Interesting A/C Discovery

[Jopopsy]

This is my first outing where I needed the A/C. Mind you, its not terribly hot yet, but it was hot enough in full sun to warrant putting the A/C on.

So I kicked the Coleman over (A/C - High - Auto) and went about futzing w/ the ceiling vents to make sure I had full coverage all over my coach. All of my vents were blowing strongly except the 2 vents right next to each other (horizontally across the coach) in front of my fridge and thermostat. These 2 vents are also in the middle of the coach, front to back.

So I figure not that big a deal. My coach has 12 such vents so closing off the two weaker ones wasn’t going to do any real harm. Plus, the one was right over the thermostat so I would have closed that one off anyway.

Shortly after spinning my ceiling vents I played around w/ my dump vents. That’s where it got interesting. If I opened up both dump vents, I STILL got pretty darn good airflow out of my ceiling vents. That didn’t make sense to me as I figured I wouldn’t have enough pressure to push any air out of the far vents, but I did.

So - for the duration of this trip, I’m running front dump vent open (the one facing the driver’s seat and away from the T-Stat). I’m getting excellent air out of the ceiling vents, and I have a plume of cold air still coming out of my unit centrally.

I have no idea why this works the way it does, but I’m encouraged that I’ll fair better in full sun 90 degrees then my last coach. Maybe Jayco did a pretty good job w/ my ducting (except for the two vents I closed)? When I pulled the inside assembly down this spring I really didn’t have to add a lot of tape to plug any holes from a bad install - my A/C installer at the factory appeared to have cared that day.

[RetiredOne]

I think, because of the volume of air these things push, that air has to always be sent to all the ceiling vents. The dump vales just add more to the central area, but I don't think they're designed to stop flow to all the ceiling vents when they're open.

My rig (even though it's shorter), does the same thing. I always feel air out of the ceiling vents. It just picks up more when I close the dump valves. I usually leave the dump valves open anyway, as the internal temp averages out.

One thing the Jayco techs didn't do, was add a ceiling vent in my bathroom. So, if the bathroom door is kept closed, no A/C gets in there, and it gets really warm. That's a MAJOR screw-up on their part.

BTW, where are you camping?

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Jopopsy

If I opened up both dump vents, I STILL got pretty darn good airflow out of my ceiling vents.

We get decent airflow with the ducts open.
Good enough that I too sometimes leave everything open.


Makes me wonder if the duct-only route is restricted enough to put a bit of extra wear on the squirrel fan?

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by pconroy

We get decent airflow with the ducts open.
Good enough that I too sometimes leave everything open.


Makes me wonder if the duct-only route is restricted enough to put a bit of extra wear on the squirrel fan?

I was wondering the same thing !

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

BTW, where are you camping?

Cape May KOA. Beachcomber is nicer.

[TaftCoach]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

One thing the Jayco techs didn't do, was add a ceiling vent in my bathroom. So, if the bathroom door is kept closed, no A/C gets in there, and it gets really warm. That's a MAJOR screw-up on their part.

It's the opposite with mine. A/C but no heat. On the average we're doing OK.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by Jopopsy

Cape May KOA. Beachcomber is nicer.

You should have waited a week, we'll be at Beachcomer next weekend.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by TaftCoach

It's the opposite with mine. A/C but no heat. On the average we're doing OK.

I get plenty of heat in my bathroom, too much actually, I'll give you some of mine if you trade for some A/C.