Community Forums

klschams · 06-13-2016, 06:57 AM

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and new to RVing. I have a 2007 fleetwood Tioga, 26 ft. Can I run the air while driving? I did not need to before but, it is really getting hot now. They day 97 on Thurs and I will be on the road.

cbramsey · 06-13-2016, 07:03 AM

If you have an onboard generator, you can run it while driving and use the rooftop a/c units to cool the coach.

MusicRocks · 06-13-2016, 07:05 AM

You can run the air if you run your generator while driving. Will keep it cool but you'll use much more gas.

JC2 · 06-13-2016, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klschams

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and new to RVing. I have a 2007 fleetwood Tioga, 26 ft. Can I run the air while driving? I did not need to before but, it is really getting hot now. They day 97 on Thurs and I will be on the road.

1. Run the dash air on the max cool mode and adjust the vents/fan speed to your comfort.
2. Turn your generator on, turn the roof ac on after genie indicates it's producing power, set roof ac thermostat at 70-71, turn roof ac fan from the auto setting to high. Generators are economical to run and will use very little fuel, approx. 1/2-3/4 gal per hr under load. Running them is very good for them vs not using.

JayGee · 06-13-2016, 07:16 AM

Often I will start the gennie, run the house ac and turn off the cab ac. You can also run a fan to distribute the cool air if needed. The gas usage of the gennie is about a half gallon per hour. You probably save some fuel by turning off the engine ac so it is not that big a deal to remain comfortable.

Podivin · 06-13-2016, 07:20 AM

Several times I've been told and read on the internet (so it MUST be true!

) that it takes less fuel to run the generator and coach AC than it does to run the chassis AC, due to the load the chassis AC puts on the engine. I don't know if that's really true, and I pretty much don't really care. The chassis AC can't cool our coach, so I run the generator and the front coach AC while driving.
I did learn over the weekend to close the bathroom roof hatch, or all the cool air get's pulled towards the back of the coach due to the draw from that hatch. It took me an hour to figure out why I only felt cool air when stopped and none while moving. (doh!).

Sweetbriar · 06-13-2016, 08:19 AM

Run the generator and the roof A/C. At around 1/2 a gallon burn rate while cruising down the interstate at 60 MPH the generator is consuming the equivalent of 120 MPG.

youracman · 06-13-2016, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Podivin

Several times I've been told and read on the internet (so it MUST be true!

) that it takes less fuel to run the generator and coach AC than it does to run the chassis AC, due to the load the chassis AC puts on the engine. I don't know if that's really true, and I pretty much don't really care. The chassis AC can't cool our coach, so I run the generator and the front coach AC while driving.
.

I believe the folks who told you about the dash A/C to roof A/C comparison were spot on. I note my 15K roof air is drawing about 10 amps at "run load" or steady state conditions.....equates to 1200 watts or about 1.6 HP. It's pretty much agreed that auto A/Cs take from 2 to 3 HP (less for subcompacts). I'm thinkin' my V-10 (Class C) is one of the 3HP (or a little more) type systems ...... cools the cab in any conditions.....but not the whole coach, of course.

Safe travels........Ed S in Denver

Murf2u · 06-14-2016, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Podivin

Several times I've been told and read on the internet (so it MUST be true!

) that it takes less fuel to run the generator and coach AC than it does to run the chassis AC, due to the load the chassis AC puts on the engine.

No, that's an urban myth, a typical 4K Onan has a carbureted 9hp single cylinder air cooled engine on it. Running that engine full-time is nowhere near as efficient as the additional part-time load on a comparatively very efficient chassis engine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Podivin

I did learn over the weekend to close the bathroom roof hatch, or all the cool air get's pulled towards the back of the coach due to the draw from that hatch. It took me an hour to figure out why I only felt cool air when stopped and none while moving. (doh!).

Actually the dash A/C is far more powerful than the roof air is, its shortcoming though is its fan, it's far lower CFM capacity. The easy way to boost that, and its cooling capacity is to open that rear vent and NOT use the 'max a/c' setting. All 'max' does is close the outside air intake and open an intake below the dash.

If you then open the rearmost roof vent (usually the bathroom) and point most of the dash vents down between the front seats the hot air off the ceiling is sucked out and replaced by colder air from the dash.

Typically you only get about 25% of the capacity of the dash a/c because the fan can't keep up with its cooling capacity.

CharlesinGA · 06-14-2016, 08:29 AM

If there is a privacy curtain that hangs behind the cab area, use it while enroute. It will help keep the chassis air in the cab area. Run the chassis air on max or recirculate. no sense in drawing in hot outside air and trying to cool it. Just keep re-cooling what you have, much more efficient.

Sprinter chassis is terrible in that the recirculate only works for about 10 minutes and then automatically shifts back to fresh or outside air. You have to keep pressing the recirculate button over and over again, or wire the damper in the recirculate position.

Charles

JohnBoyToo · 06-14-2016, 08:48 AM

You folks in the cooler climes can debate all you want about which is best ---
we in 'da sowth' will do whatever it takes to keep cool - even, shocking and SO wasteful as it seems, using BOTH dash air and roof air !!!
even to the extreme of traveling up north...

but I have to chuckle at some splitting hairs on .6 hp versus 1.0 hp on moving HOUSES that flow through the air like a parachute ?!?

to each his own,
I will run the dash, the gen, the roof air, even a cooling seat cushion on ours to stay cool - which IS the point in the south

CJ7365 · 06-14-2016, 08:56 AM

The OP asked a very simple question, but yet it always turns into a big discussion about nothing and not relevant to the OP, sounds like a bunch of know it alls

Does gas consumption really matter if one is trying to stay cool

Hammer bird · 06-14-2016, 09:07 AM

We tried to suck it up and use just the dash air. But that didn't last long! We put on the genny and used just the front ac and the ride was very comfortable! We are going to close off the back half of the rig but we'll need to install a latch to keep the pocket door in the closed position while traveling. That way we should be able to keep the cool air in the front of the coach.

Waiter21 · 06-14-2016, 09:08 AM

yes, You can run the coach AC unit if you have a way to power it (generator).

On my old Class C, we didn't have a generator, so to keep the trucks cab cool, we made a thick "Privacy Curtain" and it hung between the cab and the coach. With the privacy curtain installed, the trucks dash AC unit would keep the cab cool while on the road.