Alfa basement air service

[Dannydperez]

Hello everyone! I’m new to the forum, and looking forward to sharing my experiences with the forum, as well as looking for some guidance! I have a question about servicing my basement air unit. Is there any way to clean the coils on the unit without removing it? Maybe cut a hole something make a service hatch?? Thanks in advance!

[ken1961]

Had 2005 Alfa -too hard to get to intake filter so I added a filter on the passenger side of the bed in the upper cabinet. Had roof air installed and got clear plastic deflectors to put over the floor vents to get the air from under the couch. The basement air intake can be accessed by removing the passenger side bedroom cabinet.

[Ray_IN]

Dannydperez wrote:
Hello everyone! I’m new to the forum, and looking forward to sharing my experiences with the forum, as well as looking for some guidance! I have a question about servicing my basement air unit. Is there any way to clean the coils on the unit without removing it? Maybe cut a hole something make a service hatch?? Thanks in advance!

Step-by-step instructions for removing, servicing, reinstalling a basement air conditioner in a gas ...

[Ray_IN]

dougrainer wrote:

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

I do not remember any ALFA having a filter under the bed as that is where the engine is.

JimR

One of the reasons Alfa went out of business was because the DESIGN of the basement AC system meant that you had inadequate return air from the middle to front of the Motorhomes. WE sold Alfa for just 1 year and dropped the line after numerous Customer complaints of NOT getting the Alfa's below 80 degrees on higher than 90 degree days. This was a known problem to Alfa and Alfa could never engineer a fix. So, the Air filter on the units we sold was indeed in the back under the bed. Doug

Step-by-step instructions for removing, repairing, reinstalling a basement air conditioner.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxiaWxsbWFyaWUyMDA4fGd4OjRmOGYwYzBiZTYxYzU5ZWQ

[Dannydperez]

Thanks again to everyone for the help. I think I finally have the basement air removal process clear in my old mind ??. It’s still working, but has a musty smell when first starting up, so I’m sure it’s in desperate need of a good cleaning. Going to get things together and tackle it sometime next week. I’ll take pictures and let y’all know how it turns out. Again, thanks so much for all the tips and advice!

[Community Alumni]

dougrainer wrote:

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

I do not remember any ALFA having a filter under the bed as that is where the engine is.

JimR

One of the reasons Alfa went out of business was because the DESIGN of the basement AC system meant that you had inadequate return air from the middle to front of the Motorhomes. WE sold Alfa for just 1 year and dropped the line after numerous Customer complaints of NOT getting the Alfa's below 80 degrees on higher than 90 degree days. This was a known problem to Alfa and Alfa could never engineer a fix. So, the Air filter on the units we sold was indeed in the back under the bed. Doug

Doug the air filter is not under the bed. The air filter is in the bedroom area near the bed in the cabinets above or passenger side of the bed. Under the bed is the engine access hatch no air filters.

JimR

You are correct. There was another brand Motorhome from 20 years ago with basement air that had the filter in the bed compartment. Doug

Doug no big deal I forget what I want when going into the next room. I will agree with you that the AC on the ALFAs were not the best and that a roof air in addition to the basement air solved some issues with cooling. In the later years ALFA added a J box in the electric compartment and a 12 3 Romex from the J box to the forward top roof vent for the addition of a AC unit on the roof at owners expense.

I hope dannydperez get his AC worked on

JimR

[dougrainer]

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

I do not remember any ALFA having a filter under the bed as that is where the engine is.

JimR

One of the reasons Alfa went out of business was because the DESIGN of the basement AC system meant that you had inadequate return air from the middle to front of the Motorhomes. WE sold Alfa for just 1 year and dropped the line after numerous Customer complaints of NOT getting the Alfa's below 80 degrees on higher than 90 degree days. This was a known problem to Alfa and Alfa could never engineer a fix. So, the Air filter on the units we sold was indeed in the back under the bed. Doug

Doug the air filter is not under the bed. The air filter is in the bedroom area near the bed in the cabinets above or passenger side of the bed. Under the bed is the engine access hatch no air filters.

JimR

You are correct. There was another brand Motorhome from 20 years ago with basement air that had the filter in the bed compartment. Doug

[Dannydperez]

The first thing an Alfa owner needs to do if they are going to spend lots of time in hot areas as we do (living in Florida) is to add a roof air in the living room. This should have been standard issue from the factory. Our experience has been that once cooled down, our basement unit will keep it cool, but if you let it get hot, or are in full hot sunshine, the basement air alone won’t bring it down. Also, with the tall ceilings, there is more volume of air to cool off compared to most other motor homes of the same length. It’s a trade off I’ll take for the ability to stand up in my motor home and see outside in about 270 degrees through the windows. Another thing I find helps is to turn on the ceiling fans to circulate the cold air if running the basement unit. The idea of “stacking” cold air from the floor up just doesn’t work well to me.

[Community Alumni]

dougrainer wrote:

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

I do not remember any ALFA having a filter under the bed as that is where the engine is.

JimR

One of the reasons Alfa went out of business was because the DESIGN of the basement AC system meant that you had inadequate return air from the middle to front of the Motorhomes. WE sold Alfa for just 1 year and dropped the line after numerous Customer complaints of NOT getting the Alfa's below 80 degrees on higher than 90 degree days. This was a known problem to Alfa and Alfa could never engineer a fix. So, the Air filter on the units we sold was indeed in the back under the bed. Doug

Doug the air filter is not under the bed. The air filter is in the bedroom area near the bed in the cabinets above or passenger side of the bed. Under the bed is the engine access hatch no air filters.

JimR

[dougrainer]

JimR 1 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

I do not remember any ALFA having a filter under the bed as that is where the engine is.

JimR

One of the reasons Alfa went out of business was because the DESIGN of the basement AC system meant that you had inadequate return air from the middle to front of the Motorhomes. WE sold Alfa for just 1 year and dropped the line after numerous Customer complaints of NOT getting the Alfa's below 80 degrees on higher than 90 degree days. This was a known problem to Alfa and Alfa could never engineer a fix. So, the Air filter on the units we sold was indeed in the back under the bed. Doug

[Dannydperez]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. The unit is working fine, but I’ve had it for several years now, and would like to clean the evaporator coil, as I’m pretty sure it’s getting quite dirty by now. I have a 2005 40 fd model. The inlet is above and behind the bed, and I can’t see where I could get to it easily from there to clean it in place. Guess I’ll have to set aside a couple days to try pulling the unit. I’ve heard they are removed from below, but that would involve even removing the heater ductwork as it passes below the ac unit. I’ve always been told “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, but I know dirty coils can lead to higher compressor pressures and shorter life. I’ll update if / when I get it done. Thanks!

[Community Alumni]

dougrainer wrote:
The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

I do not remember any ALFA having a filter under the bed as that is where the engine is.

JimR

[Community Alumni]

To do the best job the unit should be removed and cleaned and serviced. There are some shops that can do that very well.

See my PM

JimR

[dougrainer]

The outside Condenser coils you can access from the outside with a Garden Hose. The INSIDE Evap coils are harder to get at. Remove the AC filter under the rear bed and see if you can access the Evap there. Are you asking because you have a cooling problem? Doug

[MountainAir05]

Make and model would help. Most are already incased and just cutting a hole will not let you do a good job cleaning. call a friend who use to own one and he said to you Good Luck. He stated his comes out the bottom of the RV. It was made by coleman who no longer makes them. It has two compressors. As stated its a case inside a case. here is a picture maybe of what you have.


https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-appliances/air-conditioner/air-conditioners-coleman-dometic/coleman-mach-2-ton-plus-basement-ac-he-w-heat-pump_69859