What do you for cool on while driving?

wplate · 07-07-2014, 08:30 PM

We are currently traveling in the south. We have gone through New Mexico, Texas, and are currently in Louisiana. It is very hot in these states in July. The cab AC barely keeps up keeping the cab cool-ish.

The kids traveling in the coach are in a very warm area. Are there any tricks to getting cool air into the coach?

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lbrunning · 07-07-2014, 08:53 PM

Start the generator and run the coach ac

Brian217 · 07-07-2014, 09:22 PM

We just drove from Pennsylvania to Myrtle Beach with 7 people over 4th of July. Without putting the generator on with the coach AC it would have been pretty warm. Doesn't seem to change the gas mileage too much either. I tried turning the cab AC off for a little, but felt warm without it.

RamblerGuy · 07-07-2014, 10:06 PM

The generator would be at half load running the AC, and would use about 0.5 gallons per hour. At 60 mph and 8 mpg you are using 7.5 gallons per hour. Adding the 0.5 gallons per hour for the generator to the 7.5 gallons per hour for the coach, you will be using 8.0 gallons per hour, giving 7.5 mpg overall.

Looking at it another way, the additional 0.5 gallons per hour costs about $2 per hour to keep your family cool.

(When the AC catches up and cycles off the generator fuel consumption will drop to about 0.3 gallons per hour.)

ATVer · 07-08-2014, 01:01 AM

Doesn't help with a family but I added extensions to the bunk curtains so the cab can be closed off when needed. Cab cools real nice with the fan on low.

bgilly · 07-08-2014, 06:02 AM

I recently drove that same route - Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona...........
From Amarillo on we did fine with some if the coach windows and roof vent open. Coming back - once we hit Wichita Falls on down, it was too humid and we had to run the cab a/c and coach a/c. It did hit my fuel costs since I was still 800 miles from home (went from 8 mpg to 7.2 mpg) but it made everyone less irritable.

Jmsx2 · 07-08-2014, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian217

We just drove from Pennsylvania to Myrtle Beach with 7 people over 4th of July. Without putting the generator on with the coach AC it would have been pretty warm. Doesn't seem to change the gas mileage too much either. I tried turning the cab AC off for a little, but felt warm without it.

Brian,

Not meaning to steal the thread here, but - What part of PA are you from and how long did it take you to get to Myrtle Beach?

We are heading down to Pirateland the weekend after Labor Day! Curious how long of a drive it will be in the Coach. We've made this trip in the car many times, just not a MH..

Thanks and sorry if I stole the Thread!

sail2liv · 07-08-2014, 08:01 AM

There is always go north in summer and south in winter.....

bgilly · 07-08-2014, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sail2liv

There is always go north in summer and south in winter.....

North maybe meaning altitude - not north by states. Been all the way to Wisconsin in the summer and still fought humid summer weather. But get around 7000 feet elevation - weather gets better.

sail2liv · 07-08-2014, 08:26 AM

Yes on the altitude...on East coast side of usa....you will find me at the 3000 ft level on the Blue Ridge Pky......during late July Aug early Sept....
Then back to coast for fall fishing and as leave turn back on the Pky....then at 28 degrees Fla/Tx bound

jbrostek · 07-08-2014, 08:31 AM

Any time it was over 80F, had to run the genset and the coach AC in my Monaco, there was no way the dash AC could put out enough to keep the coach even 5F below ambient temps.

Brian217 · 07-08-2014, 09:33 AM

Jmsx2,

We are in Quakertown off the north east extension. With 1 stop for gas and a stop for dinner it took around 12 hours this past time. There was a delay at the shore leaving, but no other traffic. On the way down, they were doing construction in Virginia. That was about a 2 hour delay and that was driving at night on a week day. I usually like to start out at night, drive till maybe 2am, park at a Walmart or rest area, and then finish the trip in the morning.

RamblerGuy · 07-08-2014, 09:55 AM

To the original poster, if you run the generator for the AC remember to turn the water heater electric off and maybe the refrigerator from auto to gas. All three plus charging batteries etc could overload the generator when the AC starts.

Jmsx2 · 07-08-2014, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian217

Jmsx2,

We are in Quakertown off the north east extension. With 1 stop for gas and a stop for dinner it took around 12 hours this past time. There was a delay at the shore leaving, but no other traffic. On the way down, they were doing construction in Virginia. That was about a 2 hour delay and that was driving at night on a week day. I usually like to start out at night, drive till maybe 2am, park at a Walmart or rest area, and then finish the trip in the morning.

Thanks Brian,

We live in the Pittsburgh area. When we go by car it usually takes us about 12 hours and like you we drive at night, but usually straight through.

My wife and I will switch off driving so I'm thinking 14 hours if I take my time. Leaving with a full tank, we'll most likely have to stop for fuel once (maybe twice). Fortunately we won't have to worry about the DC Belt Way as we'll travel Route 79 through WV.

Thanks again..

wplate · 07-12-2014, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RamblerGuy

To the original poster, if you run the generator for the AC remember to turn the water heater electric off and maybe the refrigerator from auto to gas. All three plus charging batteries etc could overload the generator when the AC starts.

Today we tried driving with the generator running the AC. The generator turned itself off after a few minutes. I had the fridge on auto, if overloading was the case would it cause the gen to stop?

Thanks!

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RamblerGuy · 07-13-2014, 06:50 AM

Yes. Auto switches the refrigerator from gas to electricity anytime electricity is available, whether from shoreline or generator.

funfinder5 · 07-13-2014, 10:54 AM

You should be able to run your fridge on electric and the house AC. We do it all the time for 8-10 hours a day while traveling. The generator is really rated at 33amps, slightly higher than the 30amp campground plug. Only time we've had issues is above 6,000ft...still works just sounds like its struggling a lot more.

Check your oil level, while driving down the road you are bouncing a bit, so if you are borderline low it might shut itself down as the coach tilts/bounces.

RamblerGuy · 07-13-2014, 11:55 AM

Low oil switch would probably stop the engine quickly or it would run intermittently as the oil sloshed.

Overload would bog it down as it tries to keep its speed up before it dies. That's how it did when mine stopped due to overloading.

howzball · 07-21-2014, 09:29 AM

Our dealer told us the generator in our 3170 was capable of powering everything in the coach at the same time, not counting anything plugged into an outlet. I would think a breaker would trip before overloading the generator.

Being in Texas mostly we seldom ever run the trucks a/c but rather run the generator and coach a/c. Useless less gas that way and takes the load off the engine.

RamblerGuy · 07-21-2014, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by howzball

Our dealer told us the generator in our 3170 was capable of powering everything in the coach at the same time, not counting anything plugged into an outlet. I would think a breaker would trip before overloading the generator.

Being in Texas mostly we seldom ever run the trucks a/c but rather run the generator and coach a/c. Useless less gas that way and takes the load off the engine.

Your dealer was not correct. Add up the load from the A/C, water heater, refrigerator and them some for the convertor that's charging batteries and running lights. The 30 amp shore line service won't carry all of these, either.

As for the breaker tripping before the generator overloads, if could depend on the type of load. If it's a steady load, the 30 amp breaker in the panel may trip before the 33 amp generator overloads. However, the A/C takes more than it's 12-15 running amps to start. When the A/C starts with other loads already going, the overload will stall the generator within seconds, maybe too quick for the circuit breaker to trip. This is what happened to me. It carried the water heater and A/C just fine, but maybe the refrigerator's electric heater also came on. That was okay when the A/C was running but when the A/C tried to restart, the generator bogged down and shut itself off. I switched the water heater and refrigerator to gas and the generator ran fine. No breaker tripped.

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