[Harry]

repair/clean all coils/evap and condenser. In extreme conditions find away to move more air over your condensers(ie box fan) Lift bus higher off ground when parked=give bus a chance to move more air underneath.Run on low after initial cool down=much more efficient(up to 15%). That’s all I got.Your older units are prob built better than the ones today

[Jon P.]

I have three of the blue Cruisairs from 1984. The bedroom unit blows cold and runs like a top since I replaced the capacitors. The galley unit blows cold, but then the compressor shuts down after a few minutes because the blower in the condensing unit is dead. The front unit has a compressor that is likely frozen. I have a nice-looking portable unit running in the front of the coach that keeps things under control until it gets above 95 or so outside, even in direct sunlight. I bought that off of Craigs List when the galley unit died at ETLC last year. New Cruisairs just aren’t in my future. Bob showed me the mini splits on his homebuilt at the Evansville gathering, but I just haven’t found an inside unit that will fit anywhere on this bus. They’re huge.

I can’t get the front unit out without removing the galley unit (both are behind the front bumper), so I’m initially going to see if I can replace the blower on the galley unit without removing the whole thing from that compartment. If I can’t, I’ll just pull both out this week and try to rebuild them. It should be a great lesson in HVAC, and save more than a few bucks. If I can’t save them, I’m just out the parts that I buy. Money spent on tools doesn’t count, and the education will be worth the cost. They don’t have all that many components, and the condensers themselves look to be in good shape. I’ll try to document the rebuilds and post something when I’m either successful or I give up.

[Archived]

Thank you all for your suggestions and input on my Cruisair issues. I guess based upon all that has been offered that I am doing everything as good as can be.

One follow up question for Jon (which is for sure a great name), you suggested that I should not hesitate to run both the OTR and Cruisair to manage my internal temps. When I purchased the coach from Liberty FL, Dave Panaro said that the front shutters must be closed for the OTR to cool effectively, BUT the front shutters must be open for the Cruisair. Is that accurate? If I am parked and want to supplement the Cruisair with the OTR what position should the front shutters be in?

I think rather than replacing the entire condenser I will just replace the compressor depending upon the condition of the coils once I have it out and on the bench.

Thank you all once again, very much appreciated.

From Southern Utah,

Jon P.

[AL]

Jon, The only reason to leave the front shutters closed when using OTR is it keeps out either hot or cold air flow into that area while driving making the heat exchanger or A/C evaporator having a greater heat or cold load to overcome.

Yes to run Cruiseairs in the front the shutters need to be open.

FWIW in my 2006 when the coach OTR is on (I always have it on 100% of the time) and heat is called for the shutters automatically close. They do not close automatically when the OTR is in A/C mode.

Just to be clear, when I suggest running OTR and Cruiseairs it is to pull down temps in a heat soaked coach, such as being gone for the day and finding the coach very warm inside the added cooling power of the OTR is going to assist in bringing temps down quickly. The neighbors in the RV park may not like to hear your bus run for a while, but that is because very few coaches or Class A RVs are equipped as our Liberty coaches are. (that comment might bring a little flak so keep your head down)

[Roscoeapproved]

Another thought about battling the high ambient temps would be the application of one of the white coatings on the roof. Some of these were developed for use on school buses where they don’t have A/C. There have been a number of posts on this site. Keeping the inside cooler will make all A/C units perform better.

Doug

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Jeff and Lindsay

91 Marathon XL