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Old 06-25-2019, 08:41 PM   #1
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Quality of roof top air conditioners

Was not sure where to post this as it crosses over to all rv’s. I have gone threw eight ac units in the last six years. Now before we say it is me or my Bounder dp, half of them were on my 246rks travel trailer. In the late 80’s and 90’s I had a Pace Arrow and the ac unit worked great. Then I bought a 2003 Discovery dp and had to replace the capacitor on both of them, installed hard start kits on both and back in the cool.
In 2013 bought a 28’ travel trailer and put the forth new unit on it in early 2017 when I sold it. Bought a 2007 Bounder dp with two new heatpump ac units (1-1/2 year old). They both failed within a week of each other and because I was not the original purchaser the warranty was no good. That was one year ago and now both my one year old ac units have failed with in a week of each other.
I understand having to repair the ones on the Discovery but eight units failed on two different rv’s in 6 years.
Where is the quality control anymore? Are others having this problem. Dometic is suppose to be top rated ??
Yes I guess this is a rant, but why with all this technology we can not duplicate what we had decades ago. The old units would last beyond the rv itself. Arrrgh
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Old 06-25-2019, 08:57 PM   #2
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The first thing that comes to mind is the power source. Do you have an EMS? Are you at the same park all of the time. It sounds to me like the issue may not be with the A/C units but an under voltage situation. Just something to check out.
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Old 06-25-2019, 09:08 PM   #3
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Yes, ems is working correctly. This is over six years, two different rv’s and I travel all over the country. I was in aviation electronics and commercial HVAC all my working years so I check camp electric where ever we go. The only common denominator is the brand ??
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Old 06-25-2019, 09:10 PM   #4
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Great I got two 15k penguins with heat pumps comming tomorrow.
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Old 06-25-2019, 09:16 PM   #5
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I forgot to mention that on most of these it is not the electrical but the coolant that is failing. The last two for example are running the fan but front unit is putting out “0” cooling and rear unit is putting out less than 80% cooling so both are being replaced under warranty. This is what happened on the travel trailer, coolant issues.
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Old 06-25-2019, 09:19 PM   #6
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I don't discard what you are saying but in my mind, it doesn't make sense. Thats a lot of money for replacement units.
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Old 06-25-2019, 09:38 PM   #7
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Not sure if I should be proud or nervous. Coach is 20 years old, both AC's original (as far as I can tell) and both still working. One is marked Coleman and other is from company that Coleman bought (can't remember name, was some initials I think). Or, as tajfish said, quality was better then...
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:11 PM   #8
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The repairs on my Discovery I did myself. With the travel trailer the 4 units where all covered by original warranty ( none of them lasted over a year). The two heat pump units where installed just before I bought the Bounder, so I did pay indirectly, but Dometic would not cover them because I was not original purchaser. I did pay $1800.00 to have those two replaced. That was just a year ago and they are being warrantied. I did buy the extended warranty just in case. It is about the $$$ but also a major interruption in travel plans every time we lose ac as we live in Oklahoma and travel in the West and South West a lot . Just wondered if others are experiencing the same failure rate?
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:18 PM   #9
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You are officially Snakebit.
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Old 06-26-2019, 02:32 AM   #10
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Dometic has had issues with their units for many years. When I bought my 2014 Dutch Star, there was a second one on the lot that another forum member purchased. Both Dometic units on that coach were bad from day one. In 2014, they had a rash of poorly soldered circuit boards. They just DON'T build a quality unit. My new 2019 Dutch Star showed up at the dealer with a bad Dometic unit, the heat pump didn't work.

The problem.....there is really no competition in the RV A/C market, so Dometic just limps along making crap A/C units and finds it cheaper to replace those under warranty, that are bad, than to actually make a better product, as they will provide ZERO help outside the warranty. It's a shame that a company does business this way.
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Old 06-26-2019, 04:17 AM   #11
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You are officially Snakebit.
Or King Midas syndrome. Both my A/Cs are over ten years old and performing well. One is a 2005 Colman (original equipment) and the other is a possibly a 2008 Carrier (prior owner install).
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Old 06-26-2019, 04:47 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
[I
The problem.....there is really no competition in the RV A/C market, so Dometic just limps along making crap A/C units and finds it cheaper to replace those under warranty, that are bad, than to actually make a better product, as they will provide ZERO help outside the warranty. It's a shame that a company does business this way[/I].
+1.................then there is that whole "China " thing....
Having replaced two out of three of my original Dometics in 3 years, I am resigned to the fact that I will be shelling out for another one soon.
Trouble is you can't replace a Penguin II with anything else, unless you change the plenum, which is more work than I care to undertake.
I also have a Dometic outside cooler, which is two years old, already the digital readout is gone, and I'm sure it's reaching the end of it's life, now that the warranty is up.
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Old 06-26-2019, 05:31 AM   #13
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+1.................then there is that whole "China " thing....
Having replaced two out of three of my original Dometics in 3 years, I am resigned to the fact that I will be shelling out for another one soon.
Trouble is you can't replace a Penguin II with anything else, unless you change the plenum, which is more work than I care to undertake.
I also have a Dometic outside cooler, which is two years old, already the digital readout is gone, and I'm sure it's reaching the end of it's life, now that the warranty is up.

This is most likely true ... curious as to which plenum is currently installed at Newmar factory (new plenum was available last year) ....
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Old 06-26-2019, 06:15 AM   #14
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With the cost, and problems (especially the reversing valve), I would just buy a Penguin A/C without heat pump and just use my furnace when needed?
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