? Heat & Air on Ford Chassis?

Last year on a trip to Atlanta for Spring Break we ran the dash heat. Was still a bit cold. My unit came equipped with an aux heating system that runs a radiator in the rear of the coach. I turned that on with low speed fan and the RV got very toasty. Had to cycle every now and then to keep from being too warm.

Chum lee wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:

Chum lee wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:

dcmac214 wrote:
Does Ford motor provide enough heat/air for comfort or do you have to run the RV heat/air for comfort?

Ford does NOT provide HVAC in class A motorhomes. All Ford provides is the compressor, condenser & receiver/dryer. The rest of the components are provided by the coach builders.

Richard

In some (not all) cases Ford also provides the dash mounted control panel and some of the related wiring/vacuum system for the chassis HVAC on the F53 Class A.

Chum lee

Can you elaborate on which cases that Ford provides the controls on an F53 chassis. How would Ford controls interface with Evans Tempcon or Denso HVAC systems?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Richard

Hi. I have a 1999 Southwind F53. The HVAC controls (along with the other dash instruments) are supplied by Ford with the F53 stripped chassis package. I've worked on many Ford products over the years as well as working in a Ford (dealership) parts department so I am familiar with what the Ford parts "look" like as well as Fords part numbering system. Evans and Denso may buy their HVAC controls from the same manufacturer (I don't know) as Ford. As Doug has previously mentioned, various RV coach manufacturers throughout the years have used different HVAC systems so they may opt to use different dash controls so each application could vary. Suffice to say, if it looks like it came from a Ford automobile/truck, it probably was supplied by Ford. There are others out there. Delco for one was popular years ago. Sorry I cant be more specific to all applications, but if you look at the dash controls and find the part number, (usually embossed on the part) if it starts with a 4 digit prefix like "E9TZ" or a similar format with 4 digits, the first being a letter, the second being a number, the third being a letter, and the last usually being a "Z," usually its a Ford part. For the example E9TZ, the part number would mean that the part was originally designed for an E meaning 1980's decade, 9 meaning the year 1989, T meaning truck, and Z is usually an undifferentiated place holder. So a Ford typical part number would be the format WXYZ-77777-Z

It's more likely that the coach builders AC supplier builds their system components to interface with Ford (and the coach builder) rather than the other way around since Ford builds the base chassis in the case of the F53. Generally, the manufacturer with the most money makes the rules regarding the components. But not always, . . . . and times change. Remember when computers were all IBM compatible? Nobody gives a cr*p about IBM in the personal computer market anymore.

Chum lee

You 1999 Southwind has Denso HVAC. All electric servo motor control, no vacuum. Ford's vacuum controls would not interface with denso's servo motors.

At 2 minutes & 33 seconds into this video is a Southwind HVAC control, manufacture by Denso. Same as the controls in my 95 Bounder

Richard

viajante wrote:
My only concern is the use of gasoline. In my experience, the dash air drops your mileage almost 1 mile per gallon. Using the generator and the house air is a lot more economical and cools the entire coach. The dash heat should be okay to heat the cockpit. I just prefer the house heat.

I always run the generator and only use the the dash air when it is really hot. My motorhome has a 120V water heater and it is nice to have the water hot when we get to our next RV camp. It is also nice to have the whole motorhome at a comfortable temperature.

wa8yxm wrote:
NO just FORD but nearly all RV's.

The "Dash" Heater/ A/C is made to heat or cool the cab of like an F-350 and your RV has both way more "Glass" (Greenhouse heating) and volume than an F-350 Cab. SO NO. they do not.

Are you aware that the stock Ford A/C compressor is setup for ~3.5 pounds of refrigerant?

That makes it a 5 ton system, or ~60,000 BTU, or the equivalent of FOUR rooftop A/C units.......

It IS however severely lacking in airflow compared to the big fan on a rooftop unit.

Which is precisely why running the dash front vents wide open and opening a rear roof vent to create a vacuum and move the air down the back works so well to cool the unit further back.

NO just FORD but nearly all RV's.

The "Dash" Heater/ A/C is made to heat or cool the cab of like an F-350 and your RV has both way more "Glass" (Greenhouse heating) and volume than an F-350 Cab. SO NO. they do not.

Now there are some exceptions. Some of the better Diesels have systems that are very very good at heating the whole house.. Cooling is not as good but heating works great.

You can install a "Blanket" type thing behind the driver's seat that will make the driver more comfortable (and co-pilot) but at the cost of a colder house.

