Houghton AC unit

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by byu2beach

Good Morning,
I can't seem to add pictures but I'll try again later. My coach isn't an Airstream, but the longest and tallest Ford Diesel van. Anyway I'm familiar with replacing Dometic's as I had them on my former Class A. The Houghton uses a different type of mating seal between the AC and the roof of the coach. I used and highly recommend the machined adapter made by Hein at diyvan.com . You might want to speak with Hein to see if you should use the adapter for your application. The adapter gives you a completely flat surface. Anyway, to lift the unit onto the roof, I rented a Sumner 12 ft. lift from Home Depot 142281 then I went inside Home Depot and purchased 2 each 1 1/4 x 60" pipe to put in the ends of the lift forks. I and Joanne set the unit on the end of the now extended forks raised the lift and rolled it to the van at which point I slid it off and onto 2 blocks I had placed front and back of the hole. The blocks were made up of 2 2x4's stacked, each with a srew screwed into the front face so that I could easily pull them out 1 at a time. I lowered the back first and then went around and lowered the front.

Thanks for sharing the details. Renting a Sumner lift is a great way to safely complete this task.

[sminguy]

Just installed a new Houghton in my 2007 Airstream Classic. Could not stand the noise of the Dometic any longer and since I live in Florida and unit was original equipment thought it was time. Install was easy except now I have a problem. Assumed my original thermostat would still work. Since the Houghton has its own internal I just disconnected the original wires that went into the Dometic and capped off thinking the thermostat would still work the on board gas heat.. Now my thermostat will not work but I still need it for the gas heater. Any ideas?

[Hawk-ination]

If you have the Dometic CCC2 thermostat, what I’ve been told is the work around is to the board and the temperature sensor that was in the Dometic AC unit is removed and placed somewhere in the inner part of Houghton.

I’ve been told both ways that the Dometic thermostat has worked. I’ve also been told the wall thermostat will not work but that the remote can somehow be wired to let the Houghton remote control kick on the heater.

I am currently searching for someone who might know how to wire it up to make the existing furnace still work either way, or for instructions on how the wiring goes. I think it might not be a super complicated thing if anyone is knowledgeable of AC and wiring, but I have not found anyone who can help yet. I’m pretty sure the board is available on Amazon or through a Dometic supplier for those who might not have known and gotten rid of their old AC unit already. Others have suggested a more simple thermostat may work, although I cannot vouch for that myself. I personally would like to have the answer before attempting to mounting the AC unit.

As for the AC adapter, I ordered the adapter from Hein, but you need to have the particular measurements for where the previous hole is located on the roof. I do not have the unit out yet, so will have to provide the measurement when it is taken off. Thanks for the information though, as if I hadn’t run across that already, it would be good to know..

[rowiebowie]

My (non-Hougton) experience, for those who've not done their own ac replacement. I replaced a Coleman for a Coleman that was 6 years newer but still used the same connector plug and module.

By staying with the same brand and recent year replacement, it made replacement a simple plug & play install so I did not encounter the thermostat/heater problems that others have.

I mention this for those who might want to try their own replavement with something like the newer quiet models (Coleman NDQ comes to mind) that was likely in response to the Houghton. Not as quiet, but still a huge improvement.

My Mach 8 Plus model is not considered a low noise (Coleman had not yet come out with their NDQ) and it is not the low profile I needed. But I will say my new one is noticeably more quiet than the older Coleman it replaced. Mostly due to the fact it has an actual medium fan speed, whereas my old Coleman had only "High" & "Higher" fan speeds. The NDQ is much quieter by the reviews I've seen.

Quieter ac's are loooog overdue. My hat's off to Houghton for pushing this needed improvement.

[sminguy]

The new Houghton AC is much quieter than the old Dometic so all good there. I unfortunately disposed of the Dometic before realizing I should have perhaps kept the control board. Looks as if I can buy a new one but looking at the schematic of my Atwood gas heater I believe I can simply add a two wire Atwood thermostat (about $25.00) and it will run the heater only. At least that is where I think I am heading.

[wachuko]

Lots of good information. Thank you.

But I see it got moved to the generic Repairs and Parts forum section. This started as an Airstream Interstate specific install.

[Hawk-ination]

Yeah, disappointed to see this got moved. It really was about installing it on an Interstate. Guess I’ll have to post one more about mounting it on an Interstate or something....

[SilverHouseDreams]

I’m contemplating installing the Houghton on a 22FB, the existing PenguinII is just too loud and I would like to have the heat pump....and the lower power draw would also be nice.

I am curious how people solve for the condensation drain, none of the videos of installs on the Interstate or other class B seems to cover this piece. Where does the condensation go?