Lucy Needs a New Air Conditioner.

[moosetags]

Lucy has gotten a brand new air conditioner.

We decided to go with the same unit as Lucy's OEM air conditioner. We got a brand Dometic Penguin II 15k btu ac/heat pump. We had it installed by a local mobile RV tech. He did an excellent job. We also ordered the ac unit through him. It took him about four hours to complete the job.

When Lucy's old unit was taken down, we found the condenser had blown apart and the fan motor had seized. The RV tech was about to reinstall the Micro-Air soft start unit when he found that this unit had also failed. He opened the Micro-Air box and found it full of white powder. He installed the new AC unit without the soft start. He has ordered Lucy a new Micro-Air unit and will come back and install it in the next couple of weeks. SuEllyn installed Lucy's original Micro-Air unit in April of 2017.

The RV tech told us that the failure of the condenser and fan motor may have caused the failure of the soft start unit.

Lucy is a 2015 Flying Cloud 25FB. We got her new in October of 2014. We have camped in her for almost 800 nights and have towed her 76,000 miles. When not out on the road, Lucy resides in the alley behind our house where she is on shore power at all times. Her ac or heat pump unit is on at all times along with her refrigerator.

We feel that we did pretty good with Lucy's OEM ac unit lasting almost eight years. We plan to test Lucy's new ac unit for a week or two before heading back out on the road.

Brian

[WellSaid11]

Lasting for eight years with basically being "on" in some form most of the time is pretty incredible.

[Bcc75]

Originally Posted by WellSaid11

Lasting for eight years with basically being "on" in some form most of the time is pretty incredible.

Agreed.

[Hans627]

Originally Posted by WellSaid11

Lasting for eight years with basically being "on" in some form most of the time is pretty incredible.

Also agree! Hopefully the replacement is as robust.

[Nelson428]

Brian,

Check with Micro-Air I think they offer some type life-time warranty unless I’m mistaken.

8 years is super great I have cycled through 4 it the same amount of time with about the sane usage and storage procedures.

[switz]

We never could get the two stock Dometic A/C units to operate at the same time with the stock Dometic thermostat in our 2014 Classic. We tried all kinds of tricks to no avail. After we installed the MicroAir thermostat, the problem disappeared. We also installed the MicroAir soft starts. The thump was gone when starting the units.

We upgraded to two 15K Coleman A/C units. Since they use different wiring, we also replaced the MicroAir tstat with the compatible model and installed new soft starts with Bluetooth capability. I was able to update the tstat and soft starts firmware very easily.

The Coleman units are much quieter and move more cooling air. The Colemans are several inches shorter so we have a button a couple of inches from either end to hide the screw holes of the Dometic.

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Nelson428

Brian,

Check with Micro-Air I think they offer some type life-time warranty unless I’m mistaken.

8 years is super great I have cycled through 4 it the same amount of time with about the sane usage and storage procedures.

Unfortunately, the Micro-air Soft Start warranty is 2 years. We purchased and installed our unit in April of 2017.

Brian

[Nelson428]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Unfortunately, the Micro-air Soft Start warranty is 2 years. We purchased and installed our unit in April of 2017.



Brian

Got ya. Glad you got your new a/c and have it installed. You definitely can not camp down south w/o a/c. Keep safe as y’all restart your trip and enjoy the adventure.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by switz

We never could get the two stock Dometic A/C units to operate at the same time with the stock Dometic thermostat in our 2014 Classic. We tried all kinds of tricks to no avail. After we installed the MicroAir thermostat, the problem disappeared. We also installed the MicroAir soft starts. The thump was gone when starting the units.

We upgraded to two 15K Coleman A/C units. Since they use different wiring, we also replaced the MicroAir tstat with the compatible model and installed new soft starts with Bluetooth capability. I was able to update the tstat and soft starts firmware very easily.

The Coleman units are much quieter and move more cooling air. The Colemans are several inches shorter so we have a button a couple of inches from either end to hide the screw holes of the Dometic.

When you say the Coleman unit's are "much quieter", do you have ducted air in your AS?

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Lucy has gotten a brand new air conditioner.

We decided to go with the same unit as Lucy's OEM air conditioner. We got a brand Dometic Penguin II 15k btu ac/heat pump. We had it installed by a local mobile RV tech. He did an excellent job. We also ordered the ac unit through him. It took him about four hours to complete the job.

When Lucy's old unit was taken down, we found the condenser had blown apart and the fan motor had seized. The RV tech was about to reinstall the Micro-Air soft start unit when he found that this unit had also failed. He opened the Micro-Air box and found it full of white powder. He installed the new AC unit without the soft start. He has ordered Lucy a new Micro-Air unit and will come back and install it in the next couple of weeks. SuEllyn installed Lucy's original Micro-Air unit in April of 2017.

The RV tech told us that the failure of the condenser and fan motor may have caused the failure of the soft start unit.

Lucy is a 2015 Flying Cloud 25FB. We got her new in October of 2014. We have camped in her for almost 800 nights and have towed her 76,000 miles. When not out on the road, Lucy resides in the alley behind our house where she is on shore power at all times. Her ac or heat pump unit is on at all times along with her refrigerator.

