new air conditioner

[lucca53]

Hi everyone can you help me decide which I should chose for my 73 exella I have removed the old unit that went well.Now I can't decide the Carrier or the Duo therm both 15,000 plus heat I am sure someone has done this before me and any input would be helpful from all thanks for now.

[Melody Ranch]

I really don't see a difference. I prefer the Carrier because of the no drip pan option....just hook up a drip line with the supplied attachment. Carrier is still available if you search around.. The low profile unit is the way to go also. I have found that the heat strip is a waste of time and money. A small electric heater is much better....cheap, safe and functional.

[markdoane]

There was a rumor about a month ago that Carrier was getting out of the RV A/C business.

You might not want to buy an orphan unless you are good at scrounging for parts a few years down the road.

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

I really don't see a difference. I prefer the Carrier because of the no drip pan option....just hook up a drip line with the supplied attachment. Carrier is still available if you search around.. The low profile unit is the way to go also. I have found that the heat strip is a waste of time and money. A small electric heater is much better....cheap, safe and functional.

Good advice.

[azflycaster]

I installed a carrier on my and could not be more pleased with it. I do disagree about the heat strip option. We have used the heat strip several times and it kept the trailer nice and toasty inside. With outside temperatures near freezing, it was mid 70s inside.

[blickcd]

I installed a Carrier heat pump on mine and have been pleased with it. Unlike the heat strip that is just on or off, the heat pump will regulate heating just as it does for cooling. When the outside temps get real low, electric heating kicks in as opposed to the unit constantly defrosting itself.

Mine is the high profile model. Melody Ranch mentioned a kit to connect to the original drain tube but I didn't think such a thing was offered with my unit. If so, that would be great. Melody Ranch can you give me some more details? I'm attaching a photo of my unit, which might be a newer model that doesn't have that drain connection feature.

Christopher

[utee94]

I don't think the Carrier high-profile has any drain issues at all. From what I recall from an InlandAndy post about it, the Carrier high-profile unit takes the condensed water and actually slings it across the cooling coils to help it operate, or something like that.

My Carrier low-profile DOES have the option to tie it into an existing drain line, which my Airstream did not have, so the condensation runs down the outside of the trailer.

I think the heat strips work okay as well. The air coming out doesn't FEEL hot, but in a few nights of near-freezing weather that I've used it, the trailer stayed fairly comfortable in the upper 60s, which is where I leave my house heater anyway. But I don't think the heat strips would be particularly effective once temps get below freezing. We have s small space heater we can use for that purpose anyway.

Overall I really like my Carrier AirV 15KBTU low-profile, but I don't have any experience with other brands so can't comment on them. I, too, have heard that Carrier might be getting out of the RV A/C business, so that MIGHT be a consideration, although most people say that once one of these modern RV A/C units goes bad, there's not much you can do to repair them and they're pretty much throwaway.

[lucca53]

HI you said that your carrier is not connected to the drain hose so is there lots of water runoff down the side of your airstream thankyou

[JSTOTT]

Originally Posted by lucca53

HI you said that your carrier is not connected to the drain hose so is there lots of water runoff down the side of your airstream thankyou

I recently installed the carrier low profile model w/heat strip. In 95 degree weather and a humid day it dripped down the side of the camper. It wasn't terrible but after running for a couple of hours left a small 1'x1' puddle on the concrete. I had every opportunity to install a drip line but forgot while I had the tin can opened up. I wish I did install one. This unit came with a small plastic piece that could be screwed into the top part of the unit for the drip line.
Russ

[SailorGal]

I installed a Carrier Heat Pump unit on my 40' park model last year and love it! Was planning on putting one in my airstream next year, but after reading the post about the rumors of them going out of the r\v business, will get it this year. I will get the low profile unit. As for a drip line, I keep a pot of flowers where the run off is! Works great.

Lynne

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

I really don't see a difference. I prefer the Carrier because of the no drip pan option....just hook up a drip line with the supplied attachment. Carrier is still available if you search around.. The low profile unit is the way to go also. I have found that the heat strip is a waste of time and money. A small electric heater is much better....cheap, safe and functional.

You really don't need to use a drip with a Dometic Duotherm roof A/C unit. They make a 'drip kit' part #3107668.016 that I use on a regular basis on the large MoHos that I work on when I change out a bad roof A/C that as internal drip lines (as most do).

This drip kit consists of 2 cups that screw into the base pan of the A/C where the drains are. They each have a drain fitting which connects to the supplied tubing, which in turn connects to the internal drain hose of the coach. An additional 14 X 14 gasket is included to raise the height so the cups will clear the roof.

I have never had one of these kits leak.

Just another alternative............