[eighty3]

Hi Everyone, we just bought a 1983 Newell Coach. We are new to the whole motorhome experience and this bus needs ALOT of work. When we bought it we didn’t realize how much work it needed but now that’s it’s home we’ve had so many unexpected issues. However we are excited to make it work. One of the issues so far is the AC. When we connect the bus to the electric pedestal everything turns on except the AC so we aren’t sure if there is a specific switch for that as we were told ac worked.

[Fulltiming]

There should be a 120 volt AC breaker for each of the air conditioners in the main breaker box. Make sure those breakers are turned on and haven't tripped.

[MrE]

Are you plugged into 50 amp? The Newells are designed for 50 amp, 220 volt.

[eighty3]

Yes, we are plugged into 50 amp. And breakers seem to be turned on

[MrE]

Fortunately, you have found the very best resource for Newell questions on the Internet. Forgive me if I make suggestions that are way below your level of expertise. The first thing that I would recommend is a clamp multimeter that measures both AC and DC current. Careful if purchasing, most only measure AC current. I found an inexpensive one on Amazon made by TACKlife but they are no longer being sold, could be I bought a lemon, but it's worked for me. This will give you the ability to analyze almost all electrical issues. I was actually able to resurrect my relatively expensive battery charger by finding a bad capacitor and replacing it, a $5 dollar fix only because I had to buy 10 capacitors to get the free shipping.

Totally off subject, but your laminate is probably Wilsonart, available at Lowes and Home Depot. I was able to find an exact match for my '86.

[Johnnyboy]

Don’t forget to check for switches on your dash. Most that I have seen has the ability to turn off/on switches on your front dash.

[Glenn and Laureen]

Our 84 has a toggle switch on the lower left area of the dash that controls our front AC unit. It is below one of our generator gauges. We thought that AC was non-functional until we spotted the toggle switch.

[OldSchool]

    Firstly, welcome Eigthy3, from another happy Classic owner.  Regarding your roof AC units, after buying our bus, I too had difficulty getting them to turn on.  I originally concluded they were broken.  Then, literally after several. months, I noticed the (now obvious) switch near our headboard labelled "Air Conditioner".  Well, you guessed it, once I toggled this (assumed) light switch, my trusty AC came to life.  Bottomline, check every single "light switch" you can find.