More A/C air flow

[hattitude]

Originally Posted by DSRamblers

Where did you order the foam tape??? Could you please send a link. Thank you!!!

You can get foam weatherstrip tape, of various thicknesses and widths at just about any home improvement center....

I know our local Home Depot stocks "Frost King" foam weatherstrip tape..

They also have rubber and various other types of weatherstrip tape...

[Dutchstar411]

Originally Posted by DSRamblers

Where did you order the foam tape??? Could you please send a link. Thank you!!!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is a dense foam tape with a strong adhesive backing. The 1" x 1" is the right size to use and it makes a very tight fit once you close the wood vent door. You will actually need to push up just slightly for ALL four magnets to make contact.

[Jshemack]

Originally Posted by PeteDr

Our 2019 Ventana LE 37 has been a wonderful coach so far. I am down to "nice to do" items, and top of this list more AC air flow from the two ceiling grates. The ones we have are all finished wood, with slates running side to side. Between the slates a small cut is made along each deep edge opening through to the back. This is a magnetic swing down cover, one side hinged, the other held closed by magnets.

Bottom line, if I let the grate swing in the open position the AC air volume is more that enough. Close the grate and the output drops to almost nothing. The cuts in the grates are just too few square inches to get good air flow. Anyone tackle this problem successfully?

If the airflow increases when opened, why don’t you try taking a couple small magnets and stacking them so they prop the cover open slightly more?

[samsonsdriver]

Originally Posted by PeteDr

Our 2019 Ventana LE 37 has been a wonderful coach so far. I am down to "nice to do" items, and top of this list more AC air flow from the two ceiling grates. The ones we have are all finished wood, with slates running side to side. Between the slates a small cut is made along each deep edge opening through to the back. This is a magnetic swing down cover, one side hinged, the other held closed by magnets.

Bottom line, if I let the grate swing in the open position the AC air volume is more that enough. Close the grate and the output drops to almost nothing. The cuts in the grates are just too few square inches to get good air flow. Anyone tackle this problem successfully?

One thing I noticed on my 2017 LE 4037 is that the ac duct on the forward end goes 3 ft past the last duct, to above the front seats. I used a pool noodle to block that additional dead space. Also the duct work goes the full length and I also use a noodle just behind the last duct in the kitchen to force the full flow of the front ac into the front and the rear does the bathrooms and bedroom that way.

[kwahl1]

One helpful hint that does involve the AC ducting. Put a set of drapes on a rod behind the driver/passenger chairs. This curtain keeps out the heat from the front of the coach that come off that windshield. Works great for the heater too.
We use our “Okie curtain” when driving in cold or hot weather so our dash AC/heater isn’t cooling/heating the living area. I don’t use our rooftop units while driving.

[DocHaley]

I'll probable get booed for this post but I have never counted on an RV AC system here in Texas. Colorado? Kansas? maybe.
I have a portable heat pump that I roll out and use.
It discharges the condenser air through the floor and straight out to the below RV.

It can get the RV so cold you would think you can hang been in it.

It's a heat pump so it works just fine for heating also but I only use it in the spring and early fall for heat. I put it away for the colder months and use the heater in the RV or a Vornado for heat. It's too is unbelievable for it's quietness heating ability and size.

Anyway the only HVAC system I have ever had that I raved about was a basement unit which is rare these days in most RV's.

Doc

[lostinfla]

Wouldn't just one lengthwise strip of foam between the supply and return work?

[Dutchstar411]

Originally Posted by lostinfla

Wouldn't just one lengthwise strip of foam between the supply and return work?

It could, but I personally didn't want the Cold AC Air to go around the edges of the wooden frame, possible creating moisture on the magnets, and the wood frame itself. I still wanted to have somewhat of a downward force, not just level with the ceiling to dilute the cold air to a warmer ceiling and possible creating moisture. Even with "boxing" it in a much larger area, the downward force is still present.

