Bye-bye Basement Air

[capnj]

As posted earlier I was in process of having basement ac replaced with two roof top Dometic 15000btu slim lines . Work is all completed and they work great! I could hang meat if need arose. Units are tied into existing central air ducts and with dometic thermostat are very easy to program. Work was done by Canyon Lake RV, Canyon Lake ,TX. Joe Ruff and crew did a professional job! I tried posting a complete break down three times but they would not post, probably Optec. Also now have a nice sized extra compartment. Any one interested in more info, just ask. capnj 06 Merdian 36G CAT C-7 350hp.

[t55watson]

Did the basement air die? What did that cost and can you post interior pictures?

[Civdiv99]

Ditto on above query.

I figured if my basement air died, and it wasn't a straightforward fix, I'd just buy a new unit.

Not available, or did going with the twin roof units for more "oomph?"

[capnj]

basement was removed to see why it was not cooling, down from slightly cooling to no cooling. PO had had many issues and slipshod fixes. Compressor #2 was shot and leaking oil, Freon lines had cracked in various places and solder repairs looked like chickens had been roosting above. Start cap was burnt, wiring repairs had been done by twisting and black tape, Freon taps had been poorly installed, 60% of coil fins had been smashed flat or damaged.(buyer beware ). Started to replace with new coleman basement but found that air ducts needed to be rerouted and electrical had to be modified, plus overall size was smaller. Real clincher was a lot of posts from people with good units still adding a roof top to supplement basement. original air was 2 ton, if conversion is right 2-15000btu equals 2-1/2 ton. Hindsight ,1-15000 & 1-12500 might have been adequate but I&DW were after COLD, since most of our RV trips are in hot climates. Dometic slimlines were chosen for height considerations and pusbutton thermostat. Units run about 1100.00 ea. plus thermo. They are not heat pumps but we don't need that. Quality of work is where you find it and labor is regional I guess.

[edgray]

Originally Posted by capnj

basement was removed to see why it was not cooling, down from slightly cooling to no cooling. PO had had many issues and slipshod fixes. Compressor #2 was shot and leaking oil, Freon lines had cracked in various places and solder repairs looked like chickens had been roosting above. Start cap was burnt, wiring repairs had been done by twisting and black tape, Freon taps had been poorly installed, 60% of coil fins had been smashed flat or damaged.(buyer beware ). Started to replace with new coleman basement but found that air ducts needed to be rerouted and electrical had to be modified, plus overall size was smaller. Real clincher was a lot of posts from people with good units still adding a roof top to supplement basement. original air was 2 ton, if conversion is right 2-15000btu equals 2-1/2 ton. Hindsight ,1-15000 & 1-12500 might have been adequate but I&DW were after COLD, since most of our RV trips are in hot climates. Dometic slimlines were chosen for height considerations and pusbutton thermostat. Units run about 1100.00 ea. plus thermo. They are not heat pumps but we don't need that. Quality of work is where you find it and labor is regional I guess.

IMO, you did the right thing by NOT buying another POS from RVT/Coleman. They weezeled out of their 2 year warranty on mine because WBGO had one of their authorized service shops repair mine while it was under WBGO warranty. The next year, when the POS stopped working again, RVT said SOL because the WBGO dealer was not one of THEIR authorized repair centers. It is working OK now, on MY dime , but I'll never knowingly buy another anything from RVT.

[deandec]

As a pricing option, consider the below info I just experienced.

Just bought Penguin II low profile, 15k Btu, ducted, heat pump on EBAY from an RV parts supplier.

Cost was $970 delivered after winning the auction. The "buy it now" option from same dealer was @ $1,060 delivered. Or, I could buy it on their store web site for $1,240 delivered.

PPL quoted over $1,300 delivered.

Unit is now registered with Dometic Warranty program and works as advertised.

Before you buy, peruse the Dometic AC various offerings as there are ducted & non-ducted, multi zone capable and single zone capable, 13.5K and 15K, Heat Pump/Heat Strip/no heat, Brisk Aire and Penguin model options.

Getting the correct unit to fit the specific replacement needs took me some study time.

[FIRE UP]

Wow,
What's amazing here is there has been several threads on Basement A/C units and, polls have been taken to the inquiry of how many liked them vs roof-top A/C units. In the threads I remember, by far, the majority of folks with experience in both units, would take a basement A/C over a roof top, any day of the week. Noise, efficiency, problems etc. were all talked about and, still the majority was for the basement models.

Our coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, has a very nice working basement A/C unit. The only thing I've done to it is, removed it from it's cradle, placed it on some saw horses and, replaced a junk bronze bushing on a fan shaft with a permanently lubed bearing from Grainger. That's it. So far, knock on wood, it's been an outstanding unit. Too bad the OP had so much trouble with his. Glad he's happy with his new Roof airs though.

As long as your "cool" in your travels, that's all that counts.
Scott

[capnj]

efficiency : power wise - talking nickles and dimes . air flow ,huge improvement since air does not have to be pushed from below all the way front. also one unit will cool my coach very well in mid 90s temps, with stat set on 74 coach temp ranges from 73 to 78. noise ? yes it is louder, but we simply use#2 in bedroom on med or hi and set #1 in galley a couple degrees or so higher and on auto, as an occasional booster. at nite the #1 becomes primary and #2 shuts off. the dometic thermostat offers almost limitless settings plus being push button ,my big clumsy fingers don't have to fiddle with those little slide bars. service - a lot less trouble to replace a roof top than the basement ,not to mention finding someone ,capable or otherwise, to work on one. This being said, I am glad that you are having such good luck and really truly hope it continues. When your ship gets hulled ,either stop the leak or abandon ship.

[capnj]

Originally Posted by edgray

IMO, you did the right thing by NOT buying another POS from RVT/Coleman. They weezeled out of their 2 year warranty on mine because WBGO had one of their authorized service shops repair mine while it was under WBGO warranty. The next year, when the POS stopped working again, RVT said SOL because the WBGO dealer was not one of THEIR authorized repair centers. It is working OK now, on MY dime , but I'll never knowingly buy another anything from RVT.

Thanks Ed, I have seen various of your posts and replies. I hope you have good luck with your unit from now on, at least through the last campfire!!! It seems that everyone's problems with RVs are different but some try to make them one size fits all. As one of my sailor buddies once said " I YAM WHAT I YAM" And I say " what it is it is!"

[capnj]

Finally got around to posting pictures of basement air conversion. I realize that most are more interested in heat than a/c this time of year ,but when it turns cold , summer is only a few months away.

[capnj]

Here are pic of conversion

[Ray,IN]

How did you run the wiring to the roof openings? I suspect through the roof ducting, but you may have a better way.

[JMonroe]

Winne owners aren't the only ones converting. We have friends with a 20 year old Newall. It finally got to the point where parts were no longer available for the basement air and he just had a pair of roof top units installed. He's very happy with the results, not to mention that any future service needed will be much easier, both in terms of access and cost. Two units for the 45' coach.

[Harry B]

We just replaced our 2005 Horizon which had basement air. However we miss it, we now have 3 rooftop units which cool better but the noise is much worse and on 30 amps we now only have one AC available where as before we could use both compressors, Also find our self constantly adjusting the 3 zones. Bottom line is better cooling but more obtrusive. However cooling was always adequate in our 40ft Horizon once the duct leakage was fixed