substitute dometic brisk air II for old penguin 600315.321

anyone ever use a portable AC in their RV?

burlmart wrote:
anyone ever use a portable AC in their RV?

I've seen a few threads about portables. You mean free standers with temporary window ducts, right?

Do you want to give up the space, storage, and arrange the window vents? I personally would not.

Also remember, RV A/C units are maxed out "window" units in the sense that they produce much more BTU and still run on 110-volts, than home window units do. This means a portable could be 6000-btu while the smallest RV rooftop is 8000 or more. The common size is what you have now, 13500.

And... RV's are very poorly insulated. A 5000 btu window shaker might cool a room in your house but not your RV even with the same square footage.

these standup ACs

we just looked at one, and as you say, j-d, it would take up space and be kind of gimmicky. although it could sit in the shower tub and maybe vent out bathroom fan vent, andthe 6' cord might workas is, or needa short heavy gauge extension.

am really going back and forth w/ taking it to pl or continue to keep hassling w/ this issue, then that, when we are really just not that into RVing after 11 yrs and w/ doggies (and us!) slowing down.

My experience with the portables is they don't live up to their BTU ratings, even the models with two hoses and over 12K BTU ratings. I think they'd be lost trying to keep up with the heat in an RV.

I think your idea is good to find out what roof air is on sale and would fit with minimal adaptation.

Burl ... do you drycamp at all?

If so, I recommend looking at one of the high efficiency 13.5K rooftop units so that you at times can run it off a single Honda 2K portable generator. This would make it possible on long air conditioning runs to not have to use your louder and less fuel efficient built-in generator.

We carry along a small Honda portable in our 24 foot Class C for battery charging that, unfortunately, won't run our 13.5K rooftop A/C ... so we're stuck with having to fire up the Onan whenever we get caught drycamping in hot weather.

i do not eed 13500 BTUs, as rig is only 22 ft

FWIW I think you do. I have 24' w/ 15K BTU and it only does OK in very hot weather after a hard drive. I think some engine heat winds up in the cabin. Plus the big front van cab is uninsulated in class C. Nice thing about the 13.6 units is they're common and often at the lowest price of any of the AC sizes. I doubt you'd save anything by going to less than 13.6 BTU. What I think you'll need to look for is a sale price AC unit that is compatible with your interior hardware.

If you are into the energy efficient models, friend has the Coleman 13.6 energy saver and I can attest to it's low consumption. He easily runs two off 30 amp with plenty of power to spare. But it wasn't the cheapest 13.6 out there.

nice discussion...

phil, we are always plugged into shore at a state park for 1 or 2 nites only. AND, we only do this when the louisiana heat and humidity aren't so present. so late sept thru early may. evrn so, there are times when a few hours, or all nite; AC runs are warranted,

in the may thru sept months, we give MH an exercise run to a city park or a restaurant, and the genset runs the AC for a couple hours. we definitely are not run-of-the-mill RVers,

tpi, you are making very important points on portable AC shortcomings that i kind of suspected.

we've been vacillating about continuing to RV mainly for the dogs' sake for maybe 5 yrs, or so. it's starting to look like we may just as well admit that we had our run w/ it. along with the RV, we are aging a bit, my retinitus pigmentosa is progressing in the lousy way that it does, and the dogs seem more relaxed in the backyard than in the RV whenbetween camground walks.

You need somebody to figure out if a new "upper" can work with your "lower." Remember what I mentioned before. Most of these A/C units now seem to be sold as Upper (Rooftop, Compressor, Coils, etc.) and Lower.

That needs figured out before you do any shopping. My Guess, and it's only a Guess, that a Ducted system like yours requires a different Upper than the kind you mentioned. The Ductless one on sale, controls on the unit.

I can only suppose there could be thermostat/control issues too. If you could get an upper to match existing lower, and only needed a different thermostat, wouldn't that be a good fix?

j-d wrote:
You need somebody to figure out if a new "upper" can work with your "lower." Remember what I mentioned before. Most of these A/C units now seem to be sold as Upper (Rooftop, Compressor, Coils, etc.) and Lower.

That needs figured out before you do any shopping. My Guess, and it's only a Guess, that a Ducted system like yours requires a different Upper than the kind you mentioned. The Ductless one on sale, controls on the unit.

I can only suppose there could be thermostat/control issues too. If you could get an upper to match existing lower, and only needed a different thermostat, wouldn't that be a good fix?

i think you are spot on w/ this analysis. when the dealer said i needed a new upper after the compressor quit running during their diagnosis, they had a confused discussion as to if or how a dometic unit rhey had taken from a new rig could be used. the confusion and not brand new but nevertheless priced at $1000 installed all led me to decline the offer.

Try a call to PPL Motorhomes 800-755-4775 since they claim to know what replaces what. Have your Upper and Lower Model Numbers. PPL's "sale" price on new Uppers (Brisk Air) starts around $500. Penguin is more, but they might be able to tell you if a Brisk will work on a Penguin Lower... and what about the controls.

Maybe some OP will offer to meet you and to a swap-out once you figure the parts out. I've done some of that in my travels and it's been fun. Plus I've met folk in person I'd only seen in writing before. Never been disappointed!