Community Forums

Hclint · 10-09-2022, 05:47 PM

I have a 2007 Monaco Camelot with 1 of 3 Dometic Duo-Therm ACs compressor failure. I have extended warranty and will likely get the one AC replaced with a new 13,500 BTU Dometic Penguin II with heat pump. (not sure if they will replace the required new 10 button thermostat). The kit boards for making the new Penguin II work with old 5 button thermostat do not seem to be available anywhere. Are they going to manufacturer the boards again at all? Timing? Also, if I can't get the board. Can I use the 10-button new thermostat on my new unit and still use the 5-button thermostat for the other two units? That would mean I'd have two separate thermostat setups. Also, what are the Pros and Cons of just biting the bullet and installing all new Penquin II ac's with heat pumps and using the new 10 button thermostat for all (maybe Micro-air thermostat if I hear good report from any current users) HOW DO THE NEW Dometic Penguin II UNITS WORK AS OPPOSED TO THE OLD DUO-THERM? More efficient? Quieter? If I replace all 3 should I consider upgrading to 1500BTU with heat pumps? FYI I also have the Aqua Hot system. Should I just replace without the heat pumps? Thoughts will be appreciated!

chuckftboy · 10-09-2022, 06:27 PM

Personally, I think heat pumps have a lot of advantage if you do much mild winter camping. I do a lot of winter Rving here in the southeast and seldom do I need the Aquahot unless it below 38 degrees.

jacwjames · 10-09-2022, 06:47 PM

I replaced both my 13.5K BTU Duotherm units with the 15K BTU high capacity heat pump Penguins last year. I had one of the old units that was starting to cause problems so I just bit the bullet.

I decided to go with the Micro Air Easy Touch thermostat. I like it for the Bluetooth capability and the Wifi.

I can't tell if the new Penguins are any quieter. They do have 3 speed fan which may help.

The seem to cool good, I was in TX last year Nov. When I left the coach it was cool. For the heck of it ~4 hours later I checked the RV via Wifi and the temp in the coach was close to 90F, so I turned the front AC on. By the time I got back to the coach ~2 hours later the temp was down to ~75F. Not bad.

The Micro Air thermostat is pretty small and takes effort to change which AC you want to control and change from AC to heat etc. My wife is getting ready to take the coach for a short trip and I tried to show her today (she was a little pissed). So I loaded the App on her phone and all is good, it is a lot easy to use. Just connect with Bluetooth and all is good.

CaptV1VR · 10-09-2022, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hclint

I have a 2007 Monaco Camelot with 1 of 3 Dometic Duo-Therm ACs compressor failure. I have extended warranty and will likely get the one AC replaced with a new 13,500 BTU Dometic Penguin II with heat pump. (not sure if they will replace the required new 10 button thermostat). The kit boards for making the new Penguin II work with old 5 button thermostat do not seem to be available anywhere. Are they going to manufacturer the boards again at all? Timing? Also, if I can't get the board. Can I use the 10-button new thermostat on my new unit and still use the 5-button thermostat for the other two units? That would mean I'd have two separate thermostat setups. Also, what are the Pros and Cons of just biting the bullet and installing all new Penquin II ac's with heat pumps and using the new 10 button thermostat for all (maybe Micro-air thermostat if I hear good report from any current users) HOW DO THE NEW Dometic Penguin II UNITS WORK AS OPPOSED TO THE OLD DUO-THERM? More efficient? Quieter? If I replace all 3 should I consider upgrading to 1500BTU with heat pumps? FYI I also have the Aqua Hot system. Should I just replace without the heat pumps? Thoughts will be appreciated!

I’m going through the exact same thing for our front unit.
Considering biting the bullet and buying new for rear and a 10 button or Micro Air for both.
Dometic has not received any conversion boards from their suppliers for over 2 years and none coming. Our unit does not have Aqua Hot so going with the Heat Pump

Inthe70s · 10-09-2022, 09:06 PM

Personally, I’d at least bite the bullet and upgrade to the 15K BTU. We used to have the 13.5K in our last coach and it seemed loud and struggled to keep the coach cool, even though it wasn’t blazing hot out. Our current coach has 3, 15K units and it does a much better job. As far as the heat pumps are concerned, it would depend on how much cool weather camping you do. We don’t really do any but ours have the heat pumps just in case we do have some chilly mornings. Good luck!

Hclint · 10-10-2022, 04:23 AM

Thanks for the great input. You mentioned you use Micro Air thermostadt on both new Penguin II 15K BTU w/ heat pumps.

1) did this require NEW wiring to the thermostat? (Old 5 button vs the new 10 button Dometic.
2) Is a single Micro-Air thermostat equipped to handle 3 each 15K BTU with heat pump and Aqua hot furnace (front and rear)

jacwjames · 10-11-2022, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hclint

Thanks for the great input. You mentioned you use Micro Air thermostadt on both new Penguin II 15K BTU w/ heat pumps.

1) did this require NEW wiring to the thermostat? (Old 5 button vs the new 10 button Dometic.
2) Is a single Micro-Air thermostat equipped to handle 3 each 15K BTU with heat pump and Aqua hot furnace (front and rear)

On my coach, when I changed both AC, the Micro Air thermostat was plug an play. I did have to make sure the dip switches on the AC's were set up correctly (just copied to ones I took out). When I plugged it in it recognized both. I have one communication cable at the thermostat that goes to the bedroom AC and then there is a communication cable from bedroom to LR.

The instructions for connecting to Bluetooth and WiFi aren't great. Got Bluetooth connected pretty fast but WiFi took some effort but once connected it works great.

I took advantage of this last winter, I didn't winterize my coach but relied on my system heat & a small cube heater in the living area to keep the coach warm. I would check it on cold nights before I went to bed for peace of mind. Works great.

The thermostat display has 4 units showing, which I assume is the number of AC's it will control. My unit has 2 lite up.

Hclint · 10-12-2022, 03:45 AM

Thanks for the detailed information. All appreciated!

jacwjames · 10-12-2022, 06:21 AM

If you go to the Micro Air website it takes you through a process of selecting the right thermostat. It assumes you are replacing one.
In my case this was a new installation.

I purchased my AC units from PPL, best price I could find. I called them to confirm they would work based on the units I had. They also recommended a thermostat, which I believe was the 10 button CCC.

So when I went the Micro Air site I used this as the one I wanted to replace.

My suggestion would be to confirm what thermostat you need for the AC's you are going to buy and then use that info to order a Micro Air!!

Hclint · 10-12-2022, 08:18 PM

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on my replacement A/C question! At this point my plan is to push my extended warranty company to replace the failed center Dometic DuoTherm 13500 btu with heat pump (no longer available) with the replacement model Penguin II (I'll upgrade to 15000 btu and pay difference). I'll also push for them paying for 10 button thermostat that will be required. Since no kits are available to allow my front and rear ac units to run on the new thermostat, I'll run a new cable and have two separate thermostats for now. At some point I may get back to one thermostat if/when my front and rear DuoTherms give out. By then the new Dometic FreshJet will likely be in vogue. I understand it will eventually replace Penguin and Brisk.