Improving A/C

[GMH]

I get very little airflow to the bedroom which seems to be a common problem. I watched this video:
https://youtu.be/a81Mq_hSzj0
I checked mine and that is not my issue, but I want to seal the “plenum” under the unit and add a scoop to direct more air into the 8”x1-1/2” duct that leads to the bathroom and bedroom. I will likely block off 80% of the bathroom grill also.
my question is how easy is it to completely remove the inside plate and control box that are held up by the four corner bolts. The low voltage wires should be connected by plugs I’m thinking, and only the AC wires would have to be disconnected. It sure would be a lot easier to seal it and streamline the enclosure with that removed.

[wiredgeorge]

Suggest you check out RVairflow.com. Just remove the four long bolts and the bottom comes right off; you can unplug the white plug if you like or let the bottom part dangle. I added an RVairflow.com device and it greatly increased my airflow out the vents but does eliminate the "quick cool" function which is done by opening the vent on the lower unit. Don't miss it. I have also used foil HVAC tape to seal things around all my vents and added very dark tint to my windows and put 14x14" inserts in my two vent skylights. Doing all these things has really helped cool my trailer (plus added a portable 14K BTU A/C that vents out a window.

[rhagfo]

No need to spend $200 to improve air flow. Get a roll of good quality aluminum duct tape and seal all the ducts. I did that and it greatly improved air flow.

[GMH]

I made some angles out of some light aluminum and screwed them in to seal the top and bottom edges of the ducts. Then I spray foamed the gaps at the short sides of the ducts and the holes where the wires enter.
The side that goes to the bathroom and bedroom is a very long run and there is a lot of friction loss on such a flat narrow duct. So I added a “deflector scoop” to direct some of the blower output directly into that duct. The center vent quick cool function will still work.
There was also a slight gap in the divider between the supply and return sides, so I taped it up as well with foil tape. I also blocked off the duct about 6” after the bedroom diffuser with some thick closed cell foam. We won’t know for sure till mid August when we go out again, but it should perform a lot better now!

[roadglide]

It would be nice if the airflow system was installed at the dealer or elkhart assembly line , it can be installed in five minutes that would in-prove the comfort and Conserve energy and very little cost to the leading rv manufacture.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

No need to spend $200 to improve air flow. Get a roll of good quality aluminum duct tape and seal all the ducts. I did that and it greatly improved air flow.

I had previously sealed all inside of vents with HVAC aluminum tape. That may have helped a bit but I purchased an RVAirflow (rvairflow.com) product and it GREATLY increased my airflow... cost $170. If you are referring to an RVAirflow product, have you actually tried one? Curious as you are telling me that I didn't spend my money well and I am definite in the positive improvement. Just curious.

[skids]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I had previously sealed all inside of vents with HVAC aluminum tape. That may have helped a bit but I purchased an RVAirflow (rvairflow.com) product and it GREATLY increased my airflow... cost $170. If you are referring to an RVAirflow product, have you actually tried one? Curious as you are telling me that I didn't spend my money well and I am definite in the positive improvement. Just curious.

I am looking to reduce the noise from the AC. George, did it noticeably reduce noise?

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by skids

I am looking to reduce the noise from the AC. George, did it noticeably reduce noise?

The maker claims it does but I really didn't notice a lot of difference; if you used the "quick cool" function; that is, open the vent right on the A/C lower
unit, this is not functional any long and air only comes out of the vents. Quite a bit more air. We have two vents in our upstairs bedroom/bath area and if one is closed it actually makes a bit of a whistling noise due to a lot more airflow. We close both upstairs vents during the day since no one is in the bed typically and shut the pocket door to the upstairs and thus don't hear it.

[roadglide]

It’s 109° in Arkansas with the index temperature. I running one AC on 30 amp. I was running 2 but the breaker tripped . The living area is 80° Air Force system works marvelous In the high humidity area. Who would ever think a high density piece of Styrofoam, precision cut could make your rv more comfortable .

[GMH]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Suggest you check out RVairflow.com.

https://rvairflow.com/

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

if you used the "quick cool" function; that is, open the vent right on the A/C lower unit, this is not functional any long and air only comes out of the vents. Quite a bit more air.

The more I think about it the more I like the idea of this product.
.1) It directs the cool air into the ducts in a smooth transition.
.2) It eliminates the “quick cool” function which is actually counterproductive. When the center vent is open, a fair amount of the cool air may be sucked back into the return grill which is right beside it, rather than distributing the cool air throughout the trailer.
If the cool air is delivered to the outer edges of the trailer the unit will be forced to suck in the warmer air.

[GMH]

For anyone handy….here is a video I came across elsewhere on this forum that shows how to modify an A/C plenumb for better airflow. Looks very doable to me.
https://youtu.be/fBAUuMoD-ec

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by GMH

2) It eliminates the “quick cool” function which is actually counterproductive. When the center vent is open, a fair amount of the cool air may be sucked back into the return grill which is right beside it, rather than distributing the cool air throughout the trailer.
If the cool air is delivered to the outer edges of the trailer the unit will be forced to suck in the warmer air.

Of course, you could just close the vent.

