Penguin II A/C Heat pump replacement

[Corgidad]

Hello everyone,

My 2 new 15btu units and new thermostat are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I will be replacing my old units next week and have gone over the previous threads on this subject but wanted to ask everyone who have done the replacement a few questions before I begin since you all may have some insight or tricks you used to complete the work. I will be using a fork lift to get the new units on the roof and the old ones off so Im hoping that will help a lot.

Do the new units come with everything I will need for the interior, such as brackets and cover or will I be able to use the existing.

Any splicing of wires required and does the new units come with the control box.

Did anyone run into any unexpected things when changing the units out.

Thanks in advance for any helpful hints or suggestions

Mike

[klcdenver]

If you are replacing 13,500 units you will need new control boards probably. I would try to contact domestic and give them your current units part number and ask them. For sure you will have to connect A/C wires and thermostat wire which is telephone plug. 

[Dr4Film]

The Dometic Penguin II units come complete unless your old ones have water drain cups installed on the old ones. Does your condensate drip into cups then through a drain line down to the ground or does the condensate drip onto the roof and down the sides of the coach? If it has drip lines than you need to purchase two sets of Dometic Drain Cup Kits which also comes with an additional gasket.

Your 120 VAC power wires will have to be spliced back to the supply lines. They use electrical twist connectors for the power supply wires. The data cable and remote temp sensor have special plug connectors on the ends which match what you are removing.

You have to use the four long bolts over again or you can buy new ones up to you.

I find that it is easier to get the AC aligned with the duct work using two people, one on top and one inside the coach guiding the AC into the duct work and aligned with the mounting holes that you can only see from below.

I did it myself, but I went up and down that rear ladder WAY too many times, so I was an exhausted puppy when finished.

The new thermostat will require a larger hole in the wall to make it lay flat to the wall.

Good luck!

 

[Old Dog]

Hopefully the drip kits are available now, sold out everywhere last spring (2021).

[waterskier_1]

You may also need a new control board for your Aquahot bathroom zone if you have one. 

  - Rick N 

[vito.a]

Richard covered it well.  Both new units will come with new control boards.  You need to check the dip switches on your old units and then set the new ones for your application. 

I needed two gaskets to space the unit up enough for the condensate drip cups to clear.  Amazon had the gaskets.  

A fork lift will be great.  I left my new A/Cs in the box and pulled them up the ladder with a rope.  

Edited January 6, 2022 by vito.a

[Chuck B 2004 Windsor]

If you do Not have aquahot, the control board on the unit that controls the heater will have to be programed and the dip switches will need to be set for the heater option.  The blue wires from the heater will need to be attached to the control board of the unit that will control the heater.  Since a short on the two blue wires turns on the heater, you can install a manual thermostat to turn on the heater thus by passing the programing of the air unit.  

When you ordered the new units, I hope you included All the alpha numeric  symbols from the old units model number.  If not, the new units might not be compatible.  I suggest that you do all the option settings while the new units are on the ground.  

Good luck, Chuck B 2004 Windsor

[Guest Ray Davis]

The OP has an Endeavor, and I'm pretty sure that coach doesn't have the drip lines. More than likely it doesn't have an Aquahot, so wire the same as the old.

Really all he needs to do is set the dip switches and install a new thermostat along with the new A/C units.   New A/C boards will not talk to an old thermostat.

[MyronTruex]

Open the packing boxes and take the covers off as soon as you get them. Inspect very closely for any damage. They do a terrible job of packing them and can do a terrible job of assembly as well. Look carefully for any pinched wires or misaligned covers or cracked housings. Not fun to put them on the roof and take them back off again.

New control boards and new thermostat should function great but do look at the manual for the dip switch settings. They may be the same on the old ones so you can reference that.

While you have them off be sure to have some metal duct tape to clean up the intake areas of the ducts. They did a poor job and had lost of air going into my roof originally. 

As an added tip to improve things overall. Pull one of your ceiling outlet/vents out and see if they trimmed their heights. Mine had not been trimmed and stuck a couple of inches into the duct work which really reduced the air flow. It made a huge difference trimming them to fit properly. 

