2 A/C Units

[Ruffus]

Can anyone tell me how well the 13,500 BTU A/C units on a 30+ foot fifthwheel works? On our first outing ours didn't work at all because of a broken wire. Since having it fixed we haven't been able to go out again because of our work schedule. We are planning a 3000 mile road trip to the middle of the country and back next month and my DW is worried about keeping cool at night so she's wanting me to buy another A/C unit for the bedroom. Any thoughts? Your knowledge is always appreciated because we have never had this large of a unit before!
Thanks
Jim B:)

[Flyguy]

We have a single 13.5K unit in our 30' TT and it works fine, keep in mind that two units usually requires a 50amp converter panel and I'm guessing that you have a 30amp one, a better solution would be to replace it with a 15K unit and not have to replace the entire converter panel and outside wire which should be a 4 pin connector instead of the 3 pin that you now have.

[outbackmac]

2options

1) buy a free standing ac to put in the master bedroom.
2) Buy the reflector shield for car windshield and cut to fit all the windows. We did this on our trip to florida last year and made a big difference

[Ruffus]

Thanks for the replys. Our 360QDS is already a 50 amp so I wouldn't have to change converter panel. I thought buying a 15K BTU unit and moving the 13,5K unit to the front but by the time you buy the interior vent systems you are adding a couple hundred dollars to the mod over the cost of the A/C unit. In the good old days the units came all together with the right installation kits and all, but not these days.
Jim B:eek:

[Festus2]

One more option to consider.......... a Fantastic Fan or something similar to that. We have two in our RV and they do exchange and move a lot of air in a short time. We removed the existing fans in the bedroom and main living area and put these in. When it warms up, we put one fan on the intake mode and the other on the outlet so that there is a good flow and exchange of air inside.
Might not keep you as cool at night as an airconditioner but I think for the long term over a camping season they are more practical and functional. Unless, of course, you spend all of your time in the heat where an A/C is pretty much a necessity.
We also have the A/C that came with the RV and can use that when the temperatures get up.

[SLIMSHADIE]

I also noticed that when you turn on the AC, let the air come out of the main unit first to cool down the main cabin area, then open the other ducts and start closing the main unit vent, but leave it cracked so you don't get a humidy drip.:eek:

Works good for us.

[SLIMSHADIE]

And by the way a 13.5k works good for us(33'TT), but probably would of liked to had the 15k optional. My ceilings are lower though.

[hankpage]

In the evening I think the 13.5 will do fine. Like mentioned above, for the daytime I found that mirror tinting all the windows helped considerably.(The extra privacy is nice too) A piece of foil-faced bubble insulation covering the skylights helps also. For the $$$$ I would try one trip before adding the second A/C.

Jim, I almost forgot ..... Thanks for warming up the weather in Fla. .... We had a fabulous month of April down there. ;)

[Alberthal]

We just added a 2nd A/C to our Montana to cool the bedroom quicker...but what really keeps it cool (and did before we bought the 2nd A/C) is the covers on the inside of the windows/skylights. We bought two rolls of the 4' wide silver "bubble wrap" insulation at Home Depot and cut to size for each of our windows (except for the small kitchen window). We put the pillow cushions sold by Camping World in the skylights and also covered the door and shower skylight w/ a rectangular silver insulation pre-cut & hemmed piece (also Camping World). Bought I bought a roll of adhesive vecro and ran around the insulation so I wouldn't get any light peaking through using the velcro pieces that come with the pre-cut pieces.

We take this stuff off in the winter so we can "use" the windows, but are normally outside the rest of the year, so no issue w/ not being able to see out when it's warn outside!

[W5WI]

We spent a very hot spring and summer with many over 100 degree days in our Cougar 311RLS with the one 13.5 A/C unit. The unit cycled on a lot, but it adequately kept the 5'er cool. If starting from a hot trailer, don't expect it to get cool immediately. It will take two or more hours to bring the trailer from 100 degrees to 72 degrees. But, it will do the job once it reaches a comfortable temperature.