I'm just amazed at the number of people who say they are willing to abandon the dump vent. Most of my travel is in the southland, and after a day's travel, it's all the A/C can do with the dump vent open to cool the center room enough to give us some immediate relief. Then we close it and cool the other rooms. If the A/C had to cool down the entire trailer -- including the hot roof area -- equally from scratch, we'd be puddles.

[Northofu1]

Originally Posted by GMH

For anyone handy….here is a video I came across elsewhere on this forum that shows how to modify an A/C plenumb for better airflow. Looks very doable to me.
https://youtu.be/fBAUuMoD-ec

I posted the same video in another post about the same thing.
I completed this in approximately 40 mins. cost me $18 CAN.
As awesome as the rv airflow looks I'm too handy to hand my money over to someone else if I can do it myself.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by LHaven

Of course, you could just close the vent.

I'm just amazed at the number of people who say they are willing to abandon the dump vent. Most of my travel is in the southland, and after a day's travel, it's all the A/C can do with the dump vent open to cool the center room enough to give us some immediate relief. Then we close it and cool the other rooms. If the A/C had to cool down the entire trailer -- including the hot roof area -- equally from scratch, we'd be puddles.

Same with us. We use the "dump feature" to stay somewhat comfortable, sitting in the cool air directly under the A/C unit which is located in the center of the trailer. If it weren't for the dump, we'd be either sweating the 2 or 3 hours for the trailer to cool down to a relatively comfortable temperature or we'd be finding the campground clubhouse to "sweat out the sweating temps in the trailer"... Once it's comfortable in the area directly under the A/C, we close the dump register and shift air to the extreme ends of the trailer.

That feature is a "life-saver" after setting up the trailer in 100F temps at 3PM so we're off the road before dark. Without it, we likely wouldn't/couldn't stay anywhere near comfortable while the air conditioner tries to make the trailer comfortable from being heat soaked all day on the road.

[sourdough]

Just want to say that we bought this trailer "because" it had the dump feature on the bedroom AC. We camp in warm areas quite often and like some other posters, we love that "dump" feature to help us cool down. I

[jwfrede]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Same with us. We use the "dump feature" to stay somewhat comfortable, sitting in the cool air directly under the A/C unit which is located in the center of the trailer. If it weren't for the dump, we'd be either sweating the 2 or 3 hours for the trailer to cool down to a relatively comfortable temperature or we'd be finding the campground clubhouse to "sweat out the sweating temps in the trailer"... Once it's comfortable in the area directly under the A/C, we close the dump register and shift air to the extreme ends of the trailer.

That feature is a "life-saver" after setting up the trailer in 100F temps at 3PM so we're off the road before dark. Without it, we likely wouldn't/couldn't stay anywhere near comfortable while the air conditioner tries to make the trailer comfortable from being heat soaked all day on the road.

Same here. Night before last got back to my camper 45 min before sunset and my 31 ft Cougar was 80 F in the living room and upper 80s in the bedroom. The AC was on high cool all day with the dump vent open. Temp peaked at maybe 105 F in Almato WA. Peak inside temps were probably higher before the sun dropped below a hill about 75 min before sundown. Trailer had no shade. Was cool enough for sleeping 90 min after sundown. Outside temp still felt like 95F outside, 15k AC unit does a good job with no sun directly on it.

Anybody know what it costs to have an AC unit installed?

[flybouy]

I'm on the "not willing to give up the dump vent" wagon. The way our unit (single 15k unit) is oriented in such a way that when those are open air blows forcibly on the couch, on the sink/counter top, and back towards the fridge and dinette booth. Our "typical" MOD is to turn on the a/c with the dump vents open and the bedroom doors shut and the bunk room curtian pulled closed.

After the main cabin cools down I'll close the vents and open interrior doors. Sometimes during the initial cool down I'll open the bathroom door to get it cooled down as well. It's all about how you use your unit. The better airflow sounds tempting but personally not worth the trade off for how we use it.

[Northofu1]

I liked the dump feature also, but, I upgraded the vents to the attached link.
I just close what I don't want to run and it will always choose the path or least resistance.
At night we shut the living room vents.
https://www.amazon.ca/Incorporated-8...02369747&psc=1

[GMH]

Hopefully my scoop modification will turn out to be the best of both worlds. My only complaint was very little air delivered to the bedroom even with the dump vent closed. The dump feature still works as designed with a bit of air directed into the BR duct. The scoop is light aluminum so I can easily bend it to adjust how much air it grabs.

[thefulminator]

I am an engineer that studied HVAC in college. The stock setup kills all the momentum of the air before it gets into the ducts. This causes the air flow to rely strictly on pressure differential.

In place of spending a ton of money on a block of foam, I did the mod myself similarly to what is done in this video. The changes I made were using galvanized roof shingles to make the sloped surfaces in place of foam blocks. It's made a huge difference in air flow. Recently was on the columbia gorge with temps in the high 90s and the AC was able to keep up much better than in the past. My coleman AC has a different grill with the intake completely on one side so the mod didn't change anything to do with the incoming air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBAUuMoD-ec&t=1241s