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  • Thermostat cycling question

    Just got back from camping this weekend and while there I notice my Ac unit kicking on and off very frequently. It would come on for 45 sec, and then off for four minutes and repeat. I got to thinking did I miss something when getting set up and I did forget to turn in the 12V switch. I want to say I read a post that said something along the lines of that the power switch needs to be on to get the right voltage to the Thermostat.
    Am I thinking correctly or did My head make that up?
    I ran this like this for a full night and then noticed the switch was disengaged. But even after I turned that power on it didn’t make any difference. My next thought was to turn off the power to the camper and reset it. But that ended up being just a thought.😊

    Last edited by Country Campers; 05-08-2023, 04:52 PM. Reason: Rule 13
    2020 Grand Design - 2600RB - Pulling with a 2005 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4. (Texas)

  • #2
    Originally posted by Dude View Post
    Just got back from camping this weekend and while there I notice my Ac unit kicking on and off very frequently. It would come on for 45 sec, and then off for four minutes and repeat. I got to thinking did I miss something when getting set up and I did forget to turn in the 12V switch. I want to say I read a post that said something along the lines of that the power switch needs to be on to get the right voltage to the Thermostat.
    Am I thinking correctly or did My head make that up?
    I ran this like this for a full night and then noticed the switch was disengaged. But even after I turned that power on it didn’t make any difference. My next thought was to turn off the power to the camper and reset it. But that ended up being just a thought.😊

    If the battery disconnect was off the converter will supply the voltage to the thermostat. All the thermostat does is pass a 12V signal to the air conditioner to tell it to cycle on and off.

    There's so many different combinations of thermostats I'm hesitant to type out a generic recommendation. If you want to try to isolate the problem to the thermostat, post a picture of the back of the component showing the wires and model number (if applicable). From there I can point out what to try. (Spoiler alert: what we'd be looking to determine is what to wires are shorted through the thermostat to turn on the air conditioner.)

    Going down a different thought process...by any chance was a ceiling vent directed at the thermostat? That will "fool" the thermostat and produce the symptoms described.
    Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

    2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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    • #3
      Thanks howson for replying. I’m guessing the voltage theory was in my head. Lol. And thanks for clarifying the thought. All vents have remained the same since we have adjusted them the first time we went camping, so I can mark that off the list. I will get a picture of that thermostat the next time I open my slide. All I can tell you is Black with the up and down arrows next to each other and the option button under those.I want to say it’s a Airxcell.
      I did a bit more research since I posted and now wonder where the temp sensor is located. If it’s located in the AC unit could some air be slipping by and making it turn off to quickly.
      Last edited by Dude; 05-08-2023, 08:39 PM.
      2020 Grand Design - 2600RB - Pulling with a 2005 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4. (Texas)

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Dude View Post
        Thanks howson for replying. I’m guessing the voltage theory was in my head. Lol. And thanks for clarifying the thought. All vents have remained the same since we have adjusted them the first time we went camping, so I can mark that off the list. I will get a picture of that thermostat the next time I open my slide. All I can tell you is Black with the up and down arrows next to each other and the option button under those.I want to say it’s a Airxcell.
        I did a bit more research since I posted and now wonder where the temp sensor is located. If it’s located in the AC unit could some air be slipping by and making it turn off to quickly.
        If it's an Airxcel the sensor is in the thermostat.

        Checking that the freeze sensor is secure is also something to check. See https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...ir-conditioner

        Consider watching Chad's (from Changing Lanes) HVAC maintenance video. He covers all the basics to check.

        Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

        2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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        • #5
          Dude One of the issues I had similar to yours had to do with a vent blowing on the T-stat. It would super cool the stat causing the AC to cycle off, then when it warmed back up, it would kick back on.

          Mostly noticed this in the master bedroom with the AC dump vent on the front side open blowing straight on the wall with the stat. Also had similar in other camper, so just had to be aware of which way the vents were pointing.
          Joseph
          Tow
          Vehicle: 2024 GMC K3500 Denali Ultimate Diesel
          Coach: 303RLS Delivered March 5, 2021
          South of Houston Texas

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Jlawles2 View Post
            Dude One of the issues I had similar to yours had to do with a vent blowing on the T-stat. It would super cool the stat causing the AC to cycle off, then when it warmed back up, it would kick back on.

