| Author | Message | ||
| David Hartley (Drdave)
Registered Member Username: Drdave Post Number: 703 Registered: 5-2005 Posted From: 67.78.176.54 Rating: |
Hi All, Here is something that everyone who has rooftop a/c units should look at on a regular basis.... Is the Plastic cover for your rooftop a/c damaged or coming apart? It is amazing that while running down the highway that my front a/c unit started shedding the cover in chunks... I heard a racket but couldn't figure out what it was until I saw a 1 foot chunk fly away behind me in the mirror.... Luckily the guy on the Harley saw it coming off in bits and pieces and changed lanes behing me rapidly.... I had gone up there and thought that I had secured the remaining parts.. However the other day while running at nearly 70 another chunk came loose and slammed into the fan blades, wrecked the whole unit and made such a horrible noise that I dived off the highway thinking I had blown a tire... The noise continued until I turned off the A/C unit.... So much for having a/c over the weekend, But it was cool and almost cold at times in Hoboken GA. So It wasn't a disaster. It is safe to say that Duo-Therm's shrouds they put on the Brisk-Air 15,000 units is a flimsy and crappy bit of plastic, They age so fast that they are brittle within a year in the sun and prone to exploding with shards. They are also almost impossible to find replacements for since they keep changing the design and the half metal and half plastic is one that few aftermarket people want to deal with.... On another Story, I while back I replaced the drivers side radiator on my MC9 and left the passenger side alone for later replacement. Well, Yet another grand plan smashed into oblivion... As I left Georgia and was running down U.S. 1 and just as I got several miles past Hilliard Florida I stopped to get a bite to eat. Walked towards the back of the bus and there was that dreaded pink liquid running across the parking lot. The older radiator puked one tube down near the bottom and was spewing a finger size stream of coolant.... ARGGGGHHHH... So here I am 180 miles from home. No way to reach the ruptured tube. I went into the Winn-Dixie store and bought two bottles of black pepper and a sandwich..... I had asked if there was an auto parts place nearby.. Uh.. NO.. There was one is Hilliard and one in Callahan and I was 6 miles away from either. Besides it was Sunday too.... I sat for about 40 minutes having lunch and thinking.... Gee what was I to do? MC9 Radiators are not something that everyone has or everyone can afford and being so far from civilization didn't help.... I could call my wife and have her load up the spare core and tools and we could change it there but that didn't make me very happy..It would have been a 2 day job in the field..... Nahhhh.. There's gotta be a way to slow the leak... As I started down the steps I realized that yet another grand experiment was worth trying.. So completely out of left field comes a plan.. In the bay where I had been doing some stuff I had a caulking gun with a fresh tube of Insta-Grab exterior adhesive and a 1X2 stick about 3 feet long.... So armed with Insta-Grab, Stick, Screwdriver and bottle of Black pepper the experiment was upon me... I let the last of the coolant stop flowing. Loaded the end of the stick with a glop of adhesive and started spackling the area of the radiator where the tube ruptured. I used almost the whole tube and made this giant white plastered area while pressing the adhesive into the core tubes and fins..... Let that sit for about 30 minutes... Then dumped 1/2 of the pepper into the reserve tank and filled up the tank and radiator.... It was still leaking but slower... Hmmmm... How about a little heat, I started the engine and let it idle and circulate the pepper, The leak continued a bit more so I quickly closed up everything, stuff the water hose in the bay and started down the road. I stopped outside of Callahan and put another 2 gallons of water in the tank. Then ran on to the autoparts place. Added 2 bottles of Bars Leak and a quart of water... The leak had stopped completely. The water temp stayed down and I ran all the way home with the pedal on the floor at 72 mph and the temperature stayed cool. I checked the coolant level today and it's still full..... Now to change the other radiator and flush the system..... Way too much Fun...... Dave....... | ||
| Robert Wood (Bobwoodsocal)
Registered Member Username: Bobwoodsocal Post Number: 386 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 71.119.133.123 Rating: N/A |
All's well that ends well! Glad you made it. Bob | ||
| Rob Leight (Robleight)
Registered Member Username: Robleight Post Number: 33 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 205.188.116.13 Rating: N/A |
We go through 3 - 4 AC shrouds a year...it's just one of those things... |
