Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Fleet | Keystone RV Models > Fifth Wheels
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-13-2018, 11:42 AM   #1
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
Brand new Camper won't cool down

Hey all,
I just bought a 2019 Cougar 32BHS half ton. Have it plugged in 50amp at home set up. The AC has not worked properly since I picked it up last week. Had it back to the dealer and diagnostics show it's working properly. I ran a test today to see what is happening. At 8:30 am the thermostat was set to 67, it was 62 inside the camper and 72 outside. The ac was not running as it was only 62 inside. At 10:30 69 in the camper 75 outside. at 11:30 70 inside and 80 outside. at 12:30 74 inside and 84 outside. At 1:30 78 inside and 85 outside, 2:30 79 inside and 88 outside. at 3pm I put a thermometer in the vent and read 64 degree air blowing in the front and 56 blowing in the rear vents. The ac unit is in the rear, only one unit. 15000btu. So the air coming from the vents is cold enough, the air flow is not strong at all. Keystone tells me that the unit should be able to cool 20 degrees. The dealer says ac unit working as it should, poor design by Keystone is the issue. Everyone telling me I need to get a second unit as it is plumbed already for one. This is my 3rd 5th wheel, all about the same size and all had one 15000 btu unit and had no problem cooling down. I am doing all this testing in my driveway in upstate NY. In two weeks we are supposed to be going to Myrtle Beach with the camper for 10 days. I can not take this thing down there as is. Has anyone had issues like this with this camper or floor plan? I am ready to return it and take back my Jayco that I traded in. I will not accept a cool down of 7 degrees in the camper in upstate NY. Any help would be appreciated
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 11:49 AM   #2
Ddubya
Senior Member
 
Ddubya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Sherman
Posts: 326
There are many threads about AC not cooling. First, remove the A/C vents. You will most likely see that the air is escaping into the attic rather than being blown out of the vents. Correct this with aluminum duct tape. Look for various posts about this because there are other things you can do to improve air flow.
__________________
2017 Alpine 3401RS,Titan Disc brakes,Morryde SRE 4000, 2016 Ram 3500HD Laramie SRW,LWB,4X4, Aisin transmission

Ddubya is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 11:55 AM   #3
bob91yj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Escondido
Posts: 163
I can't speak for your floor plan or even a 5'er as we have a 330RL bumper pull. The 15k single unit was marginal at best for cooling down our trailer last summer in the San Diego area. I ended up adding a 13.5K unit to the bedroom, trailer cools down quickly now and stays cool.

We're new to the full time (stationary) travel trailer life, I thought the ducted 15k would be adequate when we bought the trailer...all of my buddies with trailers/5'ers assured me that I would need the second AC unit...they were right.

After some research, I'd say that the AC unit is working as designed, just too much area/poor insulation for it to bring the over all temps down.
__________________
2017 Outback 330RL 15th Anniversary Edition (stationary full timer)
2006 GMC 2500HD Duramax CC 4x4 w/SunLite pop-up camper
Dust Junkies Racing, 3 time Baja 1000 Class Champions
bob91yj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 11:58 AM   #4
flybouy
Site Team
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Joppa, MD
Posts: 11,714
Sounds like air circulation is the issue. The air differential from intake to output should be 18-20 deg drop. My trailer is 1 foot shorter than your, has outdoor kitchen, 2 large slides and 15K AC unit and it cools just fine. I open the "quick cool vents" on the interior shroud during initial cool down them close them off for air thru the ductwork. I'd suggest checking your ductwork for obstructions/leaks. Several good threads on here adressing that.
__________________
Marshall
2012 Laredo 303 TG
2010 F250 LT Super Cab, long bed, 4X4, 6.4 Turbo Diesel
flybouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 12:23 PM   #5
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
just checked again, 85 outside and 81 inside. I have pulled off the vent caps and from what I have seen so far they all look tightly sealed . The vents are much smaller than I expected. I have read a bunch of the threads on here about AC. The only vent that seems to have empty space is the one in the master bedroom up front where the second ac could go if added. Just got off the phone with Keystone again, they say that what I am telling them is not correct, it should be cooler than that inside. They need me to bring it back to the dealer so they can send specialists there to check the vents and air flow. What I am looking for here is if people with similar set ups as mine have had the same issue or if I actually have something wrong. Too many people from the dealership and Keystone have said that I need to add a second ac. I find that unacceptable. If that was the case I would have either added to the purchase price or looked at different campers. If they know that the ac won't cool the unit down then why sell it with one AC? I did not spend $45k on something that can't cool itself down that is used primarily in the summer time. Sorry to vent, but at this point I am getting a little heated! No pun intended
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 12:26 PM   #6
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by flybouy View Post
Sounds like air circulation is the issue. The air differential from intake to output should be 18-20 deg drop. My trailer is 1 foot shorter than your, has outdoor kitchen, 2 large slides and 15K AC unit and it cools just fine. I open the "quick cool vents" on the interior shroud during initial cool down them close them off for air thru the ductwork. I'd suggest checking your ductwork for obstructions/leaks. Several good threads on here adressing that.
Where is your ac unit located? My last two units I have had the ac was located in the main living area. In this camper it is located in the bunk house in the back.
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 12:39 PM   #7
MerlinB
Senior Member
 
