Safarifriends.org

I have a dash A/C nightmare in my '01 Zanzibar with Cat 3126B that is starting to cost a small fortune that I will not get into details of at the moment but I posted not long back about dash A/C woes. After putting in a few different parts, the local Cat truck shop is telling me that it looks like the compressor is not working properly. I am trying to brace myself for costs but have no idea what manufacturer likely makes the part, whether rebuilt is just fine and what is a reasonable price for the compressor.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

The common issue with the a/c system on Safaris, besides leaks, is the decedent beads in the dryers come loose from their sack and clog the orifice tube (see attached photos of what happened on my unit, and similar with many others). When this situation happens, it stresses the compressor, but worse yet, it starves it of oil lubrication, and thus the compressor failure. I have seen situations where people and shops have replaced the compressor without discovering the clogged beads situation and toast a new compressor. So disassembly and replacing the receiver/drier is a must.

Here is a link to a company that sells most of the a/c parts for our coaches. Safari owners have been dealing with this outfit for decades.

http://www.acmeairparts.com/rvacheaterparts.html

Here is another blog sight where the fellow Safari people show their a/c compressor dilemmas and the repairs. They also show where you can find the part number on your compressor, to be able to order the correct one, if the tag is gone, the fellow who owns ACME Parts can help you figure out which compressor you need. Note that these folks have the same bead issue as I did...
BTW, their maintenance, repairs, and modifications section has a lot of useful info and tips, with great photo documentation that may be of use to fellow Safari owners.

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods ... compressor

Well, after spending a small fortune to make my wife happy with cool(er) dash air, I am not too thrilled with the results. I am not so sure how well it SHOULD work when the outside temps are in the very high nineties/low hundreds. What should my expectations be? I have ball valves in line on the heater hoses cutting off any hot water flow for now. Since it wasn't working at all when I purchased the coach last August I am not too sure what to expect for temps coming out of the vents but I can assure you that Normal A/C and Max A/C positions do not make a difference. There is no "ice cold air" in 100-degree weather.

For some history, the control head was replaced because it was not producing any voltage out to trigger water valve motor. A/C compressor was replaced along with the filter-drier (you don't want to know THAT part of the story). CAT dealer replaced original water valve (unknown manufacturer) with a four-port Eaton Electric (Thermotion) water valve but it (new one) was still allowing "some" water to pass with the control head in the cold position. CAT dealer thinks its a defective new one and orders another. Same exact issue with the replacement. After verifying that the coach has an ACME A/C system I asked dealer to order the ACME brand SKU 4100663 from acmeairparts.com (thanks for the vendor tip!) and am waiting for that to come in and try it. Me thinks that they yanked an ACME water valve and threw in the Thermotion OR a PO replaced the ACME with a Thermotion and it never worked and then CAT dealer sees the Thermotion and just orders up the same (WRONG) part! The mechanic that replaced the water valve tossed said there was no labels on the old one and can't remember if it looked exactly the same! Argh!! In any event, perhaps the Eaton Electric Thermotion 4100494 cannot handle the water pressure that the ACME can/could and this will be the final 'fix'.

So for now, I have ball valves I have to crawl up under the nose of the coach to bypass the heater core because my '01 Zanzibar doesn't have any access panel to allow work to be done for components of the coach that 'live' up there. What the HECK were they thinking????

Happy Trails,

Hello Chuck. I wouldn't expect much from the dash air when ambient temperatures are much above 80F. My Sahara has the Acme 570-215 valve and Acme 4100173 H-bypass. My previous '93 Winnebago had the Acme 4100173 bypass. I too made the switch to ball valves on both coaches.
There's only so much heat that can be absorbed through...and our rigs make outstanding thermal collectors.
--joe

JoeyD wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:56 pm Hello Chuck. I wouldn't expect much from the dash air when ambient temperatures are much above 80F. My Sahara has the Acme 570-215 valve and Acme 4100173 H-bypass. My previous '93 Winnebago had the Acme 4100173 bypass. I too made the switch to ball valves on both coaches.
There's only so much heat that can be absorbed through...and our rigs make outstanding thermal collectors.
--joe

I find that a curtain behind the front seats helps .. (It also helps keep the cool from the roof airs in the living space when parked).

stuplich@ymail.com wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:19 pm

JoeyD wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:56 pm Hello Chuck. I wouldn't expect much from the dash air when ambient temperatures are much above 80F. My Sahara has the Acme 570-215 valve and Acme 4100173 H-bypass. My previous '93 Winnebago had the Acme 4100173 bypass. I too made the switch to ball valves on both coaches.
There's only so much heat that can be absorbed through...and our rigs make outstanding thermal collectors.
--joe

I find that a curtain behind the front seats helps .. (It also helps keep the cool from the roof airs in the living space when parked).

Mel,

Did you run a track along the ceiling to do this? Where did you source your parts? Doesn’t it also block your roof air from reaching you in the drivers seat? During this heat wave in Idaho I find I need roof air AND dash air.

JoeyD wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:56 pm Hello Chuck. I wouldn't expect much from the dash air when ambient temperatures are much above 80F. My Sahara has the Acme 570-215 valve and Acme 4100173 H-bypass. My previous '93 Winnebago had the Acme 4100173 bypass. I too made the switch to ball valves on both coaches.
There's only so much heat that can be absorbed through...and our rigs make outstanding thermal collectors.
--joe

Thanks, Joe. Seems to be the normal in these older RV’s I suppose. Makes the wife grumpy. LOL

[quote}
Mel,
Did you run a track along the ceiling to do this? Where did you source your parts? Doesn’t it also block your roof air from reaching you in the drivers seat? [/b][/color]During this heat wave in Idaho I find I need roof air AND dash air.
[/quote]

Chuck
1.) See: https://mountainmodernlife.com/how-to-s ... -cab-area/



2.) A curtain is pretty much useless if you run BOTH roof air AND dash air while driving, (However, with a curtain, you may not need both).

I had my lines replaced, then my compressor and then freon added. Very little change in temperature after the first several minutes. Found out that the cooling fan to the dash air locked up after a few minutes. Had that replaced and now it works much better. Who would have thought a 12v fan replacement would have done the trick on my 99 Serengeti dash air. My wife is actually happy now.

Eisenban wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:20 pm I had my lines replaced, then my compressor and then freon added. Very little change in temperature after the first several minutes. Found out that the cooling fan to the dash air locked up after a few minutes. Had that replaced and now it works much better. Who would have thought a 12v fan replacement would have done the trick on my 99 Serengeti dash air. My wife is actually happy now.

Cool wife, happy life.

What brand A/C system did the use in the ‘99 ‘Geti?