In our preparation for Burning Man, #1 on our list of things to do was to fix the roof-top air conditioner. On our way out to Colorado from Pennsylvania, a few days into the trip Adrienne noticed, while walking back to the RV from the building at the rest stop, that the air conditioner was standing straight up in the air—not normal. I secured all of the loose and broken components and we moved on. After I got back from Alaska, I bought a used unit on craigslist to replace the broken unit and here is the saga that unfolded.

We woke up early one Sunday and went out side to start working on getting the old AC unit removed and the new one installed.  Once we got the old one out of the way Adrienne spent over an hour cleaning the roof surrounding the area where it mounts to provide a clean surface for the new sealant during the installation process.  The new unit weighed maybe 65 lbs and was large and awkward, with many sharp surfaces, providing a serious dilemma in getting it up onto the roof in one piece.  I finally solved the problem by wrapping a strap around the middle of the unit and we dragged it straight up the back ladder of the RV from the roof with a piece of masonite underneath to act as a sled–Adrienne did most of the lifting.

The new/used unit we bought was the same general model but many years older and of slightly smaller capacity and it didn’t come with the inside control assembly. The unit we had installed on our roof was a 13,000 Btu unit and the one I bought was 10,000 Btu. Along with this difference, which was nominal in my mind, was the fact that the wiring was different and the new unit was not setup for the addition of a heater. After re-arranging the wiring in the connector to match up with what was on our inside control unit, I got the unit to power up. But….

The two speed fan didn’t work, and there were dead spots in our selector switch (positions where you could set the selector switch that would not do anything, the fan and compressor would stop). Not a very good sign. So I did what I was dreading doing—I laid out both wiring diagrams side-by-side and studied them very carefully for the next two days and came to the conclusion that both units were exactly the same (minus the smaller compressor) except for the fact that the new/old unit did not have a two speed fan, which the original unit did. So I thought, well shoot, I’ll just take the old two speed fan off and swap the broken fan blade out for the good one, and install it on the new/old unit along with the better wiring harness from the original unit. Over the next 3 days, Adrienne helped me completely tear apart both units and salvage all of the best components to put on the one where were going to use. We tested all the capacitors, cleaned up the wiring, re-gained our multi-speed fan and two stage AC as well as maintaining our heating function. While we were at it, we tore out all the old insulation that smelled of 40 years of cigarette smoke and replaced it with new stuff.

In the end, what a project, but it was well worth it and we now have a beautifully functional unit.

The nasty old smoke saturated insulation.

What was left of the old unit on top of the RV after dissecting it for all its good parts.

Our new unit after installing the two speed fan motor. In the process of testing the capacitors and getting ready to install all the covers with new insulation installed.