I Just Went Wacko In My Motor Home

[georgelesley]

Originally Posted by Alkaline

Hi,

I found this thread and now I'm very intrigued, my question is that if anyone has done before and after tests with DB readings (most smart phones have a pretty decent DB reading app).

If these can work it would make my buying decesion very easy as right now I'm considering replacing my current units with the advanced R/V quite a/c:

expensive and drastic but I currently have a dometic penguin 2 and its loud, loud, loud. 69-71 DB loud and only goes down to 64 db on low fan.

I contacted the owner of wako products and he pointed me to this thread, helpful but I would like actual numbers and measurements, 8-9 DB is a very bold claim.

We visited with Mike at Advanced RV this week and I talked with him about the new quiet AC unit and actually looked at one in the factory. Very impressive. A few things to consider though. Mike is not importing the heat pump version because it is less efficient. He also told me that the unit does not work well with ducted systems.

I asked him if it is available in a 15000 BTU version and he said no, but the 13500 unit is so efficient it put out the same amount of cold air. Interesting, hope this infor helps.

[napolean2424]

Our 2007 Bounder Diesel 38V, our 3rd Bounder, has always had this loud AC problem. Fleetwood moved the rear AC forward to be more efficient for the larger front area, but that puts 2 relatively close to each other, especially when we are watching TV. I had accepted the fact that there would never be a fix for the noise. When I saw the WackO review I was skeptical, but desperate to reduce the noise.
Our AC units are Coleman. I ordered 2 with the trim rings, since I liked the finished look they provide. Yesterday, I got the coach home and connected the house electric and ran both AC's to get a base line DB number. That was 71.
The install was easy, and all the needed parts were included. After the install. the DB number was 63. To me, that was worth the money. Happy wife, happy life! American ingenuity. Hats off to Wacko!

[doughboyrv]

WackO products now has a new model out to fit the new style dometic air Conditioners. The DA400. They have the pictures of the ceiling assembly on the website. This way you can see what you have so you order the correct kit.

[schrod]

Originally Posted by MoCoTom

I installed the Wacko silencer on my Dometic a/c with similar results. I am extremely happy with the reduced noise. There is no longer a need to crank the tv volume up when the a/c kicks on. Yes they may be what some consider pricey, but I'm willing to pay an entrepreneur for their ideas. Especially when those ideas are manufactured in the USA and actually work as advertised
Tom

I 100% agree! Those persons calling these "pricey" are living in what I call pricey RV's! If you are unwilling to pay for a patented product that has cost the entrepreneur thousands of dollars to just get it patented then you don't deserve to even be able to buy it. I have purchased one for my 5th but have as yet to install it. If it works as I believe it will then a 2nd one for the bedroom unit is also in the works. Rod

[georgelesley]

I just installed a Wacko unit on our front roof ac. I measured 62-63 DB with factory filter an now get 59-60 dB with Wacko. Will be installing one on rear ac soon. Spoke to CS for a minor question, most helpful and friendly. Highly recommend.

[YC1]

Originally Posted by rvingpals

Why not simply cover up the dump area with tape and a thin metal plate and replace original Dometic cover? Just a thought!

That helps a lot but the intake noise is the real noise issue. Re-directing that intake noise on the covers I built dropped the noise a tremendous amount on mine.

I have spent countless hours building covers. With great success but mine look a lot less tidy. They don't look bad but not near as professional as these.

I am going to get one for the bedroom and compare to my design.

The process the mfgr had to go to make these must have been very time consuming. My hat is off to anyone that saw this venture through.

[YC1]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

I received the Wacko for the Dometic ducted system yesterday. Our coach has the hinged pull-down wood covers and this unit won't fit! It is made for the covers with the sliding dump ports! It looks like I can just screw the plate directly to the ceiling. I will be calling them tomorrow!

I'm betting you can remove the dump ports and cover them with a piece of sheet metal. I did that and added some sound dampening material at the same time.

