Community Forums

jbenalpine · 10-27-2017, 04:17 AM

This is a little bit of a warning about air conditioner covers in general. About 4 days ago driving 65 mph with a 10 gusting head wind, our 1 year old Penguin 2 air conditioner's cover blew off. I replaced the unit last year for the newer Penguin model when the old one's blower motor went out. This was the front AC unit, so gets more wind than other unit. The 4 cover attachment screws were still in place, so the plastic simply cracked. My reason for writing this to recommend if you have one of these units to put more screws around the edge. Four #8 sheet metal screws with very minimal plastic materials seems too weak in my experience. So in replacing the cover I mounted the new one with a total of 11 screws. Hopefully that will prevent this from happening again.

Birddog Pilot · 10-27-2017, 05:17 AM

Lost our Domet

bruceisla · 10-27-2017, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbenalpine

This is a little bit of a warning about air conditioner covers in general. About 4 days ago driving 65 mph with a 10 gusting head wind, our 1 year old Penguin 2 air conditioner's cover blew off. I replaced the unit last year for the newer Penguin model when the old one's blower motor went out. This was the front AC unit, so gets more wind than other unit. The 4 cover attachment screws were still in place, so the plastic simply cracked. My reason for writing this to recommend if you have one of these units to put more screws around the edge. Four #8 sheet metal screws with very minimal plastic materials seems too weak in my experience. So in replacing the cover I mounted the new one with a total of 11 screws. Hopefully that will prevent this from happening again.

My Brisk II units have large head screws (about the size of a quarter). Does the Penguin II have large head screws? On my old Dometics I had fender washers between the screws and shroud.

Birddog Pilot · 10-27-2017, 05:31 AM

Sorry about that... lost our front AC cover about a month ago, similar conditions, approaching Amarillo. I had reinforced the four attach points but the plastic still broke, am planning on better reinforcement when I find a Dometic OEM cover. I did find a temporary, wrong color white unpaintable Icon replacement that at least covers the unit. More than likely a black Dometic cover will have to come from Dometic as I have not been able locate a direct replacement at this point. Incidentally, I did try to replicate the foam baffling positioning as this is important for proper AC operation. Apparently a new foam kit is included with Dometic's cover.

bruceisla · 10-27-2017, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birddog Pilot

Sorry about that... lost our front AC cover about a month ago, similar conditions, approaching Amarillo. I had reinforced the four attach points but the plastic still broke, am planning on better reinforcement when I find a Dometic OEM cover. I did find a temporary, wrong color white unpaintable Icon replacement that at least covers the unit. More than likely a black Dometic cover will have to come from Dometic as I have not been able locate a direct replacement at this point. Incidentally, I did try to replicate the foam baffling positioning as this is important for proper AC operation. Apparently a new foam kit is included with Dometic's cover.

The Brisk II has eliminated the foam. The inner shrouds/covers are some kind of insulating extruded foam. The unit works fine with no cover at all.

gmcgene · 10-27-2017, 05:47 AM

ICON Penguin Dometic Duo Therm Air Conditioner Shroud, Black. Amazon

Here is a black one from Amazon.

I have replaced 4 white ones in the past 1 1/2 years.All came with new foam.

The last one went less than 100 miles. I finally got smart and added more screws and large fender washers on each screw. So far so good.

Birddog Pilot · 10-27-2017, 08:44 AM

From what I see on the ICON replacement cover offered by Amazon is that particular model does not have the vent holes on the rear of the left side. Apparently this is important, the Dometic OEM cover does have them. Also, the ICON replacement does not come with a baffle kit, and the shape will not match that of those from Dometic.

Jim A · 10-27-2017, 10:35 AM

The Icon 01915 shroud on Amazon has the vent holes. (I don't have it, but I have it marked if I ever need it.)

