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Old 08-22-2021, 10:24 AM   #1
Gregory
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Ac

We just had our first experience in full sun 95 degrees,ac ran for hours not cooling. Once sun dropped a little it caught up and we were fine.is there anything I can do to help this issue? Thanks Greg
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Old 08-22-2021, 10:37 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by Gregory View Post
We just had our first experience in full sun 95 degrees,ac ran for hours not cooling. Once sun dropped a little it caught up and we were fine.is there anything I can do to help this issue? Thanks Greg
You may want to update your signature user info..list your trailer year and model and tow vehicle..it will help immensely with answering questions

How big of trailer? Just one ac? Is it a new trailer?
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Old 08-22-2021, 11:06 AM   #3
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Sorry 2020 25 res 5th wheel
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Old 08-22-2021, 11:07 AM   #4
Gregory
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Sorry thought it was in 2020 25 res fifth wheel 1 ac
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Old 08-22-2021, 11:15 AM   #5
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Sorry thought it was in 2020 25 res fifth wheel 1 ac
Do a site search on ac not cooling or variations of that…many posts on taping the supply ducts and different mods you can do.

Sounds like a second ac is in your future..either roof top or portable..
Wiredgeorge has some experience with the portable units as well as the ac mods
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Old 08-22-2021, 11:59 AM   #6
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I would check the usual suspects. remove vent covers and make sure all is taped up well and no air loss. Then remove cover from ac to ensure all is taped up well there. Look up some prior posts for ac mods and do it yourself, or if your not handy, buy the RV airflow for $200 and install that
That will at least ensure that the existing AC is working to it's optimum capacity.
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Old 08-22-2021, 02:11 PM   #7
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First and foremost, once the camper is hot, they are very difficult to cool, if not impossible.

With that said, regardless of temperature, make sure the air conditioner is on in the morning when things are at their coolest and leave them on. Basically, don't turn them off, even at night.

There is a point in every camper where the air conditioner cannot keep up any more. This is because of radiant heat penetrating the walls, the windows, the air leaks, the vents, slide seals, and even the underbelly. Think how efficient your home air conditioner would be if you left a window open in every room. Basically, an RV is the equivalent with all the air leaks and poor insulation.

The second thing you can do when the temperatures reach their limit on your camper, is to retract the slides in any space you are not actively using. If you are in the living room, keep the bed room slide close. If you are in the bed room, keep the living room slide closed. The smaller the space, the easier they are to cool.

Next, get a thermal thermometer and shoot a beam into the air vent and see just how cold the air is coming from your air conditioner. You may be surprised at exactly how cold it is, it's just, there's too much other "heat" it can't over power.

People do all kinds of things to reduce the intense sun penetrating their sweat box. Here's a link to a YouTube search that folks have posted with a lot of good tips that may help you. Some may work, some may not, but you'll never know till you try: Click here.
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Old 08-22-2021, 02:45 PM   #8
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Even deploying your awning can save you a bunch of heat load when the sun is on that side.
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Old 08-22-2021, 08:13 PM   #9
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Hi everyone,
I just read through this post and all the replies. All the advice here is good advice and all the suggestions here should at least be considered/investigated. I happen to be a licensed air conditioning contractor of 37 years experience living in Florida so I know a little bit about the topic :-)

The only thing I would add to the advice already given is this,.....
(1) You had stated your RV is a 2020 model so it's fairly new. I'm not sure what tonnage it is at this point but I do know that you can get the "standard" size unit or sometimes you can get an "upgraded" larger unit in the same camper. Anyhow, you may have the "standard" size unit and IF you do then you may be able to upgrade it to the larger a/c. This would help for sure but there still is no guarantee that you would have perfect performance during the peak hot hours of the day. There are so many factors that affect the performance of the a/c.
(2) I would make sure that filter on your system is clean as it can drastically reduce air flow. Also, if you can get on the roof of your trailer you can verify the outside condenser coil is clean. You can purchase some "coil cleaner" at home depot and Lowes ( not sure if they work that well however. Being a contractor I use industrial powered stuff not the consumer grade stuff) that could clean the coil some to make a difference. If that coil is dirty or coated with dirt then it won't be able to transfer heat as it should.
(3) Now keep in mind I have no idea what a/c equipment you have but I would take a look at the installation and make sure the inlet air duct is properly taped/sealed. This is actually much more important the the supply air leaks. That's because if your system is pulling in outside air at 95-100 degrees it is mixing with the air it pulls from inside your trailer. That's a ton of additional load and will drastically affect the temperature of the supply air coming out of the ducts.
(4) Finally if you have a digital/IR thermometer gun you can get a reading on the return grill and then the closest supply grill. You should be getting about an 18-20 degree split. If your getting 10-14 degrees or something like that then you'll need to have the unit looked at. You may have an issue with refrigerant charge or something else. Also, if your reading a much larger split then you may have an impacted (dirty) evaporator coil and it will need to be cleaned professionally.

Lets say your getting the proper split of 18-20 degrees from return air to supply air,..this would tell you the system itself is performing properly and doing what it can. This would lead you to the advice of others offered here telling you the purchase a second unit perhaps. I would just say to make sure your existing system is performing as it should first.....makes sense right.

