Troubleshooting Advent AC Fan Shutting Off Shortly After Startup

Question:

Hi! I own one of these bought from you and on my last trip the circulating fan stopped working. It will start and then slowly over the space of a few seconds stops running. There is no obstruction I removed the top part of the airbox and confirmed it spins freely. Confirmed it is the fan by selecting Fan only and the same thing happens on fan high it will sort of run but not really, and I obviously dont want to leave it on that setting for long lest I burn the motor out. The compressor starts and runs. This sounds like the big capacitor is likely bad is there a trouble-shooting procedure I can go through to confirm this and, if so, do you have the capacitor available for replacement? It is otherwise working fine but obviously without circulation it trips almost immediately.

asked by: Karl D

Expert Reply:

I agree with you that the capacitor on the Advent Air RV Air Conditioner w/ Air Distribution Box, Start Capacitor, and Heat Strip # ACM135CH is bad and needs to be replaced.

To test the capacitor you'll need a multimeter like part # PTW1714 and you'll use that to test the terminals on the capacitor to see if the ratings match what the capacitor is rated for. Be sure to shut off power to the AC unit and discharge the remaining voltage in the capacitor prior to touching the contacts.

We don't have any replacement capacitors but they are pretty easy to find elsewhere, you just need to make sure the ratings match for them to work properly.

If you aren't comfortable with this or you haven't done it before then I do recommend having a qualified technician (or someone with previous experience) helping you out to make sure everything is done safely.

expert reply by: Jon G