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Old 04-26-2014, 11:33 AM   #21
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

Quote:
Originally Posted by photographix
Quote:
Originally Posted by gerrym51
Pretty sure 08 danhard is a starcool
Maybe...didn't Starcool buy or take over the RV stuff from Danhard?

The fan speed control inside, the controller box under the dinette seat, and the instruction sheet have Danhard logos on them, so I logically assumed it was a Danhard. I'm not the original owner, and my papers show SMB did the conversion in winter '08.

Danhard made the original 'starcool". however the Danhard AC that Sportsmobile offers today does not work like the old Starcool.

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Old 04-26-2014, 11:59 AM   #22
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

When I called Danhard for some Starcool parts they told me the guy who designed the Starcool systems left Danhard. Although they have certain parts, some of the SC parts are no longer available from them. I had a friend repair mine and found he could order or adapt most any of the parts. I'd think the newer Danhard units would be the same except you can probably get the parts directly from them.
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Old 04-26-2014, 01:37 PM   #23
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

Photographix- i searched the begiining of the forum and it appears Sportsmobile was testing Starcool4

in late 2007. this is the current Danhard AC(it was never called starcool 4). I was probably incorrect

about what I said. you could very well have the current danhard system. my how time flies
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Old 04-27-2014, 12:09 AM   #24
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

I tried the A/C again today, and now the problem is worse.

Previously, I could get the unit to start up, but it would quit cooling after a few minutes, but at least the blower inside would run. Fixing the external fans on the condenser made it work properly. Now I can't even get the blower to start up. I get nothing, nada, zip.

I think the problem started on this week's trip to White Pocket. The A/C thermostat is mounted on the cabinet that holds the microwave. We hit a lot of rough roads, and the microwave started bouncing around, and it damaged the thermostat wires on the inside of the cabinet. I think the wire insulation was burned/melted, but it's hard to tell even with a magnifying glass. If they are burned, I don't know why...the power to the A/C was off at the breaker panel. Could I have fried the thermostat?

I cut out the damaged part of the wires and reconnected the thermostat. The display on t-stat seems to function properly, but the A/C never starts, and setting the fan switch to ON doesn't make the blower fan run. I've waited the 2 minutes for the compressor lockout to expire, as indicated by the snowflake in the display to change from blinking to solid.

I've put fresh AAA batteries in the t-stat (it's a White Rodgers unit that requires batteries), did several re-sets of the t-stat, powered off the breakers, but I can't make it go. If there are fuses in the system, I can't find them. Is there a reset button on the controller box somewhere? The instruction manual is pretty useless.
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Old 05-02-2014, 10:39 PM   #25
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

I figured out the problem. The microwave did indeed crush and abrade the thermostat wires, but it did more damage than what was near the t-stat end of the wire.

I opened the Danhard controller box, and even though it had been several days, the smell of burned insulation came out of the box. The thermostat wires were fused from the short, and the one going to the ground had gotten so hot that all the insulation had turned to ash and the stranded wire broke from the heat.

I did some continuity checks, and got continuity along along each wire, as expected. But I also had cross continuity across two of the wires as well, which made me think that the wires were fried elsewhere, too.

What confused me about the t-stat wiring was that SMB used stranded wire in a gray sheath at the Danhard controller box, but the t-stat end had solid wire in a brown sheath. And the color of the wires didn't match. Also, the t-stat wire disappeared into the wall under the dinette seat and I couldn't figure out how it was routed. Same with the t-stat end: It also disappeared into a wall.

I figured that the two types of wire had to be spliced together somewhere, but couldn't find the splice until I took the fridge/micro/evaporator cabinet most of the way apart. Searching around by feel in the hidden recesses behind the cabinet, I found a wad of electrical tape covering a bunch of butt connectors. It had just enough slack in it to see how the color of the wires was connected.

I snipped off the damaged wire, but had to leave it in place because I couldn't pull it out of the wall. I marked it as "Do Not Use - Damaged".

I replaced the wire with new 18-3 wire from Lowe's. Instead of trying to make the long run through the wall again, I just used about 5 ft of wire and took the shortest path possible to the controller box.

Here's a pic of the burned wires. I had pulled the fused sections apart while doing the continuity checks. I figure there was at least 12V and who knows how many amps running through these tiny wires to cook the wires. Must have been pretty substantial.

Best of all, the A/C works again!

And I'm also beginning to understand how SMB puts these things together!

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Old 05-02-2014, 11:38 PM   #26
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

Good info. It's nice when you figure out stuff on your own. Hopefully this will help others in the future. Myself I don't like solid wire in a vehicle that bounces around. Butt connectors suck too unless they're soldered.
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Old 05-03-2014, 01:08 AM   #27
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

In my explorations of SMB wiring while getting things operational, I notice that SMB loves to use butt connectors, and leaves little, if any, slack in wires.

One example is my Suburban furnace. I guess they figured that the furnace would never need any maintenance -- EVER. There was no way to remove it without cutting wires. On the other hand, my Norcold fridge has an excess of butt-connected wire. Several feet of slack wire there...enough to move the fridge 6 feet from its mounting home!

Like you, I don't like butt connectors or solid wire in a vibration-prone environment. That said, I used standard household 18-3 solid thermostat wire to make my A/C repair because it was all I could find locally. I don't know a lot about wire. Is there a better alternative?
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Old 05-03-2014, 03:30 PM   #28
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Re: Danhard AC quitting

Solid wire is probably better when hooking to standard AC electrical outlets mainly because stranded wire doesn't fully seat under a screw and when the wire vibrates it will loosen up. But I've been told that solid wire can also break due to vibration. Probably the best is to crimp & solder a rated lug to stranded wire then connect to the outlet screws. Terminal blocks and studs are probably better when used for connections. But it would take extra work hours for SMB and is probably why they use Romex. As long as the Romex is secured from vibration there doesn't seem to be a problem and I rarely hear of issues. I'm far from an expert but would think some of the same methods in wiring a boat should be used but because our vans have a limited amount of AC electrical, I guess there is room to cheat.
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Old 08-03-2018, 07:53 AM   #29
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Photographix, If you are still on the forum could you answer some additional questions?

Any one else who may know the answers - please chime in.

Have you fitted a Soft Start condenser, I believe they are now SOP at SMB?

How is the Control Box accessed? I can see a screw retainer on top but the bottom of my box is completely inaccessible without removing the Tripplite?

I have to identify the Red and Black wires from the Compressor and cut them before the Control Box to install a Soft Start. Problem is I cannot ID the wires as they are also invisible as they exit the external housing. Should I plan on removing the external unit?

Thoughts?
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