Coleman Mach RV Basement Air Conditioner Troubleshooting
No matter the name or location. An air conditioner is an air conditioner. Whether it is placed in an RV or a home, the air conditioner works on the same principles and has similar parts. That means that troubleshooting the Coleman Mach RV basement air conditioner should not be that difficult.
The most difficult part about troubleshooting this air conditioner unit is getting it out of its spot in your RV. Once that is done, it is easy to find failed parts. Sometimes you just have to replace a motor that was frozen to get it back to work again.
To learn more about this topic, just continue to read our article. It has the information you need to help you save some money. Some repairs will be covered by an extended warranty so you may not have to pay full price for the parts or labor.
Basement AC Troubleshooting 101
How do You Troubleshoot a Coleman Basement Air Conditioner?
Because every repair is different, it is impossible to place all the possibilities in this small section. But, there are some generic steps you can take for all repairs.
If the problem is with the air conditioning unit itself, then the first step would be to remove it from its location and place the device in a more convenient spot. Make sure you can hook it up to a power source so you can do some testing as you work.
When you do this, do not disconnect any hoses, cables, and other important parts. This means that your work bench has to be next to your RV and the location of your air conditioner when it was installed.
You are going to have a lot of screws to loosen and remove but if you want to save money, it is a job that has to be done. If you do not want to work on the unit yourself, simply remove the air conditioner and set it up so the air conditioning tech can get right to work.
With all this said, we are going to link you to a document that one owner compiled that provides instructions and photos of every step that was taken in his repair. Just click here to get to his 33 page record.
It is better to review the real thing than trying to understand each step with us writing the text and without photos.
RV Basement Air Conditioner Repair
As you will see by clicking on that link, this is not going to be a job for the faint-hearted. The space you have to work in is not going to be large and if you are a large person, it may be a good idea to hire someone who will fit into those tiny spaces.
This is a step-by-step task and the first step would be to remove a lot of screws so you can gain access to the unit. The second step would be to remove the air conditioning unit from its home. This is a difficult task which is why many RV air condition repair techs do not want to do this repair work.
To access the interior of the AC unit, you should have to remove 28 screws. Those screws will be holding the top in place and they must come out to be able to see what is going on inside and do your tests.
Testing is important as it helps you track down the failing or failed part. Again, we will refer you to the document that we linked to in the previous section as it gives all the steps you need to do to repair your Coleman Mach RV basement AC unit.
Coleman Mach Basement Air Unit Capacitor Repair
This is not a very difficult task to perform. Capacitors are small and easy to access when they go bad. The good news is that there are repair kits for both the hard start model and the run capacitors.
“The part numbers for these kits are as follows: Hard Start Capacitor Kit Part # 8333A9021 was $32+tax & Run Capacitor is Part # 1499-5671. Locally this part was $29+tax.”
The repair is very simple. Just replace the colored wires with like-colored wires, then unplug the bad capacitor and plug in the new one. It may take roughly 5 minutes per capacitor to replace.
The above information came from 4 years ago so do not quote us on the price of each replacement kit. Inside the kits, you should find the following parts- “This kit is put together by AIRXCEL out of Kansas. The kit has the capacitor, the motor starter, new wires, installation bracket, and instructions. It says it's for the Coleman Mach Roof Air units”
That was for the hard start repair kit. The quoted information comes from this website, 1st post. RV discussion forums are a great source of information when we haven’t covered the topic yet.
Download Coleman Basement AC Service Manual
The first place to go would be the Coleman store or website to see if they offer any manuals online. If not you can contact the company and see what manuals they do offer.
In this situation though, it may be best to go to Airxcel as they seem to be the company behind these Coleman units. Click on the company name to get to their website and manual page.
If that does not work out for you, here is another location you can try. Just click here to go to Google Docs. Another option would be this website. It deals with a number of manuals that you will need eventually.
That should get you on the right path. Also, you can do your own research to find a better website if these options do not come through for you. Make sure to have your model and serial number on hand so you can plug that information into the right search boxes.
