Second AC unit does it - Page 2 - Montana Owners Club

richfaa · 01-02-2006, 01:18 PM

You guys are convincing me to order the wiring and frame for the 2nd A/C when we order the New Montana. Not convinced that we will need the 2nd A/C but the wiring and frame when ordering is a small expense.

Wrenchtraveller · 01-02-2006, 01:39 PM

Rich, I agree the 2nd A/C wiring is a good thing to order on your new RV. I have it and you never know, I might be crazy enough to go to Laughlin , Nevada in August like we did a few years ago and if I ever do I will want a second A/C.

Go Pokes · 01-02-2006, 04:35 PM

We would not be without the second air. Two AC will cool the Montana off very quickly and then you can turn everything down to low.

Montana Sky · 01-02-2006, 06:52 PM

Rich,
I would highly suggest getting the second a/c prep when you order. The cost is something along the lines of $100 and if you find you want the second a/c all you have to do is have your shop install it. From what I have heard it cannot be done after the fact, you either order the prep and maybe use it at a later date or do not order the prep and not be able to install one in the future. My other suggestion if you do end up ordering a 3400RL, order it with two fantastic fans, one in the kitchen (mine is there) and one for the vent above the stairs next to the shower. That is one thing I wish I would have done, having a second fanstatic fan would do a much better job than the 12volt in the watercloset.

dsprik · 01-02-2006, 07:10 PM

Dave, you just answered a question for me. There are 4 places in the Montana that you can order Fantastic Fans, according to the option sheet. I was going to ask how many of those four, and where. So the option sheet says Living room/Kitchen/Bath/Bedroom. You are saying to only order 2 - Bath and Kitchen and forget the bedroom and the living room, right? I guess the 2nd A/C would replace the Bedroom spot (in the 3400) for the fan?

Montana Sky · 01-02-2006, 08:26 PM

Dave,
You are correct, the living room vent has your main a/c in it. You could order a fantastic fan for the bedroom, but as your mentioned it would not allow you to have a second a/c. I am not sure if the '06 3400RL still has the option to have the fan put in the vent above the stairs, or if it will replace the traditional 12volt in the water closet. Back in 2004 when I placed my order the water closet came w/ the 12volt and the bathroom location on the options sheet was in the vent I am talking about. (above stairs) for an additional fan.

Fordzilla · 01-02-2006, 09:45 PM

Go Pokes reply made me think about how many of us have diesel engines or real big gassers. Why? because we dont want to overwork a smaller engine trying to pull the big trailer. same applies to the A/C system. Why only have one and expect it to run all day full throtle. We wouldn't expect our trucks to do it. We would get a bigger truck. So pop for the extra $$ and get the prep for sure. then when you feel the main one running constantly you can make the decision to add another one.

richfaa · 01-03-2006, 01:58 AM

Good advise on the A/C wiring..We WILL order It.We do NOT PLAN on being anywhere were it is over 100 on a steady basis or for that matter very cold on a steady basis..but you never know and it does not hurt to be prepared.We were considering the second Fantastic fan and if the model we get will support the 2nd fan AND the 2nd A/C we will consider it....Nothing like hearing from the folks that have these things what you really need.. Here is another question..The generator prep. We do NOT dry camp on purpose..ever. We do have a 3.5KW Generator that we carried with us if we thought we might need it,Have not used it for camping in several years. Can you use any generator with the factory prep or is it for the Onan 5.5 only.It is a fairly expensive prep.

Montana Sky · 01-03-2006, 09:14 AM

Rich,
I did not get the generator prep as I do not plan on doing much if any dry camping. I wanted to have as much room in both the basement storage lockers as possible, amazing how much stuff you put into these things. As you know I do not full time, but I do spend April-October using the coach at least 4 days a week down at the lake along with as many road trips out as I can get in a summer. There has only been 2 different times I wished I had a generator, both of them being an accident on the main highway knocking the power out of the campground for 2 days the first time and 3 the second. I wanted my tv to catch the ball game. =) If I ever decide to get a generator I am pretty sure I would go with a portable one that I could throw in the bed of the truck and only take when I would need it. Just my thoughts and experience.

wcarneal · 01-03-2006, 10:55 AM

Hello, his is my first time writing. I have been reading and following for over a year. We have a 2004 3575RL and love it.We are the second owners and are still in the trial and error phase. My question is those that have installed the second air in the bedroom, does it need to be level? The instructions say that it needs to be level when the unit is set. I have seen many campers that have the air at less than level. I am removing the factory installed fantastic fan and putting the air conditioner there. It is framed and wired for a second air. Any help would be apperiated...Bill

Broome101 · 01-03-2006, 11:16 AM

warcarnel, Not that it has to be perfectly level but somewhat level it needs to be so it can let the condensation out good. When you install it you have 4 bolt that screw the unit down and make a seal on the roof. The bolts go from the inside the coach up through bracket to the AC.
Montana Sky not to contradict your post but my 05' 3685FL did not come prepped for second AC, I did it myself with little to no issues. There is a spare 30 amp breaker in the panel just fished the wire down from ceiling into the panel, took less than 1 1/2 hours to complete the whole job and have AC in the front living room. The vent has the framing around it that's all the second air prep has as well. It is true if you are gong to order one I would get one with 2nd AC prepped so you don't have to worry about fishing a line to the panel makes it simpler ti install, but ti can be done otherwise, but for $100.00 it's worth the money. I think it was only $600.00 for the second AC if I ordered it that way from factory, if you want to save money in long run order it with 2nd AC from factory, ask for low profile.

