-
Roof Air
Anyone with experience adding roof air unit? Cruisairs getting old and tired. Thanks. Mike
-
6 Replies
-
The coaches that are converted from motorhome or entertainer shells have the number and placement of roof ACs determined by the converter and cut by the converter. Conversions of seated coaches by the owners may be cut anywhere or may use the hatch opening, modified as needed. Keep in mind that Bob Glines is using mini-splits with good success so that may also be an option. He may chime in here to help.
I do know from experience with our coach that on a hot day 2 AC units are not going to keep the coach cool and for a no slide 40 footer at least three should be on the coach. A 45 footer with 3 units may be borderline so in that case 4 should be considered. It is not unusual to see 5 on an entertainer coach which may be overkill, but in the event of a failure of one unit the coach can be comfortable with the remaining 4.
-
I did use roof hatches several conversions ago. It works! That said I have gone away from roof warts. They are expensive and prove to be very power hungry . Layering of cool air and heat is also a problem with these systems. At least to me. Does your over the road air still work? If so keep it. Do realize in a coach of your age it is very expensive to maintain once it fails in the several thousand dollar range. I do not try once it fails . So I design my Ac load large enough to maintain the coach needs traveling.Note# about 30% large than when parked because of loss to moving air and small vacum leaks. Present In my 45 XLE I am useing two 9000btu minni-split and a 12000 minni split Inverter ac/heat units. The total power load for the three is 19.5 amps which is less than start up load of one roof air and only 4 amps more than running load of 1 roof air. These provide heat (tested by me )down into the teens. My total hvac cost $1450. I think that will be much less than three roof tops and a furnace or aqua hot. But you must run gen set when not attached to the grid or inverter.(2400 watts) to run minni -split .I know that is no extra/a 4000 would do a nice job. Just my way. Bob
-
i was thinking of keeping the factory air system in the bus. mine is no good.but i have one that i can get for a resonable price. but i may just remove the whole lot to save on weight and power. (the ac compressor robs quite a lot when driveing). i was looking at a thermal king unit but have not seen a price yet. i am also considering a maxx air turbo vent kit just to circulate some air. where i go here in canada does not get as hot as long as some of you in the us of a.
i also have a chance to buy 2 coleman doutherm a/c units for 5000 dollars. but i am unsure of how to install them and about the weight on the roof. i am trying to keep away from being pluged into shore power since i have none at my vacation lot or most places i go fishing and hunting.
luv all the input and hope i can make up my mind which way i will go.
petar
-
Fix or replace cruise airs. By the time you re-invent the wheel w/ducting and thermostat and wiring you’ll be cheaper off and still have the benefits of the cruise airs. Geo.
-
100% in agreement with George.
-
Mike,
Give Fred a call at AAP in Virginia. He is the expert in rebuilding cruisair units. I stopped by his place to recharge my units. Excellent experience.
Log in to reply.