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2020 grey wolf TH poor AC

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
AC unit wonโ€™t keep trailer cooler than 83 at night !
Any ideas ? I checked top unit every thing looks good!
It canโ€™t cool when full sun and 95 in FL , lol ??
33 REPLIES 33

Grit_dog
Navigator
Navigator
All those things mentioned plus the Florida heat wave are obviously not helping.
But none of that matters because you know something is wrong with the AC unit if itโ€™s pumping out 70 deg air.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

ktmrfs
Explorer
Explorer
dougrainer wrote:
The plain simple fact is, 1 AC will NOT cool a RV over 26 foot, especially if you have slide rooms. Does NOT make a difference of BTU of AC unit. Are you ON 30 amp and only have a 30 amp RV. or do you have 50 amp service using a 30 amp Shore CG receptacle? Don't blame the AC or FR, Blame the dealer that ordered this size unit without 2 AC units. You may have AC operation problems or installation/ductwork problems, but does not matter as I stated, you have an inadequate AC system. Doug


yup I agree completely. shortly after we bought our Outback 295RE (32 ft double slide) Keystone added provisions for a second AC unit and made 50A service optional. Note I said "after".

But ours is a single unit Coleman Mach III. With all the mod's I've done it is barely adequate for us in our climate. A climate that usually sees night time temps in the high 50's, low 60's, even in august and usually stays below 90 in the day. for those conditions it can keep the trailer at a set temp but runs most of the time. If we hit days with temps in the high 90's and high night temps, it won't hold temp, and will rise in the afternoon. And on these hot days it's usually noon before it's above 85. A few years ago we were camping when day highs were 105, night lows in the high 70's and by 10am was pushing 90. It was miserable, AC ran constantly and inside temps peaked in the mid 80's and even by 10pm was uncomfortably hot.

As shipped without my mods to clean up and insulate the ducting, add more ducts, improve airflow even temps pushing the mid 80's would cause the AC to struggle. And even improving airflow has a limited affect. more air movement but the same cooling BTU so can help cool down rate some, but not ultimate heat extraction once airflow reaches a certain point.
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2015.5 Denali 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison passed on to our Son!

dougrainer
Nomad
Nomad
The plain simple fact is, 1 AC will NOT cool a RV over 26 foot, especially if you have slide rooms. Does NOT make a difference of BTU of AC unit. Are you ON 30 amp and only have a 30 amp RV. or do you have 50 amp service using a 30 amp Shore CG receptacle? Don't blame the AC or FR, Blame the dealer that ordered this size unit without 2 AC units. You may have AC operation problems or installation/ductwork problems, but does not matter as I stated, you have an inadequate AC system. Doug

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
Hopefully Dometic and Forest River read this stuff!

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
wa8yxm wrote:
Many RVs simply do not have enough A/C.. But when you say you checked topside. Did you remove the covers and look at the FAN side of the evaporator coils.

Most A/Cs blow air through the condenser so any "Crud" that builds up on the condenser is hidden where you can't see it.

Colemans Suck. so you can easily see that they need cleaning. and it's easier to do.


Iโ€™ve already tried! Believe me ! Itโ€™s getting traded in over Labor Day weekend, if sales are good ??

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
Hondo99 wrote:
wa8yxm wrote:
Many RVs simply do not have enough A/C.. But when you say you checked topside. Did you remove the covers and look at the FAN side of the evaporator coils.

Most A/Cs blow air through the condenser so any "Crud" that builds up on the condenser is hidden where you can't see it.

Colemans Suck. so you can easily see that they need cleaning. and it's easier to do.


It was clean, fins good , temp sensor good.


Yes! Undersized and bad insulation!
It is 2023 already should be using spray foam insulation! It been around 10 plus years!
Wonโ€™t buy another Forest River Grey Wolf!

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
wa8yxm wrote:
Many RVs simply do not have enough A/C.. But when you say you checked topside. Did you remove the covers and look at the FAN side of the evaporator coils.

