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Old 06-26-2015, 12:31 PM   #1
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 12
Hello, new 61 shasta Re-issue owner.

Hello everyone,
We took delivery of our Re-issue Buttercup Yellow 19 foot Airflyte back at end of April. The only dealer selling in Oklahoma is the RV General Store (now) in Newcastle near Oklahoma City. I just discovered this forum on these re-issues after I began to figure out there were some problems…Houston. We camped immediately at Lake Murray in April and discovered the A/C is actually a good heater. Temps went up inside with A/C running by about 10 degrees. Discovered then that the $79.00, 5K BTU A/C and $19.00 exhaust fan system isn’t actually a design “feature”, it’s an afterthought. I then stored it outside at our farm where we received a record foot or so of rainfall in the month of May, but didn’t have any leaks, so we’re lucky so far in that regard. I brought it home and began to engineer a better A/C solution in preparation for our 6 day trip to Colorado. I’ll post some pics and explanation of my A/C solution (rev1) soon, which is working much better (working on rev2 now). I don’t think Shasta will warranty the A/C problem appropriately because it’s just a bad design right from the start. I noticed the radio didn’t pick up any stations or weather bands (I’m a meteorologist) so I looked into the access panel in the overhead and found the antennal wire all coiled up and neatly tie wrapped…hmmm. I’ve seen some Airflytes with an antenna on the A/C side of the trailer, but mine didn’t come with one. I’ll post our trailer # also as that seems to play a part as they made some changes during the production run.
You folks have great information here, and I understand and share your frustration with Shasta. I bought ours because I so don’t have time for a vintage rebuild so I thought this re-issue would be the best of both worlds, but it sounds like I’ve still got a fair amount of work to do to get this thing up to what should have been factory spec. I perused the forum and have a good idea so far of what to look for…wheel-well tire clearance; possibly under-rated tires; roof, window, and under-body leaks; bathroom leaks., etc. We love to camp and have owned several pull trailers over the years so I have some experience fixing this stuff. I’ll be asking questions and share what I’ve learned to. I know wheel clearance is a problem on mine. Also, while driving through a construction zone in Colorado, our front street side window got broken by rocks from a several dump trucks hauling gravel. Fortunately we just had the windows tinted, so it only spider-glassed instead of shattering. I’ve got an appointment to take it to our dealer for insurance claim repair. While there, they are also going to warranty fix a cracked support under the rear bed and some loose trim. I’ll also advise them of the safety concerns with the wheel-well clearance but I won’t let them put the Shasta Shackle fix on since that sounds even more unsafe. I just want them to have a record of the wheel clearance issue in case some litigation results from the complaints with the NHTSA (I’ll be filing a complaint also).
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buckhammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2015, 01:51 PM   #2
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Buck - I have a 16 and can verify that my A/C fix (the door addition) definitely does the trick. The little 5000 BTU unit about froze us out BUT having said that I am still replacing it. I had issues with the foam air filter getting clogged (and I don't have the original cover to use) and I was also bitten by it not having the proper lean to drain the condensate. So since I have to tear into it again anyway, I'm replacing it with a 6000BTU LG unit that fits the same space without any mods. The new LG actually uses a thermostat to cool to a set specific temp AND it will work without the fan running constantly.
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Old 06-26-2015, 02:42 PM   #3
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Hi DCS,
I elected to replace the 5K with the 8K GE version as shown since I think the 5K is too small for the 19 footer here in Oklahoma (generally 90's + and high humidity in summer). The 8K GE version will either run all the time or cycle on and off with the compressor. Most roof mount A/C units are 11K to 13K for this size trailer. I also insulated surrounding cabinet with 3/4 foam board on both sides and the shelf above. I temporarily placed a small personal fan in behind the A/C for our Colorado trip but plan to replace that with a set of case fans the same size as the original one. One case fan to exhaust outside and one to ingest from outside, like the original the fans power on by the same wall mount switch as the A/C. If that doesn't do the trick, I had planned to install the larger dometic refer door like you did. If I have to go that route, I may ask you some questions. Thank You. I'll post some pics of my A/C solution in a few days.
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buckhammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2015, 03:22 PM   #4
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Yeppers - in the middle of my mod as well and, while I didn't need the extra fan with the 5k BTU I went ahead and added the other inward blowing fan for the 6K unit. But only because I'm sick and tired of dealing with this issue and want this to be the last time I have to go back into it, so I'm doing everything at once. The cabinet insulation and hot air outlet baffles are a must - just not that far along yet in this replacement project. Those of us in the early build didn't even have the benefit of a switch to turn these fans on and off, so that was an earlier mod I made as well.
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DCSconnect is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2015, 03:30 PM   #5
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But truthfully? I think this is the mod that made all the difference in the world...
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DCSconnect is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2015, 05:40 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DCSconnect View Post
But truthfully? I think this is the mod that made all the difference in the world...
50 miles of dirt road in Alaska and the dust from the Tow vehicle infiltrated this AC condenser vent. Opened the door to about 1/4 inch of dirt in the trailer. Just a heads up if Traveling on dirt or mud. No telling how much water is getting in on wet pavement. Your dealer in going to be at a loss on this one. Same with the lower refrigerator acces vent, full of mud and dirt. Good luck.
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