But the standard Dash HEVAC is simply not up to the job at all.> Still ..

Oh talking about the "Greenhouse" effect of the big glass windshield.
I run with A/C and it's like 40 degrees out... Believe it or not.

viajante wrote:
My only concern is the use of gasoline. In my experience, the dash air drops your mileage almost 1 mile per gallon. Using the generator and the house air is a lot more economical and cools the entire coach.

Strange, I have almost exactly the same coach as you, but a few years older.

I can’t even perceive the difference in mileage, in fact at an idle I can’t even see the drop in RPM when the compressor kicks in.

From what I can see the compressor takes ~3/4 hp under load, hardly an issue for a 6.8 liter V10 that’s already pushing a 35’ house that weighs some 20,000 pounds down the highway.

dcmac214 wrote:
Does Ford motor provide enough heat/air for comfort or do you have to run the RV heat/air for comfort?

If you understand the science involved it’s pretty easy to make the OEM dash units perform remarkably well given the circumstances.

My Itasca is equipped with a mid-ship mounted auxiliary heater to supplement the dash unit. By opening the rearmost roof vent (in the bathroom) and running the dash vents pointed straight down the centreline and the rear heater I can keep all the 34’ of it comfortable in temps as low as the teens.

Ditto with the A/C, running it wide open and the rear roof vent open (which vacuums out the hot air at the roof) will keep the whole unit comfortable well into the 90’s.

And we have never run the house A/C or heat when traveling, but then we avoid traveling when there are any weather extremes.

RLS7201 wrote:

Chum lee wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:

dcmac214 wrote:
Does Ford motor provide enough heat/air for comfort or do you have to run the RV heat/air for comfort?

Ford does NOT provide HVAC in class A motorhomes. All Ford provides is the compressor, condenser & receiver/dryer. The rest of the components are provided by the coach builders.

Richard

In some (not all) cases Ford also provides the dash mounted control panel and some of the related wiring/vacuum system for the chassis HVAC on the F53 Class A.

Chum lee

Can you elaborate on which cases that Ford provides the controls on an F53 chassis. How would Ford controls interface with Evans Tempcon or Denso HVAC systems?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Richard

Hi. I have a 1999 Southwind F53. The HVAC controls (along with the other dash instruments) are supplied by Ford with the F53 stripped chassis package. I've worked on many Ford products over the years as well as working in a Ford (dealership) parts department so I am familiar with what the Ford parts "look" like as well as Fords part numbering system. Evans and Denso may buy their HVAC controls from the same manufacturer (I don't know) as Ford. As Doug has previously mentioned, various RV coach manufacturers throughout the years have used different HVAC systems so they may opt to use different dash controls so each application could vary. Suffice to say, if it looks like it came from a Ford automobile/truck, it probably was supplied by Ford. There are others out there. Delco for one was popular years ago. Sorry I cant be more specific to all applications, but if you look at the dash controls and find the part number, (usually embossed on the part) if it starts with a 4 digit prefix like "E9TZ" or a similar format with 4 digits, the first being a letter, the second being a number, the third being a letter, and the last usually being a "Z," usually its a Ford part. For the example E9TZ, the part number would mean that the part was originally designed for an E meaning 1980's decade, 9 meaning the year 1989, T meaning truck, and Z is usually an undifferentiated place holder. So a Ford typical part number would be the format WXYZ-77777-Z

It's more likely that the coach builders AC supplier builds their system components to interface with Ford (and the coach builder) rather than the other way around since Ford builds the base chassis in the case of the F53. Generally, the manufacturer with the most money makes the rules regarding the components. But not always, . . . . and times change. Remember when computers were all IBM compatible? Nobody gives a cr*p about IBM in the personal computer market anymore.

Chum lee

Chum lee wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:

dcmac214 wrote:
Does Ford motor provide enough heat/air for comfort or do you have to run the RV heat/air for comfort?

Ford does NOT provide HVAC in class A motorhomes. All Ford provides is the compressor, condenser & receiver/dryer. The rest of the components are provided by the coach builders.

Richard

In some (not all) cases Ford also provides the dash mounted control panel and some of the related wiring/vacuum system for the chassis HVAC on the F53 Class A.

Chum lee

Can you elaborate on which cases that Ford provides the controls on an F53 chassis. How would Ford controls interface with Evans Tempcon or Denso HVAC systems?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Richard