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Old 06-20-2016, 08:31 AM   #1
xcntrk
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Tips/advice on how to keep the garage cool?

I have a Fuzion 325 with 2 rooftop 15k btu AC units. In my Fuzion floor plan, the rearmost AC actually resides over the main living room and both AC units are ducted together with only a single vent in the toy-hauler garage. I'm having a hard time keeping the garage cool with this single vent. So far we've had to resort to keeping the interior door open for the garage and position a tower fan to blow the cooler air from the front of the coach into the garage.

Are there any tips or input from the community to help improve cooling in that area?

I do have a 3rd AC pre-wire in the garage, however you would think that 30k btu of cooling power in the smallest Fuzion available would be enough to keep it cool.
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Old 06-20-2016, 10:08 AM   #2
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The carbon 327 (37') has two ducts back there. My advice:
1) Make sure your duct work is installed right. Drop the panel on your AC units - rear one especially and inspect where the air transitions into the duct. There are a few photos on this forum of the "duct" being nothing more than a slit. Properly open it up and tape it.
2) Remove the vent cover in the garage to maximize cooling.

Beyond this, I've considered going to a 3rd AC unit, although the garage in the Carbon seems to stay reasonably cool. We're not pre-wired for a 3rd unit like yours, but we are setup for a washer/dryer in the garage. I was planning on installing one of those free-standing 10k AC units, connecting it to the dryer outlet, and venting it through the dryer port. Easier and less expensive than getting one up on the roof.
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Old 06-20-2016, 11:09 AM   #3
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The A/C ducting is a "pre-formed foam square/rectangular duct that lays on the ceiling luan. I'd suspect that it is a "straight shot" from the rear A/C rooftop unit to the garage vent. You should be able to remove the vent grill in the garage and using a flashlight/mirror combination, visualize the ducting run. You may also find that there are actually two ducts, one on either side of the A/C rooftop unit. You will probably find that there is ample room between the existing duct and the garage forward wall for you to install another vent/grill combination. With some luck, you might find that the other side of the A/C will have a ducting run in which you could install yet another vent/grill.

The biggest "problem" most new owners find is the "poor craftsmanship" from the factory. Most of us have had to retape almost all the vents at the ductwork as there are significant leaks allowing the cold air to flow into the ceiling rather than being forced out the vent and into the room. Also, check the "cold air/warm air return" baffle in the ceiling air return. Quite often there are significant leaks which allow the cold air to mix with the return air. When this happens, not only is the volume of cold air reduced, but the temperature is also reduced, making the A/C much less efficient and capable of cooling the trailer.

Good Luck
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Old 06-20-2016, 11:39 AM   #4
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Thanks for the feedback all.

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet is how the AC's combined feed the ductwork. It appears that through my testing, both AC's are tethered to the same duct system. Meaning I can disable zone-1, leaving only zone-2 AC running, and all vents will continue to get flow. Then reverse that logic, and same is true (which makes we wonder why I have 2 zones in the first place).

But to make matters worse, the air-flow between the duct ports are not equal. For example the single vent in the bathroom blows the most air (unnecessary volume of air for the small space) while the duct in the garage barely gets a trickle.

I can pull the covers off both AC units, and try to look up into the vents themselves and reveal any poor connections, but I think I'm going to need to change out my vents to something that allows me to control the volume of flow (and not just direction). Ideally I need to limit air-flow on certain vents in order to improve flow on others. thoughts?
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Old 06-20-2016, 12:24 PM   #5
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I have the opposite problem, my garage is the coldest part of the coach. The AC sits over the living area directly in front of the garage and it seems to get the most of the AC. But I do have adjustable vents where you turn them and they open or close. No directional to them, but I don't really care about that. I'll get a picture of them next time I'm in there. That might help you some if you can swap them out.
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Old 06-21-2016, 05:15 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by canesfan View Post
I have the opposite problem, my garage is the coldest part of the coach. The AC sits over the living area directly in front of the garage and it seems to get the most of the AC. But I do have adjustable vents where you turn them and they open or close. No directional to them, but I don't really care about that. I'll get a picture of them next time I'm in there. That might help you some if you can swap them out.
I was in the exact same situation as canesfan. My garage would get cold enough to hang meat in while the front bedroom would still be hot and humid.

I had taken my unit back to the dealer and there they discovered that I had cold air leaking directly back into the return air for the unit. They also told me that it is generally a good idea to leave all of the vents wide open. They told me that the ducted systems run more efficiently this manner. I also picked up a tower fan that oscillates. This really moves the air around the RV without taking up much floor space and seemed to help equalize the temperatures some. While this did help some on hot days the bedroom would never really cool down. I ended up adding a second AC in the bedroom and now I can lounge comfortably on all but the hottest days when there is no shade.

Adding the extra AC is not a cheap option and the fan might well be enough for many people. For me I do not sleep well when I am hot and the expense was well worth it. Plus we now have the added bonus of having a heater in just the bedroom which will be great on those cold mornings of fall camping season.
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Old 06-21-2016, 06:32 AM   #7
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Here are the vents I have, not sure how much they would help or not.

I too am in need of a second AC in the bedroom, but the OP already has 2. I would check the things mentioned because not just with Keystone you are liable to find any number of things that were not assembled to any exacting standards.

