[Art]

Don:

I know a few individual owners have done it. Don’t think any companies have or will touch that.

[Don]

If i had a 05 liberty elegant lady that had to have the cruise airs replaced with roof air units. Personally it would have to be installed to look like factory installed equipment, also i would want to keep crestron control functions of the breakers as well as maybe add thermostat control functions. IMO to do it right i would pull the ceiling down and duct it then reinstall or rebuild the old celing to fit. i would also program the crestron system to have at a minimum the same functions as it currently has or add additional functions. At that point unless i was completely stuck on having that specific coach or an 05 liberty specifically It may be more cost effective to change to a different converter that used roof airs during that year range or go to a newer liberty that came factory equip.

Every person has their own opinion as well as a different way to do it.

[Mike/Lisa]

I certainly understand your desire for roof airs. Our current coach has 3 roof airs. We just finished up working in Las Vegas for 5 months. We had highs of 110-115 for several months and the interior stayed in the 70’s with only 2 A/C’s running at a time. The Cruisairs in our last coach could never have done that. The best part of the setup of these is that you have the option of using the ducted air PLUS you can open the air dump directly into the coach. You can go from quite warm to cool in just a matter of minutes. It’s noisy but dang it’s cold! Even if it was the standard interior A/C cover and controls it quiets down when the dump is closed and not at all obnoxious. We do have the A/C’s on thermostats but having controls on the ceiling of the interior housing would not be any more or less convenient.

[Mike, 92 Country Coach]

Added 3 Dometic Peguin II roof airs to our 2001 Marathon XLII a couple years ago. Did this myself and still have the Cruisairs and keep them running myself at my leisure but agree with Bill that it is hard to beat the cold from the roof units. Didn’t go as far as Josh talks about and have only down flow from each unit and like Bill says we just reach up to manage the controls. I live by KISS. Reinforcement of roof a must as is advanced planning for placement, wiring, drainage. Tapped drip lines into existing Cruisair evaporator drip lines so don’t have condensate running on the roof. Painted interior air box to match ceiling. Only extends down 2 inches. Looks nice. Does the job. Very cost effective compared to the Cruisair or anything similar. Won’t say it is a chip shot but quite doable with essentially the only cost the units themselves. When they fail, old unit will come down and new unit will go up.

My engineering training tells me that an enclosed condenser unit will always be a problem. Various solutions being tried but lots of glorious abundant air flow on the roof. One reason your home condenser unit is outside and not in your basement.

My 2 cents. Worth what is costs. Mike

[James]

Imagine sitting in 100+ degree temps and the cruisairs sucking up the even hotter air from the asphalt or concrete below the coach. Compare that to the open air above the coach. It’s sort of a no-brainer. We also had one of the roof airs fail in Vegas in August of last year. Called the local mobile repair guy, he got us a new one, removed the old one and installed it for about $3000 out the door. Good for another 10-20 years!

I understand why a cruisair would work well in a boat as you are drawing in nice cool water all the time. Just don’t think they were ever a good idea in a MH. They are quiet, I give you that, but what a pain and what an expense.

[Jeff]

Bill:

We may have been separated at birth!

I have a theory that the Cruisair condenser units could be relocated to the roof to avail themselves of air flow there – although still not as good as sea water. Been looking for the past few years for a nonfunctioning Cruisair unit to take the guts out of and reinstall those items into an existing roof A/C box to test my theory that all would fit nicely. These days flexible set lines are readily available to extend/relocate the coolant lines and if brazing the connections are a problem, there are now very good press to fit A/C line connectors. Have used them for some years now and they are very easy to use – and don’t leak. Connections to the SMX would be only a matter of running wire and so then with new set lines and wiring, the existing evaporators could be used in their existing locations. And no holes in ceiling would be necessary. If that would pan out there are a number of possibilities the most appealing of which, to me, would be a combo of new roof A/Cs and roof mounted Cruisairs. Hard to beat the blast of cold air from modern roof A/C units if that should be needed but I like the somewhat quieter Cruisair set up.

