Swapping front and rear original Penguin ac's?

[fredelkamp]

Are there any problems with swapping the front and rear original Penguin ac's in my 2008 Diplomat? The rear ac is much stronger then the front one.

[vito.a]

No, you can swap them.  There are only four bolts holding it down and then some wiring but you may need new foam gaskets. 

I don't understand why one would work better than the other.  

[DavidL]

Take a look at the venting as the difference.  Length of run and any obstruction in the air path.

[Tom Cherry]

YES…..if BOTH are 15 KW or 13.5 KW….but if not, and they are different….still of course….you just have to do some rewiring…..and move a bunch of wires….  LOL.

BUT, if you swap then, then you WILL NEED to reprogram the DIP switches on each.  The settings on the front have only ONE Dip, I’m betting, ON.  That makes it ZONE 1.  The FURNACE dip is most likely ON.

Now the rear will have the Zone 2 Dip on.  This assumes you have ONE thermostat.  If you have a “FURNACE Mode when the REAR Zone 2 is selected…..you have a fwo zone furnace.   So, the Furnace DIP will be ON.  No furnace MODE….then DIP off.  They DIPS must be set so that the swapped unit is the dame as the one pulled out,  you also have to do the 5 button reset…..otherwise the Thermostat is “not in the mood to work”.  The procedure is Bottom switch OFF.  Hold in MODE and ZONE.  Turn on SWITCH.  Should be FF….good to go.

NOW…..there may be a reason why you say “stronger”.  MOST Monaco’s have dual duct runs.   One on each side.  USUALLY if you have a shower on an outside wall, on a 40 ft or shorter, the duct on the side of the shower is cut and blocked.  The OTHER duct runs full length.  So, when both are on….they kick out MORE air on the full, front to rear, and connected duct.  But the cut duct gets air from the rear….and on the other side….air from the front.  That confuses folks.  It also has a great deal to do if you have throttled down some registers or outlets.

BTW.  Most folks NEVER use the ON OFF switch.  It wears out,   They use the MODE setting….and toggle to OFF.  There is not a NEW 5 button, only used or “I think we fixed this one….and it is REFURBISHED”.  Just a tip….

[fredelkamp]

Thanks Tom, both ACs are 15 KW with heat pumps. I only have one thermostat, originally it was the five button unit that also controls the furnace. The old five button thermostat is safely stored away in the box that contained the Micro-Air I replaced it with. Will the Micro-Air need to be reset? Is there a manual/drawing showing the dip switches settings and location? I'm having a mobile tech do the work.

All I know is the rear AC will freeze you out of the bed room, not so much with the front one and it likes to ice up. I assume the front one was used a lot more than the rear one and as so could use a freon recharge.

[96 EVO]

Pretty sure you wouldn't find any difference in wire gauge even if one was 13.5K.

In fact, I've seen my one 13.5K drawing more amps than my 15K units!

[jacwjames]

I installed two new AC & the Microair thermostat.

I just took picture of the wiring before I disconnected any wires.  Took pictures of the dip switches.  Then just connected the wires as in the pictures and changed the dip switches.  The front AC will have additional wires for the furnace connection.  A decent tech shouldn't have a problem with the change (I'm not an expert, I do sleep at a Holiday in, and even I could do it).

One thing to check is to make sure the evaporator coil is not dirty.  Not sure on your year/model but on my old one that I replaced it was not easy to do as the sheet metal had to be peeled back to get at it.  The new one I installed in 2021 had a plastic cover that was pretty easy to remove. 

[Steven P]

Another suggestion is to remove the inside cover and filter and turn the fan on and watch the ceiling fabric, liner, etc...I had at least 60% blockage from all that ceiling material.  It wasn't obvious when not running but would suck into the ducts when the fan ran.  I removed the excess and improved air flow a lot. 

[fredelkamp]

The deed is done. the two A/C were swapped for $360. The results are amazing, the front A/C that that was running weak and icing up works great in the bedroom and no more icing up. The rear A/C has no problem heating or cooling the living room and it is a little bit quieter. The techs that did the swap left the control units in place ind just moved the A/C itself., so no worry about dip switches.