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Are CruiseAirs Good Enough?
We have 3 CruiseAirs. I keep them tuned up. We also have Prevost OTR ac. On a recent trip to go drag racing, we made the 270 mile trip to the track with the OTR air on and the CruiseAirs and genny off. We arrived at 2 pm. The inside of the bus was 70*f. It was a humid 104*f in the shade in the pit on the blacktop at the drag strip. We fired up the genny and the 3 CruiseAirs and it never got above 73 degrees in the bus where their SMX thermostats were set. In fact, the center unit cycled on and off occasionally as the temp setting was reached.This wasn’t the case when we bought the bus almost 7 yrs ago.I have coated the roof with a thermal Barrier called Temp-Coat. We have a thermal barrier material in the upper half of all the side windows 100% of the time, and draw the blinds down halfway so you don’t notice it. The 3 cockpit windows get full coverage when we park. It takes just a minute or 2 to do it. They travel in the shower. The material is available at HomeDepot for <$50 in a 4' by 25' roll. You cut it to fit. It is called Reflectix.If it ever floats to the top of the list, I will install a roof air. We have a spare switched 110v electical outlet where the electric range and microware are. Above them is a 14×14 MaxAir vent in/thru the roof. I have a spare DuoTherm ac or two from my previous coaches. One of these days I’ll install one for a spare ac and so I can hang meat like with the Prevost OTR ac.
You can’t have too much air conditioning in TX. If one of the CruiseAirs decided to quit, it would be nice to have a spare(roof ac). -
18 Replies
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I need to do this. I have 3 cruise airs and 2 roof airs, until recently, now I have 3 roof airs and no cruise airs, adding a 4th roof air. Im in AZ and today in the sun running the 3 AC’s it was cool, but not cold. I want a meat locker. Ill have to coat my roof and get that window covering! Thanks for the post.
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Don: Thanks for sharing. You have a 21 year old coach with Cruise-Airs and it sounds like they work well for you. I’ve started to read recently posts (maybe) on the PC Forum and on the various Prevost Facebook sites about Prevost owners who apparently can’t get rid of their Cruise-Airs fast enough.
I’m looking to put something on the roof of our 1999 Liberty. Any suggestions you can share with us about the installation of Temp-Coat or its care and feeding?
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every little thing helps. I think the roof coating is helpful, but I think even more helpful is addressing the windows. He has the insulating barrier, which works very very well. I would also put the ceramic heat reflecting tint. That helps quite a bit and all the time (even going down the road). 3M makes ceramic window tint, as does Llumar. both of these will reject large amounts of heat. Then when parked, use the reflective sheets.
as for cruisairs – when tuned, they work decently well. I dont think roof airs are any better than a cruisair – outside of the cost. Roof airs are replaceable and throw away. You kind of save every piece of a cruisair. . .
If you want a really nice roof air – look at the red dot roof units. They do 25K BTU off of 24v I think.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
Ii have about the same bus as the OP and also use Reflectix in all the windows, my Cruisairs need a tune-up but still keep the bus plenty cool. Old white roof coating is thick!
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Dana @ AAP told me to reduce the fan speed to 50/60%. It increases the efficiency of the unit by giving the air a little more time to cool as it passes through other condenser. I have been following Dana’s instructions and get 3-5 deg cooler by slowing the fan speed.
Chuck
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There is very little info on website about using product on roofs. They have info for pipes and ducts, if you have installed a brief description would be appreciated.
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It is not pretty to look at when finished. It leaves a course finish. It goes on with a roller like pancake batter would. I wash my roof once a yr with dawn dish washing soap. It took 7 gals to do my roof(40 footer). Yes I like the results. No more snap, crackle, pop, when the sun comes and goes from behind the clouds.
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I noticed a fair change in inside temperature after filling the roof with solar panels. They create an air bridge between the panel and the roof and as a result the roof temperature dropped.
Besides that painting it white reduced inside temperature with double digits.
For the cruise airs, the work ok. Not sure how they will keep up if the bus wasn’t pre-frozen by the OTR!
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The best upgrade I have done was to apply Bus Kote to my roof. Like Don said , No more snap crackle and pop. I also use a form of the reflectix on the single pane windows but have trouble keeping them in place. Don ,, do you use Velcro or double sided tape or what ? The window film that blocks UV looks very appealing, Is the bang worth the $$ ?
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Reading the online descriptions for Temp-Coat and Bus-Kote … they appear to be very similar. Are they the same thing just with different names?
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Daschae
I have a 1996 Liberty 45′ and have been thinking about replacing my Cruise Airs with Roof Air conditioning but wondered how to duct them my ceiling is like a mirror do you have pictures on how yours look. Its getting harder to find people to work on the Cruise Airs.
Thanks Darrell
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Dick,
Have no idea , Bus Kote is supposed to be a NASA spinoff and is used on a lot of school buses. Supposed to have micro ceramic beads that create a barrier , Is it just hype ? They also sell extra beads to add for more protection. I used their primer for 2 coats , product for 2 coats and sealer for 2 coats. Amazed at the difference it made in the coach…
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Darrell. The mirror in my bus isnt glass, so I cut through the metal with an angle grinder, cut the foam with a knife, and drilled 4 holes in the corners of the ceiling and then used a sawall to cut the ceiling from the top. I ran new 10/3 wire through the ceiling to the breaker box in the bedroom, disconnected the cruiseair and capped the wires for future owners to revert if they want, and used those breakers for the roof airs. Ive picked up all of my roof airs, heat pump, 15k BTU for $600 a piece or less brand new/refurb from ebay. Then I just using the regular “ceiling assembly” from coleman. So I turn on each ac manually by twisting the knob at the unit, no additional ducting or wiring is required this way.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
That’s a nice clean install. Most probably don’t notice but some of us would hit our head on them.
Some of you other Liberty guys tell me if I’m wrong but thought I read that the mirrors in the Liberty are also not glass.
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Rocky, for the living room 7 side windows, 4 of them are hinged in the middle and the Reflectix sits on the hinge ledge. With the shade pulled down to hinge level they stay put. The other 3 need velco on the upper part of the window and reflectix. The same thing can be done in the bedroom.
The windshields and driver side window Reflectix inserts when cut correctly are interference fit.Daschae, nice install.
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