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pendletonkm · 05-30-2011, 06:37 AM

My wife and I have been living full time for the last month in our 27FB in Amarillo, TX. We are both new to full timing, and everything has been great until yesterday. The heat got to 103 and I could not get the trailer to cool down past 87. Any idea's?

-A/C was on full blast.
-I clean the filters every week.
-All window shades and skylights where closed.

Thanks,

Kent

**jcanavera** · 05-30-2011, 06:43 AM

If your AC unit is a 13.5K BTU, then you at the limit as to what this unit can cool. I had a 28' Safari and experienced a similar problem on it's first time out in 104 degrees and full sun. I added awning on the street side which helped somewhat. When I bought my Classic I upgraded from the standard 13.5K unit to the 15. Never regretted that choice.

Jack

handn · 05-30-2011, 06:55 AM

Jack is correct. If you are fulltiming it makes sense to upgrade to a bigger unit or go North for the summer. Your a.c. is working normally.

pendletonkm · 05-30-2011, 07:07 AM

Jack,

So, this is normal even with a 15K BTU?

Gringo · 05-30-2011, 07:11 AM

but.....the 2011 International 27FB came with the 15,000 btu ac as standard, didn't it?

Ours did.

pendletonkm · 05-30-2011, 09:46 AM

Yes, my 2011 FB has the 15k.

Gringo · 05-30-2011, 10:07 AM

hmm. from what jcanavera is reporting, it should do it.
Have you thought of some kind of solar film on the inside of the windows? those spaces between the windows and the interior shades are great little solar furnaces. Problem is that they're inside the trailer with you. Or outside shade. Are you getting direct sun on the trailer?

How bout the skylights and roof vents? Are those out of the direct UV? Do you have vent covers?

Reganzo · 05-30-2011, 12:22 PM

I had issues when we were in Arizona, and Las Vegas, and I bought a tube fan that I ran all the time. I also ran the air conditioner full blast through the night, and by early morning I could get the temp down to low 70's. Running the fan circulates the air and by noon it would be 80 inside with 112 outside.

The fan made it comfortable even during the hottest of days

Regards,

Reganzo

pendletonkm · 05-30-2011, 12:35 PM

Gringo,

Thanks for idea's. I have already put vent covers on and I just went to the store and bought a couple little fans to try and circulate the air better. As you suspected my Airstream is in direct sunlight all of the time. The park we stay in is pretty new with little shade due to the newly planted trees. The trade off is it has the biggest slips in Amarillo and the price is just high enough to keep riff raff out of the park.

Reganzo,

Thank you also for the good info. That gives me some hope. I am an active duty Marine and my wife and will probably be moving to 29 palms california in about a year. I was starting to get concerned that I might need to purchase a second A/C to put in the bedroom area.

JFScheck · 05-30-2011, 12:44 PM

Believe it or not (I know I just posted this comment somewhere else) - the pull out canopies really help keep the Stream cool - especially the street side and back.

If your Airstream did not come with them and you live in a "Hot" environment (or hang out in one) it might be worth the expense!

xrvr · 05-30-2011, 01:05 PM

As posted before the ac will only cool to 20 degrees below outside temp. I think it is in the design. jim

pendletonkm · 05-30-2011, 02:26 PM

Update.....

Added two small 4" fans, amazing results, much cooler.

Reganzo,

What kind of fan did you buy? Size and brand?

JFScheck · 05-30-2011, 02:36 PM

Interesting - more airflow - allows for better evaporatoin on skin so feels cooler - Nice Solution!!!

Aage · 05-30-2011, 03:51 PM

Some trailers have the special white paint just on the roof to better reflect the sun's rays. Since it's only on the top, you don't really see it.

If you don't already have that, posters on here have claimed a 10 degree improvement (cooler) just by adding it...

thecatsandi · 05-30-2011, 04:01 PM

Is would be functioning normally. The A/C is designed to produce 20 degree drop from outside to inside.

I use a 12V electric fan on the floor of the bedroom door to circulate the air. It works well.

Silver Goose · 05-30-2011, 05:52 PM

I have a 2008 27FB and it came with a 13k and as others have stated, the newer models come with a 15k unit. If and when it dies, I would likely upgrade to the larger unit but don't expect it alone would would make a significant improvement. I also live in the Lone Star Star State and am all too familiar with 100+ days and the best shade I can find is a tumbleweed. :-)

The 27FB has a lot of glass. I went to Lowes and found a roll of foil faced bubble wrap. I cut pieces that fit the skylights and vista view windows and placed them between the glass and blinds. That was much better than the blinds alone. I also cut pieces to fit between the glass and the dark tinted plexiglass stone shields. My Fantastic Fans have the snap in screens and so I cut a pair of disks to slip above the screens. During the day I close off the bedroom and now the rest of the trailer is much better when it's above 100 outside. Once the Sun sets I can open up the bedroom and the A/C cools it well.

I'm not an A/C engineer, but have heard the 20 degree spec mentioned before but believe it is measured between inlet and outlet. Any shade will help a lot.

Silver Goose · 05-30-2011, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aage

Some trailers have the special white paint just on the roof to better reflect the sun's rays. Since it's only on the top, you don't really see it.

If you don't already have that, posters on here have claimed a 10 degree improvement (cooler) just by adding it...

Mine came white from the factory... Are you referring to an aftermarket coating like "Kool-Seal"?

Inland RV Center, In · 05-30-2011, 06:21 PM

When it's known that the day will be extra hot, turn the AC on early in the morning.

That gives you a head start on the cooling.

Yes, the interior will still heat up, but not nearly as bad.

Additional circulating fans, even small ones, also help.

A white roof coating is also a great help, but NEVER Koolseal, as it runs down the sides of the trailer when it rains, staining as it goes.

Andy

overlander63 · 05-30-2011, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YankeeDoodle

Mine came white from the factory... Are you referring to an aftermarket coating like "Kool-Seal"?

If yours came from the factory white, that's pretty much it. I painted the roof of ours with Kool Seal, and it made quite a difference. Before we did it, our trailer was warmer than our friends' 31'. After, ours was the same temp, even though we had a 13,500 a/c, and theirs was a 15k.

lewster · 05-30-2011, 08:07 PM

OK Gang,

Let's get this straight and end the confusion.

The 'Delta T' or temperature differential (18*F to 22*F) that is the basis of performance measurements in RV air conditioning is the difference between the cooled exhaust air measured at the cool air outlet or ducting and the return air measured at the inside return air grill of the A/C unit.

Neither measurement has anything to do with outside temperature......it is strictly a measurement of the performance of the A/C based on the INSIDE ambient air and the cooled air that the unit is producing. If the unit is properly assembled and sealed, there should be NO OUTSIDE AIR entering the coach thru the roof A/C.

In fact, if you have an older Dometic unit with a metal casing around the evaporator, you might want to get some aluminum tape (true HVAC tape) and seal all of the seams on that metal casing, just to be sure that no outside air is leaking into the evaporator. Newer units that have the all plastic casing don't require this, since they have a rubber sealing gasket in the plastic casing that does the job nicely.