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Old 02-12-2017, 12:27 PM   #1
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EasyStart 366 in a Dometic 6815xxx

After all of the discussion in some other threads, I bought the Micro-Air EasyStart 366 and installed it today. I have a 2012 25FB with the Dometic 6815 series(low-profile) 15,000 btu heat pump.
I have attached 3 pictures. The first picture is the A/C electric box, cover removed. The second picture is the 366 board mounted to the electric box cover. The third picture is the connections made to the board and the cover ready to reinstall.
The installation initially appeared to be simple. Micro-Air provided good instructions and drawings. With the 366, I had to make-up my own wires and buy a new starting capacitor. I had to cut and splice a couple of wires, put spade connectors on wires, trace some wires and connect to the board or the new capacitor. All of that took about an hour.
Now for the difficult part! I tried to reinstall the cover(with the board attached) and it would not fit. The run capacitor was in the way.
In the first pic you can see the run capacitor mounted vertically and the start capacitor mounted horizontally underneath it. After much head scratching, I remounted the start capacitor vertically to the left of the run capacitor and pushed the run capacitor down to the bottom of the box. That provided enough room for me to close the cover.
You would never be able to fit the EasyStart 364 in its own enclosure into this electric box. If you bought the 364, you might be able to mount it in the fan compartment, but you would need to drill out a hole large enough for a grommet to pass the wires through to the electrical box. It took me another 2 hours to get everything to fit, secure it all, and fire it up.
On the plus, plus side the EasyStart is amazing! No more earth-shaking kathunk when the heat pump starts up! I did not test with my generator but Matteo's testing shows I should be OK with my 2K Yamaha.
Larry
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Old 02-12-2017, 04:53 PM   #2
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Wow, tight fit. Will have to double-check our heat pump model # and available space within our unit before ordering one of these devices. Would love it if Micro-Air were to publish a YouTube video showing how to install either the 366 or the 364 into a low-profile Dometic unit like the ones on all modern Airstreams (e.g. your unit).

I noticed that the way you mounted the 366 board on the casing causes it to bridge over that bend, increasing the amount of physical space required by the board within the box. What were your thoughts about mounting the 366 to the flat part of the lid? Did that approach leave even less room?

Also, thanks so much for sharing your experience!
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Old 02-12-2017, 05:09 PM   #3
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There is even less room behind the flat part, unfortunately. Dometic did not waste any space.

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Old 02-12-2017, 05:44 PM   #4
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Good to know, thanks. I figured you had tried it out, but wanted to ask.
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Old 02-13-2017, 05:52 AM   #5
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I am very glad to hear it reduced the noisy "clunk".
I'm not so happy to hear about your struggles with finding space. I ordered the 364, but am waiting for warmer weather to do the install. I'm hoping for easy, but how often does that happen?
Thanks for posting.
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Old 02-13-2017, 05:58 AM   #6
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Post where you end up mounting the 364 if you have the same low-profile heat pump.

Larry
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Old 02-13-2017, 07:30 AM   #7
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Thanks for the report. I'm likely going to do this in the spring.
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Old 02-13-2017, 09:32 AM   #8
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Let us know how your Yamaha generator works with the unit.
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Old 02-13-2017, 09:42 AM   #9
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I won't be doing any boondocking until June; the generator will stay at home until then. But, I will try to remember to report after that trip.
Larry
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Old 02-13-2017, 10:22 AM   #10
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Micro-air makes two versions of the 364. In the case of the low profile Penguin II unit, I believe you will want the IP65 364. It is in a beige watertight case and can be located in a more open area. Matteo should probably chime in here. I'm not sure this new model is available in larger quantities or available at all right now. He did send me this unit for my Penguin II low profile unit for my 2017 AS. I have not installed yet, but will be documenting it here with lots of pictures and help from Matteo.
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Old 02-13-2017, 10:30 AM   #11
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As I said, you could probably mount the 364 in the adjacent fan enclosure and route the wires through a new cutout to the electric box. It might be too tight to get 4 more wires through the existing cutout.

Larry
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Old 02-13-2017, 10:36 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lsbrodsky View Post
As I said, you could probably mount the 364 in the adjacent fan enclosure and route the wires through a new cutout to the electric box. It might be too tight to get 4 more wires through the existing cutout.

Larry
Matteo warned me just not to mount anywhere where heat would blow on the unit (364).
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:09 AM   #13
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Can any of you please give me the link to Matteo's recent post about the discount program they have going on now? I skimmed through it the other day but I can't seem to find it now.
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:12 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Bluto View Post
Can any of you please give me the link to Matteo's recent post about the discount program they have going on now? I skimmed through it the other day but I can't seem to find it now.
I think it got removed by mods as an advertisement. Memory?......help me out folks....was it "Airstream" in the promo box at checkout?
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:15 AM   #15
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Quote:
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Can any of you please give me the link to Matteo's recent post about the discount program they have going on now? I skimmed through it the other day but I can't seem to find it now.
The moderator moved it over to another thread at this link.

