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Retirement and the full time RV lifestyle
well, kids, its been awhile since I posted here.
I retired last year, SOLD EVERYTHING, business, home, tools, everything, and bought an RV and we have been living the nomad lifestyle, and its been a blast. We named her the Escape Pod, Because we escaped New Yorkistan
Last Sept we left Rochester, NY, went to Fredericksburg Va, then to Knoxville, Tn, then to Moss Point ms, and rt-10 to Phoenix Az by January 3rd.
In Phoenix we picked up a 2000 Jeep wrangler, installed 1500W of solar and 606Ah of Lithium batteries so we can boondock in the wilderness and still have power to run the entire Escape Pod. All we need is food and water. We can stay out in the wilderness for a month or more, before we need to resupply
But in Yuma, I ran into a interesting (on going) issue. The a/c's are controlled by a Thermistor(s) But they are so far off calibration it's ridiculous. I have no idea what voltage these thing have? but I would like to switch to a standard, cheap ass, snap action thermostat
Do any of you know how a thermistor works, I don't have clue, or what voltage they may be at? Thor is not very forthcoming with information.
This is a Thor Magnitude XG32, Ford F550 4x4, with a 6.7L turbo diesel
Why am I the only naked person at this gender reveal party
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"Is this before or after you fired the parts cannon at it?" - senior tech
I'm tired of these mediocre "semi flammable" refrigerants. If we're going to do it let's do it right.
Unless we change direction we are likely to end up where we are going.
"It's not new, it's better than new!" Maru.
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Thermistors are notoriously sensitive to moisture, it causes the majority of thermistor failures. Even the epoxy coated kind are prone to fail if kept wet. Their resistance changes as a function of temperature. The R vs T curve varies significantly dependent upon the mfgr & particular model. A degree or two off isn't excessive in this application, but 12°F is way off. I would bet there is are variables hidden somewhere in the thermostat to zero and span the sensors, but maybe not accessible to the user.
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Can’t help with your thermistors….but congrats on living your dream! Man that sounds awesome. Enjoy your rambling. 
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I got this, lol…when I traveled to disaster site’s rebuilding homes backed by multi millionaire and multi billionaire investors..I had my 1994 fleet wood bounder 34j I had 2 AC units on it…my propane gas heat failed one time due to a bad diode and easily replaceable…
Here ya go..through DDG web search…you will see pics of different thermistors (temperature sensors) and other links..
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rv+thermistor&t=iphone&ia=web
Your RV should have come with a very thick book of every item in it with the manuals..
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Originally Posted by
R600a
What brand is the AC?
Coleman, Mach.....
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I guess the only thing to do is trace these things back to the unit and see what the voltage is, and then finding a stat that will work.
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Originally Posted by
jmac00
Coleman, Mach.....
Who knows what they've come out with since I swore off RV repair but last time I worked on RVs all the Coleman's were 12 volt control as far as I knew. I always figured if I had one I would throw in a 24 volt transformer down in one of the compartments where there was 110 volts available and run it up to a regular thermostat and feed those wires down to a relay panel I would build to convert my 24 volt signals from my nice Honeywell thermostat to 12 volt for the RV air conditioner. That or gut the controls of the unit and put my relay panel up there controlling the loads directly.
"Is this before or after you fired the parts cannon at it?" - senior tech
I'm tired of these mediocre "semi flammable" refrigerants. If we're going to do it let's do it right.
Unless we change direction we are likely to end up where we are going.
"It's not new, it's better than new!" Maru.
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I think you will struggle putting a normal stat on and getting it to work. Those rev units are kind of unique. I would ohm out the thingys. Maybe get some new thermistors.
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Originally Posted by
jmac00
I guess the only thing to do is trace these things back to the unit and see what the voltage is, and then finding a stat that will work.
If you want to know how the factory controls work I can get you the service manual from my buddy who owns an RV store if you send me a picture of the data plate.
"Is this before or after you fired the parts cannon at it?" - senior tech
I'm tired of these mediocre "semi flammable" refrigerants. If we're going to do it let's do it right.
Unless we change direction we are likely to end up where we are going.
"It's not new, it's better than new!" Maru.
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we are having a blast, been all over Arizona, from Yuma, to Grand Canyon. We went to Las Vegas ( absolutely hated it ) Hoover dam, Valley of Fire. Diesel prices have slowed us down a little, but not much, we are members of Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome. we can camp for free or next to nothing.
Why am I the only naked person at this gender reveal party
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Originally Posted by
R600a
If you want to know how the factory controls work I can get you the service manual from my buddy who owns an RV store if you send me a picture of the data plate.
cool, I'll get up there tomorrow and get that info
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Originally Posted by
jmac00
cool, I'll get up there tomorrow and get that info
I think it's usually under the cover on the ceiling inside the rv but like I said I quit working on them a few years ago because I found that I lost too much money working on rvs so I could be remembering wrong.
"Is this before or after you fired the parts cannon at it?" - senior tech
I'm tired of these mediocre "semi flammable" refrigerants. If we're going to do it let's do it right.
Unless we change direction we are likely to end up where we are going.
"It's not new, it's better than new!" Maru.
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Have you checked the temperature near each thermistor? They aren't in that touchscreen - they will be separately mounted in the front and back of the RV, one for each unit. That way you can see if there's an external influence throwing them off.
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Originally Posted by
R600a
I think it's usually under the cover on the ceiling inside the rv but like I said I quit working on them a few years ago because I found that I lost too much money working on rvs so I could be remembering wrong.
You will be correct R600…that’s where they was located in mine when I had it, there was an opening in the inside cover so it could read it..at the ceiling in the unit…hot air rises and that’s where it’s reading from …
A temp probe at the ceiling should show the same reading
However on some of these newer units the indoor sensor could be anywhere remotely and strategically placed…
This is an example …don’t know if it’s the correct model but it is a Coleman Mach..
http://old.rvcomfort.com/pdf_documents/1976342.pdf
Last edited by Unlimited1; 08-11-2022 at 12:19 AM.
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Originally Posted by
Unlimited1
You will be correct R600…that’s where they was located in mine when I had it, there was an opening in the inside cover so it could read it..at the ceiling in the unit…hot air rises and that’s where it’s reading from …
A temp probe at the ceiling should show the same reading
However on some of these newer units the indoor sensor could be anywhere remotely and strategically placed…
I was actually talking about the data tag. 
"Is this before or after you fired the parts cannon at it?" - senior tech
I'm tired of these mediocre "semi flammable" refrigerants. If we're going to do it let's do it right.
Unless we change direction we are likely to end up where we are going.
"It's not new, it's better than new!" Maru.
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sorry, I got a really bad head cold, and allergies are kicking my ass, I'll get on this tomorrow. My apologies
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Thermistor’s are basically variable resistors and either have a positive or negative temperature coefficient. If you can get at the thermistor you should be able to find out a part number and get the nominal value and slope and diagnose if it is bad or not. Then you might be able to use a snap action thermostat with a resistor in series to fool the control unit.
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Get signed on the Escapees, Rvforum, Rvnet, etc forums & do some search on the touchscreen controllers. Lots of unhappy campers with these single point control of everything. Also lots of these are fixed with an update of software.
AirExell is the owner of the Coleman Mach AC's now.
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Isn't a Thermistor the same gadget you stick into an evaporator, that has an issue freezing up?
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