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Air Conditioner Performance

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
RV novice here. So please forgive any stupid questions. This may be one.

How well should the air conditioners perform during our high heat and humidity here is south Texas?? Yesterday had both units running. The MH was sitting in the sun, no shade. The rear was keeping things cool. But the front was not quite doing the job. Had all the shades pulled.

MH is a 2017 Thor Challenger 37YT. Front AC is Colman 15,000 BTU. Rear is a Colman 12,500 BYU.

Is it just too hot for the larger front area? Or has that unit lost some of its capability??
38 REPLIES 38

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for that info. I have detector installed. But I really like the stack! Will keep that on my wish list.

DFord
Explorer
Explorer
Groover wrote:
I believe that all motorhomes with generators should be equipped with a Gen-turi or equivalent and should have a functional carbon monoxide detector. I think that the detector is required in all new units now. I have heard of case where the carbon monoxide came from someone else's generator, so best to be prepared on the detector.

Gen-turi


X2! At rallies, the very least they could do is establish a separate parking area for those with the stacks.
Don Ford
2004 Safari Trek 31SBD (F53/V10 20,500GVW)
'09 HHR 2LT or '97 Aerostar MiniVan (Remco driveshaft disconnect) for Towed vehicles
BlueOx Aventa II Towbar - ReadyBrake Inertia Brake System

Groover
Explorer II
Explorer II
Expyinflight wrote:
bsheet2 wrote:
time2roll wrote:
bsheet2 wrote:
Actually the AC did better today. I started everything early in the morning and we minimized going in and out. It stayed decent in the heat of the afternoon.
I would never shut it off in TX heat. Let it cycle overnight and as the sun comes up it will run continuous all day.


Running on the genny. Don't have a 30 amp to plug in to. Prefer not to run the genny all night.


Perhaps not the wisest choice to run the generator while sleeping. Three people recently died in two different incidents, at the Sturgis motorcycle rally. They were overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator, while they slept in an RV.


I believe that all motorhomes with generators should be equipped with a Gen-turi or equivalent and should have a functional carbon monoxide detector. I think that the detector is required in all new units now. I have heard of case where the carbon monoxide came from someone else's generator, so best to be prepared on the detector.

Gen-turi

Expyinflight
Explorer
Explorer
bsheet2 wrote:
time2roll wrote:
bsheet2 wrote:
Actually the AC did better today. I started everything early in the morning and we minimized going in and out. It stayed decent in the heat of the afternoon.
I would never shut it off in TX heat. Let it cycle overnight and as the sun comes up it will run continuous all day.


Running on the genny. Don't have a 30 amp to plug in to. Prefer not to run the genny all night.


Perhaps not the wisest choice to run the generator while sleeping. Three people recently died in two different incidents, at the Sturgis motorcycle rally. They were overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator, while they slept in an RV.
2017 Winnebago Spirit 25b

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
ArchHoagland wrote:
bsheet2....Do your slideouts have covers?


Yes. The slide outs have covers.

1320Fastback
Explorer
Explorer
I absolutely love our AtWood and if I could find one pre Dometic or if Dometic didn't make any changes to the AtWood brand I would not hesitate to buy one again.
1992 D250 Cummins 5psd
2005 Forest River T26 Toy Hauler

ArchHoagland
Explorer
Explorer
bsheet2....Do your slideouts have covers?
2004 Monaco La Palma 36DBD
Workhorse W22 8.1 Gas Allison 1000, 7.1 mpg

2000 LEXUS RX300 FWD 22MPG 4020 LBS
US Gear Brakes

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
That's great info. Thanks!

Groover
Explorer II
Explorer II
bsheet2 wrote:
time2roll wrote:
bsheet2 wrote:
Actually the AC did better today. I started everything early in the morning and we minimized going in and out. It stayed decent in the heat of the afternoon.
I would never shut it off in TX heat. Let it cycle overnight and as the sun comes up it will run continuous all day.


Running on the genny. Don't have a 30 amp to plug in to. Prefer not to run the genny all night.


While on the subject of running on the genny it is common in hot weather that the dash air will not keep you cool enough on the highway so you leave the roof units enabled then when you get too hot you start the generator and they come on. Have you tried this yet? On my coach if I left both enabled they would both try to start at the same time and kill the generator. You might want to know in advance if you are going to have that issue.

I ended up putting an extra start capacitor on one AC and a Micro Air easy start on the other. That may have been overkill but now the generator starts both without issues.

This issue taught me a lot about the circuits in the RV. At various times when both AC's were left on I tripped the breaker on the generator, one or both of the breakers in the breaker box and I think the breaker on the inverter charger. Other than having to stop and troubleshoot no real harm was done.

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
oldave wrote:
We have run our gen day and night for as long as we needed it .
That's what its for . I'm not going to try to sleep when its
hot while all I have to do is start the gen .
Diesel is currently cheap so spend some dollars and sleep well .

Actually the Onan likes to run .
Low hours on one is not always a good thing .


Well if we were camping , for sure the genny would run at night!
But we are just here at the house packing it and learning how to use the thing. On a gas genny, supposed to oil change every 150 hours. That comes up quick if you run it 24x7.

oldave
Explorer
Explorer
We have run our gen day and night for as long as we needed it .
That's what its for . I'm not going to try to sleep when its
hot while all I have to do is start the gen .
Diesel is currently cheap so spend some dollars and sleep well .

Actually the Onan likes to run .
Low hours on one is not always a good thing .

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
time2roll wrote:
bsheet2 wrote:
Actually the AC did better today. I started everything early in the morning and we minimized going in and out. It stayed decent in the heat of the afternoon.
I would never shut it off in TX heat. Let it cycle overnight and as the sun comes up it will run continuous all day.


Running on the genny. Don't have a 30 amp to plug in to. Prefer not to run the genny all night.

bsheet2
Explorer
Explorer
Groover wrote:


Since your coach was made by the same company that made mine they may have similar ductwork. Mine has a duct on either side of the AC units about 10" wide and 3" high running the full length of the coach. The distribution from the factory was very poor since the vents were evenly spaced with total disregard for where the heat was generated so I bought 4 more vents and the correct size hole saw and put some more in where I thought that they were needed. Much better now.

As for the comment that you have to live with the noise I bought some covers for the return that really quieted them down. Everyone agrees that it was a huge improvement. We can actually have conversations at the kitchen table now. I have Dometic AC's but I think that they have versions for Coleman AC's as well.

Wacko AC silencer

My Dometics had a big discharge grill for "concentrated quick cooling" that I was afraid that I would miss. After adding vents straight out from where the cold air enters the ductwork I don't miss that at all and it is still quiet. I was also concerned that the flow would be reduced without that large noisy vent so I bought a vane type wind speed gauge and convinced myself that when I shut the noisy vent the air simply went somewhere else with very little loss so I haven't lost any significant capacity. Shutting off air vents in the over-cooled bedroom also mostly just routs the air to the front areas. The Wacko's are a bit pricey but they are still chump change in the total cost of owning the RV and made the family much happier.

Good luck!



Thanks for that info. I will have to open things up and see if I can figure out the ducting. Will check out the noise dampener as well.

time2roll
Explorer II
Explorer II
bsheet2 wrote:
Actually the AC did better today. I started everything early in the morning and we minimized going in and out. It stayed decent in the heat of the afternoon.
I would never shut it off in TX heat. Let it cycle overnight and as the sun comes up it will run continuous all day.