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  1. #1
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    2017 Momentum 350M. All 3 AC units not kicking on!

    Bought our brand new Momentum 350M in December of 2016. Had it winterized and did not use it till August 1st 2017. I broke my foot while on a ATV excursion in Belize, so no RV use until my foot healed up. Off we go to the 77th Sturgis Rally for its initial shakedown. We get to Sturgis and hookup to 50amp and everything is going quite well. The temp is nearing mid 90's, so we decided to cool off with some well deserved AC. To our shock, we had only fans. The AC compressors would not cycle on at all! ALL 3! Not one would do more than blow air. I have pics of it being 91degrees inside the coach! I cannot tell you how pissed we were! Soon, our surrounding neighbors heard of our issue. One neighbor was quite knowledgeable of AC units in general and together troubleshot every thing in the book. The campsite owners suggested a mobile RV mechanic that serviced their RV's and we decided to call him. He drove all the way from the Devils Tower area out to our Spearfish campsite. He spent a couple hours running the system and once again step by step sequence of trying to get the AC's to kick in. He was in total awe of how 3 new Mach AC units would not cycle. We paid him out of pocket for his time. In the meantime, we are roasting and out long planned Sturgis vacation has turned to a living nightmare! Next, called Grand Designs and were given a number to the regional customer care office. Not mentioning names here until we get the problem fixed. He could not do too much, but I feel he was doing his best. He even contacted the manufacturer of the wall control modules. Conclusion was it is nearly impossible for all 3 AC unit to fail due to bad units, Some how, the communication from the AC units to the wall registers was not correct. The Grand Designs rep assured us any repair costs would be covered...so, we saved anything that was spent towards the failed AC units. So, no AC during our entire Sturgis vacation which really sucked! Once we got back home to Seattle, we contacted the dealership that we bought it from. Since this was a "specialized" job, we had to wait nearly 3 weeks to get it in their shop. The service lead guy is really interested to trace this down. A couple fails are involved here. The big one...How did our RV pass AC inspection and sent out to the dealership? How many other Momentum 350M's have the same issue? I would imagine that "JOE" the AC guy at Grand Design wired up others the same way! Secondly, How did this issue escape the dealership's 50 point inspection prior to us buying it? I will give the dealership slack due to the fact it was December and 30 degrees at the time we picked it up, and I am sure the air felt cold when they turned them on So, in it went Sept 2nd. We cant wait to hear what the AC specialist discovers. Meantime, I must say we are very disappointed. Hoping our dream RV experience improves with good news. This completely shot down any use of it for August and September. We told them to winterize it due to our RV season ending. Arrghh! I will keep you all posted with the findings. I had thoughts of why didn't I purchase that Winnebago Scorpion instead.

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper
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    You might find that the power you were plugged into was the problem. Did you unplug and fire the generator and try them under generator power? I plugged in once and couldn't get any of them to kick on, same as your experience, fans worked, compressors didn't. Everything looked good, t-Stats were on and displayed properly. Couldn't figure it out. Looked at my energy management and it said I was plugged into a 30 Amp service, but I was plugged into 50 Amp. After digging into it, I found they had used a 50 Amp single pole breaker, not a 2 pole, so I only had a 50 Amp 120V service, which is only powering half the coach. I cranked the generator and they ran fine, blowing cold. Breaker replaced with the proper configuration, plugged in, all good.
    Take care,
    Chris
    2017 Momentum 350M
    2016 Ram 3500 Laramie CTD Dually w/ B&W Companion Hitch

  3. #3
    Big Traveler arhayes's Avatar
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    Wondering if the units worked correctly when you did your PDI prior to accepting the rig? Did you try them before leaving on your trip? It'll be interesting to see what they find out.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Alan and Kathleen
    2015 Momentum 380TH (RVD2)
    2014 Ford F350 Dually (Stormtrooper)
    2012 Honda Goldwing Navi/ABS (Land Speeder)

  4. #4
    Site Sponsor JCR GD's Avatar
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    If the fans are running they have power. Assuming the thermostats were in cool mode and it was obviously hot enough to trigger, it very well may be the onboard EMS "thinking" it doesn't have enough power to run them. Could be the EMS itself or something with the supply power. The A/C units should be on separate legs in the power panel so if one leg dead the other should work (although you said the fans are working so both legs have power.)

