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Old 06-16-2005, 02:20 PM   #1
Wagonmaster
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2nd ac?

We are going to add the second ac to our montana soon. I was just wondering if it works off of the current ac-heater setup or does it have it own thermost?just wondering? thanks for any anwsers. Jack
 
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Old 06-16-2005, 03:10 PM   #2
sreigle
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Jack, it will have its own thermostat and fan controls right on the ceiling panel, just like in the smaller trailers that don't have a wall thermostat.
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Old 06-16-2005, 04:43 PM   #3
Richard
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Hi Wagonmaster,

We have just run the "add the second A/C" gauntlet, wondering first "should we or shouldn't we?" and then worrying about the extra weight, blah, blah, blah...

Wow.....what a difference it makes! We're currently camped down in Texas Hill country by Kerrville, Tx. and even though it's been over 100 dF during the late afternoon, the Monty is so cool it's almost too cold!

One caveat....We got the Coleman Mach III power saver 13,500 btu for about $644 installed, and it was a little more expensive than the Oem Dometic. But it's about TWICE as cold. I've thought about replacing the Dometic (because it's right over the computer desk in our rig and I'd like it to be as cool as the bedroom)

I know Steve already answered your question, but I just thought I'd chime in to give you a little extra assurance, just in case you waver like we did for a (hot) while.

Richard
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Old 06-16-2005, 05:44 PM   #4
stiles watson
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Like steve said, it works like a roof mounted window unit. But what a difference it makes, especially in Texas weather.
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Old 06-16-2005, 07:21 PM   #5
Fordzilla
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Not to beat a dead horse. But I too just added a second a/c and we have used it twice so far on weekend trips. Both times it was great for the initial cooldown of the trailer. I turn them both on while setting up the trailer and by the time I get done and everything hooked up for a weekend stay it has dropped it to a very reasonable temp inside. Normally I can get by with one running after initially dropping it to 75degrees. I'm in north west Iowa where the heat is just starting to rise this week. I'm sure we'll be using it a little more this weekend. Highs are supposed to be in the middle 90's, with high humidity.
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Old 06-17-2005, 05:56 AM   #6
DHenry
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When using both A/C's do you have to hook up to the 50 amp circuit, or can you still use the 30 amp circuit?
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Old 06-17-2005, 06:36 AM   #7
sreigle
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Dhenry asked the question I was going to ask so I look forward to hearing that answer.

We have the prep for the second a/c but have never installed the a/c itself. We've never really had a problem keeping cool, even in Missouri and Kansas 95+ temps with very high humidity. However, the day we arrived here it was 93F with humidity in the 8x% range. The inside of the Montana was 89F. The single AC took 6 hours to get it down to 74F. It has kept it nice in here but it runs a lot. So one of these days we may decide to go with the second a/c. The one thing holding me back since we've not been uncomfortable in here yet is that some parks charge you extra when you have two a/c units even when you say you'll use only one at a time. Anyone else running into that?
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Old 06-17-2005, 03:56 PM   #8
Richard
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Dhenry and Steve,

I purposely chose (and paid more $$ for)the Coleman mach III "powersaver" or "PS" 2nd air conditioner unit from camping world to avoid needing a 50 amp hookup.

The Coleman "specs" say that it only draws 10.5 amps which is highly suspect since the start-up surge current of any a/c motor is dramatically higher than it's running amperage and Coleman only specified one amperage.

But I'm gullible, so I bit.

Sorry to say....no.......it runs ok for a few minutes, but you really need a 50 amp hookup....even if you turn the A/C's on separately with "fan only" minimum current draw.

On another tangent, I still had high hopes that the Coleman PS might be able to run on our Honda eu2000i output. (for those emergency times when needs are greater than haves). Alas, our 20 foot shore line gobbles up too much power, I'm afraid.

So my next project is to wire a heavy duty minimum length (on the order of 2 or 3 feet instead of 20 feet) shore line power cord from the Honda to the 50 amp twist lock on the back of Monty, just to see if the Honda breakers will respect a less resistive load before giving up and turning on the red light.

