Air Conditioning

[Don Bradner]

Presumably over the driver's head, but I've not dug back in there to find out
for sure. While they moved the condensor on ours I don't know why they would
move the evaporator.

On 5/31/2008 at 2:03 PM Leroy Eckert wrote:

>Mine is the same configuration as yours Don. I do have a small leak
>somewhere that I cannot find. It leaks down about once per year but works
>great when it is charged. The leak must be very small. Converted to 134a.
>Just curious, where is the expansion valve and evaporator in your coach?
>
>Leroy Eckert
>1990 WB-40 Smoke N Mirrors
>Dahlonega.GA
>Royale Conversion
>
>Don Bradner wrote:
>There've been a few A/C discussions in various threads recently - must be
>a calendar thing. I thought I would add my own.
>
> I've always been very impressed with how well the overhead chassis air
>cooled driver and passenger in Blue Thunder. In previous SOBs on really
>hot days the dash air was never enough - had to run the generator and a
>house A/C as well. Blue Thunder is one of the 90s with the condenser back
>at the radiator rather than on top of the front cap.
>
> 10 days or so ago there was a big heatwave on the west coast, and I
>turned on the A/C for the first time in a couple of months - no cold at
>all, sigh. Ran the generator as needed to keep things decent, and waited
>until we got home to check things out.
>
> On top of the hoses as they leave the compressor are R12-to-R134a elbow
>service ports. Both were loose, and a small amount of pressure on the
>high-side fitting caused it to separate. There was no gas escape,
>indicating that it was all long-since leaked out.
>
> I assume that I am the culprit on this. I had to drop the pump in order
>to disconnect one of the gate valves when I was searching for my chassis
>heater problems, and I'm guessing I hit the fittings at some point during
>the process. They are rather exposed and easy to collide with.
>
> A local outfit did the service, replacing both fittings and using 7-1/4
>lbs of R134a. An expensive lesson, for sure, over $600 bottom line.
>
> The records from the coach's second owner shows a $700 bill in July of
>2001 for "A/C repair" so I'm guessing that may have been the original
>conversion.
>
> I know there are a number of folks who have posted that their dash air
>does not work, and they just use the generator/house air solution. We
>considered that, but even with the high cost of repair the economics
>appear to be in favor of the repair route. Our generator pulls about 1/2
>gallon per hour when doing light work like a single air conditioner. At $5
>per gallon that would mean $600 would run the A/C for 240 hours. At most
>that would be a couple of years for us, and probably less. We will be
>traveling to the East Coast in August, and are likely to be in hot weather
>until we leave Florida in November.
>
> I'll be sorry if it turns out that I have a leak somewhere else, but I'm
>fairly confident that I don't. The tech put plenty of fluorescent dye in
>with the refrigerant, and nothing has shown up anywhere.
>
> Don Bradner
> 90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
> Eureka, CA