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Old 06-17-2016, 08:46 PM   #1
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Weak air conditioner?

Hi all,

We have a 2015 Greyhawk 29MV. The AC works, and pumps out good cool air from the unit, but on those hot Colorado summer days with the sun hitting the sides, it never quite seems to cool ... About the best we get is 77 and it often starts creeping up ... Luckily, at night the hot Colorado summer days turn to cool nights!

But, we may be heading to Utah and
Nebraska later in the summer ... Nights a bit warmer there ...


Has any one else have a "weak" AC experience?
Are we being maybe too demanding?
And, are there more powerful AC units that we could buy to replace the current one?

Thanks!
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Old 06-17-2016, 10:00 PM   #2
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Hi
I just experienced the same situation in a two month old Alante down in Hell's Canyon with outside temps around 100 degrees. I took out the air conditioner book and in the first few paragraphs I learned that it is designed to cool around 20 degrees below outside temperature. Oh well. Check your manual and see if you are in the same situation.
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Old 06-18-2016, 03:02 AM   #3
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Try skylight insulation, window shades to reduce heat transfer. Also check your ductwork for small holes that allow cold air to go somewhere other than the ductwork.

Other than not wearing clothing...that's all I got!
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Old 06-18-2016, 05:04 AM   #4
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Same A\C performance in mine. 92 the other day and it got it down to about 77.
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Old 06-18-2016, 06:04 AM   #5
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Check out this thread: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f7...ing-36575.html
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Old 06-18-2016, 08:04 AM   #6
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Same problem with mine I cant even think about cooking in the camper during a summer day without the inside temp reaching the high 80's. Jopopsy give us a review on those exterior sun shades they seem pricey but if they work they will be worth their weight in gold.
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Old 06-18-2016, 08:18 AM   #7
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About 10-15 degrees is the most you can hope to lower the temperature inside your camper on hot days.

Last weekend in the campground at Texas Motor Speedway, it was hot (mid 90's) and really humid. During the hottest part of the afternoon, the temperature in my living room was around 82. I was able to cool the bedroom to just about anything I wanted it to be. Even at 82, it was much more comfortable than outside, as the A/C was doing the job of removing humidity from the air.

On days like that, my A/C units really suck the gas through the generator.

I consider the months of July and August to be "out of season" for my camper here in Texas. I may take it to the hills of Arkansas for a weekend in August, where it will be much milder.
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Old 06-18-2016, 09:42 AM   #8
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It's not that your A/C is "weak", but that your RV is poorly insulated with plenty working against you in terms of heat transfer. A/C, is only designed to give you a 15-20 degree temp. difference between supply and return air. If it's 85 in the coach......expect only 65-70 out of the supply. Any coach over 26' should have a front and rear mounted A/C. A single handles the dry heat better, but factor in humidity and forget it!! Every little bit helps......shades down, shade parking, outside cooking, etc.......
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Old 06-19-2016, 05:30 AM   #9
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Many thanks,

Thank you all!
In the few months that I have been a member here, I have always found a great response to any post!! This is certainly no exception!

Much good information ... I did check the manual and found the comment about only cooling to 15 to 20 degrees below outside air ... Not really surprised, but all the info helps understand the "why" as well as the "what"

Great tips, too, on how to better use what I have.

Adding a 2nd unit might help, too, so I will look into how expensive that is ... Might be a task for the off-season because it takes awhile to get "shop time" ...

Thanks again to all ...

Best reagards,

John B.
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Old 06-19-2016, 05:51 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Greyhawk01 View Post
Same problem with mine I cant even think about cooking in the camper during a summer day without the inside temp reaching the high 80's. Jopopsy give us a review on those exterior sun shades they seem pricey but if they work they will be worth their weight in gold.
Installed them yesterday and got to see how they worked out as my rig sat in the driveway. My driveway is southern facing w/ no shade, so I get full sun all day long on it. Yesterday's high was around 87 or so.

Mind you, my AC was not on as I was just plugged in and getting gear transferred into the coach. I had the coach door open / screen door shut and the Fantastic Fan on high pulling whatever cooler air I had through the coach.

My coach never got higher than 86 degrees, and my window frames were much cooler to the touch. I've no doubt at all my AC would have been able to cycle on and off were it on duty.

More tests coming this week as I venture off to Castaways, OC MD.
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Old 06-19-2016, 11:01 PM   #11
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Well, living in FLA, it gets hot here. I have a '16 29ME and I guess I'm in the minority here. We have been camping several times with daytime temps in the 90's. First of all, I keep the MCD shades down on ALL windows/doors. I got the Heatshield window shades for the front and side windows of the cab (game changer!). While I'm getting the coach ready, I crank up the fantastic fan in the bedroom and the bath fan to get rid of the 97 degree air inside. Then, I fire up the genset, A/C, and fridge for the trip. I also open the air dumps on the A/C unit to get max air into the main part of the coach. I crank the A/C on in the cab which works great. Once I feel that most of the hot air is out of the coach, I shut off the fans and head out. By the time I get to my destination, the inside is cold. I think the key is getting the hot air out (fans) and using the genset as you are heading to your destination. I have no complaints about cooling my RV, and this was one of my biggest concerns as I live in FLA and will be in South Florida and the FLA Keys most of the time. I hope this helps, as I think getting the heat out of the coach (fans) and cooling it ASAP might help.
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Old 06-22-2016, 10:26 AM   #12
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Wish I had seen or known of these shades a few weeks ago. About to head out soon and heat is a struggle for our 32' long rig with a single 15k AC unit.

