Today I'm busting three RV AC myths that I see people spout off all of the time. My name is Emily and I'm a certified RV repair tech based in Las Vegas, who loves telling you the RV tips and tricks that most techs aren't gonna tell you about.

Myth 1

Myth number one, a lot of people think that if there RV AC isn't cooling properly, then it must be low on refrigerant. And I'm here to tell you it probably isn't. RV AC systems are hermetically sealed, meaning there are no ports to put more refrigerant in or for refrigerant to get out. And this means that Refrigerant leaks account for less than 1% of RV AC problems. If you really think that you have a leak, look for signs of a leak. You're going to see an oily residue somewhere either inside of your rig, along the ceiling, near the ac, or on your roof again around the AC.

Note, I'm not talking about water or condensation that you're gonna see no matter what I'm talking about, an [00:01:00] oily black substance. If you don't see that anywhere, then you're not low on refrigerant, which is a good sign. It means you probably have an electrical or an airflow problem, which are much simpler problems to solve.

Myth 2

Myth number two. Okay. Emily, I can hear you saying, I found the residue. I'm part of the 1%. I have a leak. I'm just gonna have a tech recharge the system. This is a bad idea for two main reasons. Number one, like I said, RV AC systems are hermetically sealed, meaning there are no ports to pour more refrigerant in. If a tech is telling you that they are going to tap into your lines to pour more AC (in bunny rabbit quotations) then in my opinion, they're trying to scam you.

In order to tap the lines, they have to drill a hole into one of your refrigerant pipes, and it is very difficult to drill that hole without introducing metal [00:02:00] shavings into your RV AC. Those metal shavings are going to wander their way through the pipes and eventually get into your compressor and muck it up. The compressor is one of the few parts of an RV AC that is not replaceable. When that thing goes, you have to replace the entire AC.

So we've just introduced more problems instead of actually solving anything. Reason number two, it's a bad idea, is that you haven't actually solved the underlying problem. You see 80% of the pipes in a RV AC are inside of the fins, meaning that there's a good chance that your leak is in a place that you can't get to it. We can't patch the leak, so just putting more refrigerant in is just putting a bandaid on the problem. You're still gonna be leaking refrigerant everywhere, which not only is an environmental hazard, but also hasn't fixed your AC. A tech that is telling you that they are going to tap your lines to recharge your system, in my opinion, is trying to scam you. They are going to put a Band-Aid on the problem just long enough, and your AC is going to work just long enough for them to get their money and drive away.

Don't fall for the scam.

Don't recharge your AC. I'm sorry. If you have a refrigerant leak, it's time to get a new AC. It's hard. It costs a lot of money, but let's not waste more money trying to fix an AC that isn't fixable. Don't fall for the scam. Don't waste your money. Get a new ac.

Myth 3

And myth number three, you need a bigger AC unit.

We rate the cooling of an AC unit in BTUs or British thermal units. And really simplified. Most RV ACs come in at around 13,500 BTUs. If you use a simple calculator, you can estimate that for a rig at least my size, we would only need about 10,000 BTUs. So we have about 33% more than what we need.

So why isn't your rig cooling? It's not the ACS fault, it's the rest of the RV. The insulation in RVs just isn't the same as in a house. The thing that you love so much about your RV, all the beautiful windows that let you have such beautiful views, they are terrible at keeping in the cool air.

Your walls in an RV are also much thinner than in your house. They're only about two inches thick. There are tons of holes and vents to allow things to breathe, like your water heater and your fridge.

You can test to see if your AC really is the problem by running a temperature drop test. Just turn the AC on, wait about 30 minutes and then go use a meat thermometer. Hold the thermometer up to the intake of the AC and get a temperature and then hold the thermometer up to one of the vents and take another temperature reading. If the difference between the two readings is around 20 degrees, then your AC is doing its job. It's not the problem. You need to look at insulating your RV more. You need to look at getting some window coverings. Look at making sure your seals are all sealed properly. It's not that the AC isn't producing cold air, it's that the cool air isn't staying inside of your rig.

If you'd like a whole video on my top 10 tips for Staying Cool in an RV this summer, let me know in the comments. I've got some goodies.

As a certified tech, most of the work that I go to fix is preventable and the way to prevent it is doing some good maintenance. If you'd like to learn all of my best tips on how to maintain your RV check the link in the description for my ultimate guide to RV maintenance. I've got step-by-step guides on how to do everything from how to clean your AC to prevent smells in your water tanks.

And if you found this video helpful and wanna learn more tips and tricks, hit subscribe. I've got more tips from a certified tech coming out every week. You got this.