    As mentioned above, do any work on gen. power?
    How about on 30amp power?

    Good luck and please let us know the outcome.
    Jim (& Sharon)
    2015 GD Momentum 385TH - SOLD
    For Sale - 2015 Ford F-350 DRW 4x4 Lariat w/ AirLift bags, Titan 65 gal. OEM replacement fuel tank.
    The toy:
    2017 RZR XP 1000 EPS SE

  5. #5
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    Man that is just terrible. And all the hotels/motels are booked during that time period or charging outrageous rates.

    Did you check will the Pual Everett's store in Mt Vernon to see if they could get you in sooner?
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  6. #6
    Long Hauler offtohavasu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JCR GD View Post
    If the fans are running they have power. Assuming the thermostats were in cool mode and it was obviously hot enough to trigger, it very well may be the onboard EMS "thinking" it doesn't have enough power to run them. Could be the EMS itself or something with the supply power. The A/C units should be on separate legs in the power panel so if one leg dead the other should work (although you said the fans are working so both legs have power.)

    As mentioned above, do any work on gen. power?
    How about on 30amp power?

    Good luck and please let us know the outcome.
    Jim, I thought EMS shuts down the whole unit (fan and compressor) or am I misunderstanding the way it's wired.
    Curtis, Christine, Cole, and Charlotte

    2007 Chevrolet Silverado Duramax LBZ, CCLB
    2020 Momentum 351M

  7. #7
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    2017 Grand Design Momentum 350M

    Quote Originally Posted by offtohavasu View Post
    Jim, I thought EMS shuts down the whole unit (fan and compressor) or am I misunderstanding the way it's wired.
    Thanks for all the responses! Yes, we did fire up the generator. No help. As a matter of fact, the RV is at Paul Everts in Mt Vernon and it is where we bought it. Jesse in service has been super cool and has us in check.

  8. #8
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    That's where we looked at our first 376TH, they had one with the Orange hued paint scheme, but it didn't have dual pane windows. We were hosting at Deception Pass State Park.

    This year when we were there we had an issue with the stove, GD got us in touch with Suburban who authorized a mobile repairman. The mobile repairman had been laid off from Paul Everett during a time when the RV industry wasn't doing so well, so he just went independent. He told us that should we ever need anything major done that he had worked with the owner of JR's RV Repair and that in his opinion they do better work. I do not have first hand knowledge of this, but it may be an option if things don't work out for you.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  9. #9
    Site Sponsor JCR GD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by offtohavasu View Post
    Jim, I thought EMS shuts down the whole unit (fan and compressor) or am I misunderstanding the way it's wired.
    Curtis, the fans on mine will run but the compressors will not kick on unless there is enough amperage available.

    So, if I turn on all A/C units while at home plugged into 20amp service, all fans will start but only zone 2 compressor will start while zone 1 & 3 show hour glass on thermostat display. Then if/when zone 2 compressor shuts down (cold enough) the zone 1 compressor will start. Meanwhile the EMS is showing total amperage usage. In my case 17 amps with one A/C running and two others on, but only fan able to run (and nothing else.)

    Hope that made sense.
    Jim (& Sharon)
    2015 GD Momentum 385TH - SOLD
    For Sale - 2015 Ford F-350 DRW 4x4 Lariat w/ AirLift bags, Titan 65 gal. OEM replacement fuel tank.
    The toy:
    2017 RZR XP 1000 EPS SE

  10. #10
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    2017 Grand Design Momentum 350M

    Quote Originally Posted by CMJ2800BH View Post
    You might find that the power you were plugged into was the problem. Did you unplug and fire the generator and try them under generator power? I plugged in once and couldn't get any of them to kick on, same as your experience, fans worked, compressors didn't. Everything looked good, t-Stats were on and displayed properly. Couldn't figure it out. Looked at my energy management and it said I was plugged into a 30 Amp service, but I was plugged into 50 Amp. After digging into it, I found they had used a 50 Amp single pole breaker, not a 2 pole, so I only had a 50 Amp 120V service, which is only powering half the coach. I cranked the generator and they ran fine, blowing cold. Breaker replaced with the proper configuration, plugged in, all good.
    EVERYBODY in the campground had their AC running. Except us.

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