2021 Keystone Alpine A/C Issues

[GuffeyT]

I have a 2021 Keystone Alpine 3650RL (39 feet). I have two Whisper Quiet system A/C's on my Alpine. Most of the issues are cooling. Does anyone else have these issues. It will not stay cold during the day. I've read that Keystone has not looked into this issue yet. I've opened up all the duct work and re-tapped them. I've also cut the ceiling to size under the four intakes. Any other suggestions?

Thank you,
T. Guffey

[jsb5717]

Welcome to the forum, you'll find help here.

You haven't said what issues you're having? What's it doing, or not doing. What are you doing when whatever it is occurs? A little more info will help us help you.

Also, Year/Make/Model of RV is helpful

[bsmith0404]

What’s the exact issue you’re having? Both ACs on your Alpine are 15k. You should have decent airflow from each. One test you can do is tape pieces of yarn to each vent, turn each AC on individually and see how the airflow looks from each vent. As you move further away from the AC, air flow will decrease I.e. if you’re running only the bedroom AC, you can expect stronger airflow from the bedroom vents than the living room and vise versa, but when both are running, air flow should be pretty balanced across all vents. If you notice anything different, that could indicate abducting problem in the area of concern. My Alpine has very good/even airflow and I can definitely feel a difference across all vents when both ACs are running. I normally set the bedroom AC at a lower temp to keep it going and help cool the main living area since the bedroom is a much smaller space and cools quicker causing the bedroom AC to shut down. I also direct the AC vents towards the door to try to blow some of that air out into the main cabin.

[GuffeyT]

Thank you, most of it is cooling issues. The air is very cool when it comes out of the ducts, but it doesn't seem like the circulation is good. The intake vents seem extremely small. My friend has the same issues as I do, he plans on putting in an extra intake vent for each AC.


I set my rear AC at 70 and my front AC at 67

[bsmith0404]

The problem with many big 5th wheels is like I described with the bedroom AC. You have a 40’ 5th wheel with very tall ceilings. The bedroom only makes up about 12’ of that and has lower ceilings. It doesn’t take much to cool that space and for that AC to shut down. Then the main AC is stuck trying to cool the remaining 28’, tall ceiling, 3-4 slide area by itself. It can’t do that. You need to make sure you keep both ACs running. Keep the bedroom door open if possible. We are currently in an area where temps are 90 degrees. We have the main AC set for 72, but have to set the bedroom to 67 to keep it running to help the main. The rv will maintain 72 (even 70) if we keep both ACs running. Closer to 75/76 if we allow the front to shut down.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by GuffeyT

Thank you, most of it is cooling issues.

If you take a minute to provide a description of what you mean by "cooling issues" it might make for some more on-point responses. Not getting cool enough? Air flow not good, etc?

[sourdough]

It might be helpful to know what kind of temps you are looking at/for? If you've checked the ducting and vents I would think they should keep you pretty comfortable. You do have to run them both in hot weather. How are you trying to keep it cool currently; temp settings front/rear and any other tricks you are using?

[jsb5717]

Originally Posted by GuffeyT

I have a 2021 Keystone Alpine 3650RL. I have two Quiet A/C's on my Alpine. Most of the issues are cooling. Does anyone else have these issues. It will not stay cold during the day. I've read that Keystone has not looked into this issue yet. I've opened up all the duct work and re-tapped them. I've also cut the ceiling to size under the four intakes. Any other suggestions?

Thank you,
T. Guffey

Thanks for adding more info. I assume you have the Whisper Quiet system? Which means that you have no interior plenum or dump vent? The only interior access you have are the 2 (per AC) rectangle return vents?

If so, that's what we have. A few things to look at:

- the thin foam filters in the returns get dirty quickly. They should be removed and washed regularly to maximize air flow
- the return ducts can get compressed in the ceiling. There are YouTube videos on that and how to open them up with some PVC pipe to improve air flow.
- The ceiling vents can restrict air flow into the coach. There are different types. Perhaps post a pic of yours

On ours I got on the roof, removed the cowling (cover) as well as the fan so I could see and reach down to the ducts. Then I used aluminum tape to better seal around the ducts to make sure no air was escaping into the attic. I also gathered all of the various wires, zip-tied them together, and anchored them to one side to better open up the air movement. With the cowling removed also take a look at the fins to make sure they aren't bent or restricted...no debris preventing air flow.

Also, I used a borescope to inspect all of the ducts to make sure they were as fully open as they could be. I'm not sure how you'd fix them if they weren't but ours were OK so I moved on. The borescope did show me some collapsing of our return ducts (mentioned earlier) which I opened back up with PVC pipe

It sounds like you already inspected and taped all of your vents into the duct. Did you also make sure that no vents were sticking up up past the duct floor? They should be flush to maximize air flow.

