My firts mods: wall thermostat for AC unit, Led lights backup cameras

[jfguay2]

Hello all,

I bought my 2011 X213 last may, and since then, I have been thinking of a few mods. After two weeks in Virginia Beach where AC was always on, I realized I needed better control of the temperature than the build in thermostat. I researched it a lot on the web.

I gathered information mainly from two sources:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...print/true.cfm

http://www.modmyrv.com/2010/07/21/rv...t-modification

The relays I bought were Fotek from Dealextreme.com. They can be found at :
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ssr-25d...-134494?item=2

The thermostat I used was a white rodger I had lying around the house, that is good both for heating and cooling.

The track for the wire was bought at a hardware store close to you.

I will have a video shortly for the whole thing on my youtube channel at : www.youtube/jfguay2

I am quite happy with the results.

As for my other mods, I will provide details later, but suffice to say that a DIY backup camera for the truck is very handy, and a backup camera behind the trailer is priceless!! All of it for less than 40$ (Canadian, and yes, it is on par with the US, )

Cheers,

JF

[jfguay2]

Alright, video uploaded at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCDPCRrWfo0

[chuckworkb]

What gauge wire did you use in the fan and compressor circuits that you connected to your relays?
That fan and compressor draw somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 or 12 amps.

[jfguay2]

Originally Posted by chuckworkb

What gauge wire did you use in the fan and compressor circuits that you connected to your relays?
That fan and compressor draw somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 or 12 amps.

Indeed but the AC side of the relay was basically just cutting in on existing wires hence the proper gauge. On the DC side, since it only carries 12v, I could have gone with lower gauge. The relays I used are good up to 25 amps. It does get a little warm to the touch, but since they are close to the output, it will keep them cool somehow.

JF

[RedHorse1]

I watched your video. Nice install.
Did you leave the existing A/C switches connected (master ON/OFF)?

[jfguay2]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

I watched your video. Nice install.
Did you leave the existing A/C switches connected (master ON/OFF)?

I did, simply because I wanted them there in case my thermostat failed for some reason. Also because I want to be able to switch from low to hi fan, which I decided not to add a switch by the thermostat like some other did, and I did not want to forget how to wire it back together, mind you there is a sketch of the connections inside the unit, which would have helped.

[jfguay2]

Alright, video for the cameras is done. You can see it here:

http://youtu.be/HDGJHEgQ8WU

Let me know what you think.

[jfguay2]

Hello all,

I read about a heat strip that can be inserted in the AC unit, that helps with the heating. However, what I read was that not only was it expensive as opposed to basic heater you can buy just about anywhere, but there are about the same power as ceramic heater, which is 5600 btu or roughly 1500 watts.

What I like to do in my case in use the ceramic heater whenever I am on electric, since I am already paying for electricity at campgrounds, no point in using propane.

Having said that, there might be instances where you would want both the furnace and the ceramic heater to be on to raise temperature quickly, and then use only the ceramic heater. Right now, I kind of have to do this manually, especially that the build it thermostat on the ceramic heater is not that precise.

What I am thinking of is get myself a two stage heat thermostat. Stages allow for heat to be delivered at a certain pace, either high or say low, depending on the difference between you set point and the actual temperature. For instance, if the temperature was at 15 c and I set it at 22 c, the thermostat would call for 100% power of heating, and by the time the temperature is reached, would use only say 68% of heating power to stay at that temperature.

My design is to get a two stage thermostat, hook my ceramic heater to the first heat source, and the furnace to the second. This way, the furnace will only come on as a backup, to get more heating power, as the ceramic heater would otherwise always be the first source to be used, as long as it can keep up. This way, I'd use electricity first, propane only when needed.

What do you guys think? Anybody already did this?

Thank you for the feedback,

JF
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[sjnunn]

Jf,

Saw your video on YouTube, great job. I know it has been over a year since your post, but do you by chance have a wiring diagram of the install. I wanted to make sure I did not fry anything. We also ran into the same issue that you encountered at Va Beach. We were a few miles down the coast in the OBX of North Carolina. Any help would be appreciated. Steve