Closing AC Vents

[judelaurenzo25g]

Hi All,

When I cut the AC on, every vent seems to vary in the amount of air coming out. Some of the farther vents have more air coming out of the closer vents to the unit. Naturally if I close some of the vents not in use (above the loft beds in the up position and restroom) the air will increase in the vents I would prefer to use. Someone mentioned to me that if I do that it might cause my AC unit to freeze. Is this true?

My AC is 15K with a dump vent in a 2018 28SAG Eclipse Attitude 5th wheel toy hauler.

Thanks,
JL

[judelaurenzo25g]

ktmrfs wrote:
adding more vents is relatively easy. most ductwork is a rectangular plenum running most of the length of the trailer from the front and back AC vents.

so, if you remove a vent, you can likely see what the run looks like, and if you have two vents in a row, that shows where the duct is, and at the last vent run a fish tape to see how much further it goes. likely the length of the trailer.

then just either cut a hole for a vent or if you want to be real neat, get a large hole saw of the diameter needed.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the tip

[ktmrfs]

adding more vents is relatively easy. most ductwork is a rectangular plenum running most of the length of the trailer from the front and back AC vents.

so, if you remove a vent, you can likely see what the run looks like, and if you have two vents in a row, that shows where the duct is, and at the last vent run a fish tape to see how much further it goes. likely the length of the trailer.

then just either cut a hole for a vent or if you want to be real neat, get a large hole saw of the diameter needed.

[judelaurenzo25g]

ktmrfs wrote:

judelaurenzo25g wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:
rather than blocking vents, replace the vents you have with vents that you can change airflow and airflow direction.

aireport vents are the ones I used.

https://www.amazon.com/5840BTW-Bright-White-Aireport-Conditioner/dp/B004P1WTVI/ref=sr_1_7?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1499979092&sr=1-7&keywords=ac+ceiling+vent

I guess my subject line wasn't thought out very well... These are the exact vents covers I was looking at. So I can cut the air off when I want in 3 spots.

Did you used to use them to cut off the air flow? Did your AC ever freeze over?

Thanks,
JL

use them all the time to either cut off ac to the bedroom or living area. never had an issue.

but I also added more vents in the ductwork so I still always have at least the original number of vents open. I added two more in the bedroom, 1 in the bathroom and 2 more in the living area in addition to the original vents. then replaced all of them with aireport vents.

adding more vents helps as well.

Adding more vents is a whole other monster. I'll google it or youtube it, see what I find.

[ktmrfs]

judelaurenzo25g wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:
rather than blocking vents, replace the vents you have with vents that you can change airflow and airflow direction.

aireport vents are the ones I used.

https://www.amazon.com/5840BTW-Bright-White-Aireport-Conditioner/dp/B004P1WTVI/ref=sr_1_7?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1499979092&sr=1-7&keywords=ac+ceiling+vent

I guess my subject line wasn't thought out very well... These are the exact vents covers I was looking at. So I can cut the air off when I want in 3 spots.

Did you used to use them to cut off the air flow? Did your AC ever freeze over?

Thanks,
JL

use them all the time to either cut off ac to the bedroom or living area. never had an issue.

but I also added more vents in the ductwork so I still always have at least the original number of vents open. I added two more in the bedroom, 1 in the bathroom and 2 more in the living area in addition to the original vents. then replaced all of them with aireport vents.

adding more vents helps as well.

[pianotuna]

If air flow is restricted too much then yes the air conditioner can freeze up. Of course that depends on more than just one factor.

[LarryJM]

judelaurenzo25g wrote:
Hi All,

When I cut the AC on, every vent seems to vary in the amount of air coming out. Some of the farther vents have more air coming out of the closer vents to the unit. Naturally if I close some of the vents not in use (above the loft beds in the up position and restroom) the air will increase in the vents I would prefer to use. Someone mentioned to me that if I do that it might cause my AC unit to freeze. Is this true?

My AC is 15K with a dump vent in a 2018 28SAG Eclipse Attitude 5th wheel toy hauler.

Thanks,
JL

Each particular A/C has very specific requirements on ducting and vents even down to number (both min and max) in each duct and on what sides, etc. These specs are to ensure your evap won't freeze up and/or the units output is a designed. While you won't ruin anything IMO you could make things worse by closing off too many vents. I went the opposite way and installed more vents so that I could close off an area and still have the specificed vents and areas open. You're lucky you have the "dump" option since that is not on every ducted system.

Larry

[Sam_Spade]

ktmrfs wrote:
rather than blocking vents,

He did NOT say he was "blocking" anything.
He did say that he was proposing to "close" some vents.

And NO if you don't close off too many of them it won't hurt a thing.
That is why the vent are made to be adjustable.

[judelaurenzo25g]

ktmrfs wrote:
rather than blocking vents, replace the vents you have with vents that you can change airflow and airflow direction.

aireport vents are the ones I used.

https://www.amazon.com/5840BTW-Bright-White-Aireport-Conditioner/dp/B004P1WTVI/ref=sr_1_7?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1499979092&sr=1-7&keywords=ac+ceiling+vent

I guess my subject line wasn't thought out very well... These are the exact vents covers I was looking at. So I can cut the air off when I want in 3 spots.

Did you used to use them to cut off the air flow? Did your AC ever freeze over?

Thanks,
JL

[Halmfamily]

I placed duct tape on the inside of the vents closing them off to various degrees. Did this 3 years ago and no issues yet

[ktmrfs]

rather than blocking vents, replace the vents you have with vents that you can change airflow and airflow direction.

aireport vents are the ones I used.

https://www.amazon.com/5840BTW-Bright-White-Aireport-Conditioner/dp/B004P1WTVI/ref=sr_1_7?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1499979092&sr=1-7&keywords=ac+ceiling+vent