Community Forums

Gary.Jones · 04-08-2021, 09:18 AM

Just a brief note that the company that makes almost all of our Entegra diesel pusher coach dash air conditioning units has been bought out by ProAir Corporation. Evans TempCon continues to have a web site so I assume will continue under that name. That is all I know about it.

Gary

Nowabeachbum · 04-08-2021, 12:42 PM

Evans was actually was bought out in 2018. The parts are already being sold under the ProAir banner. It’s owned by an investment group.

DaveO · 04-10-2021, 09:22 AM

I just bought 2 cabin air filters from them, they shipped out the same day. They were a lot cheaper than entegra. Entegra wanted $55 each, tempcon charges $26 but add on $30 to ship 2.

Gary.Jones · 04-10-2021, 09:45 AM

My dash AC has died and I am debating just not trying to get it working and instead just run my roof ACs and genny when traveling during the hot months. First the compressor failed, then the AC generally failed and my dealer replaced several components and now it has failed again. My bet that this time is no Freon. Not sure it is worth paying a bunch of money to get it working. I can run the Genny a lot of hours for what it is going to cost to try, yet again, to get it working.

I'm going to first see if Spartan will cover this, or if they duck out blaming it on Entegra, who has already said they will not stand behind the repair about a year ago, I am going to see if the dealer will stand behind their work.... if all of then duck out on the responsibility, I may just try to live without it.

Gary

garysfb · 04-10-2021, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

My dash AC has died and I am debating just not trying to get it working and instead just run my roof ACs and genny when traveling during the hot months. First the compressor failed, then the AC generally failed and my dealer replaced several components and now it has failed again. My bet that this time is no Freon. Not sure it is worth paying a bunch of money to get it working. I can run the Genny a lot of hours for what it is going to cost to try, yet again, to get it working.

I'm going to first see if Spartan will cover this, or if they duck out blaming it on Entegra, who has already said they will not stand behind the repair about a year ago, I am going to see if the dealer will stand behind their work.... if all of then duck out on the responsibility, I may just try to live without it.

Gary

Gary Walmart sells an A/C Freon fill kit that also plugs leaks. I used it on my Alegro Bus when it was about ten years old. There was no Feon in the system and it took about three cans to fill to the proper pressure (kit come with a gauge and chart for fill based on ambient temp). Worked great for a summer then had to repeat process the next year. It held for the next three years prior to trading it in. It's less than 80 bucks for the lit and a few cans, well worth the effort even if you have to top off every few months.

Fast forward to my Anthem. Lost the dash air last trip. I already had a service scheduled at NIRVC so had them look into it. The system had no Freon, they pumped it up with nitrogen and found leaks on the high side hose at the compressor. They will fix the hose, replace the dryer, pull a vacuum and recharge. Had I not been going in for service I would have tried the A/C kit from Wally World; and will if problems reoccur.

Gary.Jones · 04-10-2021, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the information Gary. I will remember this suggestion. It makes a lot of sense and now that you remind me, I used to do that with an old Pontiac AC leak that I dealt with.

I have spent the last hour or so watching YOUTube videos (what a marvelous resource that all is) and I now know I can borrow a vacuum pump from Autozone and pull the vacuum myself. I also know how to inject die into the system to find a leak/leaks and on and on. I don't think I am going to tackle replacing all the high and low pressure lines yet and first am going to hope that someone honors the repairs that they were paid handsomely

for repairing but obviously did not repair, but if that doesn't work, then I may give your very excellent suggestion a try.

Thanks buddy !

Gary

RVFunlovers · 04-10-2021, 11:22 AM

I may try the Walmart AC Kit. I had my dash AC refilled but it only lasted a few months.

This year, I have just been using generator and coach air if needed while driving.

Thanks

LWBAZ · 04-10-2021, 05:25 PM

Gary, living in Arizona, Amy & I have plenty of experience with RV travel in hot weather. Of the five motorhomes we’ve owned over the past 22+ years, the only one that had a really good dash AC system was our 1999 Fleetwood Bounder (32 feet long), which was built on a front-engine Ford V-10 truck/van chassis. With that coach we could travel in hot weather and only rarely needed to fire the generator & roof AC units to stay comfortable.