Clean up the intake area with sound dampening material before installing the covers. Make things smooth and use your imagination smoothing any rough angles inside.

The air conditioner intakes are crude on my Dometics. Seems they just want to make the design easy and no thought to real air flow.

I also went to every duct vent and found the vent registers actually went up an inch past the channel they were mounted in. Shortening those to be even with the channel and using metal duct tamp the air flow is much better than original.

I do not miss the original dump feature as it was terribly noisy.

[Glenn2]

I understand and appreciate the air conditioning noise reduction, but does the Wacko have any impact on cooling (especially in the summer)?

[YC1]

Originally Posted by Glenn2

I understand and appreciate the air conditioning noise reduction, but does the Wacko have any impact on cooling (especially in the summer)?

I do NOT have one in my possession yet. I have built two similar devices but this one looks a lot more elegant and I like the filter device.

That said I did hours and hours of testing with my model and found the air flow not to be restricted.

My mufflers have been running for several years now with variants along the way.

The biggest help in air flow is cleaning up the aerodynamics at the input and output of the AC. The air flow into hits some awful places and the outflow depending on your duct design could be abysmal. Open up your ac and look closely and you will see immediately.

Also fix the actual output vents. Clean up those installations.

Before I started I could barely feel the air flow coming out of my vents. We get a good breeze now.

And yes we have been in miserable hot conditions all along. Central Florida during the summer and the Sacramento valley in the summer as well.

I would have gone to market with mine except finding someone to produce them was difficult.

[YC1]

My Wacko cover arrived today.

It took me over an hour to remove the one I had designed. Before removing I took DB measurements.

With mine off I again took measurements.

The Wacko installtion should take about 30 minutes but you really need to clean up the intake air flow area. Mine was in excellent condition with lots of sound deadening material from my previous builds.

The intake filter alone is incredibly well thought out and built. I spent countless hours and a lot of money experimenting with different materials.

The inside portion fit perfectly and the elegant handling of the area needed to accomodate the air conditioners four ceiling bolts was perfect.

Once the inside portion is installed with 6 screws that match existing holes, while leaving four loose to pop the filter in place, things are snugged up and the cover goes on.

The cover matches my ceiling perfectly and looks absolutely factory perfect.

If I was to offer one suggestion it would be to supply four plastic knurled type screws to fasted the outside piece to the inside frame piece.

With knurled nuts one may be more inclined to take the thing off to clean the filter.

For the weekender cleaning the filter may be a once a year deal but we full time and they need it way more often.

I give the vendor an A+++ for this product. Guess I will be ordering one for the bedroom soon. I'm just not looking forward to removing mine that are built like tanks.

I almost forgot. The DB measurements were almost exactly the same as the ones I built but this one so far outclasses the look of mine there is no comparison.

And yes, you can enjoy your conversations even with the fans running full tilt. They make an incredible difference.

Cheers.

[napolean2424]

WE live in SW Florida, so the question of summer performance was something I was worried about. Our front unit had a "Chill Grille" on it which had additional vents to dump large amounts of cool air, which was handy when you first start up the coach on a hot day. Both of my air conditioners are in the front half of the coach. For that reason, noise was always a problem. After the install the sound level was noticeably quieter, but to be perfectly honest, I would say I miss my big air dumps on the "Chill Grille", but only for a short time until the coach initially cools. You just have to be patient! The DB level is worth the wait!

[YC1]

Just ordered my second one. Am I a horder?

The rapid dumps are fine but incredibly noisy and when you close them you get plenty of noise through them. They don't seal well enough.

I experimented with tons of output changes but finally gave up on them and just made my own silencers.

When I first started experimenting there was little air coming out of some of my registers down stream. I could barely feel anything. After modifying the registers and cleaning up the aerodynamics of the duct works and intake and output of the AC's I get double the air flow now. It was amazing what an improvement that makes.