Campin'_Nana wrote:
RedRocket204 wrote:
Does the AC seem to blow cold air direct out of the AC unit? If it does, probably poorly sealed ducts.
There are many YouTube videos that show this specific issue, model nonspecific.
http://youtu.be/AzdQoDublzs
It did seem to blow decently from the AC Unit, but we didn't think the air blew very hard from the ducts at all. I even closed all the ceiling vents on the main unit and when I went in the bedroom, I could barely feel any air on the back of my hand when I put it up by the vent.
Thank you for the youtube link. We will check it out.
And yes, what you describe is a situation I just fixed on my TT. We just returned home from vacation where we were in Durango, CO and Williams, AZ and there were times where the TT was not cooling as well as it should have. If you watch that video, you will clearly see that the exhaust and intake/return of a RV AC unit are right next to each other. Now, pull off the internal plastic shroud and look at how they are sealed... or lack of being sealed. What I found was that it was possible the AC unit intake/return was pulling in air possibly from outside and also from the AC exhaust... leaving warmer air within the TT cabin. As well, the two ducts were so badly sealed that cool air was going into the TT ceiling, not the actual cabin. All together, my AC unit was not cycling the air like a well designed HVAC system should. I do believe that some of the poor seals were exacerbated by multiple years of travel where it got slightly worse over time.
So, I did as the video suggested and used a lot of aluminum duct tape to seal off both sides of my AC unit along with completely sealing up the area so the two ducts are getting air forced into the ducts. Now when I have the AC on and the main AC exhaust slider closed, the ceiling vents fed by the ducts are blowing much, much better. This should greatly help to push the cold air into the TT away from the AC unit and also allow the AC unit to "intake" the warm air... again, like a proper HVAC system should.
I do understand you have not purchased a RV yet so being able to dig into the AC unit may not be allowed. However, the important note here is that properly sealing off an AC unit is a direct result of the quality factor of the RV build. There are not a lot of different AC units used on RVs, so chances are you will see the same model AC unit from RV to RV brand.
But as mentioned by many others, insulation value is also very important. Mine does have decent insulation, not the best but pretty good, but I was faced with a situation where the ceiling vents were not blowing much air through them, restricting the AC effectiveness.
