Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE CHASSIS CLUB FORUMS > Freightliner Motorhome Chassis Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 07-03-2018, 07:24 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 862
Freightliner XCS chassis air conditioning- acceptable output temperature?

Hello-

When I took my rig out of storage this past May, I thought the air conditioner was blowing a bit warm, so I had my local Freightliner dealer examine it when it went in for its Spring service. They recharged the air conditioner and injected dye to make sure there wasn't a leak.

We just got back from a trip in South Carolina where it was hot (high 80s/low 90s) and pretty humid, so we were running the chassis air conditioning quite a bit. To me, it didn't feel like the chassis air was blowing very cold, so I took some readings. I found that with the recirculation button off, and with an outside air temperature of about 89F - 91F and high humidity, the chassis air output at the dash vent was about 75F.

I thought that output temperature was quite high. In my car, the output temperature is lower and "blows cold" to the touch. I took the rig to a Freightliner Oasis dealer, he rolled the rig into their air conditioned garage (probably 75F-ish and no humidity garage temperature), put the AC on with recirculation selected, and the output temperature was in the mid to high 40s. He said that in his opinion, the air conditioner was working fine and that the temperatures I described in the paragraph above were normal. He told me that I should always run the air conditioner with recirculation selected, and told me that I needed to run the house air conditioners when it got hot out, which we do.

He offered to take more time to examine the problem if I wanted (look for a leak marked by the dye, drive it around to see if anything changed, etc.), but felt that I would be wasting my money (@$125/hour) because if there was a leak in the system, the temperature drop (outside air temperature to dash temperature) would have been zero and the air conditioner wouldn't have worked as it was working in the garage.

Anyway, what are your thoughts about this? This is my first DP so I am basing my opinion on the fact that when I get into my car, or any car for that matter, on a hot, humid day, my car's air conditioner blows noticeably very cold after a few minutes. The air conditioner on my previous motorhome (Ford F53 chassis) blew cold as well. Perhaps it's not the same for truck chassis like this? I'm wondering if I should blow the money on a second opinion, or just accept it as it is.

Thanks!
__________________
2013 Fleetwood Excursion 33A
Cummins ISB 6.7L (ISB 10)/Allison 2100 Transmission
Freightliner XCS chassis
ualdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 07-03-2018, 07:32 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Conroe, TX
Posts: 150
Haven't tried this, but when we bought our coach it had an adjustable curtain rod and drapes that the previous owner would rest on top of the slides when they're closed and then close the drapes thereby separating the cab from the rest of the coach, leaving a much smaller area to cool.

I did something similar with my VW bus in the winter back in the day.
__________________
Gary, Sue and Garrett Redman
2011 "Classic" Aspire 42RBQ
2016 RAM 1500 Longhorn 4X4
GRedman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2018, 08:55 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 862
Quote:
Originally Posted by GRedman View Post
Haven't tried this, but when we bought our coach it had an adjustable curtain rod and drapes that the previous owner would rest on top of the slides when they're closed and then close the drapes thereby separating the cab from the rest of the coach, leaving a much smaller area to cool.

I did something similar with my VW bus in the winter back in the day.
I've read about people doing that. Probably not for us. I'm not worried (per se) about keeping the RV cool with the panel air conditioning. I'm wondering more if the air conditioner is working properly and if it's not, what could be going wrong so I can talk to a Freightliner technician as an "educated" owner.
__________________
2013 Fleetwood Excursion 33A
Cummins ISB 6.7L (ISB 10)/Allison 2100 Transmission
Freightliner XCS chassis
ualdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2018, 10:58 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Skip426's Avatar


 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Powell River, B.C.
Posts: 31,311
I'm guessing that because you said , that this issue started after storage , and you haven't said that the dash A/C performance , isn't the same as it was during use last summer . That you didn't have the coach last summer .
Am I correct ?

