AC Coil icing up
 

Ran the air in the cabin Saturday night and the coil iced up. When that happens the fan stops. (Probably froze) I had 4 people in the cabin that night which was a warm night and I had the T-Stat set to 65. I am wondering if it froze because I had it set so low and it couldn't cyle. Any suggestions?

ac freeze?
 

My air conditioner guy told me there are 2 reasons they freeze,low on freon,and not enough air flow.The filters in my system were filthy,with all those people on board did someone block the return vent?

sometimes, freezing is caused by a thermostat that is hung up, or malfunctioning, causing it to stay in the on position for too long. Try manually turning it up to mid 70's for 30 minutes and see if the coil defrosts, and then turn back down to 65. If this is the prob, your thermostat may need to be changed.

OR could be a number of other things, this is the easiest to check.

I'm not sure where the return is so I'll have to see where it to see if maybe that was the problem. I'll also try the settings on the T-stat. Thanks for the feedback.

The 3 main causes are too low of a thermostat setting, dirty filter/coil (low airflow), and low charge. You mentioned that the fan stopped running. All of the systems that I have seen keep the fan running regardless of anything as long as the stat is calling for it. Check the cap on the circulating fan motor. I assume it is a 110v system. A bad cap or contacts could be the culprit. While the fan is running with the system on, check the temperature of the suction line (the bigger line connected to the compressor). It should be in the 50 degree range. If it's warmer, then you probably have a low charge. If it's colder, then check for low airflow. These are the basics. Post back with more symptoms if this doesn't get you there. Unfortunately, alot of the smaller packaged equipment like this is considered non-serviceable and doesn't have service ports for the refrigeration system. You can use always get around that if you have a simple leak. I still think that the fan motor or its capacitor is the problem.

Rene

buy a ten dollar fan and aim it at the coils.. and make sure no one threw a duffle bag or something in front of the intake..

Great info.....Next time out I'll do some troubleshooting. Thanks a bunch for the input!!!!

I had the same thing happen in my 382 a couple of times. The first time, it was just so freakin' hot (102) that the AC didn't get a rest, the other time it needed a shot of freon. Whenever it happens, just switch to heat for a few minutes. It will melt the ice off of the outside of the unit pronto, but will take a minute or two longer to melt the ice inside the unit.
The intake is on the aft side of the unit if I remember correctly-looks like a furnace filter. It's easy to throw something in there that will block it.

Chances are there was just too much hot air in the cabin.....

Do the simple stuff first. Clean the air return filter. I'll bet it looks like a wool sweater.
There could be one on the grill and/or a slide out one on the face of the unit itself.
Gary

This wasn't mentioned yet, so I'll throw it out there....

Years ago, working at the marina, a 32 Carver had me stumped... The AC unit would freeze after a while...everything seemed like it was working fine....

I started investigating... Couldn't find it for about an hour... Then I decided to trace the water line coming from the water pump up to the AC unit... That's when I found the problem.... There was a heavy build up of Algea in all the water lines and it was restricting water flow... I replaced all the water lines going from the water pump up to the ac unit and also the discharge hose etc. and it fixed it.

As it turns out, the owner ran the AC 24/7 that summer and caused the build up in the lines.