I've only really needed/ran the AC once in Denver other than testing. No shade, but small breeze in the upper 90's.. My Mach 3 13500 btu roof AC didn't cool enough. It ran continuously and barely affected the interior temperature even though it was blowing cold air.Is 13500 btu marginal for a 24' aluminum TH ? I know a aluminum stud will transmit heat easier than a wood stud.. No R value. And I saw featherlite used white Styrofoam for insulation.:h I'm not sure what industry standards are but Im guessing my roof AC is charged correctly since it probably doesn't have service ports. Am I just asking the AC to cool a space to large/warm for it to handle? Do I need a 15k ? I need to figure this out before buying a generator.

We had a 24' Sunline and the 13,500 colled it just fine! Actually DH and I disagreed - I thought it cooled too well!!!How warm was the interior before you turned on the unit? Are you sure it is on a/c and not just fan? Just saying!Is it ducted throughout the TT?

Most AC's whether they are 13,500 or 15K BTU's will only pull the temp down about 20 degrees from the ambient/outside air temp. I would think that TH's would be harder to cool as they have such large rear storage areas. I wish our 22' TT had ducted air as the single, centrally located 13,500 BTU unit is loud but it will bring the temp down very quickly. Can't imagine how all of the 30'+ TT's with 13,500 units manage to generate enough cool air particularly in area's with lots of high humidity to deal with. If your TT is going to be anything over 27' look for a 15K BTU minimum if there is much warm weather camping in your future. :C

Mine works fine I believe it is a Colman Mach. It does a great job on low setting at 90-95 degrees last year.

Poppy & Nana wrote:We had a 24' Sunline and the 13,500 colled it just fine! Actually DH and I disagreed - I thought it cooled too well!!!How warm was the interior before you turned on the unit? Are you sure it is on a/c and not just fan? Just saying!Is it ducted throughout the TT?Yes both compressor and fan were running. No ducts. The TH was very hot after pulling it. 100+ degree's or more inside when I pulled into my camp spot around noon with no shade. Then I left the AC running and came back after dark and it was still warm inside. It finally caught up in the morning.. Kind of. But I just figured, why have a AC unit which takes 12 hours to cool it down in worst case heat scenario's..My bed location close to the ceiling doesn't help. The AC unit cools the entire area. No walls, and a huge door in the back. And like I mentioned.. Styrofoam 1" insulation loosely fit in the spaces of a aluminum trainer doesn't do much. I don't think the ceiling has any insulation. And Im sure the floor doesn't.Does my AC have service ports? I didn't even look since I was getting a great 25 degree drop across the A coil when testing. Maybe I need to clean the condenser..

the new units have a diff Freon in them as apposed to the say '08 units and DO NOT cool as well as the older ones but I have a 2011 wp 295 with the 13500 unit and once it gets over 95 it runs non stop and doesn't do a great job but does still work. at first it didn't do well but I pulled the cover and could see daylight and the bottom side of the ac cover through the 5 spots they didn't get sealed up so the return air it was pulling in to cool was partially being drawn from the attic ( so to speak ) and the outside. got it sealed up and worked better.

Anyone have issues cooling a 24' TH with a 13500 btu?

lamopar
Explorer
Aug 18, 2013
I was back in the midwest in June this year and was dying of the heat. My unit was not cooling the toy hauler down enough as well. I put the pillows in the two air ducts and it made a huge difference. We also kept the shades down in the daytime on the sun side, used the awning to shade one side and it really helped. I started to replace all my lights with LED lights to reduce the heat but after putting one set and running the lights I was surprised how much heat they put out. This was on the small light above one couch. Anyway, the biggest gain we found was the pillows in the air vents and cleaning the filter in the AC unit. Mine dropped ~18 degrees so we were happy.
rerod
Explorer
Aug 14, 2013
rerod wrote:

Unfortunately.. My featherlite wasn't equipped with a generator (tongue already weighs 1300) and my TV is a van so I cant run a generator underway.

I know my NV4500 manual transmission has a PTO.. Wonder if anyone makes a PTO generator for it?

I just bought a Honda 2000 and I cant believe it!

It runs everything.
">13500 0n 2000w
pronstar
Explorer
Jun 13, 2013
dedmiston wrote:

Long time no see. Glad to have you back.

