Daunting it's not...rooftop AC replacement

[jdc1]

I took an hour out of my morning to replace my rooftop AC unit on my 5th wheel. Folks....do not pay someone to do this. It is VERY simple to do, even for the faint of heart. Just a few screws and long bolts. The only hard part is deciding where to put the ladder, to use as a "long ramp" to pull the new unit up on the roof. You'll need help for about 5 minutes, to load and unload the units from the rooftop. Note: There is a temperature thing that clamps onto the coil.....do not be afraid to pull it off. The rest is pretty elementary. Save yourself hours of frustration and hundreds of dollars by not going to an RV repair shop.

[Dave5143]

Interesting topic. I'll remember these suggestions if I ever need to replace ours.

[krobbe]

My polebuilding has rafters at about 14ft. A rope and pulley to lower the old one and lift the new one worked for me. A tree branch would work also.

[Matt1221]

Might have to add a second a/c at some point thank's for the encouragement.

[ajriding]

Yes, you are right. The hard part is just getting the unit on the roof.
They weight 95-110 lbs typically, so are heavy and you need to be careful handling it and not put your fist through the radiator fins (coils).

I use a 30 foot extension ladder, extended not quite to 30 feet, as a ramp and a small piece of plywood as a sled to slide it up. Take your time.
I also use a small board to protect the roof once up there.

The gasket is actually held on with double sided tape, and is removed with a scraper or knife. Not rocket science so close counts.

Make sure camper is not plugged into power.
The electrical is quite easy. White to white wire, black to black, green to green, and usually these are all connected with wire nuts stuffed into a small box.

Here is me "ramping" my fridge through the window opening since I did not take pic of me ramping the AC to the roof.

[rbpru]

I have a 2010 vintage "Lite" TT. The manufacturer said I needed to place plywood boards down before I could walk on my roof.

With my fear of heights, it has not been an issue. 🙂

[Cocky_Camper]

Yep. We replace both of our on our class A our self. $1,100 for both units. Repair shop wanted $4,100 Materials and Labor to replace them.

We managed to get them on the roof standing on the side of the service truck and lifting to two people on the RV roof.

[allen8106]

webwrangler wrote:
How much does the average AC unit weigh? Just curious--my TT doesn't have AC.

Spec sheet on my Coleman unit says 93 pounds.

[JRscooby]

I had no issue lifting the AC to the roof of Popup. But had to build a bridge to hold me off the roof while moved it to hole.
I have trouble working overhead. The long bolts have no guide to hole, hard to start while holding the inside plate in place. I cut couple of pieces of all-thread longer than bolts. Screwed them in, slid plate on the studs, and started nuts. With them holding it was easy to start bolts. Double nut studs, replace with bolts.
About the loc-tight? Yes the bolts loosen over time. But are you sure it is the bolts backing out? I think it is just as likely that the weight, and shaking is compressing the gasket. IMHO, compared to the other maintenance on a RV, pulling and cleaning the inside cover, checking the bolts once a year is NBD

[CavemanCharlie]

It was fairly easy. I used the farm loader tractor to lift the AC on to the roof top for me.

[crasster]

It's those teeny times in life that we wish we had a fork lift real quick at home. Just for 1 min.... 1 single minute... 🙂

[deltabravo]

Use BLUE THREADLOCK compound on your A/C screws.

Twice my screws loosened up on my original A/C and I had a water leak while camping.

I'd highly recommend pulling the ceiling panel off and adding blue threadlock as a preventive measure so you don't end up with a leak at the A/C

[deltabravo]

jdc1 wrote:
I took an hour out of my morning to replace my rooftop AC unit on my 5th wheel. Folks....do not pay someone to do this. It is VERY simple to do, even for the faint of heart. The only hard part is deciding where to put the ladder, to use as a "long ramp" to pull the new unit up on the roof.

I have a loft in my shop and used a ramp to slide the A/C from the loft area to my roof. It worked really good.

I went from a tall A/C unit to a low profile heat pump.

Here's my video of the project

[jdc1]

Cobra21 wrote:
Thanks for the post. That also tells me that the gasket replacement would be easy!
Brian

The gaskets are glued onto the AC.

[kellem]

Had a widow maker destroy our AC 15 yrs ago.

It was a pretty straightforward job and remember the Torque specs being minimal on the gasket.

I'd likely do it again but prefer it not be another branch.