MerlinB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Newport News, VA
Posts: 221
stolly 23, you need to remove the inside cover from your A/C and check where the cold air is supposed to be flowing into the duct work. Chances are you will find extraneous openings that are allowing cold air to flow into the attic area. Those need to be closed up with aluminum duct tape. Also check the baffle in between the warm air intake area and the cold air discharge area. Any opening there will allow the cold air to just recirculate back into the intake.

In a previous trailer I had I found that area completely open and I had to construct a baffle to separate the two areas. I can't tell you how much the cold air flow to the bedroom area was improved. It was amazing.

In my current trailer I have the Breeze II 15 kbtu A/C and I found several openings in the area I just described. Patching them up made a big improvement along with sealing the vents and blocking the ends of the ducts as someone described above.
__________________
Merlin B.
U.S. Army Aviator, Retired
2016 Cougar XLite 28SGS
2007.5 Ram 3500 DRW
MerlinB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 01:12 PM   #8
flybouy
Site Team
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Joppa, MD
Posts: 11,714
Quote:
Originally Posted by stolly23 View Post
Where is your ac unit located? My last two units I have had the ac was located in the main living area. In this camper it is located in the bunk house in the back.
It's right in front of the end of the kitchen counter across from the sofa.
__________________
Marshall
2012 Laredo 303 TG
2010 F250 LT Super Cab, long bed, 4X4, 6.4 Turbo Diesel
flybouy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 01:26 PM   #9
SC Dreamer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Columbia
Posts: 128
My ducts are terrible at best. I have fixed the plenum foam, taped all the vents and still little to no air flow with 2 units. I just open the front and back vents to dump and use a 12" fan to circulate air and it works great! I live in SC and when in Myrtle Beach, only run one unit at night and during the humid day time, can keep trailer and garage 72 degrees with both units cycling, not running all the time, condensation just running off roof top.
SC Dreamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 02:24 PM   #10
ctbruce
Site Team | Emeritus
 
ctbruce's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 3,878
Using a fan to circulate the air, taking it back to the desler, buying a 2nd AC or doing the suggested fixes seem to be your options. There's no shame in a second air. Wouldn't be without mine. I'm preparing to take my AC vents and covers off this weekend to check the vents and tape job.
__________________

Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Impact 312
2017 Silverado 3500HD SRW
ctbruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2018, 07:37 AM   #11
Kojac
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Overbrook
Posts: 52
I have a 2016 Laredo 28.5SBH and just now checked my AC vents and found that the vents in the Main bedroom and Bunkhouse extends at least 2 feet past cooling vent to a dead end. Thanks for the post, I will be fixing mine today.
Kojac is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2018, 08:04 AM   #12
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
At 4pm Friday a keystone rep called me. She said that there must be an issue. They want me to take it back to the dealer and they are going to send a specialist. I am assuming that they will seal the duct work as many of you mentioned. I am all for diy, but not on something that I brought home last week. They know when we are pulling out for myrtle Beach so she has made it high priority. Hopefully they follow through. My dealer is also pricing out ac units to add in the front, problem is I have the brand new in command command center. Everything is touch screen. They need a special set up to connect the new ac to the system. Everything is wired to go, but only certain ac's will work. If I have to go that route I will be looking for someone to foot most of the bill. 7 degree temp difference is unacceptable for a 2019 camper. Especially seeing my last two campers would freeze my wife out in myrtle Beach.
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2018, 04:38 PM   #13
81Sprint
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5
Hi There, new to the forums, what was the outcome of this? I have my brand new 32 at camping world right now for the same issue. Reading all this stuff today I may have to add a 2nd AC (I live in Vegas)
__________________
2007 Silverado Classic LBZ
2018 Cougar Half Ton 32' BH Fiver
81Sprint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2018, 04:50 PM   #14
notanlines
Senior Member
 
