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Prevost OTR vs Others
OTR became a highjacked topic on my window blind thread, so I thought I would start a new one.
The reason I’m posting this is for
the benefit of owners or potential owners that are not familiar with
the various A/C options among the Converters. I’m on my 5thPrevost and want to share a few experiences based on ownership and
use. Good natured harassment from the CC boys is expected!:)
1997 Marathon XL 40′ – Dash Air
& CruiesairsDash air had to be supplemented with
the Cruiseairs in hot conditions. I could run two Cruiseairs off the
Inverters while driving, but the downside was the Cruiesairs would
sometime over temp and shut down due to the hot pavement. Once the
bus was heat soaked, there was no way to keep cool.2000 Country Coach XLV 45′ – Dash
Air, CC OTR and Roof AirsDash air had to be
supplemented with the OTR in hot conditions and generally worked
well. The CC OTR had an evaporator vent in the bedroom and galley. I
had a new compressor and everything was working properly, but in
southern GA in August with 6 people on board, I had to also run the
generator with the roof airs. Roof airs while traveling worked well
and were not subject to shutting down like the Cruiseairs.1994 Liberty XL 40′ – Dash Air &
CruiseairsDash air had to be
supplemented with the Cruiseairs in hot conditions. Same problem as
the Marathon, the Cruiseairs would shut down with high road heat. No
A/C off the inverters, so the generator had to run. Like the
Marathon, if it got heat soaked, it was miserable.1997 Royale XL 40′ – Dash Air
(Dual) & Roof AirsThe dash air in a
Royale has a 2nd evaporator mounted above the dash and it
did a great job. With both fans running in hot conditions, we were
comfortable, at least in the front of the bus. The rear got heat
soaked bad, so it would take a long time to cool down after
traveling. I had to use the roof airs and generator one time to
supplement the dash air.2001 Liberty XLII 45′ – OTR &
CruiseairsThis
is my 1st
Prevost OTR and I am impressed big time. Although we have only seen
85 outside temps so far, the OTR keeps the entire bus as cool as you
want from the rear closet to the drivers seat. The downside is the
driver vents are wimpy and don’t put out a lot of air. I think that
has been corrected by newer models, so this problem may only be for
the early XLII’s. It’s a massive A/C system with a volume of air that
had my better half in a blanket on an 85 degree day. Bring on the
summer heat! I then found the passenger fan speed control and dialed
it down a tad, mama was then happier.So
there you have it, let the comments begin and share your own
experiences for the benefit of newbee’s or even oldbee’s.. -
11 Replies
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Tom,
Great post! As for my CC, CC OTR air with dash air has worked for us. My compressor and condenser are not original. I suppose the replacement units MAY out perform the original but I can’t comment on the original parts as they were replaced prior to my purchase.
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My 1991 Hoffman H3-40 has the Prevost OTR and when it is charged works great. I had it charged last summer but it has already leaked down enough to get the low pressure lights. I need to get the leaks fixed this spring and recharge.
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Jon, my point always was that cruise airs may disappear as more new coachs are being built with 3 and 4 slides. With Millenium and Liberty being the two remaining converters both using roof airs. I agree that when moving, nothing will cool a bus faster and colder than Prevo OTR, all be it, a bit of an overkill. Our CC OTR works fine throughout the entire coach when moving(at least at 105-110 outside temps), though in real hot weather, we will turn on the generator and roofs 30min. before stopping for the night. My big objection to cruise airs is the cost and hassle of maintainance in an older(8-15yrs) coach along with the lost storage space. P.S. the guy with the Liberty’s complaint was not with the OTR, but that when parked in hot weather, the cruise airs could not keep his bedroom cool. It was a 3 slide coach.
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Great post Truk…nice job
AL
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1998 Vantare’ H345
OTR with driver’s air. (Caveat: Driver’s air uses the main, engine driven OTR compressor so why bother?)