The tech checking operation , would have charts to compare , output at the vents to ambient (outside air, on A/C or inside air on Max ) temp; and 40 sounds good to me.
Using the " Max A/C " ( recirculate ) shuts off water flow to the heater core to keep ANY heat out of the dash HVAC box , and many members have added manual coolant flow shut offs, in the heater hoses, so they can keep the heat out of the dash, when using just the A/C setting.
The dash A/C compressor , in your car , previous MH and current DP , are all a similar size . Distance from the compressor to the dash, size of the evaporator , condenser and the internal volume of air to be cooled are the variables.
I haven't had to use my dash A/C in high humidity situations ; south west desert is my area of travel; but I can keep comfortable with just dash A/C till the temps hit the mid 90's. Drivers area ; back of the coach is a different matter.
With the temps that the tech got during the test ,I'm thinking the system is working as well as can be expected. About the only further test would be to see if the coolant flow valve is completely shutting off flow to the heater core ; in max A/C; and restricting flow in other modes .
__________________
99DSDP 3884, Freightliner, XC, CAT 3126B, 300 HP /ALLISON 3060
2000 Caravan toad, Remco & Blue Ox.
Skip426 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2018, 03:34 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 862
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
I'm guessing that because you said , that this issue started after storage , and you haven't said that the dash A/C performance , isn't the same as it was during use last summer . That you didn't have the coach last summer .
Am I correct ?

The tech checking operation , would have charts to compare , output at the vents to ambient (outside air, on A/C or inside air on Max ) temp; and 40 sounds good to me.
Using the " Max A/C " ( recirculate ) shuts off water flow to the heater core to keep ANY heat out of the dash HVAC box , and many members have added manual coolant flow shut offs, in the heater hoses, so they can keep the heat out of the dash, when using just the A/C setting.
The dash A/C compressor , in your car , previous MH and current DP , are all a similar size . Distance from the compressor to the dash, size of the evaporator , condenser and the internal volume of air to be cooled are the variables.
I haven't had to use my dash A/C in high humidity situations ; south west desert is my area of travel; but I can keep comfortable with just dash A/C till the temps hit the mid 90's. Drivers area ; back of the coach is a different matter.
With the temps that the tech got during the test ,I'm thinking the system is working as well as can be expected. About the only further test would be to see if the coolant flow valve is completely shutting off flow to the heater core ; in max A/C; and restricting flow in other modes .
I had the coach last summer but it either worked really well or it was working just as "good" as this year and I didn't notice. We bought the rig at the end of June last year so I was overwhelmed with figuring the unit out. The air conditioning could have been overlooked by me.

He mentioned something about adding valves to the heater core plumbing. I didn't bother to pursue that option further as I wanted to hit the road as we were driving home that day.

I just assumed that since my cars put out really cold air (colder than what I am getting from the panel, anyway) that what essentially is a big truck would do the same.
__________________
2013 Fleetwood Excursion 33A
Cummins ISB 6.7L (ISB 10)/Allison 2100 Transmission
Freightliner XCS chassis
ualdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2018, 06:59 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
ftodaro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 719
I had my Chassis air serviced last year and what they did was first listen to see if the compressor was kicking on when you turned on the AC. If the freeon is too low the compressor will not work. If the compressor is working then look to see if your cooling fans are running. In my case the system needed a recharge and one of the two cooling fans was not working so we replaced that with one large fan.



To answer your questions, this is just what i recall, but the output temp of the ac is going to be dependent on the outside temp. there should be at least a 20 degrees differential. If there is, its working although it may not be at top efficiency.
__________________
Frank, Columbus, Ohio
2001 Itasca Horizon Cat 3126B 330hp, 2018 Jeep GC Limited, EPS harness or 24' Enclosed Car Hauler
ftodaro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-03-2018, 07:49 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ftodaro View Post
I had my Chassis air serviced last year and what they did was first listen to see if the compressor was kicking on when you turned on the AC. If the freeon is too low the compressor will not work. If the compressor is working then look to see if your cooling fans are running. In my case the system needed a recharge and one of the two cooling fans was not working so we replaced that with one large fan.



To answer your questions, this is just what i recall, but the output temp of the ac is going to be dependent on the outside temp. there should be at least a 20 degrees differential. If there is, its working although it may not be at top efficiency.
Thanks for this info.
__________________
2013 Fleetwood Excursion 33A
Cummins ISB 6.7L (ISB 10)/Allison 2100 Transmission
Freightliner XCS chassis
ualdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2018, 10:04 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
BairleaFarm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Georgetown, KY
Posts: 144
Yeap 20-30* less than ambient air temp is acceptable
__________________
David - 1980 MCI MC9 Conversion
2008 Keystone Copper Canyon
19something DutchMan Classic
BairleaFarm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2018, 08:12 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
powerboatr's Avatar
 