[Ribbit]

There are different flow rates for all kinds of filters. If flow rate is ok w/o any filters, research higher flow rate filters that you might have to change more often. Research flow rates, not just MERV ratings. If your filters are just cut pieces of foam look for more open foam. If the ducting beyond to the bedroom is getting too much air flow, try testing dampers made of thin cardboard to block air from going where you don't want it. BTW, take an old towel and use office paper squeeze clips to cover up that old TV hole completely to keep out a *lot* of hot air from that hole. The spring clips mean you can change towel if it gets dirty, is completely adjustable, and you can still dig the wires out from under it to go to the new TV that rides around on top of your bed between the pillows. 😁 Yes, that is the only way our new TV would ever survive the extremely bad CA roads. Dark solid cover towels work well. We were getting a *lot* of heat through our tv hole. We are the ones parked next to you with silver 1/4" insulation in windows we don't use on the sunny side of the campgrounds. 😉

[1543Oakhurst]

Originally Posted by PeteDr

Our 2019 Ventana LE 37 has been a wonderful coach so far. I am down to "nice to do" items, and top of this list more AC air flow from the two ceiling grates. The ones we have are all finished wood, with slates running side to side. Between the slates a small cut is made along each deep edge opening through to the back. This is a magnetic swing down cover, one side hinged, the other held closed by magnets.

Bottom line, if I let the grate swing in the open position the AC air volume is more that enough. Close the grate and the output drops to almost nothing. The cuts in the grates are just too few square inches to get good air flow. Anyone tackle this problem successfully?

Hi Peter, I own a 2016 Dutch Star, have the same problem and Newmar is fully aware that the hot or cold airflow is restricted unlike the Tiffin coaches. Another problem that I addressed with Newmar and they corrected the issue is the cabinet above the drivers seat that houses the audio and video equipment, I had Newmar make me the same cabinet that is in the King Air, the cabinet door had wire mesh that allow airflow allowing the electronics to cool down. Regarding the heat and a/c I open the ceiling housing allowing the air to flow at full stream, of course you have to be careful not to walk into the hanging decorative panel.

[JoeAnt]

To those folks that converted there AC covers to white. Can you tell me if it really helped. I have thought about doing this but I admit I am skeptical that it will help.
Thanks

[Dutchstar411]

Originally Posted by JoeAnt

To those folks that converted there AC covers to white. Can you tell me if it really helped. I have thought about doing this but I admit I am skeptical that it will help.
Thanks

A couple of Google Quotes:

"Why are black surfaces good conductors of heat? Black surfaces are black because the light is absorbed rather than reflected. Light is energy is converted to heat when its is absorbed, so black surfaces will heat more, relative to white of light colored surfaces."

"When they measured the interior temperature after a few hours, they discovered the theory rang true. The black car's cabin measured a scorching 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while the white car's interior registered only 113 degrees."

So it could be assumed that less heat around the coils would be a better since they're already trying to dissipate the heat within them.

My 2015 DSDP came with white covers so no need on my part to change them out.

[The Renegade]

Its kind of hard to tell but lets assume the top of the page is the AC and the air is blowing down. It looks like the slats are shaped like this v and maybe should have been shaped like ^... Yes or no on how they are shaped?

[PeteDr]

Been a while since I posted my progress with the HVAC air flow in our 2019 37 Ventana coach.

Bottom line I have done several small improvements that have added up to what for now feels acceptable, but only July and August will give these a real test. Going from rear to front these are the changes if any to the system components.:
-Rear bath has two 7" return vents with foam filters and one supply 7" vent. Excess supply air flow was decreased some by adding a filter to the supply vent, creating some back pressure.
-Rear bedroom has one of the three grates in the coach with two supply vents and three return vents. The return vents were isolated using using adhesive backed 2 x 3/8" adhesive foam. The foam circles on the supply vents were removed to allow free air flow to the entire back of the grate except for the isolated return area. Now have a slight to heavy air flow coming from most of the grate.
-Galley/pantry area grate has 4 return vents and 4 supply vents. Good volume of air flow as is, so no changes.
-Half bath supply vent also good as is.
-Forward living area has a grate with 3 return vents and 2 supply vents. As with the bedroom, I isolated the return vents using adhesive backed foam, and removed the foam circles on the supply vents. This helped a little but the bigger improvement came from a curved foam insert I made to block the supply duct work forward on the last 7" supply vent and guide the supply air out of the vent. I now have two supply vents discharging air at a reasonable rate just before the steering station.

That is where I landed for now. May do some more fine tuning with the hot weather, but the bottom line is that 30K btu's of AC is only going to do so much. And my coach is only a 37.