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Old 06-23-2021, 04:34 PM   #1
Corrykidsmom
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AC Concern

We are owners of a new 2021 Avalanche 338GK. We were wondering if anyone had cooling issues?
We are not sure if the A/C performance is normal as our last RV had non ducted a/c units. On hot days 90-95 degrees our main unit will run ALL day with shades closed and inside temp only gets 6-7 degrees cooler. 2 weekends ago it actually was hotter inside than outside with the A/C running. It did blow both the breaker in the RV and at power pole that weekend. We shut it down and went home. Came back the following weekend and it seemed to cool better. But we took it to a local authorized Keystone dealer for what we thought would be warranty work to have both A/C units checked. They said the roof plenum ducts were NOT taped and that was causing the issue. They then said that this was not covered under warranty and if we wanted it fixed we had to pay. Well we have a special needs kiddo so of course we needed it fixed. $200 later we get set up and low and behold their expensive tape job did not fix the issue. We wonder if anyone else had this issue with the main air not cooling and it does not appear to be putting much volume out either and is this considered normal?
Thanks.
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Old 06-23-2021, 04:40 PM   #2
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First off, I would ask for a refund. Ducts not sealed would be a “workmanship” issue in my eyes.

If you have a laser temp gun, measure the air temp coming out of the unit. You should see 20 degree drop. If your coach has “full body paint” and is a dark color, you need to start the cooling process early in the day.
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Old 06-23-2021, 04:52 PM   #3
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I would be contacting Keystone Customer Service and discussing that dealer's comments about charging you for something that was installed incorrectly by the factory. The air conditioner installation is a KEYSTONE WORKMANSHIP/QUALITY issue, not something the owner should have to pay to correct....

Call Keystone CS, explain what you posted above and be prepared to send them a copy of the service order and the receipt. They should readily reimburse you for that issue......

Now, this would only apply IF both air conditioners were installed by Keystone. Some trailers come with only one A/C and dealers or private contractors install the second unit. If that's your situation, then you need to take up the repairs with whoever installed the second A/C....

At any rate, you, the owner, should not have to pay to correct shoddy workmanship from either source.....

It's time to get "vocal" on this one !!!!!
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Old 06-24-2021, 12:21 PM   #4
Corrykidsmom
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We don't have full body paint and it's a lighter color RV. We have tried cooling it down starting the in the AM but it hasn't been able to keep up. The temp just climbs.
I will be calling the Keystone customer service for sure. Thank you for your inputs. The dealer did check output of cold air but all we got was it is fine. Never showed my husband the numbers. And our receipt is blank basically. No write up on what they checked or what they found.
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Old 06-24-2021, 01:52 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Corrykidsmom View Post
We don't have full body paint and it's a lighter color RV. We have tried cooling it down starting the in the AM but it hasn't been able to keep up. The temp just climbs.
I will be calling the Keystone customer service for sure. Thank you for your inputs. The dealer did check output of cold air but all we got was it is fine. Never showed my husband the numbers. And our receipt is blank basically. No write up on what they checked or what they found.
As Chuckster said, there should be an 18-20 degree differential between the air blowing out of the A/C unit and the inside air going into the unit at the unit itself. Anything less than that is an indicator that the A/C unit has an issue....as long as it is properly sized. In the RV world, they are usually either a 13.5K BTU unit or a 15K BTU unit.
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Old 06-29-2021, 09:33 AM   #6
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We have a 13 upfront and 15 for main AC. The air temp is cold as we tested it this weekend. Just not enough fan speed to cool living area. If we run both which we have to be careful bc the campground we are at is only 30amp service. We ran both yesterday and made sure all other electrical usage was off except for fridge we left that on and it cooled down to 74 which I was happy with. the temp rose to 83 degrees before we tried to run both units together and it was 68 inside when I woke up. The air coming from vents is 60-61 degrees. The main unit fan just doesn't seem to put much volume of air out. I am calling our purchasing dealer today to go over with them what we have been trying to get their input.
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Old 06-29-2021, 09:55 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Corrykidsmom View Post
We have a 13 upfront and 15 for main AC. The air temp is cold as we tested it this weekend. Just not enough fan speed to cool living area. If we run both which we have to be careful bc the campground we are at is only 30amp service. We ran both yesterday and made sure all other electrical usage was off except for fridge we left that on and it cooled down to 74 which I was happy with. the temp rose to 83 degrees before we tried to run both units together and it was 68 inside when I woke up. The air coming from vents is 60-61 degrees. The main unit fan just doesn't seem to put much volume of air out. I am calling our purchasing dealer today to go over with them what we have been trying to get their input.
For your sake I recommend that you do not run both units on 30 amp service it will work until it doesn't 😉

If you had a volt/amp gauge on the line you'd see why.

The rear air conditioner is having to push air all the way to the bedroom and vise a versa.

These systems are not designed to use only one of the units on a hot day.
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Old 06-29-2021, 10:12 AM   #8
Corrykidsmom
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Even on a average day our main AC can't keep up. It will be in the low 80's outside and the temp in our RV just creeps up. One weekend it was cooler outside than in. This weekend we averaged a 6-7 degree difference. That is why we tried both units. Our previous RV (keystone copper canyon) we were able to run both units on this same campsite. No issues.
I did make sure to keep ceiling fan and roof vent fan off. TV was off and only had 1 light on. (my little girl was taking a nap so it worked out to keep it dark inside)
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Old 06-29-2021, 10:21 AM   #9
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If you do a search on here you will find all kinds of trouble with these AC units on Keystone campers. We have a new Alpine with several issues we are dealing with. Good Luck!