Most A/Cs blow air through the condenser so any "Crud" that builds up on the condenser is hidden where you can't see it.

Colemans Suck. so you can easily see that they need cleaning. and it's easier to do.


It was clean, fins good , temp sensor good.

wa8yxm
Explorer III
Explorer III
Many RVs simply do not have enough A/C.. But when you say you checked topside. Did you remove the covers and look at the FAN side of the evaporator coils.

Most A/Cs blow air through the condenser so any "Crud" that builds up on the condenser is hidden where you can't see it.

Colemans Suck. so you can easily see that they need cleaning. and it's easier to do.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times

ktmrfs
Explorer
Explorer
Hond099

First thing I'd do is in the morning set the thermostat at 70-72. If you set it a 79, by the time it comes on trailer walls, interior air etc. is already hot and trying to bring it down is very hard If you can start the morning at 70 or so the AC will start working against a low temp and be able to hold it longer before it starts to rise.

Now where we are it usually cools off to at least low 70's at night, often the mid 60's. so the trailer outside and inside is cooled down by morning. And then the sun has to heat everything back up, helps on the AC load. if we were where it only got to the 80's at night, I suspect we'd have a hard time getting the trailer to the low 70's by morning and it would heat up quick.

My take is that many of the larger trailers are shipped with inadequate AC units. 20ft one AC fine, 30 ft, one AC unit, southern temps day and night..... another story.
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2015.5 Denali 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison passed on to our Son!

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
Dometic

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
ktmrfs wrote:
dougrainer wrote:
1. Length of RV and do you have slideouts and how many
2. 50 amp or 30 amp shore power
3. Ducted or non ducted AC plenum system
4. BTU of roof unit. It is either 13,500 0r 15,000. Brand and Model of AC unit if you do not know BTU.
5. I assume 1 AC unit and not 2. Doug


any of the above can have a big influence on cooling. Our trailer is a 32 ft with dual slides, lots of windows. As delivered AC was not even marginal, worse than that. Things we did
a) took down the ac cover inside the trailer and used metal duct tape to seal up all the air cracks- there were lots
b) took down all the ceiling vents and used metal tape to seal the vent ducting to the ceiling material so air didn't deflect into the ceiling instead of the trailer
c) added more ceiling vents. easy to do, most ducted systems have two duct runners that extend a long ways, just cut holes in ceiling to mount additional ducts.
d) after the last duct block off the rest of the deuct with insulation/foam pad or something

Even with all this once the temps are in the high 90's in the day, we turn on the AC early in the morning, set it to around 70F and let it rip. by early afternoon inisde temmps start to rise and it will be high 70's by evening if we try to cool the whole trailer. close off bedroom vents and close bedroom door helps.

One time we were in the sun with temps at 105F and the trailer rose to over 80F by late afternoon.

Next step I did and am seeing what happens today with temps to hit 100 is install the RV airflow system. first indications are it boosted airflow noticeably. We shall see this afternoon what the temps do, but it is 92F outside now and the trailer and I set the thermostat to 72 this morning and it's still 72 at 1pm with it 92 outside.

Will see how this holds.


Wish I could hold 80, more like 90 and stat set at 79

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
Y-Guy wrote:
Hondo99 I'm going to move this post to the Tech Issues forum as I think you'll get more assistance. Sharing the brand and model of your A/C unit will probably be helpful as well as the size of your Grey Wolf.


Thank you!

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
Has ducted work with vent in bedroom that thing hardly blows air ??

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
On 30 amp

Hondo99
Explorer
Explorer
Iโ€™ve check unit on roof itโ€™s clean.Iโ€™ll probably call service tech to come out .
Temp coming out ac is 70 degrees, I know this unit wasnโ€™t right since I bought it in May!
I donโ€™t have time to hook up and drop at dealer I work on the road, itโ€™s only 1 unit and grey wolf is 30foot
????