How hard to replace roof a/c units?

[70gsconvt]

We're strictly summer campers, so the furnace/heat pump is really a non-issue for us. The camper's put away by the end of October. So our furnace works great and will be fine.

Dometic said the Brisk Air II units are the direct replacement for what I have, so I just have to check with them if I"ll need new control boxes for them to connect to a new digital thermostat, whichever they would recommend.

[slowmachine]

I did what you ask about in your original question just a few weeks ago. I replaced two DuoTherm 13.5k heat pumps and 4-button thermostat with Penguin2 15k heat pumps and a Comfort Control Center 2 12-button thermostat. The roof units are a bolt-in replacement. The thermostat requires slight enlargement of the hole in the wall behind it. The old wiring works properly with the new roof units and thermostat.



Mike
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B

[GoldWing2003]

It is very easy to replace the A/C units. I did mine about 5 years ago on the 5th wheel we owned then. Took two hours! Remove four bolts, unhook wiring, lift off, remove gasket and clean area. Then replace with new unit bolt down and hook wiring.

The hardest part is putting new unit on roof and old one down.

[TQ60]

Ours required modifying the control cables as the old one had many wires into a ribbon connector.

Added terminal strip and cut cable so next person could reuse them as only one of 2 bad.

Cheated to get them on top...Added 2 X 4 cantilever to scissor lift to make it into a forklift and set new ones right where they needed to go.

[70gsconvt]

[QUOTE=slowmachine;2667288]I did what you ask about in your original question just a few weeks ago. I replaced two DuoTherm 13.5k heat pumps and 4-button thermostat with Penguin2 15k heat pumps and a Comfort Control Center 2 12-button thermostat. The roof units are a bolt-in replacement. The thermostat requires slight enlargement of the hole in the wall behind it. The old wiring works properly with the new roof units and thermostat.


Thanks. Any reason why you went Penguin2 instead of the Brisk AirII?

[slowmachine]

[QUOTE=70gsconvt;2676591]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

I did what you ask about in your original question just a few weeks ago. I replaced two DuoTherm 13.5k heat pumps and 4-button thermostat with Penguin2 15k heat pumps and a Comfort Control Center 2 12-button thermostat. The roof units are a bolt-in replacement. The thermostat requires slight enlargement of the hole in the wall behind it. The old wiring works properly with the new roof units and thermostat.





Thanks. Any reason why you went Penguin2 instead of the Brisk AirII?

The Penguin2 is about 3" shorter in height and I didn't like the look of the styrofoam components in the Brisk Air 2.



Mike
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B

[70gsconvt]

But the Penguins pluged right into the phone jack wiring that was currently there in your coach?

[slowmachine]

Originally Posted by 70gsconvt

But the Penguins pluged right into the phone jack wiring that was currently there in your coach?

Yes. The phone jack wiring is the same.



Mike
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B

[okrvrepair]

You will find the penguin to be quieter than the brisk air. Failure rate is lower on penguin. Plus it is better built. Penguin is a more complex unit but worth the trouble.

[70gsconvt]

I did look at the Penguin series. Much more expensive because of the heat pump, heavier, and I found several chats on various web sites that showed sound was minimally different.

[slowmachine]

The Brisk Air 2 costs quite a bit less, and weighs less, than the Penguin 2. Its taller height is really not significant for a travel trailer, and the price tag helps keep the sale price down. Larger and taller RVs are affected less by the extra weight of the Penguin, and benefit more from the lower profile. The extra weight is a very small percentage of the whole. Same with the extra cost. Neither seems a bad choice for its target market.



Mike
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B

[Vanwill]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

I did what you ask about in your original question just a few weeks ago. I replaced two DuoTherm 13.5k heat pumps and 4-button thermostat with Penguin2 15k heat pumps and a Comfort Control Center 2 12-button thermostat. The roof units are a bolt-in replacement. The thermostat requires slight enlargement of the hole in the wall behind it. The old wiring works properly with the new roof units and thermostat.



