New a/c shroud!!

[Chas]

Finally got around to getting the shroud replaced on my Overlander. Got it from Inland and it is of pretty decent quality. I did have to trim it a little to get it to fit but all in all it went smoothly, much better than my door gasket debacle! I painted it at the house with some Dupont Nason acrylic auto paint so if you see any runs just keep it to yourself!! Her's a pic.

Chas

[pap]

Looks nice Chas. But why didn't you paint it Aluminum?
Was it just the wrong color before or just primed?
And for 225 bucks plus did you consider just getting another A/C

That is an old Armstrong unit isn't it?

[Chas]

Thanks pap,

Don't remind me again, I paid $265 for it, just so happens they went on sale after I bought mine, just my luck. I went with white as that is the color they originally came. I am sort of in love with the old Armstrong, it has the wall T-stat and actually has a lower profile than any others. Cools great and since I am a licensed a/c guy I can do about anything to keep it going. The only thing that concerns me is current draw, it has a dinosaur compressor and separate condenser and evaporator fan motors so I will need to keep an eye on the quality of power I get when hooking up.

Chas

[john hd]

chas

have you ever considered converting the ac to modern components and refrigerant?

would it be even possible or economical?

john

[3Ms75Argosy]

Chas,
Do you know if someone sells the blower motor? My condensor runs, but the fan does not blow (or move for that matter). I was thinking of replacing the whole thing, but if I could find a source for the motor, I think I'd be better off.
Marc

[Inland RV Center, In]

Universal blower motors are available from W. W. Grainger.

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com
airstreamcandy.com

[53flyingcloud]

Chas
Your top gonna "Shine~! at the next Rally..lol

Can't wait to see it installed..

ciao

[thenewkid64]

Chas,

The shroud looks great!

Since you opened the door I am going to ask an AC related question. When the compressor on our Armstrong starts the vibration at start is loud. As the compressor runs thru the first 45-90 seconds the loud sound fades, the compressor continues to run, and then it sound like every other RV AC I have had. Is this normal.?
It blows cold and other than needing to be cleaned I have not done anything to it since I took delivery.TIA

[Inland RV Center, In]

Bret.

That starting operation is normal.

The AC shrouds are fiberglass, not plastic. They should last a long long time. The out of the box exterior finish is white gel-coat.
There are 4 different shrouds that Airstream used with the Armstrong units. We had molds created for all of them.

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com
airstreamcandy.com

[garry]

Marc;

The motor failing to start could be a bad start capacitor.
Mine is down for the capacitor and with summer upon us I will have to find and install a new capacitor.

Garry

[fdx753]

Now the door is open on vintage air conditioners, I have a question. My '73 Argosy has an old a/c that I plan to replace. Primarly because the shroud is shot. My problem is; it is not an Armstrong, but an Evans. Does anyone have any idea of this history.

[roadeo]

Originally Posted by InlandAndy

The AC shrouds are fiberglass, not plastic. They should last a long long time. The out of the box exterior finish is white gel-coat.
There are 4 different shrouds that Airstream used with the Armstrong units. We had molds created for all of them.

Couple of questions for you Andy;

From your above it sounds like the original shrouds were not furnished by Armstrong, but ordered or made especially for Airstream from some other vendor. Is that correct?

Did other RV brands use the Armstrong units? If so what did they do for shrouds?

Regarding your Inland #69831 shroud, it is shown on your website with no aluminum extruded "belt rail". Nor any of the opening grills.
Do these items come with it or not?

In the above picture Chas shows a shroud (Inland #69826) he bought from you, and later painted. It shows an aluminum "belt rail". Does that model come with the extrusion?

Thanks in advance.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Brian.

Drain pans are the "question," unless you don't mind the drain water running down the sides of the trailer.

Also, make sure what ever AC unit you decide to use, that it is designed for RV use, which takes into considerator, being bounced around. Household units are not designed to be treated roughly, as the highways so treat RV's.


Rodeo.

