Air Conditioning Question

[Gunner01]

Got a question for you good folks out there. Right after I got our trailer, the wife and I took it to Kansas to my sisters place. In the summer. The AC's (have 2) did ok at night but just couldn't keep up during the daytime. Outside temp was in the 100's and indoor temp was in the mid to high 80's


Asked at a service center about this. They told me the AC's were only designed to keep the air inside the trailer 20 degrees below ambient outside temp. Is this true? I'm having shades installed on all my trailer in a couple of weeks to try and help the AC's keep up (Going to be in Oklahoma for a little while and summer is coming). Trailer is a 2015 Pinnacle REQS.


Any input would be appreciated


Gunner

[norty1]

There is some truth to what you were told but there are improvements that you can do in addition to insulated shades and putting Reflectix over the sunny side window.

There has been much discussion and action by JOF members to improve the performance in rooftop ac's by sealing up places that are know to waste cool air and reduce loss. Here are a few threads on this. There are likely many more.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...g-38400-5.html

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...mod-82653.html
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...tml#post966040

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Gunner01

Asked at a service center about this. They told me the AC's were only designed to keep the air inside the trailer 20 degrees below ambient outside temp. Is this true? I'm having shades installed on all my trailer in a couple of weeks to try and help the AC's keep up (Going to be in Oklahoma for a little while and summer is coming). Trailer is a 2015 Pinnacle REQS.

They are designed to lower the air temp going across the coil 15/20 degrees. It has nothing to do with the outside temp. The air coming out of the duct work should be 15/20 degrees cooler than the air going into the return. Too many service techs don't understand the "Delta T" when it comes to air-conditioning and equate it to outside temp.

The only way to check and see if they are working correctly is to measure the temp of the air coming out of the duct.

As Norty said there are numerous threads regarding what to check to see if you are getting the proper air-flow which and how to seal up the ducts as needed, which is usually the problem.

[Gunner01]

Originally Posted by norty1

There is some truth to what you were told but there are improvements that you can do in addition to insulated shades and putting Reflectix over the sunny side window.

There has been much discussion and action by JOF members to improve the performance in rooftop ac's by sealing up places that are know to waste cool air and reduce loss. Here are a few threads on this. There are likely many more.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...g-38400-5.html

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...mod-82653.html

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to give them a look as I'll be here in Oklahoma most of the summer working nights and I need the AC's to put out during the day!


Thank you


Gunner

[Gunner01]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

They are designed to lower the air temp going across the coil 15/20 degrees. It has nothing to do with the outside temp. The air coming out of the duct work should be 15/20 degrees cooler than the air going into the return. Too many service techs don't understand the "Delta T" when it comes to air-conditioning and equate it to outside temp.

The only way to check and see if they are working correctly is to measure the temp of the air coming out of the duct.

As Norty said there are numerous threads regarding what to check to see if you are getting the proper air-flow which and how to seal up the ducts as needed, which is usually the problem.

INTERESTING. That I DID NOT know, but I suspected as much.


Gunner

[norty1]

I followed the info read on JOF and it really helped my ac performance. The good thing is it's something you can work on as you have time. Get some foil duct tape and a small roll of Refletix.

[Jagiven]

Along with what others have said, couple common issues is dirty ac filters, and poor duct sealing.

I tend to clean my AC filters every 5-7 days of use. If it is close to a 100, been known to clean them more often.

Duct sealing is another big issue. Many people have commented about the cool air escaping into the attic. There are lots of threads and videos on the subject. Basically pull the inside trim pieces off, and inspect your duct connections, and seal as needed. Another big one is the foam placement between the air return and output to the ducts.

Good luck.

[norty1]

The ac doesn't cool any more when it's hot outside than when it's just warm. If you measure the air temp at inlet vs outlet and it's lowering it 20 deg. that's great. You can look for places that cooling is lost or mis-directed and you can find plenty in most rv's. I and others have taken off every ceiling vent and closed places that were not sealed with foil tape. I did the same thing to my floor heating vents. There are threads on how to place foam bats in the roof vents to slow the heat that radiates thru them.

Another thing you will find is lots of construction debris in the ducts. When you increase the air flow the stuff that would not move will start to come out the registers like when it was new.

Sometimes just getting a shady site can make or break your enjoyment.

[TWP723]

Using fans to move the air around helps as well. You should also keep the AC's fan on all the time. Auto is worthless.

[jetlag]

Just curious as a soon to be new owner. Pinnacle advertises pretty comfortable temperatures in their brochures. As in high 60's and low 70's, although looking in their site they do not guarantee it. We will have the 3 AC units and hoping that helps.