EnochLight
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Re: Side mounted A/C - does the roof thingy serve any purpose?
Domo wrote: EnochLight wrote: Hello, I have a 2013 Gulfstream Amerilite Ultralite 16BHC, and its AC is mounted on the wall and appears to be a regular low profile air conditioning unit. It's made by GE. My question is: does the black roof vent thingy serve any purpose in this setup? I have no idea why it's even installed: There doesn't appear to be any sort of drain line for the condensation, and often (on warmer humid trips) I find water spilling out from the bottom onto my bed! :S Regarding water spilling - all A/C's make water due to condensation on the evaporator coil (the one in the front near the controls). This is supposed to run down and get channeled to the rear where the condenser fan is supposed to pick up the water and use it to help cool off the condenser coil. However, dirt, bugs, improper installation, trailer not level can all lead to the water not flowing to the back of the unit and will result in an overflow into the living quarters. Hi Domo, This thread is over a year old. I actually sold the camper this past spring. Thanks for chiming in though. ;) Cheers, EnochLight571Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fridge cooling fan mod
campinia wrote: This is interesting to hear. I just sold our Jayco Swift SLX 184BH with the same set up as yours because the refrigerator would get above 40 degrees during days that the outside temperature would get over 80 degrees... Unfortunately, I tried for two years to find a solution to the fridge and A/C problems and had to sell it. I did not buy another Jayco this time, as they offered no help with these problems. patkvm wrote: Yeah Jayco did not get involved until 7/1/2014. I have only owned Jaycos so I did go out and buy another Jayco, but I did not buy another SLX. In the end Jayco did try to right the wrong by giving us the option to trade like we did. We considered a Jayco at first, but ended up going with a Gulfstream because their equivalent was about 10% less than the Jayco we were looking at. Now I'm kind of wishing I had gone with a Jayco, but Gulfstream has been accommodating with their manufacturing screw ups so far (put the wrong size tires on our model; warped kitchen table; did not finish plumbing the potable water tank drain line). Depending on how this fridge warranty work turns out, it may be the deciding factor on whether or not I pursue having the unit traded in for a payoff so that we can get a different one. I worry that Gulfstream may not be as accommodating, though, and I may have to resort to a lemon-law court case or something in order to get them to play ball. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, though. Honestly, if they can get the fridge to work right - we'll keep the coach and be happy with it.613Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fridge cooling fan mod
patkvm wrote: EnochLight I have been following your posts regarding your fridge. I have no answers for you but I would like to share my experience with you. I have a 2013 Jayco Swift SLX 185RB that has the same setup as yours. I have been dealing with fridge problems for a year and a half now, temps rising to over 70 degrees during the day and dropping to 20 degrees at night. The dealer has tried to resolve the problem with baffles and fans. Finally Jayco sent a transport to come and pick the unit up, Jayco and Norcold engineers spent a month measuring and building custom baffles adding bigger and more fans behind the fridge, then they replaced the fridge and repeated the process all over again. During this time that Jayco had the trailer there was some questions regarding the A/C unit that was mounted in the side wall of the trailer. Jayco figured out that when the A/C was turned on the air flow was disrupted from behind the fridge causing it to not cool, the A/C unit that is installed in these units is a window A/C so it will pull the condenser cooling air from the living space. So Jayco when back to the drawing board, Jayco looked at mounting a roof top A/C but due to the design of the trailer it could not handle the loads caused by a roof top A/C. Jayco tried to seal around the A/C but no luck. So they changed the baffles and fan design one more time. When I got the trailer back last week they completely changed everything behind the fridge. Jayco extended the warranty another year and said it was good to go. We took it out last weekend and the fridge failed again. Since I have owned this trailer I have asked everyone that I came across with a trailer like mine they all say they have some sort of fridge cooling problem. After a year and a half we have come to no other choice but to unload the unit. We are very saddened by having to trade the unit in but now it is the dealer's and Jayco's problem. Like I said I am sorry I do not have any fixes or solutions for you but I just wanted to tell you what happened to us in hopes that you or your dealer might be able to pull some ideas out of our story. Good luck. Ugh... that's terribly disheartening, but thanks for sharing your experience. Seeing as how our designs are very close, I hope I don't experience the same engineering challenge. As of right now, just with my rudimentary cardboard baffle I am able to keep temps below 40F most of the day, and on our trip last week it stayed around 34F-38F at night. There were times in mid-day when it was creeping up to 42F though. I'm hoping a properly installed (Dometic designed) metal baffle will correct things. I also noticed that there is about 3" of space between the fridge rear guts and the back wall (Dometic recommends that there's a max of 1"), so a lower baffle should be installed as well. That said, your experience is troubling. I'm really sorry it didn't work out. I'll keep everyone posted on how my service through the dealer pans out this week (I had to reschedule taking it in to this Thursday due to epic flooding here in the metro-Detroit region last night).613Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fridge cooling fan mod
