Extend AC control panel wires

Thread Starter

jjrbus

Joined Sep 23, 2020
5
I am modding a window air conditioner LG LW8016ER to use on my RV as a roof air.

Let me start with I know little about electronics. The AC has 2 circuit boards, one appears to be a power board and the other is the control panel board. I extended the wires from the control box to the control/display board about 6 feet using 22 ga stranded low voltage wire. The harnees I cut into to do this has 11 very fine wires I do not know the gauge. The wires on the ac end are soldered and shrink wrapped. The wires to the panel need to be fished through so they are simply twisted together. I have tested this multiple times as I progressed and it has worked as it should.

I was ready to buckle this up call it a sucess and install it and it has went dead! I have power to the unit, the fuse is good and a non contact tester tells me there is power to the control panel, but it does nothing, the led lights are not lit.
 

Thread Starter

jjrbus

Joined Sep 23, 2020
5
I am modding a window air conditioner LG LW8016ER to use on my RV as a roof air.

Let me start with I know little about electronics. The AC has 2 circuit boards, one appears to be a power board and the other is the control panel board. I extended the wires from the control box to the control/display board about 6 feet using 22 ga stranded low voltage wire. The harnees I cut into to do this has 11 very fine wires I do not know the gauge. The wires on the ac end where I cut are soldered and shrink wrapped. The wires to the panel need to be fished through so they are simply twisted together. I have tested this multiple times as I progressed and it has worked as it should.

I was ready to buckle this up call it a success and install it and it has went dead! I have power to the unit, the fuse in the circuit board is good and a non contact tester tells me there is power to the control panel, but it does nothing, the led lights are not lit. Does not respond to remote or pushing buttons.

I see nothing wrong, no burn marks, nothing scorced all the wires have good connections, nothing that would indicate a failure. So could my extensions have burned out one of the circuit boards? The power board is available online but the control panel board shows not in stock.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, questions would be greatly appreciated. IMG_0001.JPGIMG_0003.JPG
 

ci139

Joined Jul 11, 2016
1,898
It's quite easy to miss align some connections = always use number or color labeling the ports before rewiring

It is quite possible your controller sees or saw something somewhere where such was not expected ...
... may stay at self-prot.-lock or may have been damaged
 

drc_567

Joined Dec 29, 2008
1,156
... Could be that one of the twisted wire connections is not making efficient electrical contact.
See if you can find some small size wire nuts, which may provide better wire to wire continuity.
 

Thread Starter

jjrbus

Joined Sep 23, 2020
5
Thanks for the responses, greatly appreciated. Even though this has worked I double checked that all my wires are routed correctly. I checked all the connections and everything is tight. Nothing, panel not lighting up nada!

Was out of the garage about 10 to 15 minutes, come back in and it is running ???? Please do not let it be an intermittent problem.

There are 2 circuit boards in this AC one I call a power board and one is the display board. The power board is in stock and the display board is out of stock on back order. May mean nothing, but leads me to suspect a display board issue??

Anything else a non electronic type person with a multi meter could check??
 

debe

Joined Sep 21, 2010
1,389
Have a similar looking AC. The processor will shut the unit down & time out if the controls are altered too many times in a short period to protect the compressor. This may be what has hapened here.
 

Thread Starter

jjrbus

Joined Sep 23, 2020
5
Without your input I would never have found this. LG units made after 2010 contain a safety relay that shuts the unit down completely, fan, compressor and display! Info is well hidden on LG website.

Now to figure out if that is the issue and why??
 

debeeker

Joined Jul 5, 2018
2
Now to figure out if that is the issue and why??
You've extended a short length of wire (perhaps 1 ft) to 6 ft. My guess is your extension has increased the noise susceptibility of your control system.

I would wait to see if the condition repeats often enough to be a nuisance. If it doesn't count your blessings. Could have been something as simple as a glitch on your power circuit from the garage door closer or an led lamp turning on and off.

You did not mention whether you were running your ac on a generator or on house power when the glitch happened. Might make a difference in what to troubleshoot.

If the problem continues to be a problem (and assuming your harness does not have it already) I would consider trying to shield your extended harness to reduce susceptibility to radiated noise.

Keep in mind most household appliances are not really designed for mobile/automotive use. Don't be surprised if you have unexpected reliability issues from the bouncing, vibrations and unexpected jolts incurred while driving.
 

pbrunnen

Joined Dec 30, 2017
9
Well, depending on what you were doing in your testing, you may have cause the high pressure safety to trigger the shutdown.

I'm not an AC technician, but I do feel the need to caution you... As @debeeker mentioned, these systems are not designed for use in motion. I would suggest that the system only be used when you have reached your destination and you have let it sit without jarring for an hour or so. Else the oil in the compressor may not flow and protect the moving parts causing it to over heat, over pressure, or worse to seize up. Generally AC user manuals are very insistent on letting a unit sit after installation so that the oil can settle before use. Driving around will most certainly shift the contents.
 

Thread Starter

jjrbus

Joined Sep 23, 2020
5
Thanks for the input, I did not get notified there were responses here. Thanks for the concern, using household products in an RV is common. Mini split AC is becoming common in RV, I would install one in mine but do not have room for the evaporator (inside unit). I know many people that have house AC in RV. This AC replaced a similar model I had bought used and had in the RV for 4 years, until the compressor burnt out. I had not extended the wires on that one. I am experimenting with this in the garage so normal 120v house power, no generator power.

Now I have a new issue, I can turn the AC off and it will not restart again, until unplugged. The power circuit board is hot to the touch. I do not know if the board being hot is normal and have nothing to compare it to.

If I can isolate my issue to the wire extensions, would it be possible to use an IR extender of some type and what would you recommend.
 
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