Mike
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B

Mike,

I want to do a conversion very much like yours, but using Brisk Air II 15,000 BTU rooftop heat pump units. I have a 2000 Monaco Dynasty 36 with two original Penguin heat pumps and 4-button T-stats. TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, the TWO separate T-stats in my coach each control only the roof unit in the area in which they are located--one in the bedroom and one nearer the center of the coach. The one in the center will also operate the LP furnace.

Do I understand you to say that you now have ONE 12-button T-stat? Did you have TWO 4-button T-stats previously?

Thanks so much for your post! Even speaking directly with Dometic, I could not get a "yes or no" answer to the question, "If I replace BOTH my 15-year old rooftop 13,500 BTU Penguin heat pump units with the new Brisk Air II 15,000 BTU heat pump units, and BOTH 4-button thermostats with current units, will my current wiring to the T-stats work as is?" If you can't get an answer directly from Dometic, it surely makes you wary of what any dealer might tell you.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by Vanwill

Thanks so much for your post! Even speaking directly with Dometic, I could not get a "yes or no" answer to the question, "If I replace BOTH my 15-year old rooftop 13,500 BTU Penguin heat pump units with the new Brisk Air II 15,000 BTU heat pump units, and BOTH 4-button thermostats with current units, will my current wiring to the T-stats work as is?" If you can't get an answer directly from Dometic, it surely makes you wary of what any dealer might tell you.

Seems to me Dometic was being perfectly honest and not trying to misinform you. How would the manufacturer of A/C units know if your RV has wiring to support what you asked? If, as you think, the rear A/C is controlled by the rear thermostat, and the same for the front A/C and thermostat, then you probably don't have the wiring in place to operate both units from one thermostat location, they are independent of one another. A multiple strand cable would have to be strung to connect the two A/C to one thermostat.

[slowmachine]

Originally Posted by Vanwill

Mike,

I want to do a conversion very much like yours, but using Brisk Air II 15,000 BTU rooftop heat pump units. I have a 2000 Monaco Dynasty 36 with two original Penguin heat pumps and 4-button T-stats. TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, the TWO separate T-stats in my coach each control only the roof unit in the area in which they are located--one in the bedroom and one nearer the center of the coach. The one in the center will also operate the LP furnace.

Do I understand you to say that you now have ONE 12-button T-stat? Did you have TWO 4-button T-stats previously?

Thanks so much for your post! Even speaking directly with Dometic, I could not get a "yes or no" answer to the question, "If I replace BOTH my 15-year old rooftop 13,500 BTU Penguin heat pump units with the new Brisk Air II 15,000 BTU heat pump units, and BOTH 4-button thermostats with current units, will my current wiring to the T-stats work as is?" If you can't get an answer directly from Dometic, it surely makes you wary of what any dealer might tell you.

My Endeavor was originally equipped with two Duo-Therm13.5k heat pumps and a single four-button thermostat. In this system, there is one "phone" cable that runs from the thermostat to the Zone 1 roof unit, usually in the front of the RV, and another "phone" cable that runs from the Zone 1 unit to the Zone 2 unit (and so on, if there are more than two). The furnace can also be connected to the same thermostat, but doesn't have to be.

The new 15k Penguin 2 heat pumps and single 12-button CCC2 thermostat use the same wiring. My AC runs through ceiling ducts that connect in the middle of the coach. On the passenger side, I can extend a tape measure through the duct from the farthest forward ceiling register to the farthest aft. It is one uninterrupted duct. On the driver's side, the duct is interrupted by the shower skylight. If your coach now has two thermostats and you want to run the whole system from a single thermostat, and you have a duct system like mine you can easily snake a "phone" cable through the ductwork to connect the two roof units. The actual temperature sensor is in the roof units, not in the thermostat, so it really doesn't matter where the thermostat is located. When configured like this, the control board on the Zone 1 unit staggers the fan and compressor startups for the two zones, so you shouldn't have to worry about the large startup power draw. To me, this seems much better than two independent zones with no power management.

Mike
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B