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Old 06-03-2005, 08:38 PM   #1
Fordzilla
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3685 FL w/2nd A/C

I am a relative newbie here as I am in the process of purchasing my first Montana after lurking here for a few months reading posts. I wanted to add a second air conditioner to the bedroom. I was presuming the main one would be located near the center or in the living room area. Upon going to inspect the new trailer I noticed the main one is over the bedroom and if I add another one it would have to be over the kitchen area. It is pre-wired and set up to add the second unit. My big question is can the thermostat be changed to run the front one and the original or the one over the bedroom be set up to run separate from the thermostat?
 
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Old 06-04-2005, 05:29 AM   #2
Bill DeMeulle
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I have added a 2nd A/C to my 2003 3280, however it is in the bedroom. One thing you might check is the pre-wiring,I found out the pre-wiring only allows the A/C to run when the main A/C is not running,I paid to have it re-wired to allow both to run at the same time. They now work perfectly when we are in the desert.
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Old 06-04-2005, 04:37 PM   #3
Broome101
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What did they do to rewire it so both can run? The second AC you installed does it have controls on AC itself or did you rework it into thermostat?
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Old 06-04-2005, 09:48 PM   #4
Northstar
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And I thought when I add my second ac both would run at the same time. Something to check on when installing the 2nd ac.
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Old 06-05-2005, 12:30 AM   #5
Fordzilla
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Yes, I was hoping to run the one in the bedroom, a little cooler than the rest of the trailer as I sleep better when it's cooler in there. I guess I will have to see what the dealer has to say and go from there. Has anyone noticed if there is wires in prewired box to control the second A/C with a thermostat?
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Old 06-05-2005, 03:57 AM   #6
Broome101
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Fordzilla, I am not so sure about that, if the rewire is not on second breaker by itself than I doubt they are combining the thermostat to work together. You thermostat would have to be able to handle different zones in the unit such as the CCC units. Can let you know for sure after Tuesday I am having second AC but in Tuesday the dealer is closed on Monday's. he did not have low profile unit in stock which I had to have in order to back it under my RV awning so I went to Camper World and got on Saturday. My main AC can not keep the unit cool enough for us in hot humid weather it would freeze up trying, they say they think they have that issue fixed. Don't want to take a chance sine we are heading out for 2 week trip all in hot humid full sun.
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Old 06-05-2005, 04:13 AM   #7
mazeeff
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When you add a 2nd A/C unit to a pre-wired Montana, it is manually operated. The thermostat is built into the A/C unit itself. Since normally you add a 2nd unit in the bedroom, it is possible to reach up and use the controls on the A/C unit. There are two knobs. One controls the temp, and the other controls the fan speed. The factory wiring only includes the 120 volt wiring, which is connected to a 20A breaker. No thermostat wiring is included, like you might see in a class A moterhome. Since the unit you are referring to is a front living room model, the wiring may be a bit different. The problem may be reaching the ceiling. One option, is to install a carrier brand A/C unit. They come with a remote that actually works, unlike the remote controlled Dometic.
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Old 06-05-2005, 05:57 PM   #8
Fordzilla
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Thanks for the suggestions about getting one with a remote. We know we are going to need a stepstool in the trailer at all times. So we would be able to climb up there and adjust it. But seems like it should able to be hard wired into the main thermostat. I am going to wait and talk to the dealer tech, and see if they have ran across this before and what they did in the past.
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Old 06-06-2005, 04:07 AM   #9
tweir
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If I'm not mistaken, on our '04 3685FL, the 2nd. A/C pre-wire recepticle cover plate is in the living room just forward of the Fantastic Fan. I can reach the fan's "manual release knob" and the rain switch with out standing on any stool---its easy to reach. I assumed that if we elected to add a 2nd. A/C unit, we'd have to remove the fan and relocate it to the kitchen when you need a ladder to reach the existing manual crank handle for the vent---I think Montana should have put the Fantastic Fan in the kitchen area and the "manual vent" in the living room; but then again I am not an engineer...! I do know that the A/C is ducted to the living room and even in 90+ degree weather, the unit seems to cool the front fairly well. The bedroom gets a bit chilly, so we close off the vents.
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Old 06-06-2005, 04:33 AM   #10
Bill DeMeulle
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Sorry I have not responded earlier,as far as what they did to re-wire I don't know. They did not hook it up to the thermostst it runs seperately, but I can run them both at the same time and it is definitely worth it.
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Old 06-06-2005, 05:39 AM   #11
Bob & Lee
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The 2nd air is not wired in the kitchen area it is in the livng room and you can reach up an turn it on or off.. I havent had on put in yet I havent needed it here in colorado I think it all is based on where you ar going to be. Other friends say they havent needed the second one they are in mexico in the winter and colorado in the summer So think it out to what fit your travels
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Old 06-08-2005, 01:20 AM   #12
Broome101
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Put mine in on Tuesday the dealer would not touch it because they said since it was not wired for the second AC they could not legally run another wire to the spare 20amp breaker. I did it myself. Ran wire was rather simple once i opened the panel against the wall above the pull out pantry next to the outlet. i had pulled the vent out and removed the insulation I could see that all the wires ran through here and behind that panel down to bottom of refrigertor to the breaker panel. once I removed the breaker panel I could see the same wires that I could see from the vent opening. I had to remove the staples out of the panel above the pantry to get to everything easily, once I had that off fished it down to breaker box then up to the vent opening placed everything wired it up works great. Works better than my main AC, I think our main AC has problems dealer says no but it want cool good.
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Old 06-08-2005, 12:15 PM   #13
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Dealer is waiting for the slide out awnings to come in and do those and the A/C at the same time. He stated they use a Carrier brand as the second A/C. Are they a good unit? I've always had coleman brand on all my trailers up until this one. I think the main one is a Dometic.
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Old 06-12-2005, 06:42 PM   #14
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Well the second A/C is installed and works wonderful. We picked up the new trailer Thursday and left for the campgrounds Friday morning for our first weekend outing. We had most everything transfered into the new one. But left some stuff out on purpose to see if we would miss it. While leaving town I pulled the truck and trailer over the scales to get an idea what we weighed. Was 10,480 on the truck and 9840 on the trailer. Truck alone weighed 8420. Truck was full of fuel and trailer was pretty much ready to go. Only had a small amount of tools on board and a handfull of firewood for the weekend. Pulled better than I expected with the heiver pin weight. Now to figure out where we put everything.

