What should I look for? AC clutch dropping out.

[workinonit]

You need to put a set of gauges on the system and see what the suction pressure is doing at the time the clutch disengages.

 

[Mike1955]

Let me just toss this out there. If a good clutch coil has twice the resistance as the OP's it is possible that part of the winding is shorted out. That would be like removing half the windings. That being the case, the clutch would pull with much less force than if it had the complete winding working.

Chin I don’t believe it works like that. Less windings would decrease magnetic pull. And every one seems to forget that this gentleman has proper voltage on the clutch coil, and it still drops out. I know they are expensive but if it were me and I was gonna keep this machine I would change compressor and clutch. And I say this based on what this poster said. Please I and not arguing with yall

 

[alexpops]

If it was me, I'd check the pressures of high & low side to make sure those are in spec before you start her up AND when the clutch IS working & see what they read when it quits. (roughly equal when at rest, and in this heat, you're probably looking @ 60-90 lb on the low side and 300+ on the high side, but the shop manual will tell you what it should be) Like others have said, the cut-outs are set to protect the compressor, not ensure comfort. If the pressures are in spec for your ambient temps, it's either the gap, the coil or the sensor. If the pressures are off, cheapest "fix" might be to pull a vacuum (-28 to -30 inches) to dry everything out & see if it holds. If any moisture was introduced to the system from previous repairs, the vacuum will boil it off, & then you can refill with freon to spec. Have you owned for all 4200 hours, or did you buy it used & don't know full history of AC repairs? Have you (or someone else) opened any of the system to replace parts? If you wind up having to replace the compressor, replace the dryer at the same time so you don't need to worry about over-loaded desiccant bags from the system being open to air, AND if you do end up replacing components, make sure you replace whatever oil the system lost with those components -- shop manual should give you those values.

 

[ns_in_tex]

If the fuse popped, the clutch coil is on its way out as the windings are compromised. Instead the compressor is fine and then at high rpm the clutch lets go even though its energized. That is classic of the clutch gap out of spec.... (too wide). Take a paper business card (not a credit card) and swipe it in the gap. It should be snug. If not, there are 1 or 2 shims behind the clutch. Take out a shim and replace. Hopefully you have access without removing the compressor

We tried a business card. Very loose. Then tried a credit card, loose. Then tried 4 business cards. Just beginning to feel snug.
Hopefully, tomorrow, we will remove some spacers and wait until we are using it again for a period of time, to get results.
You have my hopes up.
Will return results when available. Might be a little while.
Many Thanks,

 

[Racer4]

Is it possible that the A/C pressure switch is on the ground side of the clutch circuit? Would be easy to verify with a wiring diagram.

If refrigerant was low, switch would break ground, causing compressor to stop, and you would still have 12v at the clutch power wire.

Just a theory…

 

[chim]

Chin I don’t believe it works like that. Less windings would decrease magnetic pull. And every one seems to forget that this gentleman has proper voltage on the clutch coil, and it still drops out. I know they are expensive but if it were me and I was gonna keep this machine I would change compressor and clutch. And I say this based on what this poster said. Please I and not arguing with yall

We're kinda saying the same thing Half the resistance would indicate that only half the windings are still connected resulting in much less magnetic field.

However, it looks the the OP found the air gap to be too large in Post #14.

 

[Mike1955]

We're kinda saying the same thing Half the resistance would indicate that only half the windings are still connected resulting in much less magnetic field.

However, it looks the the OP found the air gap to be too large in Post #14.

True. But once that clutch gets pulled in the work for the coil is practically over.and it should stay in if the voltage doesn’t drop. Either the coil is opening, as he states the voltage is constant, or he is incorrect and the voltage is leaving monetary at that point the other poster might be correct about Freon being low making low pressure cut it out Time will tell

 

[Mike1955]

Is it possible that the A/C pressure switch is on the ground side of the clutch circuit? Would be easy to verify with a wiring diagram.

If refrigerant was low, switch would break ground, causing compressor to stop, and you would still have 12v at the clutch power wire.

Just a theory…

 

[Mike1955]

That is very good possibility I don’t know who they wire them. I’ve never seen a clutch just fall out wit voltage on it. AC is one of my specialties and the electric part is the easy part

 

[cbg8670]

Change clutch.