ETA: Sorry the pics are sideways but you get the idea.
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Old 06-21-2016, 06:41 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xcntrk View Post
I have a Fuzion 325 with 2 rooftop 15k btu AC units. In my Fuzion floor plan, the rearmost AC actually resides over the main living room and both AC units are ducted together with only a single vent in the toy-hauler garage. I'm having a hard time keeping the garage cool with this single vent. So far we've had to resort to keeping the interior door open for the garage and position a tower fan to blow the cooler air from the front of the coach into the garage.

Are there any tips or input from the community to help improve cooling in that area?

I do have a 3rd AC pre-wire in the garage, however you would think that 30k btu of cooling power in the smallest Fuzion available would be enough to keep it cool.
I see that your Fuzion has big windows in the garage area. Even though tinted they allow a lot of heat to come through. My son, who lives in Houston, had the windows on his pickup and glass roof Corvette tinted dark with a reflective tint that works surprisingly well. It is really noticeable when the windows are lowered and the sun hits you. I guess a tint alone is not as effective as one with the reflective component. Something you might want to consider.
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Old 06-24-2016, 10:24 AM   #9
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We were able to cool ours down a little by going to Lowes and buying the roll of chrome insulation sheets made of the same stuff people put in there front windows of vehicles. We cut each piece to match every window in the camper, their easy to remove if you want to let some light in but it cuts down on the heat. We still have to keep the fans blowing cool air into the garage but it stays cooler with the windows blocked.

Here's a link http://www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-50...0-4d1322cfe4f5
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Old 06-25-2016, 05:28 AM   #10
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My 325 came with the ac units installed front bed room and garage. Living area has a fantastic fan. Seems to work, but not dealing with the heat you are. As it pre wired, you could move it.
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Old 06-30-2016, 04:06 AM   #11
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My 325 came with the ac units installed front bed room and garage. Living area has a fantastic fan. Seems to work, but not dealing with the heat you are. As it pre wired, you could move it.
As is mine. Wonder why they changed it?
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Old 07-01-2016, 01:21 AM   #12
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We use this portable a/c when we first get to the campground to help get the camper to a comfy temp then the 2 a/c's do a good job after that,some times depending on how hot it is we have to turn it back on to keep the garage cool
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Old 07-02-2016, 02:50 PM   #13
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371 Cooling Issues

I am having issues keeping my 371cool even with the 2 15K A/C's. The main area do a so so job keeping cool with the one AC in the main bedroom. However the Garage, I cannot seem to get and keep cool in the heat of the day with the AC in there; even with the quick dumps on that AC open. I have figured out if I put the top bunk down about a foot it does seem to work a little bit better. I am in need of advice/suggestions. I thought about taking a piece of fabric or something starting at the front quick dump vent and pinning it to the ceiling to make a tunnel for the cold air to force it out from the bunk area.......Sort of like they do in refrigerated tractor trailer, trailers. Thoughts/ideas/suggestions?

I do find the lack of cooling ability strange since this is a 39 foot unit with 2, 15k AC's. My last camper was a 2009 36 foot 5th wheel with one 15k AC and it had no problems (except for the 9 degree plus days in the middle of day with no shade) keeping the camper at a nice cozy 74 degrees.
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Old 09-07-2016, 06:43 AM   #14
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Great advice double checking the vents and air returns for leaks after doing that, go to a Menard's or Home Depot and buy a roll of reflectix Insulation. Cut out pieces to fit inside the window frames, then put the black privacy covers over the windows. I then bought a few USB chargable magnetic motion lights that I installed to create more light in the garage. This greatly either decreased or increased the temp whether heating or cooling the garage. There is virtually no Insulation in the floor of the garage and that will be next thing I change...
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Old 09-13-2016, 02:56 PM   #15
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I had the same problem with my 371. Based on a couple of threads on here I went rooting around my AC ducting and found that both AC units were blowing against each other through the same ducting. I took a bit of aluminum tape and sealed each of the backs of the ducts in the middle of the run. These would be the two directly over the fireplace, which resulted in two independent duct runs of four vents running from each AC unit. Front run includes one vent in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, and two in the living area. Back run includes two vents in the garage and two in the main living area. Had a frosty cold RV in the 100 degree heat at the track in Richmond this past weekend.
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Old 09-14-2016, 07:23 AM   #16
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How are you people getting at your ducts that are in the ceiling I don't see any access panels
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Old 09-14-2016, 10:31 AM   #17
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How are you people getting at your ducts that are in the ceiling I don't see any access panels
I assume just pulling the grates off the ceiling and looking or using a flex/bore/dental camera?
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Old 09-14-2016, 11:50 AM   #18
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I just unscrewed the grates, and then just turned on the AC units one at a time to check the air flow. As far as sealing them went, it was just by feel. They ducts aren't very tall, and narrow considerably toward the back. That's where I applied the aluminum tape.
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Old 09-14-2016, 07:11 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by canesfan View Post
Here are the vents I have, not sure how much they would help or not.

I too am in need of a second AC in the bedroom, but the OP already has 2. I would check the things mentioned because not just with Keystone you are liable to find any number of things that were not assembled to any exacting standards.

ETA: Sorry the pics are sideways but you get the idea.
I have the same vents in my Impact and pulled the vent off in the bath room. I got 1/4 narrow window foam sticking it to the vent cover stopping the air flow into the bathroom. My impact is 35 ft and having 1 AC in the garage is nice.
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Old 09-14-2017, 02:48 PM   #20
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How did you vent it do you have pics
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