WARNING montana high country 385br

[ForBruce]

i have a 2021 Montana high country model 385br. (bonus room)

the air conditioner for the bedroom is enough and cools very well . But the 2nd air conditioner is the main room is EXTREMELY Inadequate.

with 90-98 degrees outside the temp went to 84 degrees.

Also the middle bedroom get almost no air and is the hottest room.

The air was just checked (this week) by a dealer who said the air is working to spec with an output at about 41 degrees

So the bottom line is this unit should have 3 airs like Alliances 5th wheels have.


Do yourself a favor and don't make the same mistake i made.

I WOULD NEVER BUY THIS MODEL AGAIN NOR WOULD I RECOMMEND IT.

It is a HOT BOX

shame on you Keystone

[sourdough]

I'm thinking you're pointing that finger in the wrong direction.

One of the primary things a prospective owner must do is first determine their priorities in an RV (including air conditioning) and assess how all the things work/will work in that potential model. Once you have done that (if you don't it's not the manufacturers fault) you select your purchase.

At 41' that trailer would almost need 3 ACs depending on where you camp - a given the new buyer should know/understand. Then that layout with the middle bedroom is going to be problematic in hot weather; I've looked at them and would not purchase one and that is one of the problems - blocks circulation and basically wastes cool air that could be used elsewhere....but it needs 3 ACs for you and for me as well - so I wouldn't buy it. But, there are other folks that won't need 3 ACs, don't stay in hot climates etc. so it works just fine for them. So, not really "shame on Keystone" more "I made the wrong choice".

Pointing out the issues with the cooling is a good thing though in case someone wasn't aware of it. You might also consider a portable AC unit. We have some members that use and love them.

[wiredgeorge]

Balderdash! ForBruce made my mind up for me... I will now not buy a 2021 Montana High Country 385BR! I will stick with my old 2002 Cougar...

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Balderdash! ForBruce made my mind up for me... I will now not buy a 2021 Montana High Country 385BR! I will stick with my old 2002 Cougar...

either will i

[jasin1]

I will admit I never gave much thought on the size of the ac systems in the rigs..I know that Javi stepped up to 15k unit in his bedroom for that reason…maybe that unit just needs two 15 k units …is it the race duct system?

[ForBruce]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I'm thinking you're pointing that finger in the wrong direction.

One of the primary things a prospective owner must do is first determine their priorities in an RV (including air conditioning) and assess how all the things work/will work in that potential model. Once you have done that (if you don't it's not the manufacturers fault) you select your purchase.

At 41' that trailer would almost need 3 ACs depending on where you camp - a given the new buyer should know/understand. Then that layout with the middle bedroom is going to be problematic in hot weather; I've looked at them and would not purchase one and that is one of the problems - blocks circulation and basically wastes cool air that could be used elsewhere....but it needs 3 ACs for you and for me as well - so I wouldn't buy it. But, there are other folks that won't need 3 ACs, don't stay in hot climates etc. so it works just fine for them. So, not really "shame on Keystone" more "I made the wrong choice".

Pointing out the issues with the cooling is a good thing though in case someone wasn't aware of it. You might also consider a portable AC unit. We have some members that use and love them.

MY dealer told me the air would be fine as it had 2 15k units.

and i did not spend all that money to have to add a portable air.

and i did contact Keystone cust service which also indicated the air is quite enough.

again --SHAME ON YOU KEYSTONE

[chuckster57]

So I have to ask: at what temp do you start the ACs ? Is your unit under trees? Full sun? How hot outside? Is your rig light or dark exterior?

LOTS of different factors determine if your AC is inadequate or your unit is in a position that 3 or even 4 ACs might not be enough.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by ForBruce

MY dealer told me the air would be fine as it had 2 15k units.

and i did not spend all that money to have to add a portable air.

and i did contact Keystone cust service which also indicated the air is quite enough.

again --SHAME ON YOU KEYSTONE

Questions;
What color is your exterior, dark colors draw heat.

Do you close your blinds on the sunny side?

Are you in direct sunlight, no shade?

Did you get a unit with the Arctic package?

Do you have slide toppers, these will shade the tops of the slides and reduce heat gain.

[notanlines]

Bruce, you've been a member here for about a year, or close. By now you know that Keystone doesn't monitor the site. Not only that, they are selling all the Montana's and High Country's they can produce. And even further, they don't give a rat's patoot what you think. Just being blunt. How about you mount one over the spare bedroom and go on with your ownership? Put it on a separate thermostatat, not linked in with the other two.

[jasin1]

I guess it was me and I liked everything else about the trailer..I’d just get a small portable unit for the middle bedroom and leave that ac duct closed to the main air system..really seems a lot easier then starting a war with keystone over something that probably 3/4 of the owners are happy with…life is too short to get upset over this IMO.
Either that or just trade it in on a Arcadia like you mentioned.
Probably only a problem about 3 months out of the year

[Javi]

Horse crap, you bought it and no one put a gun to your head to make you buy it.

