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Duo Therm Air conditioner acting strange

Yahoo Message Number: 97719
Hi all

I have 2 Duo Therm Air conditioners Model # 630515.321. The rear A/C was running normally when the bedroom filled with what looked like smoke. There was no smell so obviously no fire and I started to relax. It was more like fog, a very fine mist or water vapor with no odor or taste what so ever. The A/C shut itself off and would not restart. The room cleared within few minutes. I went up on the roof and looked inside the A/C and found no damage by heat or fire. The compressor, fan motor, capacitors and circuit board all look normal.
I turned on the front A/C and it ran a few seconds a few times then nothing from this one. I have tried re-setting the thermostat (hold zone and mode while turning on switch) and get FF then EE when let up zone and mode. The failed A/C was set as zone 2. I turned that DIP switch off and then the thermostat reset and the front A/C ran and cooled fine for a while but then the thermostat display dimmed (Any batteries in that thermostat?) and the front air wouldn't start again so I quit there.

What would cause these symptoms?

Can this unit be re-charged if necessary? If it is now junk what model would be the best replacement for it?

Any and all advice will be appreciated.
Thank you

Andy Ring
02 Allure 36'

Re: Duo Therm Air conditioner acting strange

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97720
we just replaced the front AC in our '04 Allure. It quit cooling and I smelled an electrical smell and heard a "swooshing" sound. We had 2 techs inspect it and it had very small freon leak that was in a place that you couldn't see at first look. I read that someone found a way to recharge it but we didn't want to put any money in a 10 year old unit. We had it replaced with a Dometic Penguin II 13,500 BTU Low Profile.
The part number will depend on whether you want the heat pump which costs more. We decided that we never used the heat pump and didn't need it on the new unit.

The model number for the ducted model WITHOUT heat pump is 641815C

The model number for the ducted model WITH the heat pump is 651815C

If you have the 5 button Comfort Control Center Thermostat, tell the technician that Dometic makes a kit so that the new AC will work with the old Thermostat. A couple of techs we talked to didn't know about the kit. If they don't know about the kit, they will add a new thermostat to the estimate and then you will also have to purchase another control board for the old AC so it will work with a new thermostat. Not necessary unless the thermostat is bad.

If your thermostat is bad, the new one is the Comfort Control Center II.

On our Allure, there was a loose phone cord inside the front AC unit that was bad. That cord communicates with the thermostat. We found the problem by wiggling the wire. You can also unplug it and plug it back in to see if that helps. Also check the phone cord that plugs into the bottom of the thermostat.

Our back AC worked fine without the front AC. We just left the front AC turned off. We didn't change any dip switch.

Lonny & Diane Livingston
'04 Allure #31065
 

Re: Duo Therm Air conditioner acting strange

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 97722
I've talked with several knowledgeable techs and they all seem to agree that the units "can" be recharged, but it isn't worth the time, effort, and most of all money in the long range plan of things. They all agree it's a temporary fix at best for who knows how long. No personal experience however.

Roger Harper
2007 Affinity
#6740