Gjac wrote: Have you made any progress on your refer cooling? Hi, A little. Since my cardboard baffle and fan mod, I seem to be able to get it to stay below 40F for longer periods of time, but during mid-day it still climbs to 42-45F average (still unsafe for food storage). I've finally decided to make a warranty claim and see if I can get the manufacturer to do anything for me (I still have about 8 months left on the factory warranty). They're scheduled to install a proper metal baffle in the upper compartment and claim this should alleviate my issue. We'll see what happens - I'm supposed to toke it in Monday the 11th of August for the work. We have another trip planned for Labor Day that we'll be able to "test", but I'll run it on shore power in my driveway and report back here over the next week. I'll try it sans fan mod first; then with the fan mod if it still doesn't work properly. And if it still struggles, I'll pass it on to the manufacturer again. I've decided that I've already invested too much of my time and money into something that should have been working correctly from the start. Cheers613Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fridge cooling fan mod
beemerphile1 wrote: Hopefully you started with the basics. Clean the chimney? Clean the burner? Clean the burner jet/orifice? Verify the correct LPG pressure? When I had trouble one thing I found was that the pressure was only 9". Hello, This rig is barely a year old - very clean. Chimney is clear, burner is like new, nothing in jet/orifice. That said, I'm not even running it on LPG right now - I'm plugged into shore power in my driveway trying to get it to work on electric. Thanks323Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fridge cooling fan mod
cpaharley2008 wrote: Have you tried the fridge fix? Over on the FG RV forum and Escape forums we have similar issues and have had some success with this: http://www.smartrvproducts.com No I haven't. I've never even heard of this product before; thanks. I am reluctant to purchase it and spend time and effort on the mod because I have a Dometic RM2351, and that model is not listed as compatible. :( *UPDATE* I just spoke to them. Their fan kit does not fit the smaller RM2351 model that I have. They are planning to manufacture a smaller version that doesn't have LED lights in 1-2 months, though.246Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fridge cooling fan mod
JJBIRISH wrote: Are you sure the statement that just because a little of something is good, doesn’t mean that a lot of it is any better wouldn’t apply here… For the fridge to work properly it has to be operated level when stationary… It needs good ventilation… And it needs a precise amount of heat… I am sure you are someone that likes to do it yourself, do nice and neat work for sure, but this looks like a new unit, possibly under warranty… if so why not allow the mfg. to repair or replace it… before they can use your mods as a reason for its failure… (This warranty will be in effect for three years on parts and freight and two years on labor from the date of purchase by the Original Purchaser. It is suggested that the original purchaser retain a copy of the dated bill of sale as evidence of the date ofpurchase.) Good ventilation would not require that the rear area be converted to a wind tunnel, and might actually alter the precise and required amount of heat needed to perk properly… maybe the preset temperature control is just faulty… https://www.dometic.com/f3c9a8a0-14cb-4ab6-8285-f28488b1cdbc.fodoc All very good points. My fridge is level (and stationary), seems to have correct ventilation with my mod, and seems to heat OK. It's just that after reading about RV fridge experiences here on this forum, I just assumed this was a common characteristic of all RV fridges (hence the amount of mods you see with their operation). My Gulfstream has a 2 year warranty, but from what I understand all appliance warranties default to the appliance manufacturer. That said, if it's determined that Gulfstream installed it wrong (too much dead space in the upper compartment; no baffles; too much space between the fridge's rear coils and the wall of the RV), then it's likely Dometic would state that the manufacturer needs to cover everything. These are all assumptions on my part. My issue is the time required to get it addressed at a dealer. We have a weeklong trip planned the first week of August, and then another for Labor Day weekend. I know that having your RV in for service can be time consuming, depending on the issue. I just thought I'd attempt to remedy the issue myself, affordably, before resorting to dealer service. Looks like my options have run out, though. :(247Views0likes0Comments
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