Need 2 A/C's?

[nylyon]

Until this trip, one question that I had is if you need to have 2 A/C's in the 5th? Well after spending a week in Myrtle Beach (supposed to have a shaded spot but NOT) the answer is YES, probably. Before leaving I was planning on running a test by using only 1 A/C in Myrtle Beach. After the first day, I decided to NOT try the test that there was no way that 1 A/C was going to keep the camper "cold". In fairness, one might have kept the camper comfortable, but no where near very comfortable. So if you're wondering if you "need" to have 2 a/c's, in my opinion is no you don't need to have 2, but you WANT to have 2. If you're ordering a new 5th, go for the second A/C, you'll be glad that you did!

[Rob_Fla]

Two A/C's are great during these HOT Summer days.

When we stop, we are not always able to get a shady site, two A/C's are a must!!!!

[Mike WA]

Robert would it be possible for you to post a couple of pictures of your 2nd A/C in the bedroom from the roof i'm getting ready to install mine and looking at the installation manual from coleman they say the unit needs to be level from front to back. In order to do that on our pinnacle's it looks like you need to fab up some sort of wedge type of blocking under the A/C to make it level.

[Rob_Fla]

Mike,

Do not know why Coleman would say that unless it gives them a "Out" so that if the unit is so out of level "Front to Rear" that it causes problems with the unit.

Both our A/C units are not mounted level, the rear living area unit is lower in the back and the front bedroom unit is lower in the front. See Pic

Most A/C units Travel Trailers are mounted level due to the fact Travel Tailers have a "Flat Roof"
Many A/C units on 5th Wheels are not mounted level "Front to Rear" due to many 5th Wheels have sloping roof lines.
Our 05 Eagle 5th Wheel A/C unit was not mounted level "Front to Rear" either.

Looking around the campground we are in this week, I see many 5ers with A/C units not mounted level "Front to Rear"

[MikeNChelle]

I agree as well I MUST have 2. Our 2012 351 RLTS units are both at an angle. Look at my pictures with the camper hooked to the TV you can see them.

[Mike WA]

Thanks Rob yea i can't figure it out but the install manual says level to 15 deg. nose up is acceptable.
Another quick ? your bedroom A/C is vented just to the bedroom and bathroom correct or is it blocked off in the kitchen..

Thanks Mike

[Mike WA]

Originally Posted by MikeNChelle

I agree as well I MUST have 2. Our 2012 351 RLTS units are both at an angle. Look at my pictures with the camper hooked to the TV you can see them.

Interesting you have a full size unit in the bedroom it says we need a low profile unit ( the polar mach units)..

Mike

[Rob_Fla]

Originally Posted by Mike WA

Thanks Rob yea i can't figure it out but the install manual says level to 15 deg. nose up is acceptable.
Another quick ? your bedroom A/C is vented just to the bedroom and bathroom correct or is it blocked off in the kitchen..

Thanks Mike

No it is not blocked, so with the rear A/C running you will get a little air flow up front.


The Rear Duct on the Left Side (Street Side) runs the whole length from the back unit to the front unit.
The Rear Duct on the Right Side only goes up to the entry door area and then ends.

Our Front A/C was factory installed but I had freezing up issues with my front unit and had to get creative and add some duct / vents to get better air flow on the front A/C and now have much better cooling up front

[Rob_Fla]

I have seen Pinnacle's and Eagles with Low Proflie units and Fullsize units installed on the front.

Not sure if the factory is installing the Fullsize units on the front or they were Dealer installed.

The advantage of the low profile on on our Pinnacle is the front is clearance height for the A/C is about same as the bathroom vent, so you do not loose running clearance.

[Mike WA]

Rob the part # that randy at Jayco gave me is for a low profile unit but seeing their Eagle it makes me wonder which way to go. I'm leaning towards the low profile Polar Mach unit just to be on the
same page as the factory. Your bedroom A/C is just vented to the bathroom correct?

Thanks Mike

[Rob_Fla]

Originally Posted by Mike WA

Rob the part # that randy at Jayco gave me is for a low profile unit but seeing their Eagle it makes me wonder which way to go. I'm leaning towards the low profile Polar Mach unit just to be on the
same page as the factory. Your bedroom A/C is just vented to the bathroom correct?

Thanks Mike

Bedroom A/C is ducted all the way up to to the rear unit, one duct.
Sometimes at night when it is cooler, we do not run the bedroom A/C at all since we do get some air in the bedroom from the rear unit

[MikeNChelle]

The front unit was factory installed and is ducted to the rear unit as stated before. We have a wall mounted thermastat by the closet door that runs the bedroom ac. One bad thing about the full sized unit is my overall clearance is now a whopping 13' 3". There are places we have to turn around and find a different route. Kind of a pain in the rear.

[nylyon]

On mine the front A/C didn't add any additional height as it's the same as the living room A/C. All I can say is that it's GREAT to have and it was good to hear the kids complain that it was too COLD!

[Mike WA]

Originally Posted by Rob_Fla

Bedroom A/C is ducted all the way up to to the rear unit, one duct.
Sometimes at night when it is cooler, we do not run the bedroom A/C at all since we do get some air in the bedroom from the rear unit

Really interesting Randy in warranty told me it was not recomended to run both A/C's un blocked on the same duct he told me it should be blocked at the bathroom so the
front A/C is only covering the bedroom and bathroom vents. I like hearing that that duct is unblocked that way it is possible to still get air to the bedroom from the rear A/C
in those times you olny need to run one unit .

Mike

[Mike WA]

Our Front A/C was factory installed but I had freezing up issues with my front unit and had to get creative and add some duct / vents to get better air flow on the front A/C and now have much better cooling up front[/QUOTE]

Rob would you mind going into more detail about your ducting mod.
Yes my ODS duct runs to the bedroom as well and the DS duct stops half way.

[clutch]

We don't have a 5th wheel but anything around 30' or longer will be more comfortable with two AC's. I also like the fact that with two we can turn on the bedroom AC and sit in quiet in the living room. When we go to bed we turn on the AC in the living room and can sleep without having to listen to the AC run.

[nylyon]

Yup... We stayed at Hershey Highmeadows the infamous CG with the train. The first night I had the bedroom a/c on with fan and I never once heard the train. Next night I put the fan on auto and heard the train, needless to say it stayed on for the remainder of the trip. It was very nice to run the front a/c and have almost zero noise in the living area.

I set the front a/c to 65 degrees and the living room to about 67, and it worked perfectly for me!

[Rob_Fla]

Originally Posted by Mike WA

Our Front A/C was factory installed but I had freezing up issues with my front unit and had to get creative and add some duct / vents to get better air flow on the front A/C and now have much better cooling up front

Rob would you mind going into more detail about your ducting mod.
Yes my ODS duct runs to the bedroom as well and the DS duct stops half way.[/QUOTE]

Mike,

Check out this thread, http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...ezing-Up/page2

My Post #20 details the mod to the front A/C Duct with picture

[Garyjr]

I ordered our 2012 365BHS with both AC's and have to say if they would have 110v overhead in the rear bedroom, I would be adding a 3rd AC back there. Our permanant site has no shade and with the 100* temps we've had over the past 6 weeks, both units run all day long and struggle to get the inside below 84* until after 7pm. Another 13.5k AC would help alot.

[clutch]

Being on a permanent site you could get a small window AC to help with the cooling. Lots of people in Az to that.