[Corey]

Bill,

Give AAP a call, they can help get you pointed to someone that can help you.

AAP

[Archived]

Bill, please post with details when you find out who is the best in the business in So Cal. In fact, I would settle for merely “above average”. I spent lots of money and time on the Cruiseairs on my 90 XL but never felt that I received really good service. I think the best service I ever found with from Luis at Prevost Mira Loma. He really knew the older buses, but would probably admit that he is not a an a/c expert.

[Dean]

Luis usually works on our bus and we know each other quite well (too well) but he’s not the guy to completely rebuild the system. I can’t believe I can’t find the info on that guy who was doing the work at the Miri Loma facility but I remain hopeful that someone here knows who I am talking about.

Making a random call to AAP leaves me cold as I have had long dicussions with Prevost and Detroit who all said “go here and we will get it fixed” but the end results were always negative and I was always poorer!

[Bill]

Go to the nearest marina with large yachts and ask around. CruiseAir units are commonplace in yachts. Although water cooled they are very similar units.

[AL]

Bill, the AAP guys are real straight shooters, so a referral from them may be your best bet. Whoever does the work will need to order from them anyway. I got two rebuilt units from AAP in my current bus when I bought it last year. (The dealer I bought from did the install – poorly — in house, so no referral there.) Anyway, I had a few conversations with the AAP guys and they were very helpful.

Gil is right that Cruisair shops are more common in marina areas. All I can say is that I had my last bus in for service at a yacht cruisair shop in Costa Mesa that was supposed to be “the best” about 5 years ago and we very nearly ended up in litigation.

Good luck with your search and let us know what you find.

Headed to Quartizite? My friends over there tell me no a/c needed this week — mid 70’s.

[Paul]

Bill,

You are getting good advice. AAP is the go to place for advice and information. Your cruiseairs are designed to be serviceable and with two refrigeration lines and an electric connection broken your units can be easily removed and bench serviced.

They aren’t magic. Gil is correct in that the Marine industry uses a lot of them and might be a good source for service. Once the condensing unit has been repaired or rebuilt the only thing required is for the tech to apply the proper charge to the system, which on a Cruise air is critical.

I may be reading your posts wrong, but it seems you have had bad luck with service. There are a lot of good people who support our coaches and if i was in your position I would seek advice from people in your geographic area about their experiences with service providers before I turned my coach over to whoever promises to fix it. Not everyone has the expertise and understanding required to maintain our coaches. Then I would stay with my coach and make sure they will do what they say for the price they quote. It is too easy to end up paying folks for on the job training or not getting the results you seek.

[Robert]

I do wish I had a geographic area! That would make getting work done a whole lot easier. Most of the problems I have had with service I have had at the various Prevost facilities. I travel full time and I used to travel Coast to Coast (sometimes 2 times in a year) but now only travel the Western US. Last year we started in NM, worked our way up into CO, came back to the Gulf in TX, headed back to CO and then worked our way up to UT and then into OR and WA by the end of the year. We just came in N. CA last week, head for Reno and then back to CA and will travel the length of the State before heading into AZ. From there I have no idea where my business will take me. We have nearly come to the conclusion that the Prevost service centers are our worst choice if we want the work done right the first time. This never used to be the case but now their Red Carpet service is a complete joke and no one if following up on anything. If I did not hang around and verify the right work is done, it’s not done or done wrong. The last service was in Dallas and as I pulled up to the gate to leave, applying the brakes that they just adjusted pulled so hard to the left the vehicle was undriveable. Had to unhook, pull it back in the shop and have that fixed (still pulls, however) before we could leave. Who road tested that?

[Archived]

First, what makes you think they need completely changed. I was sold that bill of goods on my 1990 conversion and the performance of the new ones wasn,t much different from the old. When I bought my current coach, I was told they were new and improved. Hooey. We’re using a system designed for a marine environment in a much harsher environment and it’s about half the size of the capacity of OTR. Why won’t it cool?

