Warning re Advent ACM135

[hipsterreplacement]

Howdy, I just wanted to give folks a heads up on the experience I've had with this rooftop air conditioning unit. I'm the 3rd owner of my RV. I paid for an inspection before buying it in June of 2019, but the Dometic AC failed in Sept 2020. A fantastic mobile RV mech installed an Advent in there. (Fantastic mech in many ways, but apparently made a bad choice of product to install.) The Advent failed in March of 2021. I jumped through the hoops to get it replaced under warranty, but that only took care of the cost of the unit. I had to pay trip fee and labor to get it actually replaced. The replacement unit just failed in early April (mech says it's the compressor). I will have to pay trip fees and now pay for everything to get it replaced by another manufacturer's unit.

I just wanted to give folks a heads up on this brand/model. It has been an expensive disappointing dud.

 

[LoupGarou]

Roof top A/C units are typically robust. What does them in is a low line voltage. You might consider a Hughes Autoformer that will boost a low line voltage to a nominal level. You should also be using a Progressive Industries EMS or similar product to test and monitor input power to the RV.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yep, low voltage (voltage sag) can be a killer for a roof A/C compressor and it's usually the shore power supply, the on-board genset, or, substandard wiring in the RV that supplies the unit.

Just one of many articles that address this problem:

https://rvlife.com/low-voltage-in-your-rv/
Three failed units in a row seems to me, that there may be some other issue.

If this were happening to me, the first thing I do is monitor the 120v supply inside the RV, using one of these or similar:

https://www.amazon.com/Hughes-Autof...dp/B0195J4T2Q/ref=psdc_14244481_t3_B015H0A3FO
https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Produc...dp/B075CSGT56/ref=psdc_14244481_t2_B0195J4T2Q
You should watch the fluctuation of the reading when the A/C compressor starts up, and the old-school analog style makes it easy to see the voltage drop during compressor start. Voltage will drop noticeably during compressor start, but it should stay above 100 volts at a minimum, and while the compressor is running (steady state) the voltage should hold at around 120 volts.

 

[bullfrog !]

Yep roof top air ain’t cheap and loosing one to a “brown out” low voltage condition is common. Many shore power outlets are not really wired as they should be and generators in remote areas aren’t always maintained for peak performance.

 

[Happy Camper]

Brown out conditions are much worse for electronics and electric devices than blackouts by a large margin. The strain to keep working leads to dirty power, which is brutal on many levels and will absolutely kill electronics.