AC and Bad Weather? Is this possible?

[EdwardH]

I have a 2014 Keystone Montana that I bought in 2018 for full-time use. I am new to RVing and I cannot seem to figure out what is going on with our ACs. I have the Dometic Duo Therm Comfort Control 2 thermostat which controls both ACs and it likes to flash an error message on the screen, E1, which is a communcation error. We have been troubleshooting this error message for nearly two years. The dealership as well as a mobile tech cannot seem to figure out how to solve our problem. The ACs will be working fairly well and then a storm will roll through, and boom, the ACs shut down and the error message displays. Sometimes it will start working again the following day, sometimes it will take up to two weeks before it starts working again, but it always comes back. At first I thought it was rain causing something to go wrong, but it doesn't really even have to rain to knock out my ACs, storm clouds and thunder seem to knock it out even when it doesn't even rain much. I thought I was crazy and that the weather affecting my ACs was just a big coincidence (it rains a lot in southeast Texas) but after the 5th or so time, I am just convinced the error happens moreso during bad weather.

The Dometic control board on the main AC over the living room has been replaced with a new one. The thermostat itself has been replaced with a new one. The main AC (Zone 1) was new at the time we purchased the RV. The ends of the RJ-11 phone wires have been replaced. I don't know a ton about this, but I know basic troubleshooting and I know how to reset the thermostat and things like that. No matter what we have done, we see the error message and it's anyone's guess as to when the message will go away.

I should mention, when the error message comes on and I try to reset the thermostat and such, it goes full retard. It will be flashing Zones 3 and 4 and stuff like that, which I don't even have those Zones.

Also, I cannot figure out where the temperature sensor is in my RV for Zone 1. In Zone 2, in the bedroom, there is a small round thing on the ceiling that I know reads the temperature and communicates back to the thermostat and it seems to work pretty well. I feel like the AC in Zone 2 kicks on and off when it is supposed to. But in Zone 1, I don't know where the sensor is. I don't see anything in the living room or kitchen that could be a sensor. Could it be the thermstat itself that is supposed to be reading the temperature for Zone 1? I ask because Zone 1 is always reading at least 5 degrees higher than Zone 2, even when the bedroom door is open and the entire RV should be about the same temp. This causes the Zone 1 AC (when it is even working without the error message) to run CONSTANTLY. If the Zone 1 AC ever shuts off, it kicks back on seconds later. In the summer, it basically never shuts off (not until we have bad weather and the error displays, at which point nothing works for days or weeks). It seems very arbitrary. I have no clue where it is reading the temp from in Zone 1. Last summer, we went 3 weeks without AC coming back on after an E1, and we finally took it back to dealership where we have the extended warranty. One or two days without AC we can deal with, but this time it stayed off for weeks, so we took it in. Of course when we got there and set up the RV, the error was gone. Unreal. So we got back home, and the first storm we had, boom, E1 again.

So my two questions are this...

Is it possible that cloudy weather and thunderstorms could be causing problems for my AC? I mean, is that even a thing? That sounds stupid to me, but I have enough evidence to link weather to my ACs not working, in my opinion. I'm so confused though.

And how to do I figure out where the Zone 1 sensor is? Is it possible I don't have one? Is it possible I am supposed to have one in Zone 1, just like I do in Zone 2, but I don't? Again, Zone 1 has a new AC, a new control board, new cable ends, and the thermostat itself has been changed out. I feel like all my components are compatible because everything works okay for periods at a time (when I say working okay, I mean "sort of" okay, because I don't feel like Zone 1 ever "works" as it really should).

What is going on. This is a big, beatiful RV, and I really haven't been able to enjoy it.

Please help us!

[Carl n Susan]

I can't help with the E1 problem but I am sure the thermostat is the sensor for zone #1. There have been reports of issues due to its location or sometime the huge hole behind it which allows hot/cold air up through the wall.

[rames14]

We had an E1 error. It turns out that the AC was wired to the wrong breaker. Have them check to make sure that you are wired correctly in the breaker box.