saflyer

I’d consider replacing the front AC with a 15000 BTU unit but have seen posts that say (1) it will need a new 10 button thermostat and (2) that may or may not be doable if I don’t change the bedroom AC. Any insight?

Today’s test. Ran ACs all night. Front AC had the quick cooling vent open all of the time. My bedroom unit has a Wacko noise reducer. (BTW I obtained no measurable noise reduction after adding it, just a better quality of sound). About 90° outside temp. Inside temp made it to 77°. Taped a digital thermometer to the quick cooling grill and it showed 54.5°. This was a few days after checking the cooling fins a removing a slight amount of coating, less than 5% on the front unit and closing a gap where the there is foam rubber between the cover and the perimeter of the box that directs air through the condenser On the bedroom one.

Yes they were both blowing cold air, just not cold enough. Coach was only 11-12° colder than outside temp. I went up and checked the coils. Appeared to be mostly clean but had a little film covering less than 5% on the front A/C unit. Cleaned that and will do a check tomorrow to see if any improvement. Will report back. As to the zone issue. We have always struggled with getting the temps set in the coach. I think the thermostat swing is too great. We find ourselves constantly resetting the thermostat. Gets too warm and we drop the setting down 2° then it gets too cold so set it up a degree or two. Back and forth, back and forth. I think the placement of the thermostat temperature sensors is part of the problem, especially the front one. If the coach faces East or West the morning or evening sun shining in the windshield causes havoc with it especially with the windshield curtains drawn.

I’m going to clean mine and test them next week and check the temps when it should be in the mid-90’s again. Will check the air temp out of the register.

'05 Holiday Rambler Ambassador I have 2 Dometic DuoTherm 13,500 BTU ducted air conditioners with heat pumps. Last week while on our first hot weather trip in some time we left the coach in the morning with temperatures inside and out in the lower 70's. The A/C's were set in the lower 70's also. The blinds were closed. When we returned in late afternoon the outside temp was 99-100 with moderate humidity. The living area temp was almost 90 degrees. I'm wondering what I should do. Is there a test for cooling performance other than what I described? I have been told these units cannot be recharged with coolant and the only thing to try to service them is clean the cooling coils. Is this correct? Are there any other options for service? My shop told me if that didn't work the only option is purchase a new A/C. My units, like so many are terribly noisy. I've even thought in the past of getting new units in the hope the noise could be reduced. That being said, are the new units known to be quieter than the ones from the early 2000's? Replacing them would be an easier pill to swallow if I got the secondary benefit of quieter operation but I read on some forum recently that a poster replaced his with a newer model and it was louder. How difficult is it to replace an A/C? How heavy are they? I'm handy enough so if it's not too complicated I could do it with a little help. My shop can't get to me until late July and we want to take a trip before then. Any thoughts are appreciated.

'05 Holiday Rambler Ambassador I have 2 Dometic 13,500 BTU ducted air conditioners with heat pumps. Last week while on our first hot weather trip in some time we left the coach in the morning with temperatures inside and out in the lower 70's. The A/C's were set in the lower 70's also. The blinds were closed. When we returned in late afternoon the outside temp was 99-100 with moderate humidity. The living area temp was almost 90 degrees. I'm wondering what I should do. Is there a test for cooling performance other than what I described? I have been told these units cannot be recharged with coolant and the only thing to try to service them is clean the cooling coils. Is this correct? Are there any other options for service? My shop told me if that didn't work the only option is purchase a new A/C. My units, like so many are terribly noisy. I've even thought in the past of getting new units in the hope the noise could be reduced. That being said, are the new units known to be quieter than the ones from the early 2000's? Replacing them would be an easier pill to swallow if I got the secondary benefit of quieter operation but I read on some forum recently that a poster replaced his with a newer model and it was louder. How difficult is it to replace an A/C? How heavy are they? I'm handy enough so if it's not too complicated I could do it with a little help. My shop can't get to me until late July and we want to take a trip before then. Any thoughts are appreciated.

I am installing solar panels soon and decided it would be best to replace the seam seals on my 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador metal roof before the panels cover it. I plan to use Eternabond unless there is a better material. Does anyone have a better idea? Also, if I use Eternabond should I run a bead of other sealant along the edges of the Eternabond to prevent water from being driven under the edges of that material? What is the best way to remove the old sealant? I have an oscillating tool if it's not too aggressive. It should be OK on the metal seam down the center of the center of the coach but am concerned about using it on the fiberglass of the end caps. After the old material is removed how should I prep the surfaces for the new? BTW, I wonder why HR didn't use a one piece roof to eliminate that seam right down the middle. Just cost? Thanks Top

I’ve had both. Never found that to be the case.

