Ordering 2nd AC Unit - Montana Owners Club

BusyCarol · 06-21-2013, 07:56 AM

We are going to be camping in some hot climates and have decided to order the 2nd Air Con unit for the bedroom. I have had the hardest time finding out exactly what we needed so I finally contacted Dometic. They have given us several options but the one we are thinking of going with is the 13,500 BTU unit (Dometic #641815). It does NOT have the heat pump unit. We are just going to use the standard return air grill.

So what issues has everyone had with doing the install themselves? Did the hardware that came with it work with our rigs??? Our rig had the 2nd AC unit area pre-framed/wired and is ducted.

**DQDick** · 06-21-2013, 08:10 AM

Shouldn't be too hard as long as the thermostat is able to work with that unit. If I'm remembering right your husband knows about that stuff so you should be fine.

BusyCarol · 06-21-2013, 08:53 AM

Thanks Dick! We have the Comfort Control Center II in the rig already and supposedly all the wires have checked out as to being able to control the unit. The only thing we have heard is that sometimes the hardware isn't long enough. My dilemma is not the screws but the color of the inside is it Polar White or Shell White? I am thinking Polar White

oldelmer1 · 06-21-2013, 09:52 AM

Carol,
Camping world has the Penguin II on sale for $794.99 with $83.25 installation fee.

dieselguy · 06-21-2013, 10:09 AM

Although they don't make them anymore ... I installed a Carrier low profile with no issues. The threaded rods were long enough and it was a pretty simple install. The hardest part I thought was removing the original roof vent and cleaning the stick-um off the roof membrane. After a few months, recheck the attaching harware as the gasket on the bottom of the unit settles in somewhat. I think polar white will match the ceiling better.

BusyCarol · 06-21-2013, 10:58 AM

Thanks for the info on the fact that the install went easy for you! We were told one couple did it in 1.5hours. It will be a nice upgrade. I am also glad that you confirmed the polar white would be a better match! I think so too. What is interesting is that the vent hoods were white but the other circle vents were a kind of cream color. I never noticed until I took a closer look.

**DQDick** · 06-21-2013, 12:37 PM

You'll be happy you did it. Since we pretty much only hot weather we have two AC's, slide toppers, awnings for the side windows and Magne shades for the rear windows. Even with all that we had to move from a 30 amp site last year because we could deal with the 100 degree weather without being able to use the second AC.

1retired06 · 06-21-2013, 03:36 PM

I installed the bedroom unit in ours and hardest part was getting the AC on to the roof.

BusyCarol · 06-21-2013, 03:47 PM

Thanks Mike for letting us know what to expect! We are going to set up an extension ladder on a piece of carpet over the frontcap and pull it up(in the box) with a rope. One will push and the other will pull.

Here is a video on how one guy removed his AC unit but we couldn't figure out how to reverse engineer it! HAHAHA! Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWBVX_cGymM

mtheo · 06-21-2013, 04:06 PM

Did it last year. Hardest part is getting it up on the roof. I installed the Penguin II unit but didnt connect it to the duct work or the thermostat. It is set up to connect to duct work but you will need some duct work to connect.
Good luck.
And yes 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.

BusyCarol · 06-21-2013, 04:22 PM

So Mark I am totally curious as to why you didn't hook it up to the ducting or the thermostat? I hadn't even thought of doing that.

steelpony5555 · 06-21-2013, 06:52 PM

One thing to think of if you duct it in is I would imagine that being the front AC it would be ducted into the ones going to the bedroom. If that is the case then to get AC cool air in the bedroom would not the bedroom AC be the on kicking on in the middle of the night. We left ours as a stand alone unit and just use it to cool the rig down when we set up. Even here in Texas our normal AC is enough to keep the rig cool and at night I will even put it on low fan. Can't imagine trying to sleep with the one 5 ft away kicking on. If I coulda got mine up on the roof I might have installed our my self but the dealer didn't really want that much to do it. All I could think was that would have been a lot of huffing and puffing in the Texas heat. We just had them put in a regular 15K AC, just a couple inchs difference

BusyCarol · 06-21-2013, 07:10 PM

That is a good point Dave. Evidently the unit we chose can either be ducted or non-ducted so I will let the hubby decide how he wants to install it. I ordered the basic air return but I could always return it and get the manual controlled one. I am just THRILLED to have a 2nd AC as we go to several places with no shade and a lot of heat.

cdaniels · 06-22-2013, 02:29 AM

We had the second air installed last year ducted. It was a nightmare but only because the tech had no training and no clue how to take out the fantastic fan without destroying it must less install the air. To make a long story short 6 hrs later closing time we had the ff put back and left. Another day another place the air was installed ducted correctly.

The airs are each hooked into the thermostats in different zones. If you put both zones on they will work together. If you choose zone 1 then only zone 1 will work so no on and off air in your bedroom. And vise versa. We love it ducted. On days that only 1air is needed we run the one in the bedroom during the day, no hum of the air that drives you crazy. At night we reverse... Living room runs.... quiet in the bedroom. . When really hot during the day 90,s both run.

That being said when we ordered ours ....our issue with hooking it up ducted was we had the older type thermostat and the mother board in the air had to be changed. The older thermostats have 5 buttons the newer ones 6 buttons. Since your rig is a 2013 you will have the newer thermostat its not that difficult to run it in the duct work. Since you bought the ducted its made to do so.

Also hopefully Dometic had you order the shroud (plastic cover inside you see on the ceiling). It does not automatically come with the airs. If you have questions installing ask on the MOC because Dometic refuses to let you talk to a tech unless you are a licensed dealer FYI.

Good luck, hope things go smooth and you will absolutely love it!

steelpony5555 · 06-22-2013, 05:08 AM

So another words both AC's are run into the same duct work. That would work. I was thinking zones with the T-stat having zone 1 and 2, they were each working their own zones. If that is the case why do they have zone 1 and 2 designations. I'm confused????

cdaniels · 06-22-2013, 12:31 PM

They each have their own zones that you can choose to work independently or both zones at one time. You use the existing duct work. When you use both zones which will be both airs going the gush of air coming out of the ducts doubles. Hope this clears up any ? I probably am not explaining this to clear.

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