Damon Owners Club
Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: North East Texas
Posts: 4,946
with recirc selected i can generally get 42F - 45F out of the center vents,



I have to add two cans every spring, been searching for ten years ad still haven't found the bleeder
__________________
USN Retired, Life time member of the DAV.
Enjoying the 2008 Damon Tuscany 4056, #3998 no your eyes are fine, there are really 6 slides
2022 F150 King Ranch or 2012 Edge toads

powerboatr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2018, 09:01 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
lonfu's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Winnebago Owners Club
Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Kingman Az
Posts: 1,686
Just finished recharging my 01 freightliner chassis dutchstar. 90 ambient, 42 center vent at idle....But, I replaced the R134 with Enviro-safe refrigerant. It uses less material, you don't have to pull a vacuum and brings down the vent temps. Used it in my Itasca chevy chassis and my Freightliner chassis with a Cat engine. Specs for the freightliner call for 4lbs. I used 24 oz's. and got 8 degree colder vent temp while ambient was 10 degrees higher....New tech is amazing...
__________________
May your black water hose never break!
lonfu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2018, 12:16 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
RescueRamsey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 251
Back when I went to school for a/c, the industry standard was 30* below ambient, NOT using recirculation, the system had to be able to drop 30* from the outside air or it could not leave the shop, I've done literally hundreds of a/c systems, everything from a basic recharge to design and fabrication of custom systems for vehicles that did not originally have it, and always was able to hit the 30* number, most if the time we could get 40* drop if everything is just right. The length of the hoses is not really an issue. Personally I would take it to another shop, specifically a dedicated automotive a/c shop. There is no reason to go to a RV shop, the system is identical to that of a pick up truck.
__________________
2002 Holiday Rambler Imperial 38PKD
370 Cummins ISL
RescueRamsey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2018, 12:53 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 862
All through Rescue.... Thanks. I'll probably seek a sec opinion when I get it serviced before Fall storage. I'm really not liking the dash AC performance that I am getting.
ualdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 01:46 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 862
Quote:
Originally Posted by powerboatr View Post
with recirc selected i can generally get 42F - 45F out of the center vents,



I have to add two cans every spring, been searching for ten years ad still haven't found the bleeder
Quote:
Originally Posted by lonfu View Post
Just finished recharging my 01 freightliner chassis dutchstar. 90 ambient, 42 center vent at idle....But, I replaced the R134 with Enviro-safe refrigerant. It uses less material, you don't have to pull a vacuum and brings down the vent temps. Used it in my Itasca chevy chassis and my Freightliner chassis with a Cat engine. Specs for the freightliner call for 4lbs. I used 24 oz's. and got 8 degree colder vent temp while ambient was 10 degrees higher....New tech is amazing...
So how are you guys adding refrigerant or changing refrigerant into the system? I thought one needed specialized tools to do this?
__________________
2013 Fleetwood Excursion 33A
Cummins ISB 6.7L (ISB 10)/Allison 2100 Transmission
Freightliner XCS chassis
ualdriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 10:29 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
lonfu's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Winnebago Owners Club
Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Kingman Az
Posts: 1,686
broke down and bought a set of ac gauges at harbor freight..... then ordered a can valve and adapter from amazon. cheapo set up is about $50... spend a little time watching Utube vids if you haven't messed with ac before.. I started fooling around with it in 1973... kind of got the drift of it now....But, if you know your system is short then you can buy kits from walmart to add some coolant....cheaper in the long run to just buy the gauges and learn a new skill...just remember, never add to the high side and to much is as bad as too little....
__________________
May your black water hose never break!
lonfu is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
air, air conditioning, chassis, freightliner



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
02 Freightliner XCS Chassis Dash problems drycamp Class A Motorhome Discussions 3 05-30-2016 07:21 AM
Schematic for Freightliner XCS chassis? alkillion Freightliner Motorhome Chassis Forum 3 10-26-2013 08:49 PM
Freightliner Rv XCs chassis replacement hub and hub cap boltdave Freightliner Motorhome Chassis Forum 2 06-27-2013 11:52 PM
Freightliner XC vs. XCS Chassis for 09+ models Manke Winnebago Industries Owner's Forum 11 11-21-2009 07:54 AM
ride on a Freightliner xcs chassis wdbates Freightliner Motorhome Chassis Forum 3 06-30-2007 05:40 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:57 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.