RV Repair: RV Air Conditioner, dish soap, refrigerator compressor

Question
I have a Coleman 13500BTU Roof Top AC unit (non DUcted) I have a problem . The unit no Longer Cools well. The Unit fan works in both speeds. The COmpressor seems to run. I removed the cover and the line running to the Heat disspateing coil is warm. Do I need a recharge? How much should I expect to pay? Would It be cheaper to take the unit to the service center?

Answer
Hi BigAl:
It sounds like you lost some freon. The output line from the compressor should be too hot to touch when the unit is correctly charged. It takes a couple of hours to do that so at my shop the whole cost would be about $250. You need a vacuum pump, at set of refrigeration gages, a couple of piercing valves and freon to do it yourself. An old refrigerator compressor makes a good vacuum pump, the gages, valves and freon would run about $125. You also need to look at the unit real close to see where the leak might be, it does not use freon. A spray bottle with dish soap works well, spray all the lines and connections. I usually find a place where one of the lines is rubbibg against something that wears through. The copper lines need to be silver soldered which is a little tricky. It might be less trouble to let somebody else do it. Good luck.
Bill