We have just spent a week at Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys. The two 13.5KBtu air conditioners just don't seem to be enough to cool the coach. The one in the bedroom can keep just the bedroom cool but the condensation was ponding on the roof and apparently we have a gasket leak. The front unit will not cool the coach. Yesterday it froze over since it was essentially on a continuous cooling cycle and the condenser got iced over.

I am tempted to replace the front one with a 15KBtu unit. Not only would it be new but it would have more capacity. The one in place now is a Carrier Air V about eight to ten years old.

Does an exterior front windshield screen help? We have a white curtain for the windshield but it is interior. Any other suggestions?

I use bubble insulation - a residue from my attendance at star parties where light leaks are frowned upon. I made inserts for all my windows, and it keeps the coach cool with one A/C at 108° and warm at -10°.

The only trouble with anything on the inside of the windows is that it traps the heat and will dry out the window seals....much better if you have something on the outside to block the heat. With that said, we also only have the inside curtains and i have been looking at rvs in parks that have the outside shields.

Should mention that i did try bubble insulation on the inside and it did help but windshield was hot. Tried it on the outside and it made a much bigger difference, windshield barely warm to the touch. Just didn't have a good way to keep it attached so decided to find something else.

The inserts I made fit inside the frame; the seals aren't covered.

Don't forget to clean the filters. Even a small amount of buildup will cut the units ability to cool.

I saw these shades on the web but they are expensive. If you look through the whole video they show a really nice wheel cover but they are 70 dollars each.
http://www.magneshade.com/

We just drove back to Titusville from the Keys and it was very uncomfortably hot in the coach. We even tried putting up a curtain just behind the front AC and running the generator. This is the same air conditioner mentioned in the beginning of this topic. We are thinking it may be faulty.

Does anyone know if upgrading ALL components of the dash air system after switching to R134 can increase it's efficiency? I am talking about hoses, condenser, evaporator, dryer, accumulator (if my system has one), etc. From searching the web it appears that it may help but I don't know how much.

The filters are all clean and I completely cleaned the condenser a few weeks ago. I am worried that when I froze it up it may have damaged it. That has been known to happen.

A freeze-up (assuming you mean it iced up) won't cause permanent damage. It is an indication that the sensor that cuts off the compressor when icing conditions occur is not working. This is generally a minor repair. It will also make the A/C appear not to be cooling properly.

Freezing up is often caused by low fan speed and high humidity.

I never had freeze up with high speed fan operation.

A partially blocked filter will cut down airflow, causing freeze up, as well.

Being that this is Florida the humidity was high. I think it was on low fan speed. It was also set on the maximum cold setting which may, or may not, have had an effect since that caused the cooling cycle to be constantly on. I had our home AC freeze up when one of the contactors had the contacts stick in the closed position thereby never shutting down the process. Essentially what we did in the coach was the same thing. Since we've been home all day we have had the AC in the coach on all day and it has not been able to cool the coach down. Can these roof top units be recharged? I cycled it off then on and the compressor definitely started up. Maybe its time for a new Dometic Brisk II 15,000 BTU unit.

If the evaporator coil is icing up it's a indication of either low refrigerant or a weak compressor provided you have the proper air flow threw the coil. The coil should run around 41 degrees.

I'm sure it can be serviced whether it worth it or not, older unit probably not.

Lance: If you come to Milford I'll show you how I re-engineered our '93 Regency. We travel with only the dash and bedroom a/c and it is more than comfortable. Not cheap but it is doable.

Before you buy another Dometic look at the new Atwood, I had one installed, love it, they come in 13.5 and 15. It the only one I have ever seen with a remote. Before remote when your driving and want to use A/C start gen. and then go turn the A/C on, now when gen. is up to speed just grab remote point and your good to go. Just a suggestion.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadow:
Before you buy another Dometic look at the new Atwood, I had one installed, love it, they come in 13.5 and 15. It the only one I have ever seen with a remote. Before remote when your driving and want to use A/C start gen. and then go turn the A/C on, now when gen. is up to speed just grab remote point and your good to go. Just a suggestion.

It seems to offer several virtues.

4 fan speeds, if I read the brochure photo correctly. This is good. I favor the three speed over the two speed, as quite often the middle speed offers freedom from freeze-up in hot, high humidity situations without the noise or drafts of high fan speed.

It claims to put out the equivalent of 16K BTU of cooling on a 2000kW generator. That would make it attractive for quiet operation on the Honda 2000EU, if it will really do it. The Honda isn't exactly a 2000kW, though, and loses some power at altitude, but it would be worth investigating.