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Community Alumni's avatar
Community Alumni
Jul 20, 2017

Air Conditioner for Class C - upgrade?

We have a 31' Class C Itasca Impulse with one AC unit on the roof. It does have a heat strip but we will use propane for heat if needed.

My question is this - Is there an upgrade that allows the A/C unit to run of a thermostat? My old Class A had a thermostat for the A/C. It was nice because it would keep the rig at a constant temperature.

The unit we have on the Class C is a knob on the ceiling. It is either on or off. So in the middle of the night we either have to turn the unit off or use the knob to lower the temperature.

Interestingly enough, the unit that runs the propane heat uses a thermostat.

Thanks.
  • chag67 wrote:

    The unit we have on the Class C is a knob on the ceiling. It is either on or off. So in the middle of the night we either have to turn the unit off or use the knob to lower the temperature.

    Interestingly enough, the unit that runs the propane heat uses a thermostat.

    Thanks.


    I think that setup is very common. Class C's i've looked at online and TT / 5r I've looked at in person, only the highest end ones had a thermostat for both HEAT and AIR

    I looked into adding a wall thermostat "the proper way" to my rooftop Coleman's Mach but found no simple solutions.

    Maybe someone else has found a way and they'll share their find with us :)
  • There should be two knobs on that overhead A/C. I think the one on the left is the control function knob, and the one on the right is the temperature setting. Clockwise is colder, and counter clockwise is warmer.
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    No simple solutions. Thermostat requires a control box/board that the ones with two knobs up on the unit do not have. You'd have to add that, install a thermostat, but remember, you also have to run the wiring, unless Winne laid it in when that option wasn't actually in place.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    I know DownTheAvenue. But those knobs don't turn off when the desired temperature is reached. I am looking for something that j-d talked about. I will probably have to run wiring for a thermostat.
  • Our rig has a Carrier Air V unit that has a remote control that you point at the A/C unit to control operation. The remote has settable temperature for both A/C and furnace and mode select for A/C or furnace or fan. Carrier got out of the RV A/C business some years ago though.
  • Hmm so this Controller board as I picture it would really just be two (or three with heat) relays and maybe a time delay of some sort.

    One relay for the blower motor, another for the compressor and the optional third for a heat strip.

    Wiring would be a matter of snaking wire inside the ceiling and down inside a wall, or using surface mount cabling cover like Wiremold.