Airconditioner

We love our cat, its an 09 32qbbs. The only problem is the air conditioner just won't keep the bunk and living area cool enough to suit us. I was wondering if anyone has installed a second ac in the bunk house roof vent, and if so how hard of a job. By the way we are suppose to have the 15000 and would like to know how to make sure thats what was installed. I also was wondering if anyone has come up with a good way to cover sky lights, this would probably help a lot, and may slove our problem. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Cole

Cole,

First let me welcome you to the site. Were are you located? We live in North Texas and have an '04 29BHBP w/ a single 1500 BTU A/C and it works well keeping the 5er cool. Granted it may take a while to initially cool the camper off, but once it has overcome the initial cooling, it keeps up fine with the temp. Take the A/C filter out and look at the plates/stickers on the A/C unit. It may state there what the BTU capacity is of your unit.

As far as covering the sky lights, some people have cut heavy foam into squares and stuffed them into the skylight opening.

Good luck with your new camper.

-Mark

my son had some left over board insulation after he put siding on the house. I cut some pieces from it and wedged in the skylights to keep the sun out. works pretty good and was free.

My 15k air seems to work well with our 32QBBs, but I think the units are at a different spot now.

Ours is centrally located, over the kitchen area......if memory serves me, the new ones have it over the rear bedroom, so the air has farther to travel in the vent system.


Steve

For my skylight I used a automotive windshield deflector and cut it to fit, purchased at Wal-Mart for $10 or so. Its light enough that all I do is close the shades halfway and slide the deflector in and then close it the rest of the way.

As far as your AC goes, there is a wind diverter on the unit itself that allows you to have most of the outflow either at the unit, or when you close it it diverts the air through the ducts. Also check the vents at the openings and remove the round covers. Take a peek inside and feel to be sure that the aluminum duct tape is sealed. I had a friend that had trouble cooling off his unit. We discovered the the duct tape was loose in some areas and non-existent in others. Once it was sealed properly...the AC unit worked fine. Also check on your thermostat to see if your unit has a high and low fan speed. It makes a big difference when the output is on high.

I too am curious to see if anyone has installed an AC in the front bunk area, would like to do that myself, but have been unable to find out if the framing at that spot would be strong enough to support the unit.

Dennis wrote:Also check the vents at the openings and remove the round covers.

I too am curious to see if anyone has installed an AC in the front bunk area, would like to do that myself, but have been unable to find out if the framing at that spot would be strong enough to support the unit.

It helps to have a small mirror (like a woman's compact). Set it up at a 45* angle in the vent hole and shine a light into the mirror. The light will illuminate down the duct and you'll be able to see alot better. I used this on the duct work for the heat in the floor.

On installing a second unit, you'd need to increase to 50A service. 30A will only support one AC unit and the rest of the 120V applications in the unit. I know that 120V/50A panels are available because you see them in the big Class A bus conversions and the larger 5'ers. It might not be too bad a conversion to make, but the cost might be prohibitive, i.e., new panel/converter, new interior 8 ga. wiring to the converter and a new exterior Marinco 50A recepticle.

You could try something like this:

http://www.jr.com/delonghi-cf210-air-conditioner/pe/DLG_CF210/

Then wire a new outlet like Mike(schrowang) did and use the 20 AMP outlet on the outside pole to power it.

I was planning on wiring the AC unit separately on a plug by itself; plugging it in to a separate 20amp plug in on the power pole, or something like this: 50 amp wiring modification

Dennis,

I had a friend of mine do just that, added a second unit, a 13k BTU and ran it on a separate circuit and was able to plug it into the 20 amp service. A good idea w/ minimal impact to the camper.

-Mark

Here is a picture from the old forum, this is what Mike did:

http://68.15.40.218/wildcat//picupload/file.asp?ID=506

The unit on my '08 32QBBS is also in the back bedroom. Even with the diverter closed, its still much cooler in the back half of the camper. Fortunately, my girls, who sleep up front, are "cold natured" and like it warmer at night then the wife and I.

On another note dealing with AC (both air condition and alternating current) ... I've notice that at a couple of cg sites, we can't even run the microwave while the ac unit is on without tripping the main 30 amp brkr. At other sites theres no problem with ac, microwave, tv, and more, all on at the same time. I'm assuming (and we all know what assuming does), that it has to do with voltage levels.

Joe,

I assume your assumptions are right! If the CG is providing the AC voltage at the lower end of the range, say 100VAC, the current draw will go up which in turn would/could trip your main breaker. At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it!

-Mark

Remember, the AC draws a lot of current. So does your Fridge running on AC and so does your Hot Water Heater running on AC. Add those three up and then add the 12V convertor and you are probably close to max. Then add in anything else like the Microwave and you have exceeded 30 Amps. Also, like Joe said, if the voltage is lower, the current draw increases. I have a switch on my HW heater that I shut off whever we need to be careful of current draw (like when using a hair dryer, vacuum cleaner or other situation.) Also, switching the Fridge to gas can help in extreme cases where the voltage is sub-par.

Don't forget, there is always the option to buy a voltage booster. I have been at CG's where you could barely run the AC just by itself and that is why I installed one of those gizmos.

shooter wrote:Don't forget, there is always the option to buy a voltage booster. I have been at CG's where you could barely run the AC just by itself and that is why I installed one of those gizmos.

An adjustable, step-up transformer?