Mods to 377 RLBH?

[Dskyward]

Nonetheless, I'm still excited at making the ducts more airtight like you did, Tom. But dang, I can hardly walk today! The scabbing behind the knee is petrified to whatever angle its rested. My first ever bout with poison ivy. I saw a dr yesterday, got a shot and some antibiotic ointment for next 10 days. Now the waiting. Such a beaut of a day here in Ft Wayne, now I'll grab that Samuel Adams in a frozen mug. The DW is taking good care of me...serving me breakfast in my recliner which I slept in past 2 nights.

Hope you and yours and having a fun time at SLRSP in all that TX heat! I don't miss it. BTW, hows your mod cooling today?

[Bookemdanno]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

Pulled into Junction today at 1:30. Outside was over 100 and only have 30amp hook ups. AC was having a hard time keeping the cool. So, I decided to seal the vents to the ceiling (as Dskyward has mentioned before) and trim the vents.


Vent removed. You can see the black ring that sticks into the main duct and blocks the airflow. Additionally, it isn't sealed so lots of air leaks into the "attic" space.


The black ring just snaps onto the vent. With a little prying, it will come off.


Used foil tape to seal off the gap to the "attic" space. This is the space between the ceiling and the main duct.


Reinstalled all the vents and airflow is 100% better. You can actually feel the "breeze" from the vents now where before you could barely feel any airflow unless your hand was by the vent.

For anyone experiencing poor AC performance, or even if you think your AC is working well, I HIGHLY recommend doing this. When I started this, the t-stat read 84. After an hours worth of work, it's down to 76. That's on ONE AC only and cooling a 42' fifth wheel. Outside has cooled to 90 by the time I finished so the real test will be tomorrow when it's 103 again.


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Tom...You made the big time! The DW saw your idea about removing the collar was on Facebook! Time to start charging for that brilliant brain of yours! Just remember who your friends are and us little people...PLEASE!

[Jamie846]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

Tom...You made the big time! The DW saw your idea about removing the collar was on Facebook! Time to start charging for that brilliant brain of yours! Just remember who your friends are and us little people...PLEASE!

Yep here is the post.
Good work Tom....[emoji106]

[Magnolia Tom]

I guess Jayco trailers will come like this from the factory soon.


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[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

Tom...You made the big time! The DW saw your idea about removing the collar was on Facebook! Time to start charging for that brilliant brain of yours! Just remember who your friends are and us little people...PLEASE!

Lol! Maybe one day I'll figure that out, but I get good info from this forum and hope to give it too when I can.


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[Magnolia Tom]

Update on the AC vent mod:

When we left Junction, it was around 92 outside (we left early). AC was holding steady at 74. We drove to Ft. Davis and it was only 90. Trailer cooled down to 72 in a couple of hours. After two days, prevailing sentiment among the kids and DW is the camper is too cold! [emoji3] Ingrates!

So, anyone on the fence about doing this needs to get off it and do it. It does increase the airflow tremendously. If you're nervous about modding, this is easily reversed back to original. The only thing you've got to worry about is the complaints from the family about it being too cold! Lol [emoji23]


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[jasum]

That's great news Tom........on being 'TOO COLD'

Once again. Great job!!

[2naEagle]

Well Tom I did do all of mine also. But have not had a chance to try it out.
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I've also been thinking about putting a Chillgrille in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L56M6crLEY4

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by jasum

That's great news Tom........on being 'TOO COLD'



Once again. Great job!!

Thanks Jack


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[twadd10]

Just finished doing mine. I cranked up both AC's and wow! Just like Tom said, tremendous air flow! Thanks for sharing Tom!

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[Hoojs12840]

Is it to early to vote for Mod of the year??? RV is sitting in direct sunlight and it's cold enough to have to direct the vents away from the couch.


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[Jamie846]

Same here just finished the vent mod and prepping the bed platform for the sleep number R5 that shows up on Tuesday.

Made a big difference in air flow, will see how well she cools at the beach next weekend. Going crabbing and kayaking for a few days.

As always thanks for the info Tom...

[Bookemdanno]

Y'all are doing great work! I wasn't able to get to mine this weekend like I wanted. Too much work to do on the sticks and bricks house. At the in-laws for dinner now...at least I get a free meal out of them! BUT I didn't say it would be good! Again, great job guys. Thanks Tom and Dsky for spurring on this mod!


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[NitroStar]

What is the best way to remove the dummy panel in the loft that hides the air duct, or any of the dummy panels for that matter? Also, how to reattach so there is not much finish work to perform (what device do y'all use to attach this thin wood)?

