Third A/C in Raptor garage

[SChedgie]

We are still shopping around looking at
Raptor 41' 365LEV, some have A/C in
garage. I think it might be a must but would
like to know what someone that is a owner
thinks.
Also, a dealer salesman told us at most campgrounds
with 50amp service, you could run all three
A/C at the same time.
He also said the generator would handle the
three A/C running at the same time.
Is this true or just salesmen talk.

[JRTJH]

When in a campground on 50 amp service, you should have no problems running all three (if the 3rd A/C if the factory connected your electrical load in such a way that the power is balanced properly with little other requirement on the leg the two A/C's are connected).

According to Dometic (the Briskaire A/C manufacturer) in their installation/operating instructions, there is a chart with information about the energy requirements for all their products. For any of their A/C rooftop systems, they say that for one A/C, use a 3.5KW generator and for 2 A/C's to use a minimum of a 5.0 KW generator. They don't give requirements for a 3 A/C system, but based on the 1.5KW increase from one to two, I'd guess that you'd need a 6.5 KW generator to run three A/C's. The problem isn't really in having enough power in a 5.5 KW generator, it's more preventing voltage drop if two A/C's are attempting to start at the same time and in protecting the generator alternator windings from overheating if operating above the recommended "sustained power levels".

Do some research on whether you might be able to get a bigger generator as an option.

The information from Dometic is available here: http://dometic.com/enus/Americas/USA...tdataid=107566

when the page opens, go to the orange links on the right side of the page and click on the second link.

[Bombfixer]

I have a 41' 365lev. It doesn't have a 3rd Air Conditioner, but it does have vents to run AC into the garage from the main AC unit. I have not had the unit in a temp of over 100 yet, but in FL I have seen 95 with high humidity. Main A/C unit along with ceiling fan cools the unit very well.

Sent from my NX008HD8G using Tapatalk

[SChedgie]

The 41' 365 we looked at here in Texas has the third A/C in the
garage. It does get hot here so maybe dealer ordered it that way.
We want the third A/C so when it gets hot we have it, might not need it
just on the hot days.

[Wilkod]

We had a 3rd ac added for the back room. The dealer advised it should be plugged into the 20 amp outlet on the campground pedestal. This works but on occasion the pedestal 20 amp didn't work. On those occasions I ran the extension cord under the trailer, into the back room dor and plugged into the washer 20 amp outlet. Worked great. So t is possible to run three ac's on 50 amps if you have and and can get the cord to the washer outlet.

[freakeshow]

We have a 42 foot 410 LEV with 2 AC units, one in the living room which is ducted to the whole camper and a 2nd in the master bedroom.

We stayed last summer for 2 months in +42 degree celsius ( 107 ) weather and the 2 units where more then enough to cool the front portion of the camper.

We use our garage for storage, 2nd fridge dog dishes etc so not really a living quarters, we simply close off the door to not loose coolness to this area.

If we had kids and or often had relatives staying in the garage i would most likly add the 3rd AC as with only 2 AC units the garage area does not get that cool.

hope this helps.

[Rabbit Sheriff]

We had local RV guy add a matching Coleman 13.5 AC in our 365 LEV garage.
He ran a #10 cord in very neat looking conduit across ceiling and
down the wall. Then outside he installed a cord storage/cover that looks factory.
We plug it into park 20 amp and roll all 3 A/Cs at same time with no
problems. Best upgrade we have done!!!

[ETXCampingFam]

We have a 2013 Raptor 395 (42 feet) and live in Texas. We use the garage bunks quite a bit for our young kids to stay in when we are at horse shows.

The living room AC was unable to cool that area AT ALL, so we had a 3rd one installed in the back. It works great if you have a 30 amp service in addition to the main 50 amp. The garage in our camper was not habitable in mild Texas heat (high 80's) without the addition of the 3rd unit.

Incidentally, on our camper, the main unit does a very poor job of cooling the living room even in mild heat. To get it cool, we usually place a small fan near the bedroom door to blow the cold air from that area into the living room. Even then, it's pretty marginal. The nice sidelight above the kitchen seems to be the culprit with solar heat during the day. I have thought it would be nice to have a remotely operated electric shade that could be closed to keep the heat down. This would probably help.

With all that said, with all 3 units running, the entire camper stays pretty cool.

Good luck!

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by ETXCampingFam

We have a 2013 Raptor 395 (42 feet) and live in Texas. We use the garage bunks quite a bit for our young kids to stay in when we are at horse shows.

The living room AC was unable to cool that area AT ALL, so we had a 3rd one installed in the back. It works great if you have a 30 amp service in addition to the main 50 amp. The garage in our camper was not habitable in mild Texas heat (high 80's) without the addition of the 3rd unit.

Incidentally, on our camper, the main unit does a very poor job of cooling the living room even in mild heat. To get it cool, we usually place a small fan near the bedroom door to blow the cold air from that area into the living room. Even then, it's pretty marginal. The nice sidelight above the kitchen seems to be the culprit with solar heat during the day. I have thought it would be nice to have a remotely operated electric shade that could be closed to keep the heat down. This would probably help.

With all that said, with all 3 units running, the entire camper stays pretty cool.

Good luck!

You probably have a leak in your ductwork. It would benefit you to pull the ceiling unit (with the filter and cold air return) from the ceiling, use aluminum duct tape and seal the area well. Chances are there's a significant air leak between the cold air and the warm air return sides. Also, pull the round duct vents and use that same tape to seal the ends of each duct run. Everyone who has done this has reported significant improvement in cooling and air handling.

Don't use fabric "duck tape" but get a roll of aluminum duct tape that's designed for duct sealing. It's available at Lowe's or HD.

Good Luck.