Problem I have run into is that I can’t get anybody to part with even nonfunctioning old Cruisairs. I will pay the shipping if anybody wants to contribute!

The late Rick Adams and I had numerous conversations about all this. He spent a lot of money to rejigger the condensing unit with custom made parts. If the existing components could be relocated to the roof, that should be more cost effective – much. And then, if they need to be worked on one would only need to climb onto the roof rather than slither into the belly of the bus where even if you can get to it, the unit can’t be worked on there. Ask me how I know.

This is the kind of dreaming my longsuffering wife has put up with for years.

Mike

[Art]

I sure miss Rick Adams… a good man, a smart man, a creative man and a good friend

[Chuck & Katrina]

I’m not understanding why relocating to the roof is the solution. First, the Cruisair units don’t “suck” hot air from the ground. They actually pull air through the condenser and blow the air to the ground. Now, the air in the front bumper area may be hotter than air on the roof, but at the same time, the air on the roof is exposed to the outside directly. Air on the roof seems like it would be hotter, but it’s probably not. The air in the front bumper area is probably ideal when the bus is moving, however, I don’t run the units as I have OTR. As for the other Cruisair units in the middle of the 2nd bay area, they only get air from two little 120V fans which seems like a Liberty after thought.

Let’s also mention that A/C units don’t cool air, they remove heat from air. There is a difference.

It’s strange to me that roof air’s are so efficient. They only have one motor with two sides on a single shaft. A lot of the traditional RV’s have the inlet and outlet right next to each other and yet the air coming into the RV is super cool.

I don’t know what it would be like to have roof airs in a big tin can Prevost bus compared to the Cruisiar. But 3 Cruisair units barely keep the bus at 82-83 degrees in Texas with 98 degree weather. I do think that humidity plays a role is removing heat from the air. I usually never run all 4 at the same time.

My point is, is it really the fact that the Cruisiair units are not efficient? Or it more so that the bus is just one huge tin can that heats up with all the SS wrapped around it?

Would have to have some input from folks that owned both in the same type of RV. Roof air vs Cruisiar. 4x 14K BTU and it can’t keep the bus cold?

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2000 Featherlite H3-45

2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Leesburg, FL

[Archived]

[Archived]

I have 3 roof airs (ducted with optional air dump). We spent the last 5 months in Vegas and it was HOT. Never had to run more than 2 at a time and they kept the coach nice and cool. The compressor would kick in and out with the thermostat set to 75. Usually had to run the temp setting up when we came home for lunch as it was a bit chilly.

[Mike, 92 Country Coach]

Can you explain the “air dump” plz.

[Dave]

exposed vent directly beneath the roof ac which allows the cold air to ‘dump’ directly out – without traveling through duct work. The cooling effect is immediate.

I’ve had them before, they’re great, wish my current bus had them.

In a hot bus, you typically start out dumping air directly in the cabin, then as it cools down you close the vents which forces air flow back out the duct work.

[Ed]

Got ya. Thanks

[Mike, 92 Country Coach]

My experience with both types is far more limited that others here, but I had cruisairs + rvac in a H345 and I currently have penguin rooftops in a XL. They are not even close for hot days. I hope I never have to back to cruisair & rvac.

The big complaint I have on roof airs is the noise. This seems to be specific to the single motor fan units (motor runs condensor and evap fan). I hope to install a new roof top unit soon, a TOSOT unit which is supposed to be inverter driven (for variable speed compressor) and is supposed to be a lot more quiet. If it is very quiet, I am ordering 2-3 more to get rid of all the dometics.

BTW, one of those dometics went out this summer, while staying here in TX where is was 105 nearly every day. It was not pleasant being down one unit, but we could keep mid 80’s in the salon/kitchen and low 70’s in the bedroom. On my other coach, the H3 with 2 functioning cruisairs and the rvac, I would kill for mid 80’s temp during a 105F day.