Sorry I’m a bit raw about Cruise Airs. They are marginal but things can be done to make them somewhat serviceable. What’s actually wrong with yours?

[Archived]

The compressors are locked up I have seen it before so I knew what I would be told when Country Coach looked at them. They just didn’t fix them when they said they could.

I would much rather dump these crappy A/C units and install some roof air units but I have to find someone willing to do that kind of work. I don’t care if they just cut a hole in the roof and ceiling and install it like you would see in a regular RV. I just need A/C when we are in the S/W in the Summer!

[Archived]

Bill, if you don’t care about adding ducting it really wouldn’t be hard to migrate to roof airs. The biggest challenge will be running the AC power cables. I’m sure many other CruiseAir or even basement air owners have already looked at this.

[Archived]

I agree that it should not be difficult and should not be too expensive. My wife’s hot flashes nearly kill her when we are in warm areas and our A/C is not working. I just need to find a fix. The Crusiair repair being the easiest but most expensive and the roof air being cheaper but much less elegant.

[Archived]

My bedroom cruise air went out May 1, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizonia. I spent the summer in California and the fall in Oklamoma, Kansas and Missouri. We roasted. The front two cruise airs were working properly but could not keep up Even with fans it was often 90 degrees in the back as we were getting ready for church in the evenings.

After diagnosis and pricing replacement of the non working unit and considering the front units were the same age I opted for non ducted roof airs. I put on four 13.5K roof air units and have been cool ever since. They are noisier and our neighbors probably think we are angry with all of the yelling to be heard over the roof air.

We never run more that two at a time but we can choose which ones to run depending on where we are in the coach. If I need all four then they are there and ready to go. I also ordered mine with heat strips, not heat pumps, so they help with heat even in the coldest of temperatures.

I realize that some love the cruise airs and that is fine. They never cooled my bus down to an acceptable level even when they were working. My outside units were in hard to get to narrow places and were bolted to the floor. IF they had been on swing out trays as I have seen in other buses I might have worked with them a little longer.

I had my roof airs installed at Robert’s Brothers in Springfield near Nashville in November 2009. I have no mirrors on the ceilings so it was a little easier than some installations they told me. They told me the hardest part was running the electric to each unit.They are an entertainer coach conversion and leasing company. I have no idea if they do work like this now or not.

Davy

[Bill]

If you intend to spend summer in the SW, you will never get the cruise air’s to handle it…I agree with the others in case you didn’t figure it out from my earlier post. Check around, I think you’ll find some conversion service companies have done the roof air mods before; possibly some linked to this forum.

[Robert]

Yep, for me, my business requires me to travel where RVers don’t want to be. That’s why I am just now coming out of the NW during the Winter and will need to be in the SW in the Summer. There are some moderate swings in the middle that make it all tolerable. We have had success with our Cruisairs in this weather when they are all working so that would be my first choice (40′ no slides really helps) but since I will not be anywhere East of TX, if anyone has any ideas of a converter who might be able to do roof airs for us on the West coast would be appreciated. I do appreciate your helpful feedback. That’s all I have ever looked for.

[Jim/Chris]

Bill,

I hope you don’t view this as adding fuel to the fire, but at what point does this pain end for you? You sound ready to expose yourself to another project that while seemingly simple is far from it.

Your bus has Cruise airs which by your previous post you indicate they do the job. Remove them and have a qualified AC technician replace the comperssor(s). I disagree with Joel in the respect if they have a clean condensing coil, the proper charge of R22, and the baffling is in place they function very well and doing the repair will be far less painful than the alternative.

Roof airs will do very well, but the problem is your coach was not set up for them so by the time you modify your roof and ceiling, re-run the electric cables, set up thermostats, etc. you will have the same as a repaired Cruiseair with a lot of extra work. If you insist at least go to a RV dealer that is honest and will tell you the time and effort required to run new wires, cut holes in your roof and ceiling and have the job look like it wasn’t done by a blacksmith.

Jack Finch and I have had extremely good results from our Cruiseairs and the key is good cooling of the condenser and the proper charge.