AC not cooling on BT Cruiser

[bottieri]

My unit only froze up once during my 3400 mile trip and that was because one side of the duct-work got partially plugged with tape (that I installed), that came loose from the wood. See a previous post for how I corrected that.

I spent a lot of time evaluating the system and here's what I found: With the main outlet open the air flow is greater and/or the thermostat can cycle the compressor because it's right under the outlet. You can improve on the system by installing a digital thermostat. There's about a 5 degree variance on the factory thermostat which makes it uncomfortable in the coach before it calls for cooling (when it does cycle), but then freezes the coils before the thermostat gets cool enough to shut the unit down (when the main outlet is closed).

Another option that I found to work pretty well is to run the main outlet open slightly and with a paper flap taped to the wall over the thermostat to keep direct air from blowing on it. This works well at night. However, this doesn't resolve the lousy thermostat temperature variance problem.

The bottom line is this: if you want all the cool you can get out of that unit, you have to open the main outlet because the coach is too big for that one unit to run at anything below maximum output. The unit probably won't cycle during the day, but the additional air flow with the main vent open seems to prevent freezing of the coils.

Today I will check the amperage carrying capacity of the Romex in the forward vent area to see if it will handle an A/C unit, and report back.