I know this is an older thread but I wanted to add on because I did the same install on my 2009 27FB Ocean Breeze. I've been waiting for my original Duo Therm 15k to die on me but it just kept going. Finally over Labor Day my Wife and I were on a trip to a wedding on our last night on the trip we noticed a burning smell when the A/C came on. I turned it off and found this old thread which I saved for when I needed to replace my A/C unit.
I PM'd Pteck about a couple of things and some advice and he was very nice and helpful answering my questions so thank you Pteck for the help.
I called up Dometic customer service to make sure I got all the right parts. Well they gave me a bunch of bad information including telling me to order the wrong A/C unit and told me I could use my old ADB and thermostat. What a surprise when the wrong Blizzard unit came and I quickly figured out it wasn't the right one because it didn't have the phone cord connectors for the thermostat. I called Dometic back up and was told by another customer service rep that all the info I had been given was wrong, lol. Thankfully I ordered my off Amazon and I was able to return the wrong unit for the right one within two days.
Here is a list of things I ordered.
Dometic Blizzard NXT 15k Heat pump H551816A
Dometic Drain Cup kit- 3107688.016
Dometic CCC2 Thermostat 3314082.011
Micro-Air Easy Start 364 soft starter
I started by taking off the old air box and seeing how dirty everything was and where the burning smell was coming from. As you can see this is factory wiring and there was a load big enough on this to melt the connector caps. I'm just surprised this didn't throw a breaker or burn a fuse out.
The hardest part was getting all the sealant from the factory off. I used a box cutter, an old pocket knife, a razor blade in a holder, and a brick trowel for getting the old drip pan off.
After getting all the old sealant off which I used go be gone caulk sealant and sprayed it down several times letting it sit 15 min or so before going back with the razor blade and rags. I installed the drain cups, which you can see will line up with two raised holes on the bottom of the A/C unit. I used a drill to cut through the seal that came with it along with an exacto knife. I wish Dometic would have included an extra 6 inches of tube with the kit, which if you got to a hardware store it would be very easy to get a match for about $2-3 bucks. The tube that came with the kit was just a bit short so I had to go get another foot of tubing and a 90 deg bend fitting to connect it to the old drain tube.
Before I put the new unit I used foil tape to seal up around the opening so the airflow wouldn't be going into the insulation. Why this wasn't done from the factory I don't know. It would have taken an extra 5-10 minutes and helping out the efficiency of the A/C unit. I also zip tied the excess wiring and used some double sided tape to keep the wiring out of the way.
I got the new unit up onto the roof using my 9 ft Gorilla ladder and my friends same ladder with two 2x4 halfway up to place the A/C unit in the box then with help we lifted it up onto the roof and then took it out of the box and placed it over the hole. After lining it up from below with my friends help moving it where it needed to go from the roof I tightened it down.
After that I put on the ADB, which I am not a fan of. Like Pteck said it sends most of the airflow towards the back. A fan helps get the air to the front and will help with keeping the bedroom cool. I can confirm the older duo therm ADB will NOT work with the Blizzard. Neither will the old thermostat. By the way Micro Air has a wifi enabled thermostat that looks nice, but I didn't feel like spending the extra $$ to get it.
After I installed it and checked to see everything worked I installed the Micro Air 364 Easy Start. It was super easy and I spent more time reading and triple checking the instructions before cutting wires. Afterwards I did the 5 starts and stops to have it learn the A/C. I then took my Honda 2200 generator and put it on eco and turned on the A/C. It barely reved up and had no issues running it. A week later I went on a trip to see our Son at his college and spent the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot with the Honda running the Heat Pump. It had no issues through the night keeping up with it.
After a long weekend using the A/C and Heat Pump I will say this unit does move a lot more air than the OEM duo therm unit. It doesn't get as much air to the bedroom as before but that's because of the ADB design. A fan will help a lot with it. It heats up or cools down the inside faster than the old one.
Noise level it is about the same as inside, but with the easy start I can barely hear the compressor or heat pump start up. Before the clunk of the compressor would wake me up often with my old unit and I full timed for about 5 years in it. Wish I would have gotten the easy start years ago. Noise outside is night and day difference. Before you could hear the unit from the next site over but this on you can barely hear it if you're at the front of Airstream.
Overall I'm very glad I went with this unit. It is a little higher profile than the last one but looks very good on it and I didn't notice any difference with MPG towing 16 hours this weekend. I hand calculate and keep a record of every fuel fill up too.
Hope this helps anyone else looking to do the same. Almost every local place refused to work on an airstream and the one place that gave me a quote wanted to charge me about
1500 more than it cost me in parts so I passed and did it myself.
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