicon grease on the tip of the tool, Think plumbers Grease. Thin viscosity but will still form a bead. No towel required this time and create  layer / silicon bead on the fan shaft AS it is turning.  Let it set with the fan off for 2 to 3  Min. Let the fan run for 10 to 15 min.  Noise Gone ?  If not repeat the process. It might take a few cycles of the whole process, but it should quit down. 

I found this process years ago and to date still have not had to replace a Roof AC unit because of a noisy fan. 

Good luck and always work safe. IF working in an area with a spinning object makes you nerves - get someone who can work comfortably on the system.

Rich. 

Note, Reading you have a screw issue. I remove a number of them with the aid of a pocket knife blade placed carefully between the metal surface and the screw head to add some pressure to ease the screws out while turning the screw.