A/C problems

[mrjhathaway]

I have a forest river sierra 40 foot 5th wheel with 2 a/c units. I have read some of the comments. My question is when the a/c in the living room is running it forces air through al ducts (upstairs and downstairs). When the upstairs unit is running it forces air only into the upstairs ducts. This seems counter productive as the unit for the downstairs is forced to cool the entire 5th wheel. No wonder the downstairs is usually 5 or 6 degrees warmer. Any suggestions or comments?

[chop249]

Originally Posted by mrjhathaway

I have a forest river sierra 40 foot 5th wheel with 2 a/c units. I have read some of the comments. My question is when the a/c in the living room is running it forces air through al ducts (upstairs and downstairs). When the upstairs unit is running it forces air only into the upstairs ducts. This seems counter productive as the unit for the downstairs is forced to cool the entire 5th wheel. No wonder the downstairs is usually 5 or 6 degrees warmer. Any suggestions or comments?

Close the dump valve in the center of the air return. That will force the air into the vents. However, it will seem as though a great deal of that air is coming out the upstairs vents anyway. How many return vents do you have in the living area for the 15k unit? There should be more than 2. Some people say that fixes their issues and some say it does not. Mine is in the shop having the extra return vents installed now. I probably won't have a chance to see whether or not this fixes it this year as summer is pretty well done.

[Bama Rambler]

You may also want to consider replacing the existing registers with adjustable (closable) models, as several of us have done. That way you could partially close the registers in the bedroom and bathroom and thereby force more air into the main area.

[2014 sierra]

I currently am in the Los Angeles Ca area, my 2014 366FL currently only has the one 15k AC unit above the kitchen. this summer when it was in the triple digits outside it was only a few degrees cooler inside (90's), after I sealed all the open connections in the duct work and above the AC filter I managed to get it to cool the living room and kitchen about 20 degrees cooler, maybe this winter I will install another AC unit in the bedroom, it's already pre wired for it. I haven't decided to go with a 13k or 15k unit. I am strongly looking toward another 15k unit, as hot as it gets here, for the difference in price it may not be a bad idea. any thoughts?

[Sierra360PDEK]

Originally Posted by 2014 sierra

I currently am in the Los Angeles Ca area, my 2014 366FL currently only has the one 15k AC unit above the kitchen. this summer when it was in the triple digits outside it was only a few degrees cooler inside (90's), after I sealed all the open connections in the duct work and above the AC filter I managed to get it to cool the living room and kitchen about 20 degrees cooler, maybe this winter I will install another AC unit in the bedroom, it's already pre wired for it. I haven't decided to go with a 13k or 15k unit. I am strongly looking toward another 15k unit, as hot as it gets here, for the difference in price it may not be a bad idea. any thoughts?

Check to see if the ducting can be connected to the bedroom A/C. We had a 2012 366FL and the A/C could not be connected to the ductwork and so only cooled the bedroom. We had a 13500 but installed and had to put a fan in the bedroom door to blow the cool air forward.

[2014 sierra]

What I ended up doing this past summer was closing off the ducting in the ceiling with a big towel so that all the air ONLY went into the kitchen and living room. that helped cooling at least 1/2 the RV to a livable temp. put 2 big fans in the bedroom and used the vent fan in the bathroom as needed. it worked but I can't go on like this another summer. this winter or spring I am installing a new 15K AC unit into the bedroom. I have installed an AC unit before its really pretty cut and dry. the only difference with this one is the thermostat wiring and ducted system. The single 15K AC Unit we currently have in the kitchen just isn't enough to cool the amount of space we have (4 slide outs). unless there is something I am missing this seems to be my only option. after looking at other RV's the approx. same size I notice they also have 2 AC units.