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TurnThePage's avatar
TurnThePage
Explorer
Feb 23, 2020

How noisy is your A/C?

My trailer is getting pretty long in the tooth. Even for a budget model, it had ducted A/C which was reasonably quiet.

I really like the Lance trailers, and a couple different fiberglass clamshell manufacturers, none of which are ducted. Are they quiet?

Am I going to have to settle for the more conventional, yet often less reliable models?

15 Replies

  • Scott, how did you balance the fan? BTW, love Lake Pleasnat RV park up by you but was saddened to see the little shopping village nearby razed for condos!
  • I have a ducted Coleman "Mach" and reduced the noise immensely by building a "spacer box" between the interior grill and the ceiling. The concept was to make the air do 2 90 degree turns rather than have a straight up shot into the noisy fan area. I do not possess a manometer but I do have a little wind speed indicator that showed no noticable change in air velocity coming out of the vents so I feel confident any restriction this causes is negligible. The noise of air coming out of the ducted ceiling vents is now more noticable than the noise of the unit. Next project is pull the spacer back off and cover the rough, cut foam insulation under there (and as far into the ducts from the vents I can reach) with aluminum duct tape to provide a smoother surface for the air to blow over. Hoping that will cut the noise some more. This would not work with a non-ducted, though, as the discharge on them is where my intake area now is.

  • We have a Cardinal 5er. 3 airs going full speed make less noise than the single unit ducted system on our last TT. The reason, there is no a/c unit exposed in the ceiling. We have 6 ducted return air registers in the ceiling along with 12 discharge vents. The noise is a little louder than your stic and brick system.
  • Both my AC's had a drone and a high frequency vibration. I balanced the condenser fan and it made a huge difference. I suspect just about every Mach could use this procedure and maybe some other brands as well.
  • The Coleman “Mach” a/c on my Cirrus camper can be run by a Honda 2000. It is good and loud, with a howler fan that pretty much drowns out the genny :). Of course someone developed a “quiet kit” in the aftermarket....

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