Go Pokes · 01-03-2006, 11:19 AM

We order our 3400 with generator prep, but we choose to use a Honda 6.5K(something with a 6, Bruce is not home). Bruce installed it in into the Montana. We had to replace the Onan controls with a Honda control. I think the control for the Honda was about $150. The Honda 6.5K will run both ACs, convention oven and TV at the same time. If I use the hair dryer or Geo. Foreman grill, I have to turn off the bedroom AC. We have also installed a Fantastic fan over the stairs. I guess we like the Montana to cool off quickly.

richfaa · 01-03-2006, 12:30 PM

Ok thanks all for the info on the 2nd A/c prep and the gen prep.It will be well worth the $ for the 2nd A/C prep. Since part of my retirement promise to my self was to do nothing that involves actual work. We will get the prep and have someone install the A/c if needed.We have a 3.5Kw generator but it is kind of heavy but we have our eye on a used Honda 3000 for a very good price..think I will skip on the gen prep as the propability that we will use it is slim.The only time we have used our generator in the last 5 years was here at the house when we lost the power for awhile.We would like to keep that option with a portable generator..You guys are a great help.

Montana Sky · 01-03-2006, 12:54 PM

Broome101,
Just curious, that extra breaker you were able to locate. Wouldn't that be for the washer and dryer? The only breakers in my coach that is spare are for my washer/dryer and the breaker for the second a/c that was already prep form factory.

trukdoc · 01-03-2006, 03:26 PM

Something else to consider is that the AC unit is cheaper at time of ordering. I think my second AC unit made a $300.00 difference in the final price of my Mountaineer. I cannot buy a AC unit for that price.

Montana_1424 · 01-03-2006, 04:36 PM

I have a 3650 RK, with one 15K unit, and when we go south, to Flordai and Myrtle Beach, where it is consistantly 90+, it has a hard time cooling the unit. In fact, it kept popping the breaker in the RV. Had the unti replaced, but it happend again, while in Myrtle Beach before we left ( Itwas replaced onsite down there). So we are thinking of adding the second unti to help the first one out. Does anyone have anyexperience with this problem, and know if the unit gets overworked, if it will pop the breaker?

Thanks

Montana Sky · 01-03-2006, 05:10 PM

Ed,
I have had my main a/c pop the breaker also, especially if the temps get much of 85-90 degrees and the unit runs almost non-stop. By adding the additional a/c should solve this problem, at least that is what my dealership tells me. Hope to buy the second a/c in two weeks at the local rv show, prices are usually cheaper there.

richfaa · 01-04-2006, 02:28 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by trukdoc

Something else to consider is that the AC unit is cheaper at time of ordering. I think my second AC unit made a $300.00 difference in the final price of my Mountaineer. I cannot buy a AC unit for that price.

When we do the numbers upon ordering we will see what the 1 VS 2 A/C look like.The MSVP for the 2nd 13.5BTU A/C is 695.00

dsprik · 01-04-2006, 04:39 AM

What's the benefit comparison between the 13.5 and the 15 BTU units (as a 2nd A/C) - Weight/Price/Efficiency/Misc?

Montana_2753 · 01-04-2006, 07:55 AM

wcarneal: When I had my second AC installed in the bedroom, they removed the Fantastic fan to intstall the AC. I had them re-install the Fantastic fan in the vent near the shower. As you can see by my signature I have the same floorplan you have, but in the "Big Sky" model. The installer was able to "fish" the original wires for the fan to the new location so I have use of the automatic features of the fan. Without doing the "fishing" part, the power would had to have come from the light near the shower and I wouldn't have been able to use the auto features of the fan without more extensive work.

dsprik: The price difference for me was only $100.00 for the 15KBTU (around $795.00 INSTALLED) as opposed to the 13.5. That little extra makes a big difference if you're in higher temperatures. I think it may be more effecient as well because it can handle the temperatures. The Coleman I have was kicking out 60F air even in HIGH heat/low humidity in Quartzsite last summer.

Bighorn: From other postings and what I have read, you should expect about a 20degree drop in temperature, but many factors play into it. The way I ran mine over the summer was to open the "dump" in the main AC so it was responsible to cool the living/dining/kitchen area and the second AC only cooled the bedroom. As I mentioned before, I started using a cool mist humdifier because the air in Q'site gets VERY dry (0%) and made a difference in comfort and kept things from drying out (wood, skin, etc.) If you are in "Extreme" heat consider putting aluminum "bubble-wrap" material in ALL of your windows to help insulate and preventy loss of temperature.

Bruce

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