Dometic 13.5 w/ heat pump

[Bill Poe]

Finally fixed the AC. Even though it's a non serviceable Dometic unit. We recharged the freon. Now it works!

[mlatter]

That's awesome, but it'd be even more awesome if you provided some details on how you did it.

[Kuba]

Did you put service valves in it? 410?

[Bill Poe]

I put service valves in it and had a qualified HVAC guy recharge with R410a. Now AC and heat pump works fine. We'll see how long it works. They either didn't charge it correctly when new or it has a leak. I'll know in a couple of months after heading to Florida. He put a leak sniffer on it and didn't find anything. RV dealer and Dometic told me I had to replace the unit ��. $1800.00 Ya right!!!

[mlatter]

Yeah, that's pricey. Good job on saving the unit (hopefully).

[Kuba]

Bill, very good. Probably took him an hour

[bob dirt]

If he would have used a good set of digital gauges and a good vacuum pump, you might have known if there was a leak before you even charged it. Finding it is a different story though. I spread all my cap tubes and copper lines apart so nothing rubs. People were always complaining about leaks but no-one (techs) has ever looked for or found one to my knowledge...just replaced it. A lot cheaper to do what you did instead of replacing it when out of warranty.

[Kuba]

Can imagine how long it would have taken to pull vacuum on it

[Bill Poe]

They make more $ if they sell a new unit 😂

[rockfordroo]

We've become a throw-away society.

[bob dirt]

Originally Posted by Kuba

Can imagine how long it would have taken to pull vacuum on it

not long on a small unit....

On small systems it makes more sense evacuating and weighing the charge in per nameplate. If you use digital gauges you can tell if there is a leak right away, just sayn'

[Kuba]

I know, im an hvac tech

[alsdas88]

Not meaning to steal this thread, but how do you identify if you have a heat pump unit? I have two units on my 340RK, realizing the bedroom unit is strictly a A/C unit, but I can't help but to think the main unit in the living room might just be a heat pump/AC unit. My Dometic controller goes from Furnace to Cool to Fan to Off. I do not know how to switch to heat on the main unit. The ducting system is great and so far have not needed to use the bedroom AC unit, even on hot days in SoCal. Any advice would be appreciated.


Night temps here in extreme southern AZ are hovering in the low to mid 30's and my furnace is working great, but propane is costly and a decent working heat pump might mitigate some of that cost.

[Bill Poe]

On my thermostat it has a selection that states heat pump. Also if you pull the cover on the roof unit it will have a switching valve or reversing valve. This piece will have several small and large copper lines going to it with a coil on the end of it

[Bill Poe]

Heat pumps work great if the ambient temp is not too cold and you use park electricity for heat, not your propane!