Jayco Pinnacle AC question

[2naEagle]

I went out to my camper and put a remote thermometer inside the duct work. It was 80 in side I ran it for 45 minutes the thermostat in the duct went down to 59.

[Da Bud Man]

Just returned from a 3 day trip in direct sun with temps in upper 80's to 90 everyday. Our 2 15k's kept our 325 BHQS at 72 degrees​.

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[Tryintoretire]

We. Have a 2016 36fbts and had the exact same issue

[Tryintoretire]

We had the same issue and fix as Rock on our 36 FBTS

[Rock]

I am up at Navy Mayport and have no problem keeping my unit at 76 (a temp I like) with no problem at all. Could keep at 73 like I do at night in day but both ac units would probably never shut off with full sun and 90 temps. Check those dividers in the ac units. All they have to be is just cocked out of place and u will have a problem like I did. Tryingtoreretire and others have had the same issue and Jayco pulled so on line units and found and have now fixed that
Rock

[oriolehawaii]

I bought a 2016 Pinnacle that had the 3rd A/C up front in the living room. Life saver. The main (central) doesn't cool the whole unit. I run the central and the front and have no issues.

[PipeFighter]

I just joined and am getting ready to buy a Premier with front living room. I am torn between getting the third ac or skipping it and would like to chat more on your thoughts. We camp in Michigan, Jackson area, and do get baked by the sun.

[oriolehawaii]

The a/c was already installed when we looked at it new. I am glad it was. We have the 38FLSA Pinnacle. It is about 43ft. Your cooling needs may differ based on your size. We are full-timing and have been chasing the sun. So having been to Florida, New Mexico, Arizona and Las Vegas to name a few hot spots, that third a/c really comes into play. I also turn on the front a/c when we travel using the generator. It keeps the unit nice and cool upon arrival. Additionally, my refrigerator is a residential model and needs power. We were also up in Michigan, Ontario and Wisconsin. Beautiful.

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by PipeFighter

I just joined and am getting ready to buy a Premier with front living room. I am torn between getting the third ac or skipping it and would like to chat more on your thoughts. We camp in Michigan, Jackson area, and do get baked by the sun.

My opinion is that it is negligible cost to add at the time of the order and a pain to add later. if get it.

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[oriolehawaii]

No argument here! Makes sense.

[PipeFighter]

Thanks for getting back with me. (were looking at a 2017 Prinnacle FLST which is about 38 feet long with the front living room) One dealer I talked to said that two air conditioners would be fine because of the ducting, which does make sense to me. So that's why I've been scratching my head. (here is some background on how we use our present 5er) We don't tow and probably wont. We keep ours at camp year round and just use it in the early spring through late fall as a weekend cottage. The camp only has 30 amp service and on holiday weekends when there is a large gathering we will experience severe voltage drop and put the fridge on LP (I like using Lp for the water heater all the time). My wife has been recently treated for A-Fib and is waiting for her CPAP (life has hit her hard all of a sudden). There have been times where she has been overheated and just wanted to lie down in the cool trailer, so that's why I want to make sure she has some AC to use rather than just the fans when there isn't enough voltage to run our AC. Will the 5500 watt generator run all three AC's or just two of them? If it will only run two then it might not be wise to purchase the third wouldn't it? This technology is all new to me as we have an older Fleetwood Prowler (1994 or so) with the front living room. Thanks so much for your experienced advice!

[oriolehawaii]

We have the ONAN 5500 generator. It will only run two of the A/C's at a time. The A/C units work with one another. If you turn all three on at once, the central air is the dominate one. The bedroom and front living room A/C units toggle off and on between one another depending on the temperature you have set. That would be the same using 30 or 50 Amp at the campsite.

[PipeFighter]

If I understand it correctly all the air conditioners are using the same central duct system, regardless if there are two or three AC units? If this is so can you help me understand why it's advantageous to have the third AC unit when the tow end ones take turns running? Many Thanks.

[oriolehawaii]

The main unit, in my opinion, does not keep the living room cool on very hot sun drenched days. Also the main unit overworks. It can get pretty warm without the front A/C on. Just my preference. Go with your gut!

[Rock]

Since u have the option go with the three. Be like having a spare if one goes out. I dry camp during the summer and did not order mine with reverse cycle ac. That was a mistake make sure u get that
Rock

[Mopar_Earl]

Always, always, always get the 2nd and 3rd ac options. Always! So many people don't and later regret it. They pay more to have it added later or it may something that can't be added depending on the RV.

Yes the two or three units share the same ducting. But, the unit closest to the vents puts out more volume. My unit has two units. The main unit barely blows air out the bedroom vents. You run the bedroom unit and bam, full cooling. Run both units at the same time and that baby cools down fast. But always get the 2nd and 3rd ac options. Even if you don't want to, do it! Even if it doesn't make sense. Even if you think it's too expensive on a 70k RV. Not a place to cheap out. I will be there to say I told ya so when you do cheap out. Lol

Earl

[Rock]

X2 Earl

[PipeFighter]

Reverse Cycle AC? Could you elaborate please? That wasn't mentioned to me by the dealer and I haven't seen it on the Jayco configurator website. Thanks in advance!

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by PipeFighter

Reverse Cycle AC? Could you elaborate please? That wasn't mentioned to me by the dealer and I haven't seen it on the Jayco configurator website. Thanks in advance!

I believe that is a different term for a heat pump.


Earl

[TexasRT]

Our 2015 Pinnacle has two 15k btu a/c units and will easily keep the coach at 72-74 on a 100 degree day. The following are the things I did/do to improve the a/c performance.

1. The most important thing is to keep the condenser coil clean, I clean mine every quarter. VERY IMPORTANT. A dirty coil will drastically reduce the cooling.
2. Clean or replace your return air filters VERY often, it doesn't take long for these to get dirty. Again VERY IMPORTANT. Dirty air filters will drastically reduce the air flow and in turn reduce the cooling.
3. I did this on ours - you make the call on doing yours. Remove the a/c vents and you will see a black plastic sleeve on the back of the vent. Most of mine where only about a 1/4" from the top of the duct inside, I used some good scissors and cut the sleeve length down so it cleared the duct by at least an inch. This greatly improved the amount of air discharged by the vents. More volume of cold air into the coach is a good thing. DO NOT completely remove the sleeve as it actually catches the air moving thru the duct.
4. As mentioned already - I also sealed the cutouts in the ceiling for the vents with foil tape to prevent air from possibly going into the ceiling void.
5. As mentioned already - Make sure the divider in the unit is in place and seal the divider edges with foil tape.

Although RV a/c units work on the exact same principle as a residential unit, my experience is that RV units are not as forgiving with a lack of maintenance.

Hope this helps.