air conditioner- how big and which brand?

[gparker]

Just bought a 31 foot 1979 Sovereign that has not been used in 15 years, and I'm going through the systems seing what works and what does not. I figure the AC is not going to work, and if it does I will be worried about reliability, so... in this part of the country (south Louisiana--HOT), how many BTUs do I need and who makes the best unit? Don't know about my funace either, so would it be wise to get an AC/heater combo?

Thanks,
Greg

[gparker]

Thats a 1970, not 1979. Sorry

[Happycampers]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Aluminum.. Hello Greg.. About the A/C .. if you get a new one save your money on the heat strip.. not worth it.. we put a new a/c on our previous Argosy last fall and had the heat strip put in also.. not worth it for the heat that comes out.. stay with the furnace.. Annie

[davidz71]

Don't be too quick to pull out that AC. If it is the original Armstrong BayBreeze, it was built to commercial standards and they are tough as nails. The original on my '77 Excella 500 would run you out of the trailer it was so cold. The only thing I had to do was replace the 125 A.C. to 24 v. D.C. transformer to send the signal to the thermostat and I found it at a local elec. supply house. Fan motors, if found to be bad, can be ordered from Graingers or local supply houses. RV places will be quick to sell you a new Coleman, Dometic/DuoTherm Pinguin or Carrier rather than spend any time checking the unit out. Too bad because the Armstrong is a good unit no matter how old it is.

[gparker]

Hi guys,

It is not the original. Don't know a model number, but on the shroud it says Dometic Spiral, Whirlwind, or something like that. Can't tell for sure because I am not home right now. The fan works, and if I am powered up with a generator that is supposed to supply 30 amps, the AC actually puts out cool air-- for a while. After a few minutes it quit-- but not for good. I powered it up again an hour later and it worked. I shut everything off until I figure out what's going on.
How much can one spend on troubleshooting and parts? I figured it would be cheaper to get a new one. am I right?

[john hd]

your generator may not be up to the task of running the ac.

try it on a 30 amp circuit and see what happens!

john

[Tarheel]

If you don't care about the drip pan then use the "brisk air heat pump" it will not fit the drip pan. If you want to use the drip pan then use the "Penguin". Don't waste money on the heat strip. Camping world can install either, both are dometic. The Penguin heat pump can only be bought through an Airstream dealer, at least that was the case August of 2005 when I had two installed.