We feel that we did pretty good with Lucy's OEM ac unit lasting almost eight years. We plan to test Lucy's new ac unit for a week or two before heading back out on the road.

Brian

Thanks for that, Brian. I found an AS service group in Round Rock area here in TX, that will do mine in the fall when we return from WY area...

What did you pay for your units and who did you order from?

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Thanks for that, Brian. I found an AS service group in Round Rock area here in TX, that will do mine in the fall when we return from WY area...

What did you pay for your units and who did you order from?

Lucy has a single unit. The unit we purchased is a Dometic Penguin II 15k btu with the heat pump function. It is model number 651816HXX1C0-01. We bought the unit through the RV tech and the cost for the unit was $1,961,64. The price for the unit is about the same that I was quoted by Camping World.

Brian

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Lucy has a single unit. The unit we purchased is a Dometic Penguin II 15k btu with the heat pump function. It is model number 651816HXX1C0-01. We bought the unit through the RV tech and the cost for the unit was $1,961,64. The price for the unit is about the same that I was quoted by Camping World.

Brian

Thanks for that. Your 2015 has ducted AC, correct? What was the installation price if you can share? (total $$ installed) And is it quieter than original or same?

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Thanks for that. Your 2015 has ducted AC, correct? What was the installation price if you can share? (total $$ installed) And is it quieter than original or same?

Yes, Lucy is a 2015 which is the first year of the ducted a/c. She was produced early in the year and came with the plain screen a/c registers. Airstream replaced them with the louvered adjustable ones early on. I'm thinking about putting a couple of the OEM registers back in to see if it improves air flow.

The sound of the a/c running inside seems about the same as it was before. The total labor for the removal and install was $625.00. The mobile RV tech's labor rate was $125/hour. This is about the same as RV dealers and he came to Lucy, and I could watch the whole process.

Brian

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Yes, Lucy is a 2015 which is the first year of the ducted a/c. She was produced early in the year and came with the plain screen a/c registers. Airstream replaced them with the louvered adjustable ones early on. I'm thinking about putting a couple of the OEM registers back in to see if it improves air flow.

The sound of the a/c running inside seems about the same as it was before. The total labor for the removal and install was $625.00. The mobile RV tech's labor rate was $125/hour. This is about the same as RV dealers and he came to Lucy, and I could watch the whole process.

Brian

Thanks again, Brian. Lots to consider here...

[moosetags]

Lucy's new air conditioning unit has now been installed and operating for almost two weeks. The temperatures here in the Florida Panhandle have been in the low 90's most days. We have also had several severe Florida thunderstorms during this period.

Lucy is plugged into a dedicated 30amp outlet at our house. The new a/c unit has been running pretty consistently with the thermostat set at 80 degrees. The new unit has maintained the temperature setting. There have not been any leaks detected from the rainstorms. So far, so good.

Brian

[Nelson428]

Great news. Are you now gonna resume your trip where you stoped? I’m gonna be home a few more weeks my father (91) is having surgery so I’m gonna see how that progresses before hitting the road. Y’all keep safe on the road and keep cool [emoji4].

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Nelson428

Great news. Are you now gonna resume your trip where you stoped? I’m gonna be home a few more weeks my father (91) is having surgery so I’m gonna see how that progresses before hitting the road. Y’all keep safe on the road and keep cool [emoji4].

Actually, we are thinking about a different trip now. We think that we may head up to Laurel, Mississippi. We have a son who is active duty Army in Laurel. We will also see the restored houses in Laurel. We then think we will head down to Biloxi/Gulport and tour the coast for a week or two.

Brian

[Nelson428]

Nice trip. I attention church in downtown Laurel, First United Methodist. You will love the history. I remembered you stayed at Big 10 about 3 years ago. It closed a few years ago due to tornado damage but has since reopened. Paul B Johnson park is close to camp Shelby but you probably already know that. Enjoy the Pine Belt and the Gulf Coast not Pensacola but still fun.

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Nelson428

Nice trip. I attention church in downtown Laurel, First United Methodist. You will love the history. I remembered you stayed at Big 10 about 3 years ago. It closed a few years ago due to tornado damage but has since reopened. Paul B Johnson park is close to camp Shelby but you probably already know that. Enjoy the Pine Belt and the Gulf Coast not Pensacola but still fun.

We were thinking about staying at Sleepy Hollow RV park right in Laurel. The ratings look pretty good. Our son is active duty Army at the reserve center in Laurel. He just transferred there a several months ago, and we have not been there yet. He is only about 3 1/2 hours from here, so he has been coming to the beach on weekends.

We had already planned to make an Airstream stop in Laurel to see the restored houses from the HGTV Show Home Town.

Brian

[Hittenstiehl]

If ever I was influenced by a TV show Erin and Ben Napier have made me want to visit Laurel Mississippi. Despite the shows scripting they come across very genuine and caring about their hometown. They are also Airstream owners as their friends, the Stapletons, gifted them a 70ish model for fun family getaways.