Quote:
Originally Posted by turk123 View Post
Micro-air makes two versions of the 364. In the case of the low profile Penguin II unit, I believe you will want the IP65 364. It is in a beige watertight case and can be located in a more open area. Matteo should probably chime in here. I'm not sure this new model is available in larger quantities or available at all right now. He did send me this unit for my Penguin II low profile unit for my 2017 AS. I have not installed yet, but will be documenting it here with lots of pictures and help from Matteo.
Yes, Turk123 is correct. Presently, we are phasing out the black enclosure for the EasyStart 364 and phasing in a beige IP65 (fully weatherproof) enclosure, which will cost the same. (This is not to be confused with our EasyStart 368 model, which is also in a beige enclosure and meant for up to 6-ton compressors.) The EasyStart 364 in the black enclosure is slightly smaller than the IP65 enclosure, which helps in some installation cases. However, the black enclosure is only rated for IP61, so it is not fully weatherproof.

Unfortunately, we did not have direct access to Dometic's low-profile rooftop units as we did to the Coleman units, so we have been unable to directly assess all the installation requirements for all of the low-profile Dometic models. We have therefore had to rely upon feedback and photos from helpful customers like all of you.

In general, we have found that the high-profile Brisk I and Brisk II models have adequate space in a shielded area to mount the EasyStart 364 in the black enclosure. I recently had direct access to a Brisk II model and was able to confirm this.

Alternately, the low-profile Dometic Penguin I & II models have been tough to assess so far due to limited feedback. But based upon the feedback from Turk123, which will be confirmed when he actually does his installation, we believe that the EasyStart 364 might have to be mounted in a area that could potentially expose it blowing rain. In this case, we recommend that customers make a special request the EasyStart 364 in the IP65 enclosure. You can do this simply by writing "IP65" or your A/C model ("Penguin") into the order notes. Eventually, the inventory of black enclosures will be exhausted, so every EasyStart 364 will be in the beige enclosure.

Lastly, the EasyStart 366, which is just a circuit board, must be installed in an enclosure. Our experience has been that most of the electric boxes for all the Dometic units (except for the Brisk II) have adequate space for the EasyStart 366 board plus the existing run cap and the added start cap. However, we cannot be sure if there isn't a model out there that doesn't have sufficient space in the existing electric box. In such cases, customers have purchased their own, weatherproof plastic enclosures and mounted the EasyStart 366 inside of that, then mounted this enclosure where there was adequate space. We've even had customers fabricate their own sheetmetal brackets onto which to mount this added plastic enclosure. So, as you can see, the EasyStart 366, although lower in cost, can be a lot more challenging to install. Larry's is the more common case though, where the EasyStart 366 just fits into the existing electric box.
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:34 AM   #16
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AIRSTREAM all caps in the promo code box
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:36 AM   #17
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Matteo,
Thanks for the link and all the info. I have a Dometic air conditioner w/ heat pump. Rated at 15,000 btu/air. I'll probably wait to see how others have installed theirs before ordering, then try to get the right size to fit my application. It looks to me like the Easy Start 364 would work, do you agree?
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:41 AM   #18
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Quote:
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Matteo,
Thanks for the link and all the info. I have a Dometic air conditioner w/ heat pump. Rated at 15,000 btu/air. I'll probably wait to see how others have installed theirs before ordering, then try to get the right size to fit my application. It looks to me like the Easy Start 364 would work, do you agree?
I have a 366 all wired up and ready to go into a 2006 era 13.5K Penguin...but I'm not doing it til a sunny 50* day. Might be awhile, but I'll take pics.
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:41 AM   #19
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Quote:
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Matteo,
Thanks for the link and all the info. I have a Dometic air conditioner w/ heat pump. Rated at 15,000 btu/air. I'll probably wait to see how others have installed theirs before ordering, then try to get the right size to fit my application. It looks to me like the Easy Start 364 would work, do you agree?
Bluto - if yours is a Penguin, which I believe all the heat pump (reverse-cycle) units are, then yes, the EasyStart 364 or 366 will work. If you decide to order an EasyStart 364, if your unit is in fact a Penguin, then simply write "IP65" in the order notes, and we'll fulfill your order with that enclosure type at no extra charge.
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Old 02-13-2017, 11:44 AM   #20
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I would tell anyone going to install this in a recent Airstream with a low-profile A/C unit to get on the roof first, take the cover off, and scope out where you want to mount the 364 and how you are going to do it. If you are good with that, then order the 364 and do the job. My 366 fits with the modifications I mentioned, but it is a real pain and if I had to do it all over again, I would go with the 364(more cost) mounted in the fan enclosure.

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