My old Duo-Therm Penguin A/C finally defied my repair efforts last October (2007), so I had it replaced. I wanted the controls in the inside shroud, rather than on a wall thermostat.

Only one model had the controls, and the imbedded thermostat is mechanical. That's what was installed. Now on its third thermostat, the thermostats have all been squirrelly. A/C at MAX setting sometimes comes on at 72°F, and other times doesn't come on at 86°F.

I have the heat strip. My dealer called Dometic, and they assured him the heat strip only engages when the thermostat is set to MAX COOL (I'm NOT making this up!), and the heat strip isn't controlled by the thermostat. This is incorrect; the mechanical thermostat DOES control the heat strip, but no more reliably than it controls the A/C.

So the dealer ordered a conventional, inside shroud with its accompanying relay box and electronic wall thermostat.

Here's what I discovered:

1. The old inside shroud had a louver front and back, each of which had two sections that could be adjusted laterally and up-and-down. The first new Duo-Therm shroud is a mess. The front and back "louvers" don't adjust directional flow at all. There is a center exhaust (ala' the Carrier) and two side vents; all five exhausts are adjustable only for flow, not direction.

2. The first new shroud attaches to the headliner, not the A/C chassis, unlike the OEM A/C; this required holes in the headliner. Further, that shroud has an odd shape that didn't match the one removed. It's quite flimsy, and I had to install washer head screws at two locations because the mounting surfaces were not well molded.

3. The first new shroud had no "auto" setting, where the fan runs only as fast as needed.

4. The first new shroud, being cheapened considerably, is so loud, even at the Low fan speed, that it's essentially unbearable - I can't even hear the generator run (well, it IS quite quiet), but having to use noise-cancelling headphones to watch TV even on shore power is absurd.

5. Today the dealer got the second new shroud, along with the relay kit and the electronic thermostat. The thermostat is so compact that it can be mounted on the shroud in the same place the old unit had its controls - a bit of double-stick tape, and voila'.

So here's my bottom line:

1. I like the Duo-Therm outside unit, due to its design which keeps crud out of the condenser coils.

2. Had I known in advance, I'd have got the second new shroud assembly originally, but even the dealer's computer access is VERY sparse on details, and Dometic's sales and tech staff are woefully inept. Eight of Nine (Sheesh - if it had even been Seven of Nine, at least it would've been Jeri Ryan!) tech support and sales people insisted the mechanical thermostat doesn't control the heat strip (wrong!) The ninth avoided a sweep, because he wasn't sure.

3. Nowhere were there illustrations of either shroud; it was totally a crapshoot. Actually the total dearth of info on either the company website or the dealer's connection was pathetic.

Fortunately, I do business with a very conscientious dealer, and the staff there has been a great help, despite leaning on a broken stick (Dometic).

"The first new shroud had no "auto" setting, where the fan runs only as fast as needed"
Not directly relevant to the discussion, but: My understanding is the "AUTO" setting means the fan goes on and off with the compresor/heat, i.e. the fan only blows when the unit calls for heat or cooling.

All the Duo-Therms (if its staff is to be believed, which is problematical) shut the fan off when not actively heating/cooling, unliike the Carrier units.

The "auto" setting on my old A/C set the fan speed lower as the desired temperature was approached, whether heat or cool was selected. It's supposed to do the same thing on the second new shroud/system.

Yesterday I finished hiding the wiring of the new new shroud with its electonical thermostat. The difference in performance and appearance between the old new (Duo-Therm's "improved" version) and the new new is dramatic. I offer these observations:

1. Duo-Therm offers only two inside shrouds with the controls on the ceiling unit; one has the control for the heat strip, the other doesn't.

2. Either of the old new shrouds has been cheapened considerably over what I expected, and the system didn't work reliably (a thermostat issue; mine was on its third before I rebelled).

3. Although Duo-Therm offers no electronic thermostat on shrouds like the old new, a piece of double-stick tape makes it so on the new new. While this looks a bit crude, it works well. When I return in a couple of weeks from the Kisatchie Star Party, I'll run the wires to replace the old wall thermostat with this one, as it has a leg to control the furnace as well as the A/C and heat strip.

Here is the old new shroud - basically a POS

The "old new" which I hope they end up abandoning
does cheap and chinsy.. the "new new" looks moe like how the duotherms have looked for years.

I considered doing mine exactly the way you just did this..It doessnt look THAT BAD...

good work..