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Old 06-12-2016, 03:17 AM   #1
Bigbird
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AC problems 2017 327res

I have a brand new 327 RES 2017. The AC workso, but as soon as the son comes up, it starts to warm up in the camper. It will only be 2-3 degrees cooler then outside. Anyone else have issues and what's the fix?
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Old 06-12-2016, 03:28 AM   #2
gearhead
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I think I would call the dealer and schedule an appointment.
If you don't have a lot of faith in the dealer, find a RV repair shop that is a factory authorized warranty repair center for your brand. My experience has been that a shop that has been in business a long time will be quicker and better.
There can be an issue using a shop. I had an AC issue and found a dealer that was Dometic authorized. We were on the road and they checked it out when we got there. It was just a loose wire. Not a Dometic issue, a Keystone assembly issue. They weren't Keystone. All they did was tighten a wire nut, for no charge. I've been meaning to call them in a pizza for 3 years.
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Old 06-12-2016, 05:02 AM   #3
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After my first weekend in my new cougar, I'd like to have my holiday rambler back.
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Old 06-12-2016, 05:07 AM   #4
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I feel like that sometimes as well. Wish I still had my old 1976 cabover camper.
Give it a few years to work the kinks out.
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Old 06-12-2016, 05:22 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Bigbird View Post
After my first weekend in my new cougar, I'd like to have my holiday rambler back.
Almost every trip we make with our Cougar I "wish for" some feature we had on the Airstream or on our Holiday Rambler. Even though those two units would now be 48 and 23 years old, some of the "technology and common sense features" they had still haven't been introduced in modern travel trailers.
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Old 06-12-2016, 05:35 AM   #6
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First off welcome to the forum of great information! Sorry about your AC issue. If the AC worked properly during your PDI...it's probably a minor quick fix. Since purchasing our Alpine, I've never looked back or had an "I wish" moment! Can't say that I haven't had my fingers crossed a few time though!
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Old 06-12-2016, 07:36 PM   #7
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Well. The dealer didn't turn on the AC during my pdi. And it was inside. The AC will work ok at night but as soon as the sun hits the unit, it won't keep up. The walls of the camper get hot.
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Old 06-13-2016, 04:04 AM   #8
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Well. The dealer didn't turn on the AC during my pdi. And it was inside. The AC will work ok at night but as soon as the sun hits the unit, it won't keep up. The walls of the camper get hot.
I really don't think there's anything wrong with your air conditioner. There may well be some ducting leaks (into the ceiling) from the typical "sloppy installation" on the assembly line. You might want to remove the ducting grills in the ceiling, use some aluminum duct tape (not fabric duck tape) to seal the spaces where the ductwork meets the ceiling luan. That will help deliver all the cool air into the coach.

Honestly though, the Cougar 327 comes standard with one 13,500 BTU A/C. That's simply not nearly enough "cooling power" for a 38' fifth wheel. Even with the optional 15,000 BTU A/C, anything above 90F is going to be a "get out of here" event. You need to very seriously consider a second 13,500 BTU A/C for the bedroom. It's already braced and wired for it and your Cougar comes "standard" with 50 amp service.

Good Luck "chasing a problem" but I think that you're simply expecting a "too small A/C" to try to do more than it's capable of achieving.
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Old 06-13-2016, 05:21 AM   #9
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My guess also is that your A/C is fine. It is probably a ducting issue. On my alpine I ended up removing the A/C from the roof and virtually rebuiding the the air distribution box underneath that all the ducting comes in and out of. Mine had so many air leaks that there was more air coming out of the ceiling lights than there was from my air vents. Also the output air and return air paths share the same box. Mine was divided off by just a single layer of foil backed tape. The air pressure simply pushed it over so that the majority of the air was from the output of the A/C right back to the return side without going out through the ducting. A piece of plywood and almost a whole roll of HVAC tape later I had great air flow from my air vents and no leakage from the air box into the ceiling. I like keystone. I think they make a quality product overall, however quality control could be a little bit better in some areas.
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Old 06-13-2016, 09:44 AM   #10
Fit4Infinity
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My 327 has a lever that shunts all cool air to come out directly from the ac unit bypassing the in ceiling ducting. You could turn on the ac and shut the ducting off a see if lots of cold air comes out of the unit.


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Old 06-13-2016, 10:15 AM   #11
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My 327res came with a 15K main unit and I added the 13.5K unit to bedroom. best 750.00 installed money I spent, It has more than paid for itself over the last 6 years. same with slideout awning covers.
Just know that most folks will tell you the AC brings the camper temps down to somewhere around 10-15 degrees cooler than outside air temps. So a 90 degree best you can hope for is 75-80 degrees in the camper. I am no expert here but I have seen this when we had the TT with a 13.5 only unit. One July it was 100 plus outside an we had full sun and the camper seemed to stay in the 85 range.. That was hot but still cooler than outside . thanks goodness for a spring feed lake not a pool.
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Old 06-13-2016, 10:55 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by Bigbird View Post
I have a brand new 327 RES 2017. The AC workso, but as soon as the son comes up, it starts to warm up in the camper. It will only be 2-3 degrees cooler then outside. Anyone else have issues and what's the fix?
1) It seems that it's very common to have very poor ductwork Keystone RVs. If you drop the lower cover on the AC unit, you can see if the duct work is exposed. There are few photos on this forum some really bad examples. Expect to have to clean it up and re-tape it with some aluminum tape. HVAC passing through duct work will always be less efficient than venting it at the unit.

2) Lower or remove your vent covers on the ductwork.

3) Does the AC unit work better if you open the vents at the unit? That is, don't allow it to blow through the ductwork as much. To determine if the unit itself is working, it should have a 20 degree difference between intake air temp and outlet temperature.

4) That's a 30+ foot RV. If you're in a location that's hot outside, IMHO, it's going to need 2 units to cool it down. It may come with factory wiring for a 2nd unit, or you can use the WD prep area to get a smaller floor-mounted unit that exhausts out the drier port. We may add a 3rd unit to the garage of our Carbon by this means...

Suggested order of investigation:
1) Confirm that the unit is cooling 20 degrees.
2) Check out the duct work at the AC unit.
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