1central unit
2 Cruisairs (mounted underneath, in the front.)
I like this set up. Cool as a cucumber going down the road. When it is moderately warm and parked, the central unit is more than sufficient. When it gets exremely hot, the Auxilaries can be brought on line.
The Auxilary (maybe only 1) can be run off the inverters. This is good when travelling and you need to cool the bedroom while boondocking. Close the slidiing door and run the aux for the rear of the coach. I doesn’t need to be set to a very low temp if we use the ceiling fan.
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Ditto what Tom said about OTR. Every one of my coaches had it, and unlike his I have never lacked for air flow from the dash. We switched coaches for a few miles and we both agree something is not right with his air flow. But other than that OTR is wonderful.
But Corey is zeroing in on some realities. First I think but don’t know that some converters avoid selling OTR coaches because it is expensive, but also because it has to be diucted properly to flow enough air to perform well, but also to balance the flows so the entire coach is uniform in temperature. Sounds easy, but it is not, even when there are no slides.
Two slides therefore present a challenge when OTR is used. Three or four slides eliminate it as an option.
I do not know why an owner was unsuccessful at cooling a bedroom with Cruiseaires. I had two Cruise airs working in my coach at the FMCA in Indy last year and Tom was crying like a baby because it was too cold. The only time I have ever had to run all my available Cruise airs was when the coach was heat soaked. Other than that I would usually run two, on rare occasions three.
You can screw up Cruise airs if you park in tall grass and then lower the coach because you restrict air flow. You can also make them not work by parking on a pad that has been in the sun in hot temps. Until the pad cools in the shade of the bus the condenser is not getting cooling air. Wet it down to cool it to ambient, and not the excessive temps and the Cruise airs work fine. Other than that I have no idea what the problem was unless the unit was bad.
One coach was 17 years old when I replaced one of the three condensing units, the second coach was 16 years old and all 4 units were original when I sold it. Current coach is now 7 years old and one condensing unit was replaced when I bought it out of 4. That’s pretty cheap repair costs.
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Thanks for this post, it really helps to understand the differences.
Is Liberty the only one that uses the prevost OTR.
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For anyone looking at older coaches with Prevost OTR Air you need to realize it may very expensive to keep your cool. Older freon is getting harder to find and is very expensive. It’s my understanding that upgrading to the newer refrigerant with Prevost Air is a major upgrade costing $6K+. I don’t know this first hand so maybe someone can jump in that has went through the upgrade.
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There are now few conversion owners of OTR coaches that use R-12. However R-12 is still available, with some shopping guys have been buying it at reasonable prices. Having said that some have switched to 134A, have not changed hoses, have only replaced the oil with the type compatible with 134A and for the most part have been happy.
I don’t know the exact year of the switch, but guessing mid nineties and after all have been built with 134A
To make the switch from an A-12 to 134A properly the coach should have new hoses, a new expansion valve, dryer, and as long as going to that extent, service the compressor. Usually when our OTR systems are losing refrigerant it is because the compressor seal (behind the clutch) needs to be replaced. That takes a few hours and one or two hundred bucks worth of parts. The cost cited by Gil is accurate but it’s getting to be moot because the coaches originally built with R-12 OTR are getting few and far between and now seem to be falling into the hands of folks willing to abandon the OTR, often going so far as to pull it out. It is hard to justify properly maintaining coaches when their value sinks into 5 figures and the cost to maintain it to Prevost standards is the same as for a new coach or newer coach worth 10 or more times the value.
I read other forums in which owners of such coaches gag when they find out they have to spend $6000 for tires, so they jusk keep running the old cracked tires They are surely not going to repair OTR. But for those wanting to maintain the OTR or roof airs or Cruiseairs or CC OTR etc. there is a cost. The coach owner has to decide if it is worth it.
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30 lb containers of R-12 are easily found were I live and run 200 bucks.
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Fortunately mine was changed over by the previous owner. I will probably do the compressor seal this spring before the recharge.
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