Good to be back.
Got my first fiver, she's a big one, so I need to bone-up on all this stuff :)
dedmiston
Moderator
Jun 13, 2013
pronstar wrote:
I had a 23-foot aluminum-sided toy hauler with a 13.5k unit.
We used it a lot in Lake Havasu in the summer - 120 degree heat.

If I arrived in the heat of the day and turned the AC on, it would struggle to get temps down until the sun fell and outside temps dropped to a cool 90 degrees.

It would maintain a cool temp (mid 80's inside) thru-out the day provided I used my awning or some other source of shade...direct sun loads on an unshaded side would overwhelm the AC and temps would get uncomfortable.

Long time no see. Glad to have you back.
pronstar
Explorer
Jun 13, 2013
I had a 23-foot aluminum-sided toy hauler with a 13.5k unit.
We used it a lot in Lake Havasu in the summer - 120 degree heat.

If I arrived in the heat of the day and turned the AC on, it would struggle to get temps down until the sun fell and outside temps dropped to a cool 90 degrees.

It would maintain a cool temp (mid 80's inside) thru-out the day provided I used my awning or some other source of shade...direct sun loads on an unshaded side would overwhelm the AC and temps would get uncomfortable.
LowRyter
Explorer
Jun 13, 2013
I think most of us have put up with that. Mostly I like to go where it's cool in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Besides shade, have you considered spraying the roof and exposed wall with water? You might be able to cool the entire trailer down to the point where the air conditioner has a better chance to maintain it.
rerod
Explorer
Jun 11, 2013
I don't think upgrading to less than 200 btu extra would improve cooling much.. And I'm not to fond about cutting another hole in the roof. So until I tear out the interior and re-insulate, I will probably not camp in those temps or rent a room if the temperature is in the high 90's. Colorado Rockies beginning of September wont need A/C.

The correct way would be to add 1" furring strips to all aluminum studs to make the wall 1 3/4" thick. Then reinstall everything. Astro Foil etc
FunWW
Explorer
Jun 11, 2013
Only other thing to do is upgrade the ac or add another one to cool it down faster. Sell your current ac to offset the upgrade cost. It would get snatched up quick, atleast in Texas it would.
rerod
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
FunWW wrote:
64thunderbolt wrote:
I have a 34' Tail-gator 5th wheel with separate garage. In temps well above 100 I can drop it about 30+ degrees in about 1.5 hrs. This trailer seems to be insulated better than the WW I used to have. It's ducted and I shut off the vent in the garage. The interior cover on the a/c has been replaced with one that has vents on either side that close to push it all through the ducts or open the to get more air into the living room. The open style toyhaulers without ducts are hard to cool. My WW was that way and it never worked as well as this setup.

To run 2 a/c's min would be a 5500.

I agree, WW's lacking in R value. Must be the reason they are prewired for a second a/c with 5500 gens. My 26' has 50 amp service. Although it does a fair job of cooling, it does cool down the 20* from outside ambient. But it would take all day at cooling down a hot interior at 100*. I usually fire off the genset and turn on the ac way before I get to my destination.

Unfortunately.. My featherlite wasn't equipped with a generator (tongue already weighs 1300) and my TV is a van so I cant run a generator underway.

I know my NV4500 manual transmission has a PTO.. Wonder if anyone makes a PTO generator for it?
FunWW
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
64thunderbolt wrote:
I have a 34' Tail-gator 5th wheel with seperate garage. In temps well above 100 I can drop it about 30+ degrees in about 1.5 hrs. This trailer seems to be insulated better than the WW I used to have. It's ducted and I shut off the vent in the garage. The interior cover on the a/c has been replaced with one that has vents on either side that close to push it all through the ducts or open the to get more air into the living room. The open style toyhaulers without ducts are hard to cool. My WW was that way and it never worked as well as this setup.

To run 2 a/c's min would be a 5500.

I agree, WW's lacking in R value. Must be the reason they are prewired for a second a/c with 5500 gens. My 26' has 50 amp service. Although it does a fair job of cooling, it does cool down the 20* from outside ambient. But it would take all day at cooling down a hot interior at 100*. I usually fire off the genset and turn on the ac way before I get to my destination.