notanlines's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Germantown, TN
Posts: 6,308
Stolly, your "I will be looking for someone to foot most of the bill" statement probably will not come to fruition. We are all waiting for you to maybe post the results of your search for satisfaction.
__________________
Jim in Memphis, Wife of 51 years is Brenda
2019 F450 6.7 Powerstroke
2018 Mobile Suites 40RSSA
2021 40' Jayco Eagle
2001 Road king w/matching Harley sidecar
2021 Yamaha X2 Wolverine 1000
notanlines is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2018, 07:17 AM   #15
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
Here's the update so far. The case manager I was dealing with through keystone went on vacation the week before me. Someone else was handed my case on Monday. After several phone calls and messages someone finally called me back just before closing time on Friday. During this week my dealer, after getting the service manager involved, did some of the modifications suggested on this site. Tapping up the gaps between the ceiling and duct where the vents go. More on that later. The fixes did increase airflow a bit better. At the end of the phone call on Friday the keystone guy said that he would consult consult with his team and get back to me Monday morning. Last Monday! Still no phone call back. I am still in myrtle Beach. During the week I have called 3 times and sent an email. No response back from keystone at all.
But, that's not everything. While on vacation we have had a good amount of rain. This is where I found out that both of the big windows in the main living area leaked into the camper. The outdoor kitchen door leaked around the top seal with water coming into the outdoor kitchen area and then through the wall into the main bathroom. The tub drain leaks like a river when showering, pooling under the tub and then streaming out under the walls into the main living area. The fridge pilot won't stay lit while running on propane. It lights, goes out, lights and repeat. And my favorite part. I have a yellow liquid dripping from the ac duct vents in the back bedroom where the ac unit is and the main bathroom. It is also starting to seep through the ceiling in those areas. So now I have water damage in several areas due to shotty craftsmanship. I called camping world and they said that keystone will have to deal with the water damage. I leave for home tomorrow. Then I will have more time to deal with this pos.
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2018, 07:20 AM   #16
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
As I walk around lakewood here in myrtle Beach I see many many cougars. None of them have a single ac in the back room. Most of them have a single ac in the middle of the camper. Many of them have 2 a's, one in the middle and one in the front. Almost none of them have 2 a's located in the front and back
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2018, 07:39 AM   #17
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
Also forgot, 11am 87 degrees outside and 81 degrees inside. And that was with it being 68 degrees inside throuout the night. My ac works fine as long as there is no sun out. My wilderness and my Jayco had no issues keeping cool with one ac unit located in the middle
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2018, 09:00 AM   #18
wiredgeorge
Senior Member
 
wiredgeorge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Mico, TX
Posts: 7,392
A one a/c trailer may have a hard time keeping up with direct sun heat. I first did ALL the taping mods and sticking the stuff at the ends of the vent runs and it helped a bit. I also took off my lower unit cover and made sure that there was tape between the instake and air exhaust sections and taped between the lower unit and ducting inside the lower unit as there was leakage there as well. I have installed new vents that can be shut or aimed.

While these things help, I then removed my old 13.5K BTU Dometic a/c and replaced it with a 15K BTU Dometic Brisk II. That helped enough where we can keep the trailer under 80F in direct sunlight triple digits.

Major source of the heat problem is the poor insulation in a camper and the worst issue are the single pane windows; they get HOT to the touch and contribute greatly to the inside heat. I bought a roll of adhesive window tint film and will be on that job this weekend. I think this will be a win and hope we can freeze in the summer if we want to. It is 20 percent film meaning 20 percent of sunlight gets through. This mod wil darken the trailer but my wife and I don't look out the windows much anyway.

If all these things can't get us to 75F or below on triple digit, direct sunlight days, I have a 8000 BTU portable A/C to augment. IT WILL BE COOL IN THE SUMMER! Finding shade in my part of Texas is kind of tough as we don't have shade-type trees.

I considered putting the old A/C over the bedroom vent but would have had to run a separate power cord to hook up outside. The bedroom actually stays cooler than the main cabin for the most part and cooling during the times of the day when it is real hot isn't a priority up there (5th wheel) as we are up and in the cabin for the most part.

Sorry to hear about all the leaking. This "specialist" stuff is hooey. Any A/C tech can do what needs to be done to fix/install an A/C or thermostat, etc. I think that someone feels you are an easy mark and making excuses means they don't have to do the repairs and work that they should.
__________________
wiredgeorge Mico TX
2006 F350 CC 4WD 6.0L
2002 Keystone Cougar 278
2006 GL1800 Roadsmith Trike
wiredgeorge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2018, 09:07 AM   #19
stolly23
Member
 
stolly23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Red Hook
Posts: 42
I also replaced some of the vent covers with one's that push the air toward the floor and can close. I found that the covers that came with it push the cold air right along the high ceiling. No air pushing down. I also close off the vent in the main bathroom. I also removed the vent cover completely on one of the living room ducts so it dumps cold air straight down. This all helps a bit. What I am so pissed about is that both of my previous fifth wheels cooled just fine with 1 unit. And they were all 32' living space
stolly23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2018, 03:43 PM   #20
JimMach1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Oakland
Posts: 123
Ac

I also added a second unit to cool mine works great without a problem. Bought it and installed myself.
JimMach1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.