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Need Cruisair Info
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Had compressors replaced in two of mine in 2001 H3 by local HVAC company years ago. Easy job for them. Worked great.
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Had meeting this morning with Marine AC manufacturer. They have been picking up the various voids Dometic has left since Dometic has gotten so big, and it’s becoming quite profitable for them.
They are excited about developing a replacement for the Cruisair’s. They are aware the new unit can not be any bigger and would be best if it fit the foot print of the current units (I donated my spare Cruisair unit for R&D). They are asking for pictures of installed units so their engineers can get an idea of air/breathing space current units have for their in take. They are looking to put a bigger condenser coil in if surrounding area would allow enough breathing room.
I have a Featherlite and can only offer input/pictures based on my model. Please post pictures of your Cruisair units showing space around or lack of space around them so I can provide this info to their engineers. Also the question of could the air discharge hole be enlarged on the coaches was asked. I would say yes based on my Featherlite, but need input/thoughts from others.
I mentioned Prevost Expo in Palm Beach and they are reasonably confident they would have a replacement unit to offer by then.
Keeping my fingers crossed
Chuck
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We have 4 on ours and the front one is locked up, so a new option would be great. Running new lines sounds like a PITA…
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Ok; anyone who knows me I’m a OUT OF THE BOX::: thinker. been running mini split units modified for bus install. since 2012. my new thought would to be the inverter type mini split now on market with solar assist built into the unit from factory. A seated factory coach designed with 50 passangers on board has a 96,000btu unit.Lots of human heat there to get rid of! My 45XLE runs very nice for rv use with 30,000btu. A total load of 22 amps at 120 volts or 2640Watt load. with the solar assist unit the seer valve jumps to 35. For referance a standard roof top does good to get 15seer. (higher is better) My one interior unit is mounted under cabinet. Works good.. Also these units are ac & heat.Mine has preformed well down into low teens F. I’m putting one to play with in my home. I can see using the new flex solar panels on roof of bus to cut or add heat soak depending on time of year. When solar falls short your battery bank should be able to keep up then if not genset time. Note allot of you have 20,000 watt genset. Bob
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
Robert:
Good input, most likely a viable solution, but the company I am working with does systems very similar to our Cruisair units and looking to redesign what they already have and reinvent.
Will keep everyone updated as to progress.
BDuplan:
Part of today’s meeting we discussed using the existing cooper Freon lines and trying to design a system that could use the existing wire runs, just needing to maybe replace the end connectors
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Speaking of limited space, does anyone know what’s in the space above the “spare tire” spot that’s behind the bumper? I’m hoping that spare tire spot an be expanded upward to fit a typical residential mini split condenser. Otherwise, the coil will need to be reworked at an angle.
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that is where mine is (spare tire compartment)
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Robert, any pictures of your installation?
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Good Morning Chuck,
A gentleman from Tucson who suddenly passed away very recently after a two-week prior pancreatic cancer diagnosis was experimenting with exactly the same thing.
He did add a larger coil and a TXV valve and achieved significant improvement, so it can be done.
***IF either the condenser or evaporator cabinets are changed, I believe that will be the fatal flaw as then the unit would NOT be a direct replacement.
In all Liberty coaches all the way to and including the 2016 year model will require no change in size due to exhaust ducting and chassis floor cutouts.
Liberty even in their first year with roof top airs (2016) included a single CruiseAir in some of their floor plans.
MAYBE this photo of the enlarged coils will be of value to whom you are communicating.
One other thing experimented with was moving the valve ports to allow easier access (see prototype photo)
Again, in my humble opinion, if the existing cabinet dimensions are changed in any way, many customers will be lost as too difficult and too little physical space to re-configure ducting and holes cut through the chassis floor.
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WOW. didnt know he passed. did you get any info on his units or parts as the coils. i think it looked like a good way to fix the problems.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
Jeff:
Sorry to hear of the passing. Thank you for the input. In our preliminary discussions we agreed with what you have just expressed that size matters and don’t change it.
Will forward the pictures and info to the company’s R&D department.
Chuck
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Terry… significant discussion over months, yet nothing in writing – no part numbers, etc. He did have the over-sized coils custom made. Rick was a super nice and super special person. “Super special” in terms of liking to tear things apart and improve them.
We made a trip to Arizona this past spring that included two weeks in Camp Verde, and Rick came up in his bus to meet Sandy and me. Sure had no idea that meeting would be our first and last. VERY SAD indeed.
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Chuck… GLAD TO HEAR no cabinet design changes will be done 🙂
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YES. so sad.
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YES. so sad.
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