[NitroStar]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

I guess Jayco trailers will come like this from the factory soon.

Does anybody that has taken ALL of the vent rings out wish that some of the vents had more or less air coming out of each? Example: too much coming out in loft and/or not enough in one of the others?

I have discovered how to keep my camper at 76 in the hot sun in central Mississippi by almost totally closing off the bedroom vents so just a SMALL amount of air goes there since it used to cool off so quickly that the bedroom unit would hardly run. This left the rear unit the sole chore of cooling the entire living room, kitchen, and bunk by itself, which was more than it could handle. Now both units run about the same amount or at least both run all the time and keeps living room and bedroom at 76*. I have only cut the bathroom vent ring off by 5/8".
If I take all rings out and seal attic, does anybody see that the bedroom unit hardly runs, or does this mod make it where the rear unit WILL actually handle 3/4 of the camper by itself in 95* heat and sun?

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Hoojs12840

Is it to early to vote for Mod of the year??? RV is sitting in direct sunlight and it's cold enough to have to direct the vents away from the couch.


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That's what I call a first world problem [emoji23]
AC is too cold


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[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by NitroStar

Does anybody that has taken ALL of the vent rings out wish that some of the vents had more or less air coming out of each? Example: too much coming out in loft and/or not enough in one of the others?



I have discovered how to keep my camper at 76 in the hot sun in central Mississippi by almost totally closing off the bedroom vents so just a SMALL amount of air goes there since it used to cool off so quickly that the bedroom unit would hardly run. This left the rear unit the sole chore of cooling the entire living room, kitchen, and bunk by itself, which was more than it could handle. Now both units run about the same amount or at least both run all the time and keeps living room and bedroom at 76*. I have only cut the bathroom vent ring off by 5/8".

If I take all rings out and seal attic, does anybody see that the bedroom unit hardly runs, or does this mod make it where the rear unit WILL actually handle 3/4 of the camper by itself in 95* heat and sun?

What I discovered is that when you want to shut off some air flow in one area to force more into another, you can feel a dramatic increase in the air flow versus before the mod. You'll also find that all the vents now get good flow and closing off one to increase airflow to another isn't needed. I will say the loft is now a meat locker!

I think that you will find that if you only use the main AC and have the bedroom fan running on high, you can cool the rig fairly well. I found that out on the first day when I only had 30 amp hook up.


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[vcbice]

No, sealing everything up will not allow you to cool everything with one A/C on a 115F day. But, it does mean my A/C runs less than before, and, I can balance the flow between rooms easier. For example, if I want more air in the bunkhouse I can close off a couple of vents in the living and/or bedroom. Before the mod it didn't make a whole lot of difference which vents were open or shut.

Thanks to the person who came up with this idea. brilliant.

[Dskyward]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

Y'all are doing great work! I wasn't able to get to mine this weekend like I wanted. Too much work to do on the sticks and bricks house. At the in-laws for dinner now...at least I get a free meal out of them! BUT I didn't say it would be good! Again, great job guys. Thanks Tom and Dsky for spurring on this mod!


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Thanks Dan. But Tom knows how to take the idea a step further. It's really great to see everyone having great success on the new airflow. I sawed 7 vent rings down so they'd be flush in the air duct. For me, it proved worthy. The airflow increased drastically over the fridge, along with the other vents. But now, I'm gonna tape up the gaps to the attic as Tom did, and I'm sure I'll get even more airflow.

Looking forward to our WY eclipse trip on Aug 13. Just ordered two truck mods. Solastic springs for the rear leaf shackle, and a Titan 52 gal fuel tank swap out for the 34 gal stock tank. More range and still have the full short bed!

[Dskyward]

This evening, I finally completed the ceiling vents mod in full. I removed all 8 vents, discarded the black (already cut) rings, taped up the vent holes with leftover reflectix 2" aluminum foil tape that I already had from the reflectix project back in May (made shields for all my windows).

Nobody mentioned cleaning the inside lip of the duct with alcohol before applying the tape. Boy, was it dirty up in there! Took about 2 hours total. The loft ring was the only one I didn't get to cut back in Feb, as I overlooked it. While up in the loft and a/c running on low, the breeze was very light. While taping it up, I could feel the increase in air flow to about double. Obviously, the uncut protruding ring was still the culprit of low flow. However, the flow still seems about the same in the other 7 vents. So, whatever flow may have been leaking into the attic, has made the loft flow increase to double. However, I've yet to do Tom's mod to the bunkhouse duct, which now has hardly any airflow on low.

Count my vote also to call this one the mod of the year!