Adding cooling vent to warm mid bunk

[Bhrava]

Got our new 3660 last Friday and with it parked at home and the AC going, found very little airflow through that tiny wall vent in the bunk room. It gets pretty warm in there while the rest of the trailer is cool, even with both AC going set to 73*.

Anything I can do to get more cooling air into the room other than sticking a fan in the door?

[Skip12]

We've got a different camper but similar problem. We use a fan to circulate the air. The door is only closed when the kids first go to sleep. I reopen it when I go to bed.

You may want to try to get behind the wall to ensure there is no kink in the ventilation tubing. I've heard excess tubing can also be a problem.

That's what I'll do when I finally get around to it...

[Bhrava]

Originally Posted by Skip12

We've got a different camper but similar problem. We use a fan to circulate the air. The door is only closed when the kids first go to sleep. I reopen it when I go to bed.

You may want to try to get behind the wall to ensure there is no kink in the ventilation tubing. I've heard excess tubing can also be a problem.

That's what I'll do when I finally get around to it...

On my list, the other side has cabinets on it, so will instead try to fish a hose through it to see if it is clear or not. Not a lot of flow considering how much comes out the other vents with both AC units going.

I just bought slide toppers for all 4 slides, which will help a bit by shading the roof.

[Bhrava]

Well after getting the slide toppers on, which dropped internal roof temps 10*, from 86 to 76, I also found another reason for poor air flow, the wall vent has a 1 1/2" fitting for the pipe to connect to, it was blocking 80% of the air flow, so I removed it, and cut half off with the band saw, and reconnected it with metal HVAC tape. That gave more air flow in the room, but when the entire thing is screwed back on the wall, the bend is so sharp that it reduces air flow by nearly half. I now have it hanging by two loose screws on the bottom to get maximum flow. I am considering mounting a 12v cooling fan between the vent screen and the vent housing, and tapping into the 12v for the LED light next to it, but need a way to turn it on and off without looking like a hack job.

Ideas are welcome.

[dankapp]

Thanks for the update. I have not had time to mess with ours, but it seems the design of that HVAC outlet at that location is pretty poor.

Our kids have not went with us yet since we picked ours up, they are at the age that mom and dad are not cool enough, so it hasn't been a big deal just yet.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase the slide toppers from and how easy of an installation was it? We are talking about putting them on, but I tend to overthink things and afraid I will screw something up. I will be even more nervous drilling into the unit that I have only made one payment on.

[Bhrava]

Originally Posted by dankapp

Thanks for the update. I have not had time to mess with ours, but it seems the design of that HVAC outlet at that location is pretty poor.

Our kids have not went with us yet since we picked ours up, they are at the age that mom and dad are not cool enough, so it hasn't been a big deal just yet.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase the slide toppers from and how easy of an installation was it? We are talking about putting them on, but I tend to overthink things and afraid I will screw something up. I will be even more nervous drilling into the unit that I have only made one payment on.

I looked at E-trailer, then got the part numbers and did a google search and found, of all laces, Camping World had the best price, plus having an Elite card for campgrounds, I saved another $75 as there was a $25 membership discount too. I did have to pay $170 shipping for the two big 13'+ ones, but even with that I saved over $1000. These are the Solera ones that are already prepped for use on the 3660SUITE.

Installation is pretty straight forward, installed the two 7' ones myself, and just needed a second set of hands to guide the 13' ones into the wall channel.

The channel uses butyl tape, so make sure you buy enough for the lengths of them. I used one full roll and part of a second. You do need a metal stud finder to locate the header so that you don't put a screw above it. Also when driving the screws in, set the clutch to a very low setting or it can strip the aluminum frame, they are not very thick. On mine I set the wall channel to 3" above the top of the sidewall frame, the bottom lip of the groove the topper slides into at the 3" mark. Any lower than that and it will slope back to the wall, any higher and you can miss the frame. Once the channel is fully screwed, I went back and hand tightened all the screws until I saw some squeeze out, but I did not crank down as that could strip the thin aluminum frame.

There are a few good videos on installing them. You will need two 8' ladders to install the long ones.

[dankapp]

Thank you for the information. Hopefully I can get this scratched off the "honey-do" list this year. Otherwise it will have to wait until next Spring.

[ChrisMoore]

Pull the AC Cover off your unit on the ceiling and make sure it is properly taped. You need to seal between the intake and the outlet, in the middle of the unit. And be sure the openings in the side of the unit to your vents is fully opened up. The tape job on mine was terrible. The unit would shut off in 10 min of turning on. I sealed between and opened the sides. Lat time I went camping I had it a little low. Temp was 63 inside. Wife was not happy, but I adjusted. Just proof it can get cold in there.

[Bhrava]

That was the first thing I did when I got it home, before finding the warm bunk. The front AC had the ducts partially blocked. Learned that on my last trailer, the front ducts was blocked, when I pulled the foam that had unglued from the duct, it blew sawdust out.