First night out, one issue ???

[Gsragtop]

So we are out on our first night shake down trip.. Everything has been great so far, and we are truly enjoying it.

One issue I have run into is the AC.. It was in the 90's today and we had a fully shaded spot, however even with the AC running all day it never hit below 80 in the trailer according to the furnace tstat. It never felt cool inside even with an oscillating fan I got to keep the air moving. The air coming out of the unit seems cold (I did not bring my vent tstat to confirm). Now I know some say the wall units are not great, but it's only a small 19 foot TT it should get it down into the 70's ??? It kind of put a kink in our weekend because we did not have a cool place to sit for a few min.. All of us are over heated and I'm a little agrivated because it's the one black eye on our trip.. For what it's worth it's a 8000 btu frididaire.

Also while we are at it, the fridge took forever to cool the drinks inside. I'm talking 6 hours or more.. Is that normal ??

[wmoses]

Gsragtop wrote:
One issue I have run into is the AC.. It was in the 90's today and we had a fully shaded spot, however even with the AC running all day it never hit below 80 in the trailer according to the furnace tstat. ... it's only a small 19 foot TT it should get it down into the 70's ??? ... it's a 8000 btu frididaire.

Also while we are at it, the fridge took forever to cool the drinks inside. I'm talking 6 hours or more.. Is that normal ??

It is all normal.

The 8000 BTU unit is probably working normally (you did say there was cool air coming out) but in reality it is too weak. My similarly sized previous RV (2010 Jayco 17Z) had a 13,500 BTU unit and that did the job nicely despite the tent ends which you don't have any which have/provide poor thermal insulation. You need a bigger AC for those temperatures, plain and simple.

As for the fridge - that is normal. Ammonia absorbtion fridges are not like house fridges and they are not as "powerful" at cooling down the insides. At the same time these RV fridges take a lot less power too so that is the reason they are used.

There are many things you can do to improve the fridge performance, however. One of the things I (and many others do) is precool the fridge on propane the night befoore leaving and then put things inside that were cool to begin with (from the house fridge). Also adding a small battery powered fan inside helps circulate the cool air away from the fins and throughout the cabinet. Some also install more efficient vent fans behind the fridge to the outside. This helps with thge evacuation of heat produced during the cooling of the fridge cabinet. Lastly you need to ensure that the side of the RV with the fridge does not see direct sun - that really hurts cooling.

In summary - AC needs upgrade, fridge you have to live with and learn to use better, with maybe some modifications.

My 2 cents.

[Clay1969]

IDK about yours, but our thermostat reads the temp we set it at, not the actual temp inside. I can set the thermostat at 74 and the A/C will start to jog on and off once it gets to that temp inside, then I just bump it up a degree or two until the A/C settles in and it keeps it pretty much okay inside. I have had more than one dealer tell me that no A/C will manage high temps well in direct sunlight, but that 8000 BTU unit should handle your 19footer okay in the shade; our 10K handles our 25 footer pretty well and ours is not really significantly bigger than yours either way. Unless your thermostat reads current temps and set temps (like the one that might be in your house) it is showing set temps... On that note, post up a picture of your thermostat for the forum if you can.

[coolbreeze01]

First I've heard of an 8K unit. Hope you can get a larger one.

[fla-gypsy]

Since this is your first TT are you certain you have all the controls set correctly? Thermostat set correctly?, Fan on? unit set Max cool?

[fla-gypsy]

.

[1rickw]

Maybe start the AC early morning. It will help a bit. Also, with any vents or windows open, you are sucking the hot air into the trailer and making the AC work harder. I found this out after running mine that way for 9 years until a friend said to close everything. Seemed to work better. We are going for a week next month to Jackson Calif, where the temps will be in the 90's. Fortunately, we will be at a Casino, so we can go into the air conditioned building.

[Drew_K]

To reiterate what others have said, if you have cool air coming out, the A/C is working but 8K BTU's just won't cut it for a 19 ft trailer. You'll need to upgrade to as large as you can go, preferably a 13.5K BTU. Sorry to hear about your predicament.

[korbe]

We will crack a couple windows open for positive flow.

[azrving]

I hate to tell you this but welcome to the world of CHEESY RV's. I know that doesn't help right now but.....
As far as the frig its best to turn it on a day or two before you leave.

[m_2_ak]

8k BTU is to small for a 19ft. TT in 90 degree heat. low 80's might be the best it will do. My 26ft. TT 15k BTU ran all day last week and it was in the mid 90's several days and we could get down to 74 inside during the day. We were also very shaded.

[Gsragtop]

Roof vents are closed.. What the heck is the point of AC if it does not cool the trailer down past 90?? You don't need ac when it's 70's !! The kids will not go to sleep because it's still so hot.. I'm sitting in my bed sweeting.. It's so dam uncomfortable !! I can't believe they would make a unit like this with an undersized unit when they know it was being sold in South Carolina !! Maybe this would fly in the New England but in the south it's hot !!

[abc40kids]

We made this mistake one time in the dead of summer....... Had the roof vent open while parked at home and when we got to the cg we never closed it. Next day I left early to go back to work and the wife called middle of the day to tell me the tt wouldn't cool down. She said cold air is coming out but still hot inside. It was the open vent the whole time.

[Nutinelse2do]

Dont know about the a/c, except for maybe the humidity is making it not as productive.
With the fridge, usually takes at least 12 hours to cool down from the time it is turned on. Hot weather trick is put frozen water bottles in it to help it cool down, and always put cold food and drinks into it. Also, good investment is a $12 little fridge fan. When you open it to take something out, open the door only as much as needed and close it quickly.
Have a great weekend.

[harold1946]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but with temps in the 90s you are giong to need a larger ac, 10,000 BTU or more.
Cooling the drinks; 6 hrs is about the norm if they were not already cold when put in the frig. The refer is battling the 80 degree temps also.

[Kafn8td]

How big is your TT?