Community Forums

dsbear · 09-01-2013, 11:27 PM

This weekend we were boondocking and tailgating for the college football opener. The burnt air to was 105 parked on asphalt how cool should I expect the interior of the RV to be? The inside temp got up into the high 90s with ACs set at 70. Is this normal? Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated. Also any comments as to brand and model of your favorite cooling system. I'm very disappointed in my '11 Damon Astoria's performance in the heat.

EngineerMike · 09-01-2013, 11:52 PM

Roof air's are frequently poorly installed. Pull the plastic hood off & you will probably find the foam strip does not seal the hot coils to the hood, the foam strip wanders around creating poor air flow for wasting heat. And inside, if the down duct isn't sealed well against the intake, you wind up recirculating hot intake air into the cold air output. I've never seen an excellent job of installation.

Throw out the cheap foam strip, get some solid spongy stuff @ H.D. or Lowes & reseal the hodd tot he hot coils, following the top of the hot coil fan area well. IIRC I used a double layer of ~7/16" x 1.5" foam. I didn't even tell the wife I'd done anything, and she immediately remarked, "what did you do to the A/C? Its working great." I told her I redid the seal on one unit, and she said, "well get up there and do the other one!" It was sweet.

sswilson · 09-02-2013, 12:04 AM

The AC was probably in for the fight of it's life with those types of o/s temps working on the windows and shell of the rig. Unless the sun can be totally blocked to assist them, I would be real surprised to see a swing of more than 20-25 degrees from ambient. Setting at 70 does not mean it is going to get there, that is just a destination and would seem like an impossible one in that heat. A 25 degree swing would and should feel cooler/colder once you enter the rig. Maybe it was at it's max?

**CLIFFTALL** · 09-02-2013, 03:19 AM

I've also heard that a 20 degree swing is all you can expect. We tinted all our windows , made an inside form fitting cover made out of beige blackout material for the shower skylight , had the cockpit curtains backed with blackout material as well. Also put Auto Motion shades on all windows and have inside sunscreen material on windshield held up with suction cups. These have made an enormous improvement.

dsbear · 09-02-2013, 05:50 AM

I would have been happy with a 20 degree swing but I was dealing with a 5-7 degree swing we had all of the shades down and started with the coach at 65 degrees at 10 AM. one additional fact both units were blowing hot air. Confussed

malexander · 09-02-2013, 06:02 AM

We block all our skylights, and most windows. I actually put foil over the slide windows, or any window (exept windshield) that the sun can hit directly, ie east or west.
Never thought about resealing the a/c.

And that's my what I do for a living, along with plumbing & electric.

palehorse89 · 09-02-2013, 06:04 AM

When you start them up after the fans start can you hear the compressors kick in? As others stated 20 deg. from intake to exhaust vent. Your wife might just have one of those temperature probes that you stab into a roast to check internal temps. of meat, put it in the intake vent for a bit then the exhaust vent and see what temp. difference you have. If as you say with out going through what I just posted and you are sure it is just blowing hot air ,it is time to head to the roof and start troubleshooting them, start capacitors burned out? Compressors burned up from operating on low voltage? What kind of A/C units are they and model, maybe someone then will chime in and be able to direct you and tell you where to start.

H. Miller · 09-02-2013, 06:06 AM

Interior filters were clean????

bruceisla · 09-02-2013, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsbear

I would have been happy with a 20 degree swing but I was dealing with a 5-7 degree swing we had all of the shades down and started with the coach at 65 degrees at 10 AM. one additional fact both units were blowing hot air. Confussed

Well .... "hot" is a relative thing. For any reasonable diagnosis you will need to accurately measure the input and output temperatures. An infrared gun thermometer works fairly well. The referenced 20 degree swing should be between input and output ... outside air temp can be different. As suggested, heat load (heat thru glass and the number of people in the RV) is a likely culprit. That said, I've never actually dealt with outside air temps of 105.

ahicks · 09-02-2013, 06:42 AM

Having a dark colored paint on your roof likely won't help anything either. I've never understood why they do that. Situations like this one are a pefect example of why you shouldn't?

dsbear · 09-02-2013, 06:53 AM

Update

1. The units are Coleman Mach 8
2. I don't have temp probes but will get one and check the delta
3. All standard precautions were taken
4. It was like the compressors on both units just quit
5. This AM temp in the coach is 68
6. The roof is white.

wa8yxm · 09-02-2013, 07:03 AM

Your results sound rather normal to me.. One thing you should have done that might help is a full PM run on the Air conditioners.. What is a PM run.

1: Clean interior intake filters Leave out for now.
2: Up on the roof remove the outer cover (Shroud)
2A: Removoe the inner cover on the condenser coils (Hot coils) and clean them,
2B: Same for the evaporator (cold) coils
3: Replace covers
4: Clean everything else
5: IF there are lubrication points.. LUBE. (Note you may need to move this step up a notch or two)
6: Replace all covers not yet replaced and lock it down
7: replace filters (inside)

The idea is to maximize air flow through the coils.

bruceisla · 09-02-2013, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsbear

Update

1. The units are Coleman Mach 8
2. I don't have temp probes but will get one and check the delta
3. All standard precautions were taken
4. It was like the compressors on both units just quit
5. This AM temp in the coach is 68
6. The roof is white.

BTW, outside factors like the temperature of the ground/pavement under the RV when you parked it are going to influence the inside temps. The bottom of your RV may or may not be well insulated. Asphalt radiates heat for a long time once it's hot.

mgscott4 · 09-02-2013, 08:51 PM

Reflectix on the inside of the windshield and front side windows makes a big difference for a few bucks.

Reflectix is silver plastic bubble wrap.

Shop Reflectix 25-ft x 48-in Reflective Insulation at Lowes.com