One thing I can tell you is run them on high but shut them off for at least 5 min. every 3 to 4 hours, they will then blow much colder air for a while again if you can manage to get enough air flow out the junk vents!
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Old 06-29-2021, 12:02 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Corrykidsmom View Post
Even on a average day our main AC can't keep up. It will be in the low 80's outside and the temp in our RV just creeps up. One weekend it was cooler outside than in. This weekend we averaged a 6-7 degree difference. That is why we tried both units. Our previous RV (keystone copper canyon) we were able to run both units on this same campsite. No issues.
I did make sure to keep ceiling fan and roof vent fan off. TV was off and only had 1 light on. (my little girl was taking a nap so it worked out to keep it dark inside)
My Avalanche is a 35 foot 5th wheel... the rear A/C is a 15K and it will keep the trailer very comfortable until the outside temps reach 85` after that it starts to warm up, especially if there is no shade. But that isn't really the fault of the A/C or the vent system...

Our previous 5th wheel a 39 foot Cougar, also had ducted A/C in the rear and the ducts traversed the entire trailer and into the bedroom... However, it had a DUMP feature which allowed us to mitigate the duct system when it got hot.. This trailer does not have that feature...

Like you when my front A/C worked; running them together cooled the trailer even in 110` full sun.. Alas, my less than 6 month old 13.5 Coleman A/C took a dump and quit working... this is how I know what the rear 15K will do on its own...

The A/C crapping out is another issue and it isn't Keystone's fault...

My solution has been to not wait on the warranty, which might take until November or later and have purchased a 15K to replace the bad unit..

I will deal with warranty at a later date..
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Old 07-01-2021, 09:13 PM   #11
Corrykidsmom
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Thanks everyone. I spoke to Keystone CS and emailed the reciept from dealer that charged us for what should have been warrenty work. I also spoke to our purchasing dealer again and we plan to bring it back there for work. Service manager seems to think the cold air vents and returns are ducted together and that's why we are not getting enough cool air and not cooling unit. He said he has seen this on numerous Keystones lately. As far as the front unit blowing hot air on fan only mode when back unit is on ac he was confident they can fix that and have us up and running in a week. Since it's a drive for us he encouraged us to come and camp the weekend and leave the rv with them on Sunday and return to camp the following weekend to pick up and .are sure all is to our satisfaction. Thank you all for the guidance. Keystone CS should be sending us a refund. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday
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Old 07-04-2021, 10:15 AM   #12
Bob Landry
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I'm always amazed at what service managers don't know about AC systems. There is no way the supply and return would be ducted together. That's just nuts.
What is probably happening is that along with the ceiling registers and ducts not being properly taped, The plenums in the AC were likely improperly taped and cold air is being drawn right back into the return.
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Old 07-04-2021, 11:44 AM   #13
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I can tell you on my 2009 Fuzion 403 Touring Edition, none of the ducting was taped, and I was losing a huge amount of cooling into the 'insulation area' between the ceiling and roof (like there's much insulation there... ).

The workmanship on these units is miserable. My sink fell out, the furnace was not 'ducted' to the cold air return (pulling air from the 'basement' area), hole plugs from holes drilled in walls and sawdust was still behind walls, wires ran willy-nilly... and they have the nerve to charge premium prices for these still.

At any rate, since purchase I have installed new Dometic Brisk Air II systems ( 15main/13front) and converted them to zoned control. Main system is ducted and taped as it should have been. I blocked it at the bathroom, and the 13k system in the bedroom is non-ducted. We generally run 23-25 deg cooler than outside, but when it hits 110 outside, it's a slow losing game. There is just not hardly any insulation in this toy hauler.

Added. we also have a 'in-window' 5k system in one of the cargo area windows. The cargo area is converted to utility room, so it helps also.
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Old 07-06-2021, 04:49 AM   #14
Danimal713
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I was doing a YouTube search for something else (no rollers under the slides- REALLY??? Idjet design nerds think the weight of an entire slide will pass over a plastic slide bar??? I added 2 rollers and now it rolls in/out nicely. I also had to add an awning to slide cause of leaks/debris. But I degress. I saw a video listed about improving efficiency of the RV AC units. There is an engineer that had this problem and designed an internal baffle to fix it. It made sure the intake and output air was separated. The intake used the entire venting areas. The output had a baffle to split the stream and direct it to the ducts. The real problem I had was the $170 price tag plus not sure it would fit in out trailer. The factory personel installed it about an inch and a half off from the ducts. So instead of about 7 inch long duct intake, it was only 5 1/2 inch long opening. Having an engineering mind and a woodworker, I took a 2X4 cut to fit the area and put a 45 degree angle on top on both directions doing the same thing- splitting the stream and directing it to each duct. I also did more taping to make sure the intake/output could not mix and the rest of the area where AC sits on roof was sealed. I used HVAC silver 3M tape which works great. I also added some dense foam weather stripping to a couple spots to stop the whistling as air pressure blasted from the output. There is a HUGE noticeable difference in the amount of air coming from all the ducts/vents. I added couple pics but unfortunately did not take one of the final project showing the 2X4 installed. These were before I did my work. It had been taped but not well. I suspect one of the 2 previous owners (most likely the first) complained about poor performance and a dealer tech added the tape but possibly was done at factory but I doubt it. The 2X4 with the angles on top was installed in center of squirrel cage fan from output. The tape was applied all around liberally even sealing off the spaces where AC sits on roof. In both pictures te internal baffle can be seen. This can migrate with travel but very important it sits properly to keep intake/output airs from mixing. It was so worth the time - and not spending $170.
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