Don't panic when you fire them up and it seems like a week before they come on. Those darn delays are scary sometimes. 

[jacwjames]

I replaced both my AC units in August.   I opted to go with the a new Micro Air One Touch thermostat, it was plug and play.   This is more expensive then the standard thermostat but I like it, I can access it via Bluetooth or via WiFi.  I was able to check on my rig's temp when I was out and about.

To remove the old AC units you'll have to cut a hole in the duct work to access the slip duct/joint that connects the AC to the duct work.  It's better to take this apart before removing the AC so as not to damage the duct work.  You have to cut a hole anyway to retape everything anyway.  Get some good foil duct tape, don't use the cheap stuff.

Disconnect all the current wiring, take pictures of everything before you start and notes if you need them.   You will have to remove the 4 long hold down bolts and reuse them.

My new AC came with a wiring harness plug that you can use to take care of all the control wires.  The 120 volt side came with a fancy quick connect and they don't send the other half, I just removed. 

Once you get the old AC's out you have to remove the duct slip joint and reuse and attach to the new AC unit and seal it with the duct tape. 

If you do have drip pans you'll have to move the old ones to the new AC's or get new ones.  I just replaced mine last year so they were in good shape.  You will need one new gasket if you do have the drip pans.

While the AC is upside down you can install the new wiring harness plug for the control wires.  On my rear AC I only used 2 of the wires, I just cut and taped up the rest of the wires, just use the same color wire to wire.  On the front AC it used more wires since it controls the furnace if you have one. 

You will have to check the dip switches, they ship them with just standard, just check the dip switches on told unit and use the same on the new units.  I had to make sure the front had the furnace flipped on the front.

The thermostat uses a phone wire type control wire but it is wired different, you should be able to use the old wires.  On my rig the routing of the thermostat wire went to the rear and then another to the front so there will be two connectors in the rear and one in the front. 

Word of caution, make sure you install the long bolts by hand for dozen.  I used a drill with a socket and cross threaded one and I could not get it out.  The threaded nut that is in the AC unit is a compression type nut and it lost it's hold.  Had to pull AC unit with bolt and angle bracket attached and jam the nut to get the bolt out. 

[Corgidad]

Thanks to everyone so far with all the great information. I do not have the drip lines through the coach they just drain on the roof and I also do not have Aqua-Hot. New thermostat is coming with the units tomorrow so it looks like I will have everything needed. Keep the tips coming as I want to be prepared for whatever comes up. 
Mike

Edited January 6, 2022 by Corgidad

[Guest Ray Davis]

Commenting on the 4 bolts that Jim referenced, those were the area that I had problems too.                                                                                   

In my case the spacing on the new units were off slightly.    ( wider ) 

That caused me massive grief exactly as Jim described, cross threaded bolt same as Jim's above.

On my 03 Windsor there are angle iron brackets that the 4 bolts go up through to then thread into the A/C.                                                             

In an effort to allow the bolts to line up I drilled the angle iron holes out as large as possible then used washers.                                                       

This was very aggravating, but finally resolved.                                                                                                                                                             

I'm mentioning this in hopes that if your bolts are off like mine and Jims were, you can hopefully avoid the grief.

I can't quite visualize cutting holes in the slip duct that Jim mentions, mine is different, no slip duct, so yours may different be too. 

There was a thread some time ago with pictures if you could locate it.

I think this is the thread, there is a lot of nonsense chatter so scroll down where there is a picture of what you might find regarding the duct interface.

Hum, didn't know the picture was going to show up, but that's good.  I see Walter's roof opening is surrounded with wood where mine is metal ( aluminum ).

Edited January 7, 2022 by Ray Davis

[wamcneil]

"I see Walter's roof opening is surrounded with wood where mine is metal ( aluminum )."

It doesn't show well in the pictures, but there's a steel frame in there with gussets at the corners. The four bolts are drilled through the corner gussets.

This is 03 dynasty. Sounds like construction varies considerably with different models. My bolts could have lined up nicer, but I didn't have have cross-threading problems. Don't remember clearly, but I think the new bolt pattern on the AC pan may be slightly wider, and I had to grind away a little for clearance on the long bolts.

