How noisy is your A/C?

[TurnThePage]

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?

[JimBollman]

My B's AC is loud but I can get use to the fan and air noise after awhile but every time the compressor cycles on it makes a bang that wakes us up. Was wondering if adding soft start kit it would make less of a bang. Don't need it for running on a generator just to get more sleep.

[ScottG]

garyemunson wrote:
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!

Hey Gary, We were sad to see Country Village go too. Not many places like them left.
I used a lawn mower blade balancer from Home depot and a nylon bushing to adapt the "D" shaped hole of the fan to it. I had to sand down on side of the bushing to make it fit. Then I used these little threaded clip thingys to add weight to the light side of the fan.





I also cleaned up the plastic flashing on the blades. Dont know if it helps but figured it couldn't hurt.

[TurnThePage]

I think most of the noise is just the air flow, which can only be quieted so much. It sounds like some units are maybe not installed all that well, resulting vibration noise too.

Maybe years in the Navy has tuned my hearing to expect ventilation noises. The A/C and furnace are definitely heard but are not offensive to me. Once in a while the furnace may wake me at night when it comes on.

Guess I'll just have to make sure to hear 'em running before I purchase.

[TurnThePage]

garyemunson wrote:
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.

That looks like a cheap, yet effective mod!

[ppine]

The AC works fine but is plenty loud and uses a lot of power. I rarely use it unless traveling and have hook-ups on the way to a destination. In the West, one of the secrets to a good trip is to go find the good weather by changing elevation. Right now Death Valley looks pretty good.

[Dick_B]

There is a cover for the A/C that supposedly makes it quieter. I have ordered one but haven't installed it yet (winter in midwest) but the design looks like it would work. The down side is that it sticks down from the ceiling a couple of inches. Maybe I'll wear a hard hat.

[riven1950]

Our GD TT is quieter than the previous ducted Apex, Both quieter than than the non ducted before that, but still louder than the home heat pump.

[kellem]

We are also on 4th TT and ducted has been the least noisy.
Previous trailer, you could barely have a conversation with AC running on low.

Furnace? Plenty of noise there to.

[drsteve]

The Mach in our Coachmen made a lot of buzzing when new. I did some trial and error with thin pieces of foam in the ceiling grill and got it to quiet down pretty well.

[jamesu]

In reply to your “noise” question, every TT we have owned has had a reliable yet LOUD A/C. I didn’t TT’s had any other kind. We are our 4th TT.

[garyemunson]

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!

[garyemunson]

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.

[Retired_JSO]

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.

[ScottG]

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.