            Mostly noticed this in the master bedroom with the AC dump vent on the front side open blowing straight on the wall with the stat. Also had similar in other camper, so just had to be aware of which way the vents were pointing.
            Thank you for your feedback. I did ask my wife if maybe she turned the vent. She does this from time to time.lol. But she doesn't recall if she did. My issue now is I can't get to that thermostat until we get back on level ground to open the slide and do some self-checking before taking any action to the setup. We both work full-time right now and that will change in 9 mo. 1day and 14 hours from now (not that I'm counting ) we go camping a least once a month so things like this have to wait, even if it driving me crazy to resolve it.
            Last edited by Dude; 05-18-2023, 01:27 PM.
            2020 Grand Design - 2600RB - Pulling with a 2005 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4. (Texas)

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            • #7
              Dude One other trick I use when we have guest with us, I set both thermostats to low on vs auto so the cycling does not wake people, and it also helps level out the temp in the unit. I have had our AC cycle when initially cooling the unit down.

              By chance did you make a major change in the temp setting on the stat? If Dual AC (this one urks me) one unit will cool more and faster than the other leading to one area being much cooler than the other (think meat locker vs sauna). Again this is why the units get set to low on vs auto to keep the temps in the unit more even as when the bedroom AC compressor shuts down, it takes the colder air in the bedroom and distributes it though the rest of the unit.
              Joseph
              Tow
              Vehicle: 2024 GMC K3500 Denali Ultimate Diesel
              Coach: 303RLS Delivered March 5, 2021
              South of Houston Texas

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              • #8
                Jlawles2 We currently have only one AC unit. I have also done that low fan versus the auto to mitigate the sound of the unit kicking in and out. We have a Mini Winnie 2100 before the GD and had to always run the fan on low, mainly because of the noise that AC made in that little camper.
                2020 Grand Design - 2600RB - Pulling with a 2005 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4. (Texas)

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                • #9
                  evening all, I can tell you that the 4 minutes off time (should be) an anti-cycle timer to protect the compressor. (I done HVAC for 40 years now) We had the opposite happen in our camper the thermostat was getting hit by the sun thru the window in the door and never bringing on the heat. If the thermostat runs your AC runs your heat, try it in heat and see if you get the same cycling. this may rule out a bad thermostat. As posted above check to see if the unit is freezing up at the inside coil, has proper air flow, and the nothing is blowing cold air on the thermostat. Also you might (if able) want to check the unit on the roof to make sure noting is blocking that coil, because if the unit cannot remove the heat to the outside this will cause the compressor to stop running until the pressure come back down to try to start again.

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                  • #10
                    Dude Hopefully you have found and fixed this issue by now, but one other thing that comes to mind is in all 3 of our units, as the temperature reaches close to set temp, the AC units would start cycling.

                    If this is happening, try moving the set temp 2 degrees for 10-15 minutes then dropping it back down.

                    Also, don't forget that as the unit starts to stabilize, all of the MASS (you know the things installed at the factor plus what we pack in there) will be fighting the temp difference. This fighting gets better as the soak time of the temp increases.
                    Joseph
                    Tow
                    Vehicle: 2024 GMC K3500 Denali Ultimate Diesel
                    Coach: 303RLS Delivered March 5, 2021
                    South of Houston Texas

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Jlawles2 View Post
                      Dude Hopefully you have found and fixed this issue by now, but one other thing that comes to mind is in all 3 of our units, as the temperature reaches close to set temp, the AC units would start cycling.

                      If this is happening, try moving the set temp 2 degrees for 10-15 minutes then dropping it back down.

                      Also, don't forget that as the unit starts to stabilize, all of the MASS (you know the things installed at the factor plus what we pack in there) will be fighting the temp difference. This fighting gets better as the soak time of the temp increases.
                      Today I was able to dig into cleaning the coils on the roof. The coils didn’t show hardly and dirt at all, but I went ahead and cleaned them anyway while I was in there. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the foam spray that was recommended in the video in this this thread. Spraying it into the coals and leaving it just didn’t set well with me. I used warm water in a pump sprayer to rinse coals after spraying and it came pretty clean. I also removed all the covers inside and tapped off any places that I could see any air slipping by. With all that said, that rules out any issues with the unit. We are planning on camping in three days and that will allow me to open up the slide to get to the thermostat and do a proper evaluation based offs the information everyone gave me in the thread.
                      2020 Grand Design - 2600RB - Pulling with a 2005 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4. (Texas)

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                      • #12
                        I was able to do a bit more research after taking the camper out this passed weekend. I made vent adjustment by pointing the kitchen vent out into the living area and also turned the vent more away from the thermostat in the bed room. After the trailer stabilized in temperature it ran very smoothly.
                        thanks everyone for your feedback and support.
                        Final note: its best to probably start by adjusting vents and waiting for the temperature in the camper to stabilize before asking question. One things for sure I did learn some very important things based off the feed back about how to clean the coils. I do feel smarter.😎
                        Last edited by Dude; 06-15-2023, 06:58 AM.
                        2020 Grand Design - 2600RB - Pulling with a 2005 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4. (Texas)

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