The other four motorhomes have all been rear-engine diesels – a 2004 Alfa SeeYa (38 feet long), a 2007 Winnebago Vectra (40 feet long), a 2010 Tiffin Allegro Bus (40 feet long), and our current 2018 Entegra Cornerstone (45 feet long). With all four of those coaches we’ve found it necessary to run the generator & house AC units to keep cool when traveling in hot weather.

Of the four diesel motorhomes, we had no reliability issues with the dash AC systems on the first three. Not so with our Entegra. Its dash AC system worked as designed until about a year ago, but since that time, I’ve had to add a can of refrigerant pretty much every trip to keep cool air coming out of the dash vents. So I know I have a leak (one or more), but unless it gets significantly worse I don’t plan to do anything about it, other than continuing to add refrigerant as necessary.

A long-time friend who lives in Texas has a 2018 Cornerstone a few month older than ours. His dash AC system had a leak, he paid significant money to have it repaired, and now he has – guess what – another leak. As one or more members of this forum have pointed out, having the compressor at the back of the coach and most of the rest of the dash AC system up front is not a recipe for reliability or optimal operation. (One more reason I continue to be intrigued with front-engine Super C’s, but that another discussion.)

Bottom line, in your situation I’d be highly inclined to rely on the generator & roof AC units and not throw more money at a trouble-prone dash AC system. Good luck and keep us posted on what you end up doing.

Nowabeachbum · 04-10-2021, 09:00 PM

Always, always, always, put uv dye in your a/c system. Then using a QUALITY uv light(a uv light under $100. is for the most part useless) will be able to find any and all leaks. Without it, no one spends enough time to find all the leaks or the really small ones or perhaps not at all.

gswindle · 04-11-2021, 05:34 AM

Gary,

My 2019 had a leak at the compressor. It was the low pressure line that connected to compressor. (Entegra Issue) In November during my 2 year AIR I took it to Pro Air in Elkhart on Entegra’s dime. It took them maybe 2 hours or less to change out the fitting at the compressor. It has worked fine since then.

You could tell it was leaking there because of all the dirt that collected around the fitting. From what I have read that is a weak point in the system.

Gary S.

Nowabeachbum · 04-11-2021, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gswindle

Gary,

My 2019 had a leak at the compressor. It was the low pressure line that connected to compressor. (Entegra Issue) In November during my 2 year AIR I took it to Pro Air in Elkhart on Entegra’s dime. It took them maybe 2 hours or less to change out the fitting at the compressor. It has worked fine since then.

You could tell it was leaking there because of all the dirt that collected around the fitting. From what I have read that is a weak point in the system.

Gary S.

Hey Gary
They do seem to have a lot of problems with the compressor fittings leaking but those fittings should really be no more susceptible. It has to be a pretty bad leak for the oil to cause a dirty spot. Glad it’s fixed!

dave&ginny · 04-11-2021, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gswindle

Gary,

My 2019 had a leak at the compressor. It was the low pressure line that connected to compressor. (Entegra Issue) In November during my 2 year AIR I took it to Pro Air in Elkhart on Entegra’s dime. It took them maybe 2 hours or less to change out the fitting at the compressor. It has worked fine since then.

You could tell it was leaking there because of all the dirt that collected around the fitting. From what I have read that is a weak point in the system.

Gary S.

Doing some engine work, I noticed dirt and oil buildup on the compressor as well. I'm not an A/c guy, can I just tighten these fittings or do I have to replace them?

Dieselgem · 04-11-2021, 07:50 AM

My last Entegra had a dog of a dash air system and this one is not much better. I have had it tested, repaired by Entegra, repaired numerous times by Cummins and had a number of test performed. So, I am of the opinion it has something to do with the way the system is installed. I just run the roof tops and not even think about it any more. It is comfortable and I am not burning money chasing ghosts.

DebbieMH · 04-11-2021, 08:03 AM

I've had my dash air repaired every year now for the last 5 years. Only lasts a month at most. Two years ago Spartan changed the compressor and everything (yes, my dime) ... only lasted until I crossed the Michigan border! About 5 hours. Had Foley RV fix it this summer while the where doing some service on the coach. That lasted a bit over 5 hours ... I've given up and will run the gen and ac from now on.