air conditioner working properly on new unit?

[jmrobbins]

Hi- just picked up a 355qbq and took it out this weekend. About 100 degrees with no shade on site. We've got 2 AC units. The front bedroom cooled quickly. After 2 hours the main room was 85 degrees (had a thermometer), and the backroom was only slightly better.

We then went out for 3-4 hours and it had cooled to 73 degrees (had it set to 65). Stayed cool all night. It held pretty well the next day (we were gone most of the day), But after coming back and opening up some blinds and kids going in and out it quickly rose to 85 degrees again and didn't cool down until we left.

Are other owners of similar sized units seeing the same thing in this sweltering heat or do I have a problem with the AC? Some neighbors with a similar sized unit had a similar experience and said they were seeing some flaky stuff with their site power, wondering if the KOA couldn't handle all the load in the heat.

Our fridge also didn't cool down on the 2 1/2 hour trip. Slowly cooled with the electricity once we got there.

Thanks!

[NWJeeper]

We have one AC and it has a hard time cooling too but it is putting out lots of cold air, no problem there. We find it better to partition off the front of our motorhome by closing the bathroom door and bedroom doors to make the cooled area smaller.

As for the fridge, what type is it, how big, is it in a slide or not. Refers in slides do tend to have issues from what I have found. Also found with ours that if the venting and installation isn't correct they have a really hard time with cooling. See my posts on fixing venting problems and the internal fridge fan found on Ebay.

[flyrotor]

We stayed in Vegas a couple of days with outdoor temps of >100, A/C worked ok, but during the heat of the day it was real cool, we kept the blinds down, the awning out and it helped.

Also stayed in LA and San Diego, there we experienced some freeze up, but this was due to the high humidity, just had to shut it down to fan only for 10 minutes or so and it started to melt the ice off the coils and then again started to pump out the cold air.

[rockwood06]

There are a few things you can do to help the a/c unit.
#1- When you have the a/c on put the fan mode on "ON', and on the low fan speed this will keep the air moving in the camper and helps eliminate hot spots.
#2- Install insulated curtains in all of the windows and keep them closed during the day.
#3- Pre-cool the camper, in the early morning before the heat load increases in the camper, lower the temperature on the stat and leave it there.

Two years ago I tested the temperature differences with different window coverings in 90 plus degrees and our windows are not tinted #1-No shades, #2-Day shades only, #3-Night shades only, #4-Day shades with insulated curtains and #5-Night shades with insulated curtains.
I posted the results here on the forum. I had found that in the worst case scenario by using the night shades only during the day to keep the sun out it increased the temperature at the windows inside by 10 degrees. The brown material on the night shades absorb heat and does not help the situation in my camper.
I have found that if we close just the day shades and close the insulated curtains the camper will stay cool and the stat will satisfy.

Now a friend ours has a Jayco and there night shades have a white insulated material on the side that faces the windows and there night shades work better then the ones we have.

I have a 34' 8314ss 2006 model and it came with a 13,500 BTU Dometic, It would not keep the temperature at a reasonable temperature, I had a Carrier 15,000 BTU unit installed and it works great.

Treat your camper like you do your home, keep the curtains closed at least on the sunny side, keep a clean filter but remember the walls, door seals and windows in your camper are nothing like your house they leak air and the biggest item that contributes to the heat load in a camper are slide outs and sky lights the more you have the bigger the heat load......and the kids, in and out. Heat will move to a cool area, as soon as the door opens the heat will rush in, this is the same reaction when the night shades are used during the day to keep the sun out.......FYI, people also contribute to the heat load as well, the average person produces approx 400 BTUs of heat just by standing around.

[saubolle]

I experienced similar problems of the Air conditioning working at first then not keeping up with the heat buildup. I think that the biggest problem in a "heat wave" is when everyone in the Park turns on their Air the voltage drops to a point where the compressor in the air condition unit cannot function properly. I monitor my voltage in my 5th wheel and when it drops to about 106-109v the air stays on but does cool. I have also heard that if this happens it can damage the Air Cond. unit.


Best of Luck...

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by saubolle

I experienced similar problems of the Air conditioning working at first then not keeping up with the heat buildup. I think that the biggest problem in a "heat wave" is when everyone in the Park turns on their Air the voltage drops to a point where the compressor in the air condition unit cannot function properly. I monitor my voltage in my 5th wheel and when it drops to about 106-109v the air stays on but does cool. I have also heard that if this happens it can damage the Air Cond. unit.


Best of Luck...

Yes, voltage drop can damage the a/c units, the capacitors and sometimes the pc boards will burn up. From what I understand, Carrier units are more forgiving when it comes to voltage drop and can handle it.....Here is a pic of one, this is out of a Dometic low profile unit from last year and this same unit was just replaced last week because the compressor was sort cycling at a cost of $800.00 just for the unit and we had to order it from an RV Dealer......
We have 5 of these units that are used on our parking ticket booths and we end up replacing one of them every year.

[jimh]

this sounds normal to me. it takes awhile for the water to heat up. i usually put mine on the night before.