Upgrading Air Conditioner

[concord32]

Was thinking of upgrading to a 15,000 btu air conditioner. Have a 13.5 now and with a dark brown MH it cant keep up. I am going to do this myself and wondered if there are any special things I need to watch for. Thanks in advance for the help.

[rockhillmanor]

Well Here's the last thing I added when I decided to stay, in of all places, 'Florida' for the 'summer'!!

I added a portable de-humidifier per the advice of my RV mobile Florida Repairman.

The dehumidifier really made a big difference how cold it got inside the coach. My a/c said thank you for the help.

[concord32]

I have all the windows, skylights, vents, and anything else covered it looks like night in the MH all the time. I clean the coils about once a month. Still has hard time keeping up. But if the 15,000 isn't going to be much better then I will have to look at another option. A second unit is out though. The only available vent left is right behind the other air unit which would put them back to back. Thanks for all the feed back. Saved me some time and $$$$$$.

[hindes]

Ok, been there done that! We have the identical Concord as you do--same year model, everything. We had our dealer upgrade our AC to 15,000 after about 6 months. It may have helped a little, but not near enough. We are now considering adding another AC. Yes, I know we only have 30 amps, but we will have to plug in to the pedestal to the 20 amp plug separately. Living in Texas we don't use ours much in the summer. It is just too hot! We park in the shade and cover the skylights in reflectix and also the cab area. We also use fans to move the air around.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have kept my 13,500 and just added and additional AC instead of replacing the one I already had. I hope this helps. Other than our AC issue and heat in Texas, we love our coach.

Jim

[Happytraveler]

rockhillmanor wrote:

pianotuna wrote:

past-MIdirector wrote:
It will not make that much difference over the 13.5 A/C. What you is a second A/C for more cooling/air moving power.

X 2

X3

I wouldn't even go a second a/c. It's all about how how you shade your rv from the sun no matter if you have one or two ac units. It was an definitely an RV learning curve for me coming from up north to the south. It's not just the fact that your rv is a dark color.

Just putting pillow inserts in all your Roof vents will drop the temp inside by over 10 degrees. Sunshades in windshield and side windows and cover off the cab area = another drop of 10+ degrees inside the coach. On real hot days parked or traveling I even cover the skylights makes a BIG difference.

Parking your coach with the awning side to the west and dropping that awning to it's lower position helps cool it down in the hot afternoon.
This is one of the main reasons I don't buy coaches with auto awnings because you can't drop them down as low to keep the sun from heating up the side.

YOU have to help these poor RV a/c units that are struggling to keep a coach cool with tons of windows that are not thermopane and uninsulated roof/walls!!

Also, Depending where you have been RV'ing cleaning those coils OFTEN make even a bigger difference how cool it keeps your RV. Up North I never cleaned them, when down in Florida? I have them cleaned every couple of months. High humidity, green mold, pollen all contribute to build up in a heartbeat on the coils. Just saying, that's what I have learned about RV A/C 101! :B

Its exactly what we do, but still not enough. All you have to do is open a door and its all over, LOL.

[DougE]

If your rear vent is wired for A/C too, the best bang for the buck is a second A/C. Another 1500 btu is miniscule.

[rockhillmanor]

pianotuna wrote:

past-MIdirector wrote:
It will not make that much difference over the 13.5 A/C. What you is a second A/C for more cooling/air moving power.

X 2

X3

I wouldn't even go a second a/c. It's all about how how you shade your rv from the sun no matter if you have one or two ac units. It was an definitely an RV learning curve for me coming from up north to the south. It's not just the fact that your rv is a dark color.

Just putting pillow inserts in all your Roof vents will drop the temp inside by over 10 degrees. Sunshades in windshield and side windows and cover off the cab area = another drop of 10+ degrees inside the coach. On real hot days parked or traveling I even cover the skylights makes a BIG difference.

Parking your coach with the awning side to the west and dropping that awning to it's lower position helps cool it down in the hot afternoon.
This is one of the main reasons I don't buy coaches with auto awnings because you can't drop them down as low to keep the sun from heating up the side.

YOU have to help these poor RV a/c units that are struggling to keep a coach cool with tons of windows that are not thermopane and uninsulated roof/walls!!

Also, Depending where you have been RV'ing cleaning those coils OFTEN make even a bigger difference how cool it keeps your RV. Up North I never cleaned them, when down in Florida? I have them cleaned every couple of months. High humidity, green mold, pollen all contribute to build up in a heartbeat on the coils. Just saying, that's what I have learned about RV A/C 101! :B

[pianotuna]

past-MIdirector wrote:
It will not make that much difference over the 13.5 A/C. What you is a second A/C for more cooling/air moving power.

X 2

[wa8yxm]

My motor home has 2 A/Cs Carrier Air V out of the factory

Well Carrier did a bang up job of building them and as a result one failed in a away that was beyond what the repair guy wished to fix so I "Upgraded" the top part only to an Advent Air with an adapt-a-kit,, I will describe in full the upgrade.. I had to do part of it myself, (Will cover that too).

The Air V was 13,500 BTU and draws 13.5 amps running
The Advent is 15,000 and draws 13.5 amps running. It is bigger, a bit noiser and a bit heavier but Well, you only notice the weight when installing and the noise for about 10 seconds. (Always run your A/C on HIGH, never auto, your brain will very quickly filter the noise of the blower if it runs constantly, not so much if you run it on AUTO).

Now I had a dealer do the upgrade.. (Most of it)

The ADAPTOR kit consists of one "Y" cable, one MOLEX socket with pigtail (2 leads) and 4 bolts.. Plus the instruction booklet (Paper)

The upgrade

Remove inner cover and unplug the Upper unit from control box (2 cables)
Remove 4 bolts and lift off roof unit, set aside
Open control box, remove the MOLEX connnector indicated in the instructions (This is the part I had to do) and replace with the included Molex connector (Again I had to do this, Dealer Tech had never replaced one before, I'm trained in electronics and have worked with them, comes from bulinding Heathkits and the like in the old days,, By the way if anyone has a Knight Kit Star Roamer for sale, please Let me know.. My first major build and I'd like to have one for nostalga sake).

Plug adapter "Y" cable onto control box (only connects one way)

Using front end loader lift new unit to roof, replace with old unit in lifter bucket and lower to ground.

Set new unit on gasket (NOTE: inspect and replace gasket if needed) and line up the bolt holes Insert bolts, Plug top unit's single cable into adapter cable's remainign connection, test, replace inner cover and filters, job done.

Can I haul one of those up a ladder... Well, I've hauled that much weight up a ladder in the past, several times, but that was 40 years ago and today...

See "Front end loader"

[1492]

Moved from Technology Corner

[Happytraveler]

We have a 35ft. motorhome and we're seriously thinking of buying a second air conditioner even though I hate giving up a vent. When were in Palm Springs in April & May our main air conditioner does not keep up with high temps.. We do setup an air conditioner through the window when we're staying in Palm Springs. The second air conditioner makes a whole lot of difference.

[concord32]

One air only.

[past-MIdirector]

It will not make that much difference over the 13.5 A/C. What you is a second A/C for more cooling/air moving power.

[OpenRangePullen]

Yes anyone with common sense can do it, Its a bit of a chore and all you need is the manual and your good to go.

[Ranger_Smith]

Just be careful getting it up on the roof. Those are heavy. I did one once and had to tie a rope on it and pull it up on a ladder.