I'm pretty sure that if the Eu2000i (approx 15amps rms)WOULD power the coleman by itself, it wouldn't power anything else at the same time. I'd have to turn off the water heater, put the frig on propane and tape broken glass to the run button of the micro.........it MIGHT be possible.....but I digress.....

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Old 06-18-2005, 05:14 AM   #9
Richard
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Steve,

I wrote an answer last night, but I forgot an important part of your question.

True story: We got the second A/C and were staying overnight in the course of a 500+ mile hop. We pulled into a dumpy CG in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. looking for an overnight (no unhitch, just sleep and leave) accomodation, and the front desk clerk appeared to be a little boozy.

But that didn't stop him from charging us the full night's price plus $2 each for the kids and $1 extra for the wonder lab.

Then he wobbled to the window and said, "and I've got to charge you for the 2nd A/C I guess."

I said, "What second A/C?"....it was already too cool to use EITHER A/C that night!

He pointed to our new Coleman which is a different shape and slightly different color than the Oem dometic on the back.

I said, "Oh....that's our RADAR array."

He gave me a rummy glare and asked, "radar? What for?"

I pointed at the tiny glowing screen of our windshield-mounted gps and said, "for our navigational system".......

I don't know if he believed me or not, but we were probably costing him valuable drinking time, so he gave us a space number and off we went.

Note: I wouldn't try this on anyone sober!.....lol

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Old 06-18-2005, 09:34 AM   #10
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Now that is funny, LOL! Thanks for the smiles.
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Old 06-19-2005, 06:21 AM   #11
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I camped all weekend near home and ran both A/C's with only a 30 amps service. The only time It blew was early in the morning when my wife had her curling iron plugged in, and was just getting started taking a shower. I was in the kitchen with the ceiling fan running. I guess the hot water heater was on electricity only also. Otherwise we ran both air's quite a bit this weekend because of it being new everyone wanted a tour. My second a/c is a carrier 13,500btu unit and the original is a dometic 15k.
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Old 06-19-2005, 01:58 PM   #12
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I had already had the idea. But have not done it yet largely not knowing what I was going to get myself into. You know it will only take an hour, and 6 hours later... I went to Tyler State park and parked in space 42 and in space 43 was my coach. 328RLS Mountaineer. We got to talking and the second air come up. I asked the question about needing 50 AMP. He showed me my idea, and that is to install a outdoor wall socket that the female end on an extension cord goes in. Came in by the bed inside the wall and over to the selector switch. Took out the selector switch. And when he uses the second air he plugs it in to the always available 20 amp plug with a regular extension cord in the RV box and the 30 AMP plug. He has never blown the circut breaker for both AC units. Very important if the pups are going to be left for a couple of hours. As for the question is 30 AMP enough. In most cases yes. However I had a weak breaker this weekend and had to cut off the water heater to be able to run the AC and TV at the same time. Otherwise I would keep kicking out the circut breaker in the supply box not the interior breakers.
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Old 06-19-2005, 05:27 PM   #13
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Hi Rick,

After reading your note, I must admit having a sort of Homer Simpson-esque "DOH" moment....lol

That seems like a really good idea. I've always suspected that the long shore power cord that came with out Monty was part of the breaker-blowing problem when we hit weak campsites. Wiring through a more direct route would also cut the load down with an shorter extension cord and direct route to the second A/C. (given heavy enough wiring)

We like to camp in State parks and they often don't have hookups available, so I'm really interested in a shorter current path and it's positive effect (I hope) on our little Honda generator being able to power everything we need. It would be great to have a working A/C with just the Honda 2000 running, and a shorter path to the "power saver" 2nd air conditioner might allow this. Anyone have experience doing this btw???

Instead of trying to wire through the bedroom slide and running into pinched cable problems,etc. , how about going through the passthrough area or sealed area and up to a selector switch before the subpanel? This might allow several improvements...1. a shorter current path for hooking up a small generator on the outside, 2. a second way to power the bedroom A/C on the extra outlet that's always there at campgrounds, without blowing the 30 amp campsites and as you also mentioned... 3. margin of safety for the dogs when left inside during the day, just in case the 30amp power goes out.

I get slightly euphoric just THINKING about how many problems I can avoid, by not having to pull permits like at home on our stick place.
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