Everyone that has a Coleman Mach 8 Air Conditioner needs to inspect their outdoor fan blades! If you have a Part No.: “1472B504 or “1472C504” fan, read on.
A few weeks ago, while we were in Florida, I noticed one night that the bedroom A/C was noisier then usual. The next day, after the A/C had run a few minutes, it started making a terrible racket. I went on the roof and removed the A/C shroud and found the fan motor (the outside condenser fan) had broken loose from its isolation mounts. Closer examination revealed that the fan had failed at the root of one of the blades.
This caused the fan hub to bend, go out of shape, throwing the fan out of balance. This out-of-balance condition caused the motor mounts to fail.
Further examination of the fan revealed the beginning of cracks on the other fan blades:
I checked my other A/C unit and found the start of cracking on two of its fan blades, as shown above.
An internet search found several threads concerning these fan failures at these sites:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/rvp-...it-210236.html
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/plea...re-228386.html
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/rvp-...an-225536.html
Very little else was found for this problem, no recalls were found, and nothing was found on Coleman/Airxcel/RVP’s website.
Apparently, RVP made a fan blade change on the Mach 8 A/C’s in mid-2014 from a six-bladed fan (the original 1472A504 version) to a three-bladed fan (the 1472B504version) due to a noise problem. There was a design/manufacturing problem with the replacement part, and failures started to occur. The fan was redesigned and a new version was released (the “C” version) shortly followed by another change (the “D” version).
I contacted Airxcel/RVP and requested replacement fans and new fan motor isolation mounts for both of my A/C units. After a bit of static and mumbling, they agreed to send the replacement parts to me under warranty.
Upon receipt of the new 1472D504 fans, some of the modifications I noticed in the “D” release included:
1. Filleting of all the fan blade to hub joints. Whereas the B design fan blades met the hub at right angles, the D design fan blades have a curved radius at the joint that should greatly increase the joint strength. Even the thin edges of the blade now curve gently into the hub.
2. The bottom blade edge on the B design fans ended right at the bottom of the hub, on the D design fan blade the bottom edge of the fan blade ends a good distance above the bottom of the hub. This should provide significant additional resistance to cracking. The hub height appears to have been increased to make this change.
3. Significantly improvement in the stiffness of the entire blade assembly was noted also.
So, if you have a Coleman Mach 8 A/C manufactured between mid-2014 and mid-2015 you need to inspect or have your dealer inspect your A/C units to see which outdoor fan you have. Molded on the top of the fan hub is the part number. If it is “1472B504 or “1472C504” you or your dealer needs to contact RVP at (316)-832-4357 and request a 1472D504 replacement fan kit under warranty. Of course you’ll get the “we haven’t heard of this problem before” or “it’s not really that big of a problem” but be determined with them and get the replacement fan.
If you’ve had a fan fail, also request the isolation mount replacement kit. Due to the imbalance caused by a failed fan, the isolation mounts could be weakened or damaged.
While you’re up there checking you’re A/C unit, it is also the perfect time to check and clean your condenser coil. You’ll be amazed and how dirty they get. They’re easy to clean – spray with a good degreasing cleaner suitable for aluminum, let set for a short while, then flush through the coils from behind with a water hose, being careful not to use a strong stream of water that could bend the coil fins. If a lot of the fins are bent, carefully straighten them with a fin comb or a plastic knife. This little bit of maintenance will improve the operation of you’re A/C unit and extend its life.
Rick
ALERT - Coleman Mach 8 A/C Fan Failure
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