It’s been a year since I tried but I found out the app only works for one type of service. There are two ways of getting Dish for your RV. My a Dish in my motorhome is part of my home service. The Wally receivers I have in my coach are billed just like the Joey’s I have in the house for service in extra rooms. I have to call to get the location changed for local channels. Sometimes it’s relatively easy but once it took 5 calls. The app might work if you have Dish Outdoors or Dish On The Go, whatever it’s called. But you have to get a completely separate service for that. Ed

There are articulating mounts for RVs that have a locking pin to hold them in the retract position when on the road. Search “RV TV mount”. I removed the old frame from around my tube TV and cut a piece of 1/2” plywood to fit the hole. Used some “L” shaped aluminum channel pieces with holes from Lowe’s and put a 1’ length on each side of cabinet then screwed the plywood to that. Drilled holes in plywood where mounting holes in back of TV are and got metric screws to hold TV to plywood. Be sure to get the right length screws. If you get too long of screws they can damage the internal parts of TV. A couple of larger holes were cut to feed cables and power cord through. The hard part was measuring to put the angle aluminum on each side so the two pieces are parallel. The cabinet on each side had a different shape so I couldn’t just measure back from the front edge. In the end I got it to work. I’d like to cut the cabinets off in the back to shorten them enough to install MCD shades but don’t know if that’s possible. They have to stay deep enough to accommodate my satellite receiver and DVD player. In any case that would require professional help. I like the idea of cutting the case it back like Dr4Film but again that would require outside help. I found a Visio sound bar that’s shorter than the width of the cabinet and had room to mount it below the TV with screws through the plywood. Ed ‘05 HR Ambassador.

That’s great news. However, I think my next batteries will be lithium.

Sam’s only sells them East of the Mississippi. Why? Who knows? I’ve asked and can’t get an answer. Ed ‘05 HR Ambassador

Ernie, are you still doing floors? Ed

Thanks Robert.

Just looked at the control panel in the wet Bay Area. (Can’t get this stinking thing to stop capitalizing Bay Area. It must think I’m talking about San Francisco but you all know what the subject is) Anyway removing it to try and find the snap disk is WAY out of my league. Since I can’t picture needing the wet bay heater I’m going to leave that project for another time. I’ll just go with Tom’s drop light suggestion if I’m ever in a cold situation. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks. I finally got my heater out so can test it. If it's bad this might be the answer. Hopefully the snap disk is still good.

I have a KIB LR9806 relay. A site I found says “The KIB LR9806 Battery Disconnect Latching Relay is a single-pulse latching relay. It only requires a short "pulse" of voltage to activate or deactivate the relay.” So does that mean zero battery draw to hold it in either the open or cLosed position? If so I don’t need to do anything. Curiosity question. What is the difference between a relay and a solenoid?

Tom and Bob, thanks a bunch. Great information from you both. Ed

OK, tried again. Had to bend the metal bracket the heater mounts to so I could turn it sideways. Then I was barely able to slide it out above the potable water drain pipe. I looked all over for the snap disc. I assume it is along the power line. Those wires disappear up between the wet bay forward wall and the forward side of the gray water tank. The only way to see up there is to remove the entire wet bay control panel, not an easy task. Can’t find the snap disc anywhere. I’ll test the heater tomorrow. In a way I hope it doesn’t work. But that still doesn’t rule out a bad snap disc, if there is one.

Thanks Robert. Looking forward to the post. I don’t know if what Gary M did with just eliminating the solenoid or replacing it with another is best. My goal is to eliminate the salesman switch and the high draw solenoid. I don’t think I need a salesman switch at all. Am I correct?

I’ll try again. Or you could hop on a plane and come here. Oh, wait a minute, there aren’t any planes.

I tried that. No matter how I turned the heater it’s too big to remove without removing a pipe.

I’ll have to check my salesman switch solenoid to find out the type. You say they draw about 3 amps just to remain closed. I’ve tested my parasite draw and believe my coach draws less than 14 aH per day so only about .6 amp total for the coach. That would imply my salesman switch solenoid is drawing near 0 so wonder if there is any reason to replace it with the Intellitec 0 draw solenoid. If not might I just jump the dash switch to remove the problem of it accidentally being turned off? It’s a bit of an odd switch without very good tactile feed back as to it’s position. For my occasional boondocking I’d like to get my parasite load as small as possible. Ed ’05 Holiday Rambler Ambassador

‘05 Holiday Rambler Ambassador: Like so many I have a little time on my hands so I’m delving into an issue that isn’t very important in my RVing but would like to know if it works. I have a wet bay heater that I’ve never seen give an indication of it working by the light next to the On/Off switch. I don’t really know if I’ve ever been in a situation where would have come but have always left the switch in the on position. I located the heater in the bay and found It has three wires leading to it, black, red and white. Can anyone tell me what each wire is? I assume one is power for the heating element, one for the fan and one the ground. Or is one power and each of the other two grounds? I understand there should be a snap disc thermo switch but I can’t find anything like that in the bay. The three wires mentioned above come out of a wire bundle tube that comes out of the ceiling of the bay. Where should I look for the snap disc? I have read on other forum threads there is an internal fuse In the heater that is subject to burning and can’t be replaced. However, that thread described a means of putting another fuse in the power line, externally I believe. The problem is the heater will be very difficult to remove. It sits behind two drain pipes, fresh water and gray. Looks like one will have to be removed to get the heater out. Not a job for me. Any suggestions on my project? Thanks