Fix it, or don't fix it and trade it in on something else that you won't like either.

I fix the crap I don't like so that I do like it... much easier and cheaper than bitching about stuff I can fix

[Mikendebbie]

I have read posts from folks who found that their return ducts had collapsed near the return grill. The remedy is to insert two ~12” long pieces of 1.25” pvc pipe into the duct to open it and keep it open.

Some have cut and removed a few fins from the diffuser outlets…plus some have reported that they cut the top end of the register down because it sticks up too high into the duct, and this has improved cold air flow. There are much better explanations for these fixes on the MOC forum.

Thanks to COVID - we have not been out in the Monte since late 2019. Our AC units have a hard time on hot days. We used fans to make it more comfortable during the day…one blowing on us in the easy chairs and one blowing on the dogs on the couch. I developed a habit decades ago (several RVs ago) for turning the AC on high and setting the thermostat down LOW and just leave it be. I never use the auto setting. We just let it blow and if it gets cold - that’s the way we like it.

[dutchmensport]

As you stated yourself, the output of the AC is 41 degrees. So, there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with the AC units. They are working as expected.

The problem is NOT with the AC, the problem is with the "type" of space the AC are attempting to cool.

Put the air conditioner outside on a picnic table, turn it on, and stand 10 feet away from the blower on the AC. How cool do you think the temperature is there where you stand. But the AC is blowing 41 degrees right at the fan, right?

The same is true with your camper. Nothing is wrong with the air conditioner. The problem is the camper itself. With less than 2 inches of wall, how much insulation can that actually hold? With only about 2-4 inches of space in the roof, how much insulation can that hold?

How about all the gaps in the slide seals? How about the vents on the roof? The windows with no insulation value at all. How about all the air that blows through the furnace return, as the furnace is probably located behind the front bay area, under the floor, in that part of the camper that is not accessable without taking something apart. How about the underbelly. I guarantee you it's not sealed. That air can pass through the underbelly, suck right up through the furnace, and pass that hot air into the living area.

Too much space, too many gaps, minimal insulation, and simply too hot outside, and .... would YOU be able to keep up?

The secret to keeping a larger campers cool in high heat is to pull the shades inside the camper, retract the awnings so they produce some shade on the sides of the camper. Start the air conditioners in the morning when the camper is cool, and it will stay cool longer. And minimize opening the door as much as possible.

Another thing you can do is to create less space during the heat of the day. If you are in the living room, pull in the bedroom slides. If you are in the bedroom, pulll in the living room slides. Smaller spaces are to cool and heat.

When purchasing an RV of any sort, you have to realize they are not built like stick-n-brick houses. The walls and floors are thinner, and unless special ordered, the windows are single pane. There air gaps everywhere, and they ARE nothing but a tin can. It's a different lifestyle, and it takes adjustments physically, and mentally.

Good luck and 90% of RV ownership is learning how to make adjustments and adapt to changers.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by ForBruce

MY dealer told me the air would be fine as it had 2 15k units.

and i did not spend all that money to have to add a portable air.

and i did contact Keystone cust service which also indicated the air is quite enough.

again --SHAME ON YOU KEYSTONE

Well....the dealer telling you something is not a Keystone issue - and they WILL tell you anything to sell a unit, I hope you understand that. Keystone telling you the air is quite enough is right...in the right circumstances and used as seasoned RVers do - they have "adapted" to the requirements and that is mandatory.

Lots of suggestions have been made showing you how to manage your cooling, and again, those actions are mandatory to keep comfortable in extreme temps. If you don't want to do any of those, don't want to accept that you purchased the trailer without doing enough due diligence and just want to vent.....you are going to be a very unhappy camper for a long time; until you fix it or get rid of it.

[ForBruce]

Thanks for all your opinions ;

i do keep the shades pull closed

my slide outs have slide toppers

i start with 72 degrees in the morning (to get a jump and the heat)

camper is light colored (off white) roof is white

were were parked for some tree shade on one side

the purpose of my bitching is to alert others who might want to buy this model and let them know what i did not know at the time of purchase.

I did go into an Alliance 5th wheel that was parked in full sun (no shade) and was gray and black in color.....3 air conditioners and ice cold and 98 outside.

before i go cutting holes in the wall for portables air , i will look for another 5th wheel that has the certain features that i know are better

3- airs
Hydraulic levelers (not electric )
no cables on slide outs, gears or hydraulic that can be manually operated from outside the trailer . If my kitchen slide out is broken closed i cannot even get into the room to manually operate the motors.

the alliance 5th wheel model 390Mp is similar to the montana 385bh but has all those features

you fellers are quick to jump on any form of complaint and try to make good the situation.... but my post is for an information purposed in the hopes that someone will benefit from my mistake

[JRTJH]

I think most of the "frustration from other Keystone owners" is that there's not anything any of us can do to "fix your problem"... That puts your posts "square in the you bought it and now you're bitchin' about it category" with no way for any of us to resolve or even help you other than to listen to your complaints.... That's why (IMHO) you're getting negative comments. It's not because we don't care, rather it's because you're trying to use us to get to Keystone.....

