Insulation of ac unit increases cooling?

[norty1]

I too bought the roll of insulation and tape. They did not carry the spray adhesive listed but I found some by Loctite that should do. I already had some 1/2 foam pipe insulation.

Just waiting on a break in the heat to do both of mine.

[Bookemdanno]

Originally Posted by Maestro402

I'm going to pick up supplies this weekend. what size tubing insulation did ya'll buy? Didn't know if it was quasi standard or i needed to go find out prior to starting this.

As Norty said 1/2".

[Maestro402]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

As Norty said 1/2".

Thank ya my friends


Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"

[Jopopsy]

As mentioned in the FR forum, I'd be worried the unit would be more prone to icing up if wrapped with Reflectix.

I'm going to wrap the large pipe and seal the box up and go from there. If you guys report consistent positive results I'll wrap it later.

[Maestro402]

I finished this mod tonight. It's going to be 90 tomorrow so I'm going to hang out in RV mañana and chk it out. I didn't get every inch covered bc it got dark but its 95% covered and large pipe covered.

Should I revisit tomorrow or is that okay?


Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"

[Maestro402]

Originally Posted by Maestro402

I finished this mod tonight. It's going to be 90 tomorrow so I'm going to hang out in RV mañana and chk it out. I didn't get every inch covered bc it got dark but its 95% covered and large pipe covered.

Should I revisit tomorrow or is that okay?

Nevermind my ocd can't handle it. redoing tonight when i can take my time a little more. Start a little earlier.

[hoppers4]

This thread got me curious about my AC so I had to take a look-see. My AC/heat pump is a Coleman Mach 15. The box that is being insulated in this thread is a squared off metal box on my AC. It's insulated on the inside as evidenced by pulling the internal filter. The ducting consists of channels being cut into the styrofoam insulation. Everything appeared to be connected as good as can be expected. Just an FYI for those who have the same unit as it appears there's nothing that needs to be done to the ACs.

[Sunflake]

Originally Posted by hoppers4

This thread got me curious about my AC so I had to take a look-see. My AC/heat pump is a Coleman Mach 15. The box that is being insulated in this thread is a squared off metal box on my AC. It's insulated on the inside as evidenced by pulling the internal filter. The ducting consists of channels being cut into the styrofoam insulation. Everything appeared to be connected as good as can be expected. Just an FYI for those who have the same unit as it appears there's nothing that needs to be done to the ACs.

You need to spray out the condenser coil (the outside one) I'm telling you that's the easiest way to return performance to the unit. It's a basic maintenance issue that nobody does. Including the one hooked to your house. A clean coil means better efficiency, lower amp draw on the compressor. Make sure the fins on the coil aren't damaged from hail damage.

[hoppers4]

The cover on the Mach 15 also covers the outside coils/fins. I pulled this cover and none of the fins were bent. By all outward appearances they looked clean, not even dusty. Blowing on them produced no visible dust in the air.

[Maestro402]

Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"

[Campbellizer]

I plugged mine into shore power this morning and let it run till the inside temp was 70 degrees. Probably ran an hour to get there. Then I climbed on the roof and pulled the a/c cowling. I did in fact see condensation on the back of the box that everybody is insulating. That fact alone tells me that insulation in that area might help.

I felt all around the box while the unit was running and it was noticeably cooler right around where the fan mounts and I (not coincidentally) found the condensation. However that was the only place. So, i put some Reflectix in that area only. Basically the whole back side where the fan mounts and nowhere else. I also went ahead and put aluminum tape on all the box seams and put the foam insulation over the low pressure line since I was already up there.

I've also noticed that there is some leakage between the ducts and the ceiling around then vents. In other words, leaking back into the ceiling. So I used aluminum tape to seal up the area between the duck and the ceiling. The vents themselves have a round plastic piece that extends upward and is supposed to seal all that up. They do not seal completely and appear to block some of the airflow too (since some of mine were nearly touching the top of the duct). Two of my ducts had very little air flow coming out (with one of them being in the bedroom ). I snapped the round piece off of the vents and reinstalled them. I can definitely feel an increase in airflow from those two vents now.

It's 91 degrees today with a real feel of 109 degrees right now. My unit is sitting in the full sun and the temp inside is holding steady at 70 degrees. It's even cycled off a time or two. In the past I've had a difficult time holding 70 degrees inside when parked in full sun. It will usually drift up to 74 -75 degrees on days like this.

I'm just going to let it run to see how it does today. I'll report back later.

[Campbellizer]

Temp outside hit 97 deg yesterday with real feel of 115 deg +. Temp in camper eventually eased up to 73 deg and the a/c ran continuously.

My last camping trip with the coach sitting in full sun was Memorial Day with outside temps in the low to mid 90's. As stated in previous post, my camper temps eventually eased up to 74-75 deg on that trip. Too warm for my taste.

All in all, it seems to me that the insulation and foil tape might combine for a modest improvement. It was a few degrees warmer and my coach seemed to stay a few degrees cooler yesterday than my last trip parked in full sun.

The better option is to find some shade if at all possible. My coach will maintain 70 deg inside on very hot days if its parked in the shade.

[Maestro402]

Originally Posted by Campbellizer

Temp outside hit 97 deg yesterday with real feel of 115 deg +. Temp in camper eventually eased up to 73 deg and the a/c ran continuously.



My last camping trip with the coach sitting in full sun was Memorial Day with outside temps in the low to mid 90's. As stated in previous post, my camper temps eventually eased up to 74-75 deg on that trip. Too warm for my taste.



All in all, it seems to me that the insulation and foil tape might combine for a modest improvement. It was a few degrees warmer and my coach seemed to stay a few degrees cooler yesterday than my last trip parked in full sun.



The better option is to find some shade if at all possible. My coach will maintain 70 deg inside on very hot days if its parked in the shade.

Great information. So your analysis is that for the price it is worth it but don't expect drastic improvements?


Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"

[jsk]

Where the AC drops through the ceiling I sprayed foam insulation in the corners and formed it to direct the airflow into the duct work. You could feel the before and after airflow at the vent. I figured there was no need to let the air flow whirl around in a 'dead' space if I can eliminate that space.

[Maestro402]

Originally Posted by jsk

Where the AC drops through the ceiling I sprayed foam insulation in the corners and formed it to direct the airflow into the duct work. You could feel the before and after airflow at the vent. I figured there was no need to let the air flow whirl around in a 'dead' space if I can eliminate that space.

Did u take any pics. I'm curious about this for mine. I don't understand how the duct system works on rv.


Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"

[Campbellizer]

Originally Posted by Maestro402

Great information. So your analysis is that for the price it is worth it but don't expect drastic improvements?


Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"

Yes, I'd say you summed it up perfectly.

[Jopopsy]

I just taped everything up there. I didn't do the pipe insulation because I can't find a picture that matches anything you guys have. I guess because I have a heat pump?

[schrederman]

Run the air for a few minutes and insulate the cold one...

[denn888]

Maybe an HVAC person may know better, but the fact that you sealed the area where the cool air was leaking into the ceiling may have made a big difference, I believe there is a temp sensor where the air intake is, if you have cool air leaking into the ceiling it may give a false temp reading and cycle the AC off.

[Maestro402]

Originally Posted by jsk

Not the best picture. I lost most pics when the phone crashed. I did not add a lot but enough to fill the dead space in the corners. Hopefully you get the idea. BTW I do not own a Jayco - yet. I am trying to learn about them as there is a North Point we like a lot. I thought I might contribute as this seemed to be a generic topic.

Thank you friend. We are all learning.


Maestro402
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"Life is better in my RV"