Just returned from 4 wk trip in our new 08 Roadtrek SS, disppointed with air condition. First two week every thing went fine until we headed home which is in the deep south. If midday temperture is in the 90's The coolest we can get inside temperture is 82 degrees. the night are comfortable. We can feel cold air blowing out of vent but cannot seem to cool rv. We purchase a small fan to help with circulation,but help very little.
Are any of you Roadtrek owners having problems with cooling or can offer any suggestions as we live in the south and will only be able to travel in spring and fall as things now stand.
You can feel the heat on the inner walls and windows, so dissapointed.
it sounds counter-intuitive but sometimes opening a roof vent just a bit allows the hot air to escape and the cool air to blow out of the AC easier. No need to run the vent, just open a roof vent a bit and try it.
Of course, parking in the shade and covering the windows will help too. Whenever possible.
10 to 15 degrees below the outside temps is about all your going to get. Before you stop get it as cold as you can with the chassis A/C, then when you stop for the day try to park in the shade, open the hood. (disconnect the hood light) You can also try spraying cold water under the chassis if it's available. In the inside, if you have the isle shower, you can isolate the sleeping area with the privacy panel, but don't expect more than 20 degrees max under the outside temps. You can also try a Endless Breeze Fan fan from Fan-Tastic Fans, along with the A/C,
Are you running on campground shore power, or generator? Particularly if the former, you may want to check the voltage in the van before blaming the A/C. Do it with everything you normally run switched on.
Also consider rigging a curtain to close off the front of the van at bedtime.
But remember that after driving all day, there's a lot of under-carriage heat-soak to be gotten rid of... engine, tranny, diff, frame, muffler, tanks, etc. Some of that heat is naturally going to tend to rise and warm the interior. And you're having to pull the day's heating out of the interior fittings like cabinets and cans of soup. Propping the hood open for an hour or so may help a little. Spraying the underside lightly with water would help even more, but is kind of extreme , and will raise the local humidity even higher.
(On edit, also start the generator 15-30 minutes before stopping, let it warm up a little, then give the A/C a head start on cooling the back of the van.)
Jim, "Mo' coffee!"
* This post was
edited 06/12/08 06:14am by Handbasket *
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison ('Loafer's Glory'); '07 Forester 2.5 ( the 'HANDBSKT'); '95 Toyota SR5 V-6 4x4 pickup, ARB locker, Bilsteins, Warn hubs & M8000, etc;
'94 968, M030 swaybars ('DOPPLER')
Is this when you are driving or camping?. I also live in the deep south and in the summer it is necessary when driving to run both dash airconditioning and generator and coach airconditioneer.
Bumpy road wrote: if an AC won't cool off a B van better than that, it is defective IMHO:
bumpy
He said in the 90's, so if it was in the mid to high 90's then 82 is not too bad. These metal boxes can generate heat for long time after stopping, especially if the evenings stay warm.
I stayed in Blythe, CA. for a night last summer, the temps were 116 driving across the desert. I got a motel room, and left at about 6 am, the nest morning. The temp in the Rt was about 113 when I first got in. I think the coolest it got that night in Blythe was 99 degrees. You can see in those temps, and the heat from the road coming up through the floor which is where the fridge sits, that running a refrigerator on D/C just ain't going to cut it. The A/C might have got it down to a 100 inside, but still too hot for this Arizonian to sleep in, and I'm pretty use to hi heat.
One thing that I've seen happen when it's really hot out is people just leave the AC on high and walk away, then it freezes up on the coils. I've found that ours works best when left on low with the fan on constantly. It stays comfortable enough that way. When it's really hot, we leave the shower door open to block off the bed area. Shade is VERY important if you can find it (usually when it's a superhot place there isn't much!) Camping in high heat areas just isn't that pleasant. I think that's why our RT has wheels!? (just joshin'!)
cajunsparks wrote: Just returned from 4 wk trip in our new 08 Roadtrek SS, disppointed with air condition. First two week every thing went fine until we headed home which is in the deep south. If midday temperture is in the 90's The coolest we can get inside temperture is 82 degrees. the night are comfortable. We can feel cold air blowing out of vent but cannot seem to cool rv. We purchase a small fan to help with circulation,but help very little.
Are any of you Roadtrek owners having problems with cooling or can offer any suggestions as we live in the south and will only be able to travel in spring and fall as things now stand.
You can feel the heat on the inner walls and windows, so dissapointed.
I find that on a 90 degree day that the "CoolCat" heat pump in my 2002 Chevy 190P RT can cool the van to the mid 70's in time.
I believe that "cajunsparks" has two things working against him.
1. The new V6 Sprinters have an enormous amount of glass
2. According to Roadtrek the Sprinters do not get the 12,000 btu "CoolCat" heat pump, but a smaller 11,000 btu rooftop AC unit.
So, with more glass and less AC cooling you might get higher temps.
We made insulated shades to cover all of the windows of our Sprinter B. They keep the inside significantly cooler. We camped in the desert with temps in the upper 90's last May, with no shade trees. We put the home made shades in the windows which kept the inside temp around 85 during the middle of the day, without AC. (We were in a primitive campground with no hookup and did not want to run the gene) If you would use something like this with AC, I would imagine the inside could be quite comfortable. I left the vents open and the side and back doors cracked for ventilation, had no problem napping in there.
The material that we used was purchased at a Home Depot store from the insulation aisle. I believe it was called "Reflectix" or something like that. It's kind of like a thin bubble wrap with reflective mylar material bonded to both sides. We made a template out of paper, then cut the material to fit the windows, then I sewed seam binding around the edges. You could probably also use duct tape to trim the edges. The shades fit right up against the glass, under the fabric shades. I have a picture on my computer somewhere, and if I can find it I'll post it.
Not only does it make the inside cooler in the summer, but it also keeps it warmer in colder weather.
* This post was
edited 06/14/08 03:24pm by juliev *
Julie
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, and will raise the local humidity even higher.