Like BSmith, we keep our bedroom AC set lower than the main AC so it continues to move cold air into the living area even after the bedroom is sufficiently cool.

Our trailer is 35 feet and with 2 AC's keeps us comfy even at 100 degrees.

[Roper46]

I always place a small fan at the door of the bedroom to blow the cooler air into the main living area in the day time. It really helps here in south Georgia.

[4Buck]

When it gets that hot always run the fan speed on high not auto. Sure wish there was a way to set the fan speed then run on auto like my old camper.

[ChuckS]

Watch this video.. Every Alpine made from 2020 thru most 2022 are having low volume flow out of the overhead Air ducts... Until you watch this video and see the problem and then get up on the roof and do whats shown in the video you WILL NEVER be happy with the HVAC system performance in that Alpine..

https://youtu.be/-QJTxSDZRWE

Additionally... if you have not removed the overhead inside ducts one by one and resealed the gaps that YOU WILL FIND then a good portion of the cooling air is simply being blown up into the attic and not down into the cabin space...

See the PDF I have added showing you what you will find on some of those overhead vent ducts when you get to them

Fix the issue up on top first.. it will make a huge difference

[GuffeyT]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Watch this video.. Every Alpine made from 2020 thru most 2022 are having low volume flow out of the overhead Air ducts... Until you watch this video and see the problem and then get up on the roof and do whats shown in the video you WILL NEVER be happy with the HVAC system performance in that Alpine..

https://youtu.be/-QJTxSDZRWE

Additionally... if you have not removed the overhead inside ducts one by one and resealed the gaps that YOU WILL FIND then a good portion of the cooling air is simply being blown up into the attic and not down into the cabin space...

See the PDF I have added showing you what you will find on some of those overhead vent ducts when you get to them

Fix the issue up on top first.. it will make a huge difference

Thank you, I have reseal the duct work.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by GuffeyT

Thank you, I have reseal the duct work.

If you have removed the entire AC unit on each zone from the roof and fixed the mess found there and are still having airflow issues I would take down a return duct and a few overhead outlet ducts.,

Stick a cell phone up there and turn the camera light on and video the inside of the ductwork

Review the videos you took and see if you have any collapsed duct work

[GuffeyT]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

If you have removed the entire AC unit on each zone from the roof and fixed the mess found there and are still having airflow issues I would take down a return duct and a few overhead outlet ducts.,

Stick a cell phone up there and turn the camera light on and video the inside of the ductwork

Review the videos you took and see if you have any collapsed duct work

Thank you Chuck, I will be taking off both units and cleaning them up.

[GuffeyT]

All the advice has been great, I plan on taking the A/C units off the roof and cleaning it up. I may also add another intake vent between the other two.

Thank you all again,
T. Guffey

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by GuffeyT

All the advice has been great, I plan on taking the A/C units off the roof and cleaning it up. I may also add another intake vent between the other two.

Thank you all again,
T. Guffey

Had a couple fellow Redwood owners that due to poor A/C performance added another return vent closer to each A/C on each side of the return duct only to find that the manufacturer ran wiring through the duct then sealed it with spray foam nearly blocking both sides of the original return duct. Both stated that after the mods both A/Cs functioned much better.
They then added 3 dump opening to each side of the duct run, they said that those 2 modifications was worth every minute & every $ of the job.

[GuffeyT]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Had a couple fellow Redwood owners that due to poor A/C performance added another return vent closer to each A/C on each side of the return duct only to find that the manufacturer ran wiring through the duct then sealed it with spray foam nearly blocking both sides of the original return duct. Both stated that after the mods both A/Cs functioned much better.
They then added 3 dump opening to each side of the duct run, they said that those 2 modifications was worth every minute & every $ of the job.

Thank you very much, I will definitely look into that.

[trooper253]

I had the same issue with my 2016 Avalanche 361BTS. After several attempts by the dealer to fix the issue, I gave up and added a 3rd A/C.

[ChuckS]

The OP will never get good cold air from either AC unit until he does what I’ve already advised..

The ductwork underneath both AC units is full of excess spray foam and crap and it’s blocking 90% of the airflow.
This is a known issue on 2020-2021 Alpines .. every single one made in this year group has this issue

[ChuckS]

Images under the roof AC units on 3 different 2021-2022 Alpines .. I have many more images

You have to remove the roof AC unit (4 bolts) and set the unit aside and fix what you see in these pictures or your roof AC units will never cool worth a hoot.