Dometic air conditioner OK?

[Camper_G]

Hey y'all, my old rig is in need of a new air conditioner. I see that rv parts country has dometic ac units for decent prices. Are they a decent unit? I typically have had Coleman AC units and they work well. My camper has it's original Coleman ac unit in it now, or at least i think it's the original.

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks

[Camper_G]

Thanks for the replies, i appreciate them! I'm going to continue looking, but it's good to know both units are decent and reliable.

Any issues with changing the coleman to dometic? I guess im mainly concerned with the existing electrical in my rig. Physically, they both should be the same (14x14 roof vent opening).

I've never changed out an AC on an rv. But it does not seem too bad to me. Trying to avoid any mistakes. I don't want it to leak inside the coach when done. From what I understand you tighten it down until the gasket is half it's original thickness? Subject to the install instructions it comes with of course.

Any tips / suggestions from those that have done it?

Thanks

[ng2951]

One of the things I would install is a soft starter. They will add about $350 to HVAC, but they reduce the LRA by up to 70 percent. This might allow you to start a 15K HVAC while gunning your gensets in eco mode.

[delwhjr]

Chris Bryant wrote:

Camper G wrote:
Ok, thanks guys. The one i was looking at is a dometic, not duotherm

Same thing- Duotherm by Dometic, though I see they are dropping the Duotherm name.

I have had duotherm/dometic in all of my previous and my current trailer. All have worked flawlessly.

[falconbrother]

My old motorhome had the original Duotherm in it from 1990. It worked perfectly. A couple of summers ago we were camping at the beach and it was hot, hot every day. The static temperature in the campground. That old Duotherm kept the inside of our old motorhome ice cold all day, every day. Granted, it was a 1990 model AC unit and most certainly made in the USA.

I put a brand new Carrier on my wife's grooming van that lasted about a year and a half. When it quit I bought a scratch-n-dent duotherm from Adventure.rv and it worked great till the day we sold the van and I would bet it's still going strong. As far as noise I could never tell that one was louder than another. I suppose it's possible but, I wasn't paying attention.

I once bought a Coleman AC off of a wrecked class B. I installed in on the van I converted to a camper then, when we sold that I put in on the cabover camper we bought. It was rock solid reliable.

[MFL]

My Dometic works very well so far. It is no noisier than others I have had, in fact, I'd say more quiet. It is 15K, and easily cools my FW in any temps I've been in. I'd buy same for replacement, if needed.

Jerry

[Camper_G]

Ok thanks. The dometic is about $100 less than the Coleman and my rig is not worth much so I'm weighing all my options. Im not concerned about noise pwr se, I'm mainly concerned with reliability

I appreciate the thoughts

[Chris_Bryant]

Camper G wrote:
Ok, thanks guys. The one i was looking at is a dometic, not duotherm

Same thing- Duotherm by Dometic, though I see they are dropping the Duotherm name.

[bfast54]

Chris Bryant wrote:
Personally, I would go with US built Colemen over the made in China Duotherm.

Some are being made in INDIANA now.

[Camper_G]

Ok, thanks guys. The one i was looking at is a dometic, not duotherm

[Chris_Bryant]

Personally, I would go with US built Colemen over the made in China Duotherm.

[TucsonJim]

I'd stick with the Coleman. The Dometic units are very loud in my opinion.

Jim