Roof A/C while driving

[lllkrob]

Originally Posted by old golfer guy

A little off subject but----Has any one thought about closing off the front of your unit to keep the dash air from going to the back of the coach? You could make some sort of a rod (like a shower curtain) to span the width behind the front seats. Then some sort of material blanket? piece of plastic? that would go floor to ceiling. Trying to trap the dash air in the front where you are. Fold it to the sides or take down when you are camped.
Ya my wife thinks I am a little wacko too.

Hate to tell your wife this, but your not wacko. Experienced RV owners have been doing this for ages. We have heavy cloth curtains on a collaspable shower rod that we put up between the slides when traveling. This seals off the driver's compartment and allows the dash air to cool it quite well even on the hottest days.

[kb7uxe]

""Ya my wife thinks I am a little wacko too.""
but my wife has adjusted.
We installed a light weight tin pipe inside a PVC pipe. from passenger side to driver side slide. this allows the slide to move and take the "divider bar" with it.
even minimal curtain helps..
I used light copper wire as "keeper pin", that under stress will simply fail and allow the bar to pull out. On passenger side I used a slightly stiffer copper "keeper pin" but still allowing the pin to fail rather than braking stuff. this allows to slide to operate and the bar extends or retracts as needed.
Works very well.. light weight tin tube, surplus pvc pipe from shop floor, $3 shower curtain from 99 u store. wood rod holders from Lows about $3. for 2..
total project cost about $6 ( including a beer )..

I asked a very reputable generator guy in Roy wa, about running generator while driving, he assured me that it was OK to do this.
and run house air as well while driving.

[old golfer guy]

Thats what I was thinking about.
Way cooll!!

[gnvrvin]

FireCapt176
One would think your alternator would provide the 12 vdc needed...
Try running generator while ...disconnected from shore power and see how they run

Just a thought
Greg

[denverh]

Most certainly use the roof air while driving if you need it. In my unit with only 2 people the dash ac works fine for us. Sectioning off the cockpit will certainly help. In some cases the cause of the roof unit shutting down is due to the generator shutting down due to heat from the engine overheating the generator fuel pump. Lots of good info about combatting that in threads and the manuals for the various generator mfgr. I drove thru southern Utah, goblin valley sp, last summer with 5 people in the mh and ran both dash and roof ac out of necessity and it worked fine. If the ac works when plugged into shore power the ac itself is not the problem. When on the road that’s a different story. It depends where it gets its ac from. If you run the a/c off the generator while sitting still and it works well I’m going to guess the engine heat is overheating the generator. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[JFXG]

Originally Posted by bcook1075

The coach AC is made to used while parked not driving.

Hear that from a dealer?

[triplewide]

I assume the OP has two roof top AC units at 37' coach. If both units shut down at the same time while driving and on generator, I would think the problem is not in the AC units themselves. Not likely both would go out at the same time. More likely a 120 volt problem to the units:


ATS
Generator



OR control issue:


Loss of 12 volts to thermostats


"AC units run fine when plugged in" so probably not battery condition issue. Could be generator/ATS/control issue due to bouncing down the road or overheating.


Harder to find an intermittent issue. If possible, pull over when AC units stop working and check 12 volts and 120 volts in the coach with a meter.

[Dodge Guy]

One of the perks of having a MH is having a generator and roof ACs to keep the interior cool while on the road. The dash AC is good to about 85 degrees outside temp. After that you need the roof ACs. I wouldn’t close off the driving area. Now you will have a hot living area when you arrive at your destination and have to wait for it to cool down.
Have you had the generator looked at. It may need servicing or a new fuel pump. Maybe the oil level is low?