Atwood Air- any problems?

[Chris_Bryant]

Wondering if anyone has had any problems with their Atwood 15k heat pumps? A friend is replacing 2 Coleman units because of age, and these would be a great fit for him, but I'm not a fan of DuoTherm or Coleman heat pumps, but I have not heard of any problems with the Atwood units- I actually have not heard of anyone who has them not liking them.
The only reason I ever are hesitant about them is the Dometic/Atwood connection, worrying about future parts availability, but that doesn't seem to be an issue so far.
Just doing a little market research 🙂

[dougrainer]

joelabq wrote:
Doug,

I wasn't aware that Airxcel had two motors in the AC/HP. They do not advertise it nor can I find any install/service manuals that reflect that in their line-up. I did not look through all of them as they have a lot of different products.

I don't know if it's industry standard (I don't work on this stuff for a living), but my Atwood came with a QA sheet that was hand-written with my specific unit's power consumption in amps for the various speeds/modes. Nice touch.

Joel

They may not advertise it, but as someone that has 37 years working on RV AC units it is NOT that big a deal to have 2 motors. IMO, it is a Dog and Pony show. 13.5 or 15k is just that. HOW you get there is all that matters. Doug

http://www.airxcel.com/docs/default-source/coleman-mach/mach-8-hp/mach-8-product-literature.pdf?sfvr...

[joelabq]

Doug,

I wasn't aware that Airxcel had two motors in the AC/HP. They do not advertise it nor can I find any install/service manuals that reflect that in their line-up. I did not look through all of them as they have a lot of different products.

I don't know if it's industry standard (I don't work on this stuff for a living), but my Atwood came with a QA sheet that was hand-written with my specific unit's power consumption in amps for the various speeds/modes. Nice touch.

Joel

[Chris_Bryant]

Thanks Doug- it all boils down to performance- we need the most cooling for the lowest amp draw, plus mounting footprint- I cannot go any wider. The Air Command seems to fill the bill for that.

[dougrainer]

joelabq wrote:
When my Dometic died I researched and replaced it with an AirCommand 15k by Atwood. I misunderstood the instructions (actually, I decided I was smarter than the wiring diagram included and paid the price) and fried the control board. I ordered it through Atwood direct, no hassle, and replaced without issue. I've had limited use of it but I do like it better. It's much more quiet, cools better then the 13.5k I pulled off (which it better!)and the heat pump feature is a bonus.

Additionally, it's more generator friendly. My 13.5k struggled at my home at 5500ft asl on a Yamaha 2400ishc. I installed the same hard start cap on this 15k that I had on the 13.5k. Not only does it barely bother my Generator, I am able to start the A/C and run it from my Prowatt 2000 (3k surge) inverter.

The design is better, in my opinion, and shows that someone with some HVAC engineering experience might have got their a but more with the accounting department. It uses two ECM motors instead of a single PSC motor like all other RV A/C units do for the condenser and blower fans. The insulation had an appearance of a better install, and the control system is more "high-tech". The shroud attaches better than my original unit with four stout screws vs the 1+ million tiny screws of the previous unit. The unit is noticeably more quiet then the old Dometic unit on the outside of the RV as well, as the compressor and fan combo hums at a more pleasant frequency.

What I don't like:

1. The fan runs 100% of the time in A/C mode as the compressor cycles off. It does select low speed fan mode, and it's not horribly loud, but I would like it if it would just turn off.

2. The thermostat uses a special communication protocol making it the only thermostat you can use with this unit. The interface is kinda big, and not my favorite.

3. The shroud design looks kinda old/goofy to me when up close to it. On the ground looking up you don't really care and doesn't look out of place.

4. Like most heat pumps, don't rely on it in super cold weather. I've not been able to get it to fire at less then about 45F. Not really a show stopper for me, but the manual doesn't specify what the lowest operational temp is for the heat pump. I was pleasantly suprised at how warm the air is when it is running.

All that said, only had the unit since August, so time will tell.

Joel

The NEW RVP (Coleman) AC and HP use 2 motors also. Doug

[joelabq]

When my Dometic died I researched and replaced it with an AirCommand 15k by Atwood. I misunderstood the instructions (actually, I decided I was smarter than the wiring diagram included and paid the price) and fried the control board. I ordered it through Atwood direct, no hassle, and replaced without issue. I've had limited use of it but I do like it better. It's much more quiet, cools better then the 13.5k I pulled off (which it better!)and the heat pump feature is a bonus.

Additionally, it's more generator friendly. My 13.5k struggled at my home at 5500ft asl on a Yamaha 2400ishc. I installed the same hard start cap on this 15k that I had on the 13.5k. Not only does it barely bother my Generator, I am able to start the A/C and run it from my Prowatt 2000 (3k surge) inverter.

The design is better, in my opinion, and shows that someone with some HVAC engineering experience might have got their a but more with the accounting department. It uses two ECM motors instead of a single PSC motor like all other RV A/C units do for the condenser and blower fans. The insulation had an appearance of a better install, and the control system is more "high-tech". The shroud attaches better than my original unit with four stout screws vs the 1+ million tiny screws of the previous unit. The unit is noticeably more quiet then the old Dometic unit on the outside of the RV as well, as the compressor and fan combo hums at a more pleasant frequency.

What I don't like:

1. The fan runs 100% of the time in A/C mode as the compressor cycles off. It does select low speed fan mode, and it's not horribly loud, but I would like it if it would just turn off.

2. The thermostat uses a special communication protocol making it the only thermostat you can use with this unit. The interface is kinda big, and not my favorite.

3. The shroud design looks kinda old/goofy to me when up close to it. On the ground looking up you don't really care and doesn't look out of place.

4. Like most heat pumps, don't rely on it in super cold weather. I've not been able to get it to fire at less then about 45F. Not really a show stopper for me, but the manual doesn't specify what the lowest operational temp is for the heat pump. I was pleasantly suprised at how warm the air is when it is running.

All that said, only had the unit since August, so time will tell.

Joel

[dougrainer]

Chris, the reason you have not heard any reports is simple. They probably have less than 1 percent total installed market out there. I fail to see why you do not like RVP/Dometic units. They have the 99 percent and yes, you will see more failures because they are the only game in town. If there were only Ford and Chevy Automobiles on the road, the perception would be they are not reliable because they would be the only ones on the market. When they break, then people would be upset with that brand. I believe that within a few years if not this year Dometic will drop the Atwood Air brand. Doug

[newman_fulltime]

Chris of all people that should know about them is you on here.
Does it use the same switching valve/as the others asit seems to be the weak point in the others?