Or to make sure you found the right manual for your basement unit. It only takes a couple of minutes to find what you are looking for on the internet. If you do not have a printer an authorized dealer should have a hard copy of the manual you can buy or get from them.
Coleman Basement AC Wiring Diagram
When you do a search for the Coleman Mach RV basement AC unit wiring diagram, a lot of images appear on the results page. Unfortunately, while those images may say Coleman on them, they may not be the right wiring diagram for your unit.
It is best to go to a website that discusses the Coleman Mach RV basement unit specifically so you can obtain the correct wiring schematic. One result we clicked on would not let us read the website as every time we scrolled down, the dark download page appeared blocking our view of the content on the web page.
The following website shows the different parts in photos and diagrams and when you scroll down far enough, you will come across the wiring diagram. It is a handy website as it gives you the perfect idea of what the parts look like and the right diagram.
Just click here to get to that website. Another website gives you several wiring diagrams for the two-ton basement AC unit. You do not have to scroll down as they are the lead images on this specific web page. Just click here to get to it
Coleman Basement AC Thermostat
We wrote about the Coleman thermostat before and gave you lots of information on this vital Coleman part. You can read what we wrote at Coleman Mach Thermostat wiring diagram.
If you are in need of a replacement unit, then you should go to the Airxcell website and see what options you have available. They may not all work for the basement AC unit but at least you have a handy source when you need a replacement.
Just click here to get to the page that lists all of the models this company has on sale. They have a secure checkout and you can buy directly from them. Or you can use the part number given under each image to buy the part at a cheaper location.
You have to click on one of the options to get to the individual thermostats that may be the right replacement for your basement unit. Then follow the instructions to make your purchase.
You can also make your own search to find a dealer near you when you do not have the luxury of waiting for delivery by UPS or some other fast parcel delivery service. Just make sure to copy the part number down and bring it with you when you go to those outlets.
Finding Coleman RV Basement Air Conditioner Parts
Not a hard task to do. The trick will be to find an outlet that is near you. The first place to check would be at the Airxcel link we provided for you in the previous section.
That company has an online store and spare parts to help make your repair work go smoother and faster. Then if you like shopping online, you can go to this Coleman-Mach spare parts dealer and search their website for the part you need.
Or you can go to one of the many companies that have these parts in stock on the same results page. Just use our sub-section title as your search term. You will get more than enough options to try.
Also, if you are not at home, you can try a local search to find an authorized dealer for this company and see what they have in stock. The internet makes searching less time-consuming and easier to do.
Then you can try the classified newspapers, internet classifieds, or even some junkyards or used parts outlets. This air conditioning unit is still popular and made in large numbers so parts should be available almost everywhere you look.
That is if you are looking at used or new parts stores.
How do I Reset My Coleman Basement RV Air Conditioner?
The Airxcel website does not seem to list this procedure in its FAQ section. But they have a place where you can send this question to them and then wait for an answer.
They do have a product training web page that has different classes you can take to learn how to troubleshoot your unit. Unfortunately, they are all full for the next few months.
We wrote on this topic in a previous article. You can get those instructions at this link. Also, we have checked several websites talking about troubleshooting this model of AC unit and not one mentions what to do to reset this AC unit.
We went through a manual that we linked to and did not find one section talking about resetting the unit. It may be there and we missed it but so far no luck.
You may have better luck. The best advice we can give in this situation would be to tell you to contact Airxcel or Coleman directly and see what they say. Or you can try our instructions on our other web page to see if that works for you.
Resetting is a simple task usually and has few instructions to follow if you can find them.
Some Final Words
The location of the basement air conditioner makes troubleshooting this device more difficult than it should be. Maybe the RV makers should put the unit on a sliding table to make repair work a little easier and more convenient.
Once you get the unit outside of its house, then working on this AC unit is the same as working on your home air conditioner. The parts are the same, the operation is the same and all it takes is a little testing to find the problem.
If you do not want to work on it, at least pull it out and set it up in a work area to make life a little easier for the tech who does come out to do the repair work.
