Can U run top ac going down the road ??

Cloud Dancer wrote:
Contrary to popular belief, there are ways to stay comfortable in the sunbelt.

Absolutely!!

We left California and toured the Southern U.S. once in our small Class C on a 9000 mile RV trip in July and August.

To do this, we had to the use the RV's air conditioner in at least three somewhat unusual ways:

- We once had to leave the air conditioner running into the wee hours of the night while sleeping when drycamping in order get any sleep at all in the combination of high temps and high humidity.

- We once had to run BOTH the air conditioner and an electric heater (on hookups) to keep from "dying" from the humidity when the outside temperatures were only in the high 70's/low 80's. We found settings for the air conditioner and heater where they "bucked each other" just right so we had both low humidity and lower 70's temperatures inside the coach .... neither froze out by the A/C nor cooked from the heater ... while at the same time keeping humidity within a comfortable range.

- We had to run BOTH the coach air conditioner on high and idle the main engine with the cab air on full power for a rapid cool-down in order to prevent heat stroke after being outside in the sun in the middle of the day in the middle of nowhere in the Texas Panhandle ... rockhounding.

It's situations like this where a nicely self-contained RV comes into it's own to keep you comfortable in a wide variety of situations. HOWEVER, why we attempted a trip like that is another story and we'll never take that trip again at that time of the year!

My wife is willing to pay for the extra fuel(diesel) that the ONAN Quiet Diesel genset burns. She likes the enviroment on the cool side. The two roof air conditioners are supposed to put out 30,000 btu(s), and the dash air works great ever since I installed a positive/manual hot water valve.
Contrary to popular belief, there are ways to stay comfortable in the sunbelt.

Hi Phil,

My air conditioner fan only setting draws 225 watts. I can NOT recommend a "suicide cord" approach.

I would pick up the DC at or in the power distribution center.

pnichols wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
I found out I could keep my class C cool through out by running the roof air on fan only.

Don,

That's an outstanding suggestion!

I wonder if my A/C's ducted fan system will run off our mobile (not built in) 300 watt inverter?

I built a cable for it with a 120V plug on each end so as to backfeed the inverter's output into any of the coach's 120V receptacles without having to use the shore cable, but I don't know where I'd plug the inverter's 12V input cable to get 30 amps of DC while going down the road?

pianotuna wrote:
I found out I could keep my class C cool through out by running the roof air on fan only.

Don,

That's an outstanding suggestion!

I wonder if my A/C's ducted fan system will run off our mobile (not built in) 300 watt inverter?

I built a cable for it with a 120V plug on each end so as to backfeed the inverter's output into any of the coach's 120V receptacles without having to use the shore cable, but I don't know where I'd plug the inverter's 12V input cable to get 30 amps of DC while going down the road?

Great! I have a very good shape 1983 Class c rv.. The dash ac has r12 and does not work.. It's a ford e350 and runs hot (engine).. So I am going to start to use the rv more this summer and planning on going to Colorado from Pa in August. I'm going to put a engine oil cooler on it and am going to pull the ac condenser to make room for the oil cooler and having it out will allow more air flow to the rad.. With no dash ac that's why I wanted to know if I could run the roof on a hot day. The oil cooler will help keep the engine a little cooler.. I'm also planning on pulling a geo tracker out also.. I just got a roof ac unit out of a 35 ft trailer. My class c is only 24 ft. Thanks everyone for ur answers.. Ed

I run mine all the time...I don't even use the dash air that much, its not that great anyhow and the roof air doesn't use much diesel from the genset running...1/2 gallon an hour...

2oldman wrote:
Unless there's some sort of paranoia about running the gen, yes.

I'm sure there's a dooms day crowd that's against it. ;)

As they say: "Been there, Done that" in fact when I arrived here in S.E. Ga last June, that is exactly what I was doing... It was way too hot for the dash HEVAC to help.

Hi,

I have experimented with running the roof air from my inverter while traveling. I found out I could keep my class C cool through out by running the roof air on fan only.

I'm still thinking about that very long extension cord. I bet coiling it back up when you get to the camp ground is going to be a pretty good task.