That said, there is an owner of a Cougar with a similar floorplan that didn't "just bitch about the air in the middle room", he devised a means to fix the problem.

You might want to check out his "problem and how he fixed it", located here: https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...ad.php?t=48114

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by ForBruce

Thanks for all your opinions ;

i do keep the shades pull closed

my slide outs have slide toppers

i start with 72 degrees in the morning (to get a jump and the heat)

camper is light colored (off white) roof is white

were were parked for some tree shade on one side

the purpose of my bitching is to alert others who might want to buy this model and let them know what i did not know at the time of purchase.

I did go into an Alliance 5th wheel that was parked in full sun (no shade) and was gray and black in color.....3 air conditioners and ice cold and 98 outside.

before i go cutting holes in the wall for portables air , i will look for another 5th wheel that has the certain features that i know are better

3- airs
Hydraulic levelers (not electric )
no cables on slide outs, gears or hydraulic that can be manually operated from outside the trailer . If my kitchen slide out is broken closed i cannot even get into the room to manually operate the motors.

the alliance 5th wheel model 390Mp is similar to the montana 385bh but has all those features

you fellers are quick to jump on any form of complaint and try to make good the situation.... but my post is for an information purposed in the hopes that someone will benefit from my mistake

In my initial post #2 I said it was good that you mentioned the issue as others might want to know that. After that it is about what you, as the owner, are going to do to mitigate the problems you bought knowingly or unknowingly. Again, that's not "shame on Keystone".

I am probably the last person to try to "make good" of a bad situation when someone complains; but those complaints have to be directed properly - and at the proper source. The post above I quoted notes some of your dissatisfactions, none of which are Keystones':

You wanted 3 ACs
You wanted hydraulic levelers (not electric)
You didn't want cable slides
You can't operate anything because you can't get inside to do so

ALL, every one of the items above, were the buyer's choice; things a prospective buyer looks at and looks for if it's important. Some floorplans/models offer those things, some don't. I understand wanting/wishing you had gotten something different but it isn't right to blame the manufacturer (any manufacturer of anything) for the choices you/I make. We each have to own those choices, deal with them and understand that everything, when we make choices, isn't someone else's fault.

[RickV]

Pick up a roll or two of Reflectix at Menards or Lowes and cut it to fit your windows. I was having similar heat issues while in South Dakota last month when it was over 100 degrees. Our 5er has that front window/windshield and I was measuring temp around 120 degrees with the laser heat gun when the sun was hitting in that window. After I put the Reflectix in the window temps dropped to below 90. Similar drops occurred in every window where I had the Reflectix.

[Ribtip]

Originally Posted by sourdough

In my initial post #2 I said it was good that you mentioned the issue as others might want to know that. After that it is about what you, as the owner, are going to do to mitigate the problems you bought knowingly or unknowingly. Again, that's not "shame on Keystone".

I am probably the last person to try to "make good" of a bad situation when someone complains; but those complaints have to be directed properly - and at the proper source. The post above I quoted notes some of your dissatisfactions, none of which are Keystones':

You wanted 3 ACs
You wanted hydraulic levelers (not electric)
You didn't want cable slides
You can't operate anything because you can't get inside to do so

ALL, every one of the items above, were the buyer's choice; things a prospective buyer looks at and looks for if it's important. Some floorplans/models offer those things, some don't. I understand wanting/wishing you had gotten something different but it isn't right to blame the manufacturer (any manufacturer of anything) for the choices you/I make. We each have to own those choices, deal with them and understand that everything, when we make choices, isn't someone else's fault.

I feel the same way when everyone bashes car dealerships for selling a what we call an under preforming truck. Its not there fault. They are in business to sell trucks same as keystone is in business to sell campers. Know what your getting into the best you can and do your own research.o.p thanks for the heads up on this. If anything you opened peoples eyes to pay attention to this potential problem on any camper.

[Scttw]

Do a search on AC Ducting, on this site. I've seen some really interesting articles.

My Alpine is huge, I only need one of my AC units on at a time in 95 degree weather and it has no issues keeping up. I fact, if I turn on the front AC (LR) unit, I can open up my door and cool my 23x12 Florida room that has a 9 foot ceiling, so it's nice when we entertain for dinner.

In fact even when it was 95% relative humidity it was super cool inside. I always set the t-stat at 74. It does NOT run full time. I am always surprised to read these threads as I have never seen these issues.

I'd definitely check the ducting though.