So,.....sorry about all that tech stuff but just tryin' to help ya out there :-) Just keep in mind that systems degrade over time and struggle to keep up,...but at just a year old you shouldn't be having degradation issue yet. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!
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Old 08-22-2021, 09:48 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LHaven View Post
Even deploying your awning can save you a bunch of heat load when the sun is on that side.
This and a lot of what Dutchman said,
My personal experience is light colored exterior, slide topper(s), awning out, shades pulled.
Tape vent connectors, tape AC intake and exit, keep fan on high speed, clean white roof.
Not much you can do in direct sun, except to add a second AC.
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Old 08-23-2021, 01:55 AM   #11
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Everything posted above is good info, another cheap easy way to reduce heat is pickup a roll or two of Reflectix for your windows. You can cut pieces to fit inside your windows and store it behind your couch when not needed. The front of our 5er has a "Picture" window and putting Reflectix in it dropped temps when the sun was blasting in on it by about 20 degrees, about the same for other windows. Reflectix is available at Lowes, Menards etc. Another thing you can do if your AC is ducted and has dual returns is to make sure that the factory cut the openings wide enough. I had to trim about an inch all the way around all of my return ducts. Another thing I plan to do when I get home in November was suggested by ChuckS (who is one of the more knowledgeable posters here) was to check the ducting on the roof
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Old 08-23-2021, 09:50 AM   #12
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We have a Cougar 302RLS 5W with one AC unit in the rear (living area) and none in the front (bedroom). We have a large window in the front nose of the RV and another small window on the side in the bedroom. We covered both on the inside with Reflectix since we like it dark anyway.

We really need to add a second AC but have been putting it off. But what I've found that works best is this process.

In the AM I remove the exhaust vent cover in the main area. This dumps all of the nice cold air into the living space. Just sliding the vent over to let it dump does not allow the same amount of airflow to dump - that's why I remove the cover. The AC fan is set to high and I usually put the thermostat on 73 degrees. I also keep the doors to the bedroom and the bathroom open as much as possible.

This will keep the interior living space pretty comfortable, even on a hot day, like 90's. But the bedroom will be very warm - we don't care since we don't sleep there during the day anyway.

As soon as the sun goes down, or it becomes noticeably cooler out, I put the vent cover back on, and I make sure that the vent is in the closed position. This forces the AC through the roof vents and into the front spaces (bathroom and bedroom). By the time we go to bed, say after 10PM, it's very comfortable in the bedroom. Since the main cabin was pre-cooled, and there is still some airflow from the ceiling vents, it also stays comfortable for guests sleeping on the sofa bed.

As soon as we wake up, I start the process all over again. This has kept us pretty comfortable this summer, which seems like it's been hotter than normal.

Hope this helps.
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Old 08-23-2021, 10:31 AM   #13
jasin1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DarodG8R View Post
Hi everyone,
I just read through this post and all the replies. All the advice here is good advice and all the suggestions here should at least be considered/investigated. I happen to be a licensed air conditioning contractor of 37 years experience living in Florida so I know a little bit about the topic :-)

The only thing I would add to the advice already given is this,.....
(1) You had stated your RV is a 2020 model so it's fairly new. I'm not sure what tonnage it is at this point but I do know that you can get the "standard" size unit or sometimes you can get an "upgraded" larger unit in the same camper. Anyhow, you may have the "standard" size unit and IF you do then you may be able to upgrade it to the larger a/c. This would help for sure but there still is no guarantee that you would have perfect performance during the peak hot hours of the day. There are so many factors that affect the performance of the a/c.
(2) I would make sure that filter on your system is clean as it can drastically reduce air flow. Also, if you can get on the roof of your trailer you can verify the outside condenser coil is clean. You can purchase some "coil cleaner" at home depot and Lowes ( not sure if they work that well however. Being a contractor I use industrial powered stuff not the consumer grade stuff) that could clean the coil some to make a difference. If that coil is dirty or coated with dirt then it won't be able to transfer heat as it should.
(3) Now keep in mind I have no idea what a/c equipment you have but I would take a look at the installation and make sure the inlet air duct is properly taped/sealed. This is actually much more important the the supply air leaks. That's because if your system is pulling in outside air at 95-100 degrees it is mixing with the air it pulls from inside your trailer. That's a ton of additional load and will drastically affect the temperature of the supply air coming out of the ducts.
(4) Finally if you have a digital/IR thermometer gun you can get a reading on the return grill and then the closest supply grill. You should be getting about an 18-20 degree split. If your getting 10-14 degrees or something like that then you'll need to have the unit looked at. You may have an issue with refrigerant charge or something else. Also, if your reading a much larger split then you may have an impacted (dirty) evaporator coil and it will need to be cleaned professionally.

Lets say your getting the proper split of 18-20 degrees from return air to supply air,..this would tell you the system itself is performing properly and doing what it can. This would lead you to the advice of others offered here telling you the purchase a second unit perhaps. I would just say to make sure your existing system is performing as it should first.....makes sense right.

So,.....sorry about all that tech stuff but just tryin' to help ya out there :-) Just keep in mind that systems degrade over time and struggle to keep up,...but at just a year old you shouldn't be having degradation issue yet. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!


I appreciate your insight..I too have a hvac buisness in the northeast with 37 years experience …mostly residential with light commercial and some small box refrigeration experience…

There are some really smart guys on here with real world experience on what it takes to cool a barely insulated box with a tiny self contained unit.
If your like me your going to want to impart some knowledge and I’m sure you have a lot to offer BUT I’ve been humbled on this forum by people that deal exclusively with rv ac units and believe me it’s a different beast.

Please don’t take it the wrong way. I welcome you to the forum …you will learn a lot about rv hvac systems and there peculiarities and wiring abnormalities.

Really the only thing about these units and residential or commercial is they produce cool air..(remove heat). Other then that it goes against every principle on duct design and load calculations…lol
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Old 09-19-2021, 09:40 PM   #14
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Amen to that. Very different beast.
Thanks to all for advice given.
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