Quick question for those who have the 3685. What is the switch that is to the far right as you are facing the bathroom/bedroom area, but still standing in the dining area? There is a regular switch there that we can't seem to find what it controls. There are two on that wawll it's the farthest to the right but would be covered by the dining table if the slide was in.

I have a lot of questions, I am going to have to learn how to use the search function better.
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Old 06-12-2005, 08:09 PM   #15
stiles watson
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Congratulations on your number two A/C unit. There will come a time when you will be very glad you have it, especially in the Southern climes.
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Old 06-13-2005, 05:59 AM   #16
tweir
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That "regular wall switch" turns on & off the fireplace.
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Old 06-13-2005, 04:04 PM   #17
Fordzilla
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I'll have to try that next time. thanks
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Old 06-23-2005, 03:01 PM   #18
Fordzilla
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Tried the switch this weekend and it did nothing to the fireplace. At least nothing to the flames or overhead light. I guess I should have turned on the heat and seen if it did anything for the heat part of the fireplace.
A side note I measured my height and am 13'3" to the top of the second A/C. Going to have to watch those low bridges a little closer when traveling.
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Old 06-23-2005, 05:51 PM   #19
Broome101
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The switch you are referring to on ours controls the ceiling fan light if you have the light pulled on you can cut the light on and off with th switch
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Old 07-05-2005, 06:00 AM   #20
Fordzilla
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Well I finally discovered the small switch I was having so much trouble with controls the second A/C. We had both units running this past weekend and I was showing someone the trailer and I flipped the switch and the second A/C went off. When I switched it back it came back on. So I am a happy man today, as I have discovered something that has bothered me since we got the monty.
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