Birddog Pilot · 10-27-2017, 11:35 AM

You are absolutely correct Jim, don't know how I missed that part number. I wish the parts store in Amarillo would have had that one in black, could have saved a few bucks. What I have found is that most sources, including ICON, say the polyethelene material cannot be painted, nothing sticks to it. My original plan when this trip is finished was to just take the cover off and spray it black. Looks like that's not going to work so Plan B will either be the Dometic or ICON black replacement. Somehow that big white whale up front on the roof just isn't going to work.
My plan for reinforcing the replacement will be to use some .025 aluminum sheet, about 3/4" x 4" or so, epoxied and flush riveted to the inside flange of the cover which should give a whole lot more security to the mounting hardware. I may also use nut plates and machine screws in place of the sheet metal screws, adding one extra attach screw front and back as well as the sides.

RVPioneer · 10-27-2017, 05:08 PM

I put the Icon shrouds on about 15 months ago and have about 3000 trouble free miles so far. The plastic is probably 50% thicker and much less brittle than what I believe were original shrouds. The original front shroud had visible cracks around the screws. It did not make it to our destination, prompting the replacement of both.

I used the 11 screw technique with 3 on the front and both sides, 2 on the rear. I used metal roofing screws that have a rubber washer below a metal washer and drilled holes in the shroud large enough for the screw to pass though cleanly. I then placed the shroud on the AC unit and marked the location of the holes, removed the shroud and drilled pilot holes in the AC frame ensuring that they were completely below the top edge of the frame.

I went with white because my roof is white, my satellite dome is white, the fan covers are white as well as the skylight and the crank up antenna. I also thought that a device that is attempting to provide cold air might have a slightly easier time performing its task if it were enclosed in white rather than black while sitting out in the sun.

jbenalpine · 10-28-2017, 05:57 AM

RVPioneer I like your methods. Yes I used 3 screws on the front and sides and two on back. Your choice of rubber washers seems better than mine with fender washers too.

I am surprised and disappointed this has so many failures, because of being attached so weakly. My cover hit my towed vehicle leaving a couple of scratches and dents. Then there is good size chunk of plastic box in the road. It could be easily and cheaply fixed with 7 more buttonhead screws and holes by the manufacturer. Unless this is some kind of built in revenue stream for the company, I don't get why this is the way it is. But until its improved the individual owners can prevent this with a fairly simple and cheap fix.

Old Scout · 10-28-2017, 06:31 AM

Don't have any experience with 3rd party shrouds but the OEM shroud that came with the Dometic unit I installed a couple years ago was much thicker material. As mentioned in a much earlier post on this subject, I used pipe strapping material on the older shrouds to extend the support vertically up the side of the shrouds. The older shrouds were especially weak/brittle around the edge that fit over the unit's metal frame. Again, the newer shrouds appear to be thicker but overtime, there may be a need to use some sort of re-enforcing material to spread out the stress points on the shroud edges.
PS--it is critically important for the performance of the unit to insure the foam strips under the shroud are correctly positions to keep the air flow separated between the "cool side" and the "hot side" when the unit is running [cooling or heating mode on heat pumps].

bcbowers · 11-02-2017, 09:15 PM

Slight correction ... the foam strips don't separate the "hot" from the "cool" but rather serve to direct outside air through the condenser to reduce temperature of the compressed Freon. The air also cools the compressor itself all with outside air. So, it is critically important (as Dean stated) for adequate performance of the AC unit.

My suggestion is to inspect the sheet metal chambers while you have the shroud removed. There are places where foil tape was used and typically becomes brittle over time which allows cracking and separation. Simply clean the old foil tape off and apply new foil tape. Gaps in these sheet metal pieces can reduce performance and cause a loud "rattling" or "squeaking" noise when running.

Also, I suggest that everyone should check the sheet metal opening inside both AC units. Pull the return air vent off the ceiling inside the coach and then remove the sheet metal cover that covers the "cool air" duct. You'll probably find varying degrees of separation in the sheet metal where the AC unit meets the sheet metal duct. You can bend some parts to close gaps but use foil tape to adequately seal the gaps. Otherwise, cool air can escape into the return air. You'll get more air & cooler air depending upon how bad your gaps were before taping. Mine units even sound a little quieter with a little more "air" sound.

New shrouds with new foam and taping the sheet metal gaps top & bottom have improved my AC units and reduced noise.