I like the blow out the hot air idea.
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Old 06-26-2016, 05:47 AM   #13
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More thanks

Good tips here , thanks again!

Got the sun shields for the Windows and will be heading out later this week. Going into Wyoming which can get pretty warm! We'll be using the information here for sure!

Will let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks again!

JB
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Old 06-26-2016, 08:50 AM   #14
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We have a 2016 Greyhawk 31FS. The air conditioner is not keeping us cool at all. Works great at night. Yesterday, it was 88 degrees outside and 87 degrees inside. The next 24 hours, we got the RV really cold at night, kept all the windows covered, isolated the drivers cab, blocked the cab windshield and windows. Still not comfortable and not a pleasant way to spend your vacation in a dark box. Going back to dealership the first of the week. It's only 8 weeks old.
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Old 06-26-2016, 10:33 AM   #15
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Almost every year, we venture to the Colorado River at Blythe, California for the dove season opener. It's Sept 1, so often near Labor Day weekend, and it's the hottest time of the year. Also humid. Often, temps reach 115 mid-day, and humidity is around 60% or more. We learned early on that we needed the foil covered bubble-wrap window covers on all openings that could allow sunlight into the RV, and that any shade we could find was helpful. We had a single 13.5k air conditioner in our old 26 ft toy hauler, and it cooled very well after the initial two or three hours. AC ran all weekend long, and it cycled also. We did find, however, that it was best if we gradually turned down the setting on the thermostat in that first half day.
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Old 06-26-2016, 03:03 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Greyhawk01 View Post
Same problem with mine I cant even think about cooking in the camper during a summer day without the inside temp reaching the high 80's. Jopopsy give us a review on those exterior sun shades they seem pricey but if they work they will be worth their weight in gold.
They work as advertised as far as heat reflection goes.

Word of caution though; the velcro adhesive that marries to the coach walls I guess got too hot and it started to pull a little. Not happy with that, though I suppose I could go the snap fastner route. Just not keen on drilling into the fiberglass. Really at all.

I will call the company up tomorrow to see what they have to say. The protectors DO work though, velcro aside. My coach stayed at 74 degrees in full sun / no shade when it was 88 degrees out at Castaways, MD.
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Old 06-26-2016, 05:52 PM   #17
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We have a 2016 Greyhawk 31FS. The air conditioner is not keeping us cool at all. Works great at night. Yesterday, it was 88 degrees outside and 87 degrees inside. The next 24 hours, we got the RV really cold at night, kept all the windows covered, isolated the drivers cab, blocked the cab windshield and windows. Still not comfortable and not a pleasant way to spend your vacation in a dark box. Going back to dealership the first of the week. It's only 8 weeks old.

We're plugged into Shore Power but today it's high 90's and direct sun on our 31FK. AC is keeping it 83, 84* inside, so it's doing OK.

Not great, but OK.

We've got the shades pulled down too.
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Old 06-27-2016, 08:36 AM   #18
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Regular white window shades don't cut it. You need something that actually reflects both light and heat at maximum level. Something that won't allow heat transfer to the inside of the box. I used this material Reflectix 16 in. x 25 ft. Double Reflective Insulation with Staple Tab-ST16025 - The Home Depot
to cut out exact matches to each window, and use the existing day/night shades to keep it in place. Edges are finished with foil tape. This does an adequate job of forcing most of the heat to remain outside the window. If you really want to do a good job, and don't mind sticky stuff all over your outside window frames, you can make these to cover the whole window frame and glass, and velcro them to the outside, so even the window frame is cooler. There are disadvantages, however. You have to pull the covers aside to see outside, the lights will likely stay on a lot inside the box, and its sometimes a pain to keep them from falling out of the window frame if you don't stick them with velcro. But if it's hot enough, you'll find a way.
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Old 09-21-2016, 01:54 PM   #19
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2017 Grayhawk 29 MV

Sure wish I would have seen these post before last week. I purchased a new 2017 Grayhawk 29 MV. Before we left the dealership we voiced concerns about the AC not cooling. We were told it takes time to cool down the coach. Brought it home and plugged it in. Temp outside was 92. Temp inside was 88. I live in Louisiana and if I can't use my new motorhome when the temp is above 80 degrees then I will not be going camping very often.
Bringing it back to the dealership next week but from what I'm reading I think I may have made a BIG mistake. Why don't they tell us these things before we purchase something they know won't work in our climate?
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Old 09-21-2016, 02:11 PM   #20
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We have a 17' Redhawk 29xk... The AC is the same as well. I knew what I was getting into and plan to install a 2nd AC early next year via a second power plug. The dealer won't do such an install but gave me info on some that will. After talking to the tech and researching it, I think I'll install it myself. We're in Dallas so the temps are def an issue with a single AC and a 31' MH.
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