Taking the AC off the '74 Argy 26

[Chopper]

I'm thinking of taking the AC off the roof and installing an internal one. Has anyone else done this on their Argy?

Cheers!

[bobchevy89]

Hi Chopper, what is wrong with the roof A/C ?You will have a hole that might not be able to seal and you'll have to cut a hole some where else and might not have the structuale strengh to hold up a internal one...
Bob

[Chopper]

I know that the AC is part of the look, but I am so used to seeing my current 17' Boler with the smooth roof and all, that I keep imagining my Argy with the same flat top. I don't know if anyone has done it, but was just floating this thread out there. I guess if I take too much off, the Argy will end up looking like an extra-strength Tylenol!

Cheers!

[Darol Ingalls]

The AC unit is mounted on a framed opening the same size as the other roof vents. If you remove the AC, you could install a Fantastic Fan for considerably less cost and effort than another type of AC. (Where would you mount it, vent it, power it . . . etc.?) Besides, do you really need an AC in Alberta? Darol

[Chopper]

Wow, thanks for the fantastic fan advice Darol! Yeah, our Boler has no AC and we do fine. The in-laws on the otherhand have a Triple-E Empress (38' or so) and have every convenience (we call it the rolling apartment). But admittedly, when we're in the bush, we tend to mosey over there, but then again, TV and microwave oven off a generator in the wilds? Feels like those travellers in the movies having tea on linens in Africa...That's great news about the common roof vent size though.

[CanoeStream]

Hi Chopper -- There is all sorts of valuable info in the Forum archives. But the best feature is the 'live' nature of input here. Enjoy! Does your current A/C even work? (try only on 30A electric circuit!) Some folks will hang a window A/C after they arrive at a campground.

The family affordable Argosy line actually had air conditioners as an option -- it's right there on Chart B in the 'Loading' chapter (page 23) in my 1974's manual. We'll occasionally see an Argosy here that never had one. That becomes much more common with Minuets. I sorely miss a now defunct Argosy photo website that had great pics of multiple examples of every possible year and length Argosy. Leave the original wiring and condensation drain in place and I don't think your value will suffer if your '76 is later sold. Any new owner can make the choice to install a reliable new A/C.

Being a northerner has its benefits (hard to say what that is with 50 degree F weather today and a road-dirty Airstream needing a bath in my driveway!). Today is the one year anniversary of owning our Safari and I haven't yet turned on the A/C because of heat -- I did use it once to muffle dogs we left behind to do a bike trail. I would have had to use it several other times except for the perfect positioning of a shade tree in unscouted state park sites. Your Boler experience will tell you what you need in air conditioning. With a simple 2" of fiberglass insulation, an Airstream or Argosy can heat up severely out in the open on a hot summer day.

[Chopper]

I couldn't hook up the power today to test the AC. I'll take it down then test it in case it works and someone wants it. But you're right, in our Boler we didn't miss AC. With our cold northern winters (eight months of winter and four months of bad skating) we enjoy as much of the heat as the summers can offer!

Cheers!