Hope your install goes well! 

Walter

[Guest Ray Davis]

Thanks for chiming in Walter.  Where have you been lately?  Miss your posts.

Thankfully my install has been done for a while now, knock on wood.  ( my head )  It's Mike ( Corgidad ) installing.

Yeah, your Dynasty has steel where my 03 Windsor has aluminum.  I have never experienced a problem with alum, steel is certainly stronger though.   

How's the weather in your part of Tx?  It's cold here in northeast Tx, finally got above freezing I don't like it.   80 one day 20 the next.                             

[jacwjames]

The slip joint I mentioned is shown in the picture in one of the previous posts. 

Not really sure how they initially installed them.  In my case I know that the rear AC had been previously lifted up and the metal slip joint was pulled out of the ducting and when they put it back down they didn't seal the duct form the inside.  So it both crushed the duct work and since it wasn't sealed it leak.  Not good.

So last year when replaced my roof gaskets I found this and figured out that initially cut a hole on the bottom side of the ducting to access the slip joint so that you adjust it and then seal with tape. 

Depending on how yours is installed it may just pull out or it is taped/sealed and needs to be cut apart. 

[Roger 2006 HR Endeavor PDQ]

Just had two Penguin II AC/Heat Pump. Had RV Silencers on old units. Do the Penguin IIs come with an interior ceiling cover? Hard to think not, but none were found when we picked up the coach.

Thanks,

Roger 2006 Endeavor PDQ

[klcdenver]

No they do not. I changed out to the silencers and much quieter. 

[wamcneil]

On 1/7/2022 at 11:37 AM, Ray Davis said:

Thanks for chiming in Walter.  Where have you been lately?  Miss your posts.

Thankfully my install has been done for a while now, knock on wood.  ( my head )  It's Mike ( Corgidad ) installing.

Yeah, your Dynasty has steel where my 03 Windsor has aluminum.  I have never experienced a problem with alum, steel is certainly stronger though.   

How's the weather in your part of Tx?  It's cold here in northeast Tx, finally got above freezing I don't like it.   80 one day 20 the next.                             

Thanks! I've been lurking but hadn't had much to contribute lately... many house projects and the MH has been neglected the last few months. 

It's mostly been like summer in the TX hill country! Finally looking more like winter and gloomy today...

Cheers,

Water

[wamcneil]

On 1/7/2022 at 11:41 AM, jacwjames said:

The slip joint I mentioned is shown in the picture in one of the previous posts. 

Not really sure how they initially installed them.  In my case I know that the rear AC had been previously lifted up and the metal slip joint was pulled out of the ducting and when they put it back down they didn't seal the duct form the inside.  So it both crushed the duct work and since it wasn't sealed it leak.  Not good.

So last year when replaced my roof gaskets I found this and figured out that initially cut a hole on the bottom side of the ducting to access the slip joint so that you adjust it and then seal with tape. 

Depending on how yours is installed it may just pull out or it is taped/sealed and needs to be cut apart. 

I've only got experience with the one unit... but it looks to me like the slip joint wasn't intended to be taped and sealed. There's the duct stub screwed to the AC's bottom pan and the mating stub on top of the duct has a flared end to let it slide in. There's very little clearance in there so no practical way to tape the joint. There's no access hole in the bottom of my duct.

My slip-joint appears to have bound up while setting the AC sometime in the past (maybe at the factory) and had compressed the top of the duct. The ductboard had become pretty comfortable in that compressed and deformed position and wouldn't stay in place when I pulled it back up in place. So I cut a thick wood shim to fill the space between the lower duct stub and the adjacent wood. Then screwed the duct stub into the shim and screwed the shim to the adjacent wood frame. That lifted the stub up where it wasn't compressing the duct below, holds it straight vertically and made the stub pretty rigid so that the part on the AC pan slid all the way down in without deforming the ductwork.

I think it worked pretty well. Here's a bunch of pictures I took. In a couple you can see where I had to grind away some clearance for the long hold-down bolts. I think the new unit may have slightly different spacing. 

Cheers,

Walter

Edited January 8, 2022 by wamcneil