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AAP INC. / CRUISAIRS
We are fortunate to have companies support our coach, and one of the better ones is AAP. I recently had an opportunity to have them replace my coach A/Cs and it is clear why the company has been around for 40 years.
If you have Cruisairs and want them serviced, need parts, would like advice, or even want units replaced they are the go-to folks. They will build you a new unit, provide a remanufactured unit, or just parts for the units you have. Fred Pickering and Dana Young are the gurus and they know their stuff.
Read the article:
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9 Replies
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wrong link Jon
that link is #171 for the battery change
link #172 is the CruiseAir link
here you go: CruiseAir Article
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Fantastic article, Jon. That rebuild is what I’m doing, although I put it on hold last year. I’m also reusing the squirrel cage fan with a new motor, though. I guess I’d better get started again soon!
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
Fixed it Don. Thanks for the heads up. Senility strikes.
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Have a business associate that’s pretty high up in the Dometic marine side. He told me they sold most of their inventory to AAP when Dometic closed out Cruiair. He also said they send/recommend AAP to any Dometic customers with the old Cruisair units.
Chuck
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This situation is confusing and may lead people to think the Cruisair units as we know them are no longer around or supported.
If you go to the Dometic site you will see they list Cruisair as one of their brands or products, but if you search for all the A/C units sold by Dometic you will not see those split units as we use on our coaches. If you go to the AAP site you will also see the Cruisair brand but those units are of the type we are familiar with and have on our coaches.
Dometic is listed as a brand on the AAP Inc. site. My point is regardless of who owns AAP or its relationship to Dometic the company is alive and well and fully supporting its products and building new ones.
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I believe Dometic still makes cruisair units – but they are only marine units (DX, but water cooled). They do not sell air chilled units anymore – though I beleive they still make them for AAP (more than likely contract manufacturing for x number of units type of thing). But you can still get marine split units for marine applications from Dometic – though they will push you hard to go with their standalone units as they have a lot more options on that front. The split units are generally only for larger boat installations these days.
AAP by all accounts has taken over the non-marine side of things. I need to go take my units to them and have them looked at. They are the older R22 units as I beleive all the new ones from Dometic are R410.
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Please do not guess because AAP is fighting the fight to get people to understand they are in business, they are making new split Cruisairs as we use on our coaches and for them it is business as it has been for forty years.
They continue to use R-22 and for the foreseeable future will continue to do so. They have done extensive testing for their own purposes and for others on the various refrigerants and currently there is no refrigerant the equivalent of R-22 that offers the performance of R-22. However, they are not opposed to someone recharging a system with suitable alternatives. They just want people to be aware there may be a loss of efficiency.
That is no different than when folks switched R-12 systems to 134-A. Everything worked, but they lost about 15% of the cooling capacity.
The use by both companies, Dometic and AAP, of the Cruisair name has left a false impression about whether AAP remains, but it not only remains they are making new units every day.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
When observing the Cruisair replacement, and as a result of damage from a traffic cone in the highway on the trip down to the Prevost show I became much more aware of baffles on the condensing unit outflow.
On my coach I have 4 Cruisairs, two behind the bumper and two in the middle behind the second bay electrical system on the driver’s side and the entertainment center on the passenger side. All 4 units have metal baffles on the condensing unit exhaust that direct the air flow to the rear of the coach.
One up front was damaged by the construction cone, and to fix it a bend just had to be hammered out. But for the first time in 30 years I really looked at these baffles. As constructed and installed they appear to restrict air flow. It could be assumed the baffles direct the outflow of heated air away from the intake of fresh air. But on inspection it did not make sense. In the case of the two front units the intake air is from above the front bumper so no hot air exhausted is likely to be drawn forward, up and past the bumper.
In the case of the two middle ones both are directed rearward. right at a cross baffle made of hard rubber or plastic intended to block that exhaust air flow from returning to the condenser units from a mesh covered opening behind the baffle.
So I have removed the baffles. AAP agrees with my decision because anything that restricts air flow, into or out of the condensing units compromises the efficiency. I suspect with no baffles in place the air flow through the condensers is greatly increased. I would be the open area now is at least 50% greater, and may be doubled. The least efficient Cruisair in my coach is the starboard side unit in the kitchen, and it has the smallest opening for air flow. By removing the baffles the temperature spread between supply and return air is now expected to increase which is an improvement in efficiency.
Those who have Cruisairs, get under your coach the next time it is up in the air for service and give serious consideration to removing the baffles. At the very least, if any baffles are crushed and restrict air flow bend the metal back open so it is less of a restriction. I now wonder if the baffles are not part of the reason for relatively poor performance when using Cruisairs while driving. We know roof airs perform well, but they do not have air flow restrictions.
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Hello Jon – as can be seen in the attached photo, both condensing units behind my front bumper have directional covers, similar to residential clothes dryer vents, which do not allow road debris to enter the exhaust-way while driving. Each, as seen in the two additional photos, have “chicken wire” to keep varmints out. Is it safe to assume the baffles you describe are different on your XL?
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