Armstrong made the AC's to Airstream specs. Airstream had molds made for the shrouds, and they made them in-house.

I am not aware of any company other than Airstream, that used the Armstong products.

The screening and moldings are transfered from the old shroud to the new.

If the shroud disappeared during transit, and its whereabouts are unknown, the screening is available locally. We can provided the insert molding, if needed, at additional cost.

Moldings were used to hold the two halves together, part numbers 69826 and 69831. They really servered no other purpose.

Andy

[sailnmusic]

Evan's A/C shroud:
My 1976 Overlander also has an Evan's 13,500 BTU air conditioner that needs a new shroud. Does anyone know where I can get a shroud for this unit? I know it didn't come out with this unit and I would change it out but it works great so, I would rather find a replacement shroud.

Dale

[newsgauger]

Hi Dale,

Just reading through the many posts and if you take a look at this thread - AC crunched, started by loudruff, you will see a few web sites to visit for your A/C shroud.

Good Luck!
Chris

[drboyd]

I didn't use the original beltline trim, mostly because it looks like hammered dookie. This is Chinese peel and stick automotive trim, which I expect to remain attached for several more minutes; I'll probably end up attaching it permanently with polished stainless screws.

It's extremely imporant to duplicate the condenser air anti-recycle baffles, for which I used aluminum sheet, cut to size and epoxied/riveted in.

The two halves are riveted and epoxied together. It's not all that big a deal, because the top half does hold the bottom half down.

I didn't use the original screens for two reasons: First, they looked even worse than the belt trim, and second, those screens are pretty restrictive to airflow. The grilles are epoxied into the shell.

I do win the prize for "Most Creative Use of a Refrigerator Shelf!"

The paint is boat topside paint. I was looking for something with at least a little gloss, that would go over fiberglass, and that would hold up outside in Arizona. The stuff is a real biscuit to work with; an HVLP spray gun ended up working the best.

The upside is that it will obviously last a heck of a lot long then the original; the downside is that it's several pounds heavier.

[drboyd]

I also found a crack in the compressor suction line, so I had to cut that out and replace it, so I ended up pumping it down and recharging it. Then of course, the Schraeder valve decided to leak. Sigh.

But it does look good! Or at least better....

[ijustlee]

Great repair job! I think it's usually better to fix than replace because older stuff frequently has more materials in it's construction and a lot of times it can take less time to fix than replace with something that doesn't fit quite the same. I'd bet that the solder you used will hold fine. Something interesting is that Armstrong changed the path of the condenser air flow. On my 1973 unit the air comes in the rear grill and blows out the top. Unfortunately this lets pine needles and leaves collect inside the unit and is a pain to clean out as well as interfering with using a tarp or shade cloth over the top of the trailer. It's nice to see that they corrected this shortcoming on the later models. Leland

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by drboyd

I didn't use the original beltline trim, mostly because it looks like hammered dookie. This is Chinese peel and stick automotive trim, which I expect to remain attached for several more minutes; I'll probably end up attaching it permanently with polished stainless screws.

It's extremely imporant to duplicate the condenser air anti-recycle baffles, for which I used aluminum sheet, cut to size and epoxied/riveted in.

The two halves are riveted and epoxied together. It's not all that big a deal, because the top half does hold the bottom half down.

I didn't use the original screens for two reasons: First, they looked even worse than the belt trim, and second, those screens are pretty restrictive to airflow. The grilles are epoxied into the shell.

I do win the prize for "Most Creative Use of a Refrigerator Shelf!"

The paint is boat topside paint. I was looking for something with at least a little gloss, that would go over fiberglass, and that would hold up outside in Arizona. The stuff is a real biscuit to work with; an HVLP spray gun ended up working the best.

The upside is that it will obviously last a heck of a lot long then the original; the downside is that it's several pounds heavier.

It's heavier, because it's also thicker.

But, like many things, such as older folks, we get heavier in time too.

The screening is not necessary, as it's only purpose basically was to keep birds out from making a nest within the shroud. Maybe a little cosmetic too.

Andy