Roy, it's a 2004 Rockwood 1940LTD. I'm still leaning toward something like the way your cable is routed, since it leaves out a potential leak not having the receptacle going outside.
Since I started taking the roof vent out I can confirm there are two steel reinforcing beams right next to the hole going across the roof, so it looks like they intended to have it there. When I drove by the Flagstaff dealer yesterday (Flagstaff is nearly identical to Rockwood), I noticed all of their popups had the air conditioners mounted in the same place.
What would be the recommended stuff to seal the unit to the roof? The roof vent has copious amounts of a rubbery caulk. Tough stuff too, it's slow going trying to slice through the seam to get the upper half of the roof vent off. Since it doesn't resemble silicone caulk I'm thinking it's something else.
Edit: To answer your other question, yes, I have a Coleman Mach III unit.
This photo shows the 120VAC wiring going to the interior part of the air conditioner install. This is just like mine. You can see the wiremold running form the interior housing where your air filter is installed going towards the wall. There it will continue behind the Valance curtains to the end where it will just flop down and then plug into a interior 120VAC 20AMP receptacle like we discussed before which is tied into your Power Distribution Center chassis. The cable has to be free because the roof cranks up and down.
There is no need for anything to done with the roof area. Once you install the large 14-inch square gasket in the 14-inch square hole the fan used to be in the top section of the air conditioner will compress it down to seal off any leaks that will inside your trailer. The bottom part and top part of the Colman air conditioner is held in place with the four long screws... There is no other caucking or any other prep work that needs to be done. All the moisturer/water captured inside the top house will just drain off the roof.
This is where I kept getting confused by what others were saying about an outside 120VAC connection that would run on the outside of the roof and run down to the side of your popup and then come inside through an exterinal connector of some sort. I do not see that is required in this photo of your trailer i just looked at I just looked at. This air conditioner is installed just like mine isexcept my air conditioner is more centered in the middle of the roof area. Yours will be installed whereever the 14-inch roof fan was installed.
I will look at some more google images and see if I see something different about your trailer.
Here is a 2003 Rockwood trailer showing the 120VAC cable coming form the air conditioner unit just clamped to the ceiling. Then run behind the curtain are a short distance and then drops down to the bottom part of the trailer. Mine was this way at first but I didnt like how it looked so I enclosed the 120VAC wiring inside the WIREMOLD like in the the other picture. Looks alot better... My cable dropped down is behind the side curtains and is not visible unless you pull back the curtain to see it. If your Power Distribution Center is half way in your trailer and not close to the end like mine was then you may have to drop the cable behind a curtain in the middle of the trailer. I would still try to go to the end of the ceiling and come down in the corner and then route it to where the Power Distribution Box is located. It would just require a long 120VAC cable is all. Wont be a problem with loss of electricity etc...
Ill look for some additional google images and see what else is out there...
This is shot of a 2004 Rockwood 1940LTD POPUP and it shows the air conditoner off set from center. This is probably where the 14-inch fan was previously installed. Note there is no wiring that runs off the roof area and down the sides on either side.
My unit is centered on the roof not off to the side like this one is installed...
I see the 120VAC cable behind the curtain here in this photo of the same 2004 Popup - The Yellow Connector to the left center of the photo.
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edited 04/16/12 01:06pm by RoyB *
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My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me Roy and Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
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2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
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2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS
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Well, I'm not sure why the horse is getting beaten to death, but I'm not making up the part about running the power for the roof-mounted air conditioner from the lower half of the camper up to the roof through an exterior cable.
Here's the first page of the instructions, showing how to drill the hole for the receptacle, and a picture of the how the exterior cord would go. Also took a photo of the cable end and the receptacle. As I said, I have seen popups with cables running outside up to the roof to power the air conditioners before. I don't plan to, even though Rockwood recommends it, because of the potential for a leak. I plan to take an approach more like what you've got, and I will most likely have an outlet next to the sink counter, since it's close to the power converter. http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu85/davesherman74/Scan.jpg http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu85/davesherman74/IMG_0193.jpg
Just because you showed pictures of Rockwoods without exterior cables doesn't mean they don't exist, I was just trying to figure out the preferred way.
Oh Im sure they exist.... Too many on here has acknowledged it already.
I have never seen one but who am I haha... Im just a dirt farmer from Southern ILL and just barely made it through high school.
I guess if you decide to connect up from the interior side you will know where to provide 120VAC. My ON-OFF switch is on the bottom side ceiling mount and the 120VAC uses push on spade connectors. My thermostat is built-into the bottom section. Does not have one that goes to a wall locations as some may do.
Like I said earlier I have a 4-5 bundle of wires going from the bottom section to the top section through the 14-inch gasket hole. This is a cable assy that plugs in both sides.
I'm with you on not drilling any holes in the roof. My POPUP only has two holes in the roof. Two 14-inch gasket holes. One for the air conditioner and one for the fantastic fan. No other mounting holes on the top.
Now I have pentrated the sides of the roof area for mounting Ham antenna mounts, and side mounted pole arrangement for the BATWING antenna up on a pvc pole. I have also mounted eyebolts in all four corners to mount a one-inch by 15-foot web strap to anchor the roof area to some three-inch screw in ground anchors. Keeps my roof from moving in and out when you push on the sides. I get around 6-inches play doing this from the sides. end to end it is very stable.
I hate to hear you are going to give up the roof fan. We really use ours. Its perfect for pulling cool air thru the windows and out the roof. It is also very seful for us to place our MR Buddy Heater directly under the partially opened roof vent when we are running this heater during the winter months. Helps get the nasty fumes out of the cabin area real quick...
You may be cutting another 14-inch square hole down the road haha...
After looking at your install instructions I see it isnt as bad as I was thinking. Your are not penetrating the roof top side - just the side section. This can be sealed up real easy here. I have pentrated the side panels in five places on my POPUP roof mounting my Ham antenna and a PVC Pole flange.
However I still dont think it is a good idea to route your 120VAC cable to the outside to connect to 120VAC. It will have to come back into the inside of the POPUP sooner or later...
I would think it is much better to just keep it on the inside and connect to the Power Distribution Center circuit breaker for 120VAC. You do know what the wiremold is for hiding the cable around the ceiling until you start coming the window flap area. This stuff is available from LOWES and what I used was called CORD MANAGEMENT KIT Cordmate II part number C210. It opens up and has sticky on the back but I used a small wood screw on each end of after I stuck it in place. Once you insert the 120VAC CORD then you snap it together and it hides the cable. You can also paint this to if you like to match the decor of the inside ceiling area. I just left mine unpainted as it was white already.
This kit will cover about 12-feet of WIREMOLD.
Thanks for the info, Roy. So did I read correctly that no caulk is needed? I'm surprised even the A/C instructions make no mention of it. Yes, there is a thick rubber gasket, but is that sufficient to keep rain and condensation out? I suppose I can hose it down once it's installed to make sure. I hope it stays dry even if I'm towing it in the rain. I just had to cut through some copious amounts of caulk to remove the roof vent, and I can safely say that even having been through some heavy rains, it stayed completely dry inside. I just figured it would need at least a small bead around the mounting flange to keep water out, and I figured the rubber gasket was intended to keep air in.
* This post was
edited 04/17/12 08:35am by sparkydave *
That gasket is all that is needed. Over time, it will settle and compress some, so you can tighten the bolts holding the outside A/C unit to to the inside unit until such time as the gasket is completely compressed. Then, just replace the gasket. Do not try to caulk/seal the gasket otherwise, as that will fail and possibly cause a bigger issue.
I'm going to have to replace the gasket on the PUP I just bought as the previous owner tried to caulk it on one side, presumably because of a leak. They didn't do it all the way around.
Thanks for the info, that makes the installation MUCH easier not having to caulk the mounting flange and setting the 90 pound unit squarely over the hole the first time.
Hello, I have a 2004 Fleetwood Bayside and have not had to use the A/C yet and of course it is closed up currently. Can someone tell me where the recepticle would be on this model? Thanks
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