2nd AC for 2980RL

[Montana_654]

I'm ordering a 2980RL and will have most of the options except the extra 600#'s of fiberglass.

I wanted two fantastic fans and the 2nd A/C unit. One of the replies I received from a dealer states:

"Thanks for the email !! I was specing out your Montana 2980 RL and ran into an issue or 2. First is the placement of the 2nd A/C unit in the bedroom which takes away the chance for a fantastic fan in the bedroom, the next closest location is in the toilet room. Placement of the fantastic fan in the rear living room is really mid-coach area. The main a/c is in the rear area of the coach. 15000 BTU a/c is now standard on all Montana's."

I assume he's correct in the assesment. So the questions are:

1. Put the 2nd A/C over the bed and fantastic fan in the bathroom area or just the reverse.

2. For those of you you spend a lot of time in the keys or south Florida or any part of the country with very hot and humid summers, is a second A/C necessary in the bedroom/bath area? Perhaps on an RV the size of the 2980, the 2nd fantastic fan will be enough?

3. "15000 BTU a/c is now standard on all Montana's"?

I'd appreciate your thoughts!

[Broome101]

Standar is 15,500 BTU AC, If you are not sure if you want a extra AC have it wired and framwed for it and than if needed you can always go back and have it put in. That's what we have done on our 3685FL. The fantatstic fan is not nessacry in toilet clsoet they will put a regular 12V exhasut fan in it so save that money. Have the fatastics put in living area and rear of coach. Just my thoughts. In th forum you can see that they are many folks with 1 AC that are in Arizona and NM , Texas that have no problems.

[palebluedot]

We were in Destin Flordia week of July 4 and temps were pretty high. Pulling into the campground around noon, the 3280RL was very toasty inside. Kicked on both ACs and was down to 70* in about 30 minutes. Dual units are not absolutely necessary, but very nice to have. At night we turn off the den unit, close the sliding door to bath area and just run the BR at about 3/4 on cool scale and med. fan. More will frost your nose and ears. To me the best thing is having a spare, if one unit decides to crap out in the middle of a trip, the other one will get you by until you can get it serviced. I agree with above post, one fantastic fan in the lounge/dining area and regular fan above the toilet.

[toolmanroy]

We just spent the weekend in temps around 100 degrees and it did not cool down much below 70 at night. That is extreme for us here in southern Oregon. We have just the one AC and ran the fan on high and it kept up very well. At night we closed the large vent in the main part of the trailer so all the air came out the smaller vents and we were very comfortable sleeping. We decided we probably don't need the second AC.

[NJ Hillbilly]

I have a vent in the hall next to the shower and I installed a MaxAir powered cover with a thermostat. We use this fan always. I figured it's the highest point of the roof (hottest) so it will pull hottest air out and I also run it when showering to take out the humidity.

John

[Just148]

Jerry525, I have the same unit with one A/C, I keep the out door shut and the A/C on high and it keep us cool all day. The Key is to run the A/C early in the morning before it get hot so that the unit is cool and won't have to work so hard trying to cool down when the temps reaches the 100* mark. Hope this help.

[Northstar]

The insurance of having a spare would be great to have. Plus when you hit an area of over 100 degrees. In any case you can have the coach wired for a 2nd AC and then make your decision down the road. Happy rving.....

[Montana_487]

Linda and I have the same unit you are going to buy and and we have the one A/C in the living area and two fantastic fans ---one in the kitchen area and one over the bed. We also had the unit prewired for the second A/C over the bed ---just in case the one A/C didn't do the job. So far we have been in heat as high as 102 deg. F and the combination we have seems to do fine---as long as we use the fantastic fans at night (night temp--70 deg. F). Actually we never thought about installing an A/C in the bathroom--- the little fan in that vent does it's job just fine. We spent last week at the Life on Wheels conference in Idaho and saw very few 5ther's with two A/C's --- Maybe 10 out of 100. There is just Linda and I and four small dogs so we don't generate a lot of heat. Everyone is different but, this is our 2 cents.

[Virgil]

We have spent some pretty hot days in our 2955RL. The one AC unit has kept up very well. In fact, one hot afternoon, (+95 F) I crawled up on the bed for a little nap and I woke up pretty darn chilly. I think the key is as one person said, turn the AC on early in the day if possible and get the jump on the heat. My 2955 is prewired for a second AC but I doubt I ever put one in.

I am sure you will love your new Montana

[Montana Sky]

I have been having trouble with my a/c "freezing up" the past few weeks. It has been in the high 90's to 100+ for about three weeks now. I have tried just about every way to set the a/c and seems to work for awhile and then it just cant keep up. I have set my temp to usually 10-15 degrees cooler than outside temp ie, if it is 95 out I will set the temp inside for 78-82 degrees. If I set the temp on auto it does not help, if I leave it in the "on" position it still cant keep up. I have tried using the ducting and closing the main vent in the living room to send air throughout the coach, I have tried leaving the airvent open to cool the living room only and still am having the same problem. I had the bedroom a/c prep done when I ordered my coach, and am really thinking about taking it in within the next few weeks or so to have a second a/c put in. Was talking with a guy at the lake who has two a/c's. He rotates between the two as he has also said, the living room one just cant keep up. Has anyone else had this problem with their 3400RL or coach that is close in size to mine? I am open to all ideas and suggestions.

[Thunderman]

[quote]Originally posted by Montana Sky

I have been having trouble with my a/c "freezing up" the past few weeks. It has been in the high 90's to 100+ for about three weeks now. I have tried just about every way to set the a/c and seems to work for awhile and then it just cant keep up. I have set my temp to usually 10-15 degrees cooler than outside temp ie, if it is 95 out I will set the temp inside for 78-82 degrees. If I set the temp on auto it does not help, if I leave it in the "on" position it still cant keep up. I have tried using the ducting and closing the main vent in the living room to send air throughout the coach, I have tried leaving the airvent open to cool the living room only and still am having the same problem. I had the bedroom a/c prep done when I ordered my coach, and am really thinking about taking it in within the next few weeks or so to have a second a/c put in. Was talking with a guy at the lake who has two a/c's. He rotates between the two as he has also said, the living room one just cant keep up. Has anyone else had this problem with their 3400RL or coach that is close in size to mine? I am open to all ideas and suggestions.

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You might try this website for some things to check for better performance from the a/c..customersupportcenter@dometicusa.com
Good luck!

[Montana_1235]

quote:Originally posted by Montana Sky

I have been having trouble with my a/c "freezing up" the past few weeks. It has been in the high 90's to 100+ for about three weeks now. I have tried just about every way to set the a/c and seems to work for awhile and then it just cant keep up. I have set my temp to usually 10-15 degrees cooler than outside temp ie, if it is 95 out I will set the temp inside for 78-82 degrees. If I set the temp on auto it does not help, if I leave it in the "on" position it still cant keep up. I have tried using the ducting and closing the main vent in the living room to send air throughout the coach, I have tried leaving the airvent open to cool the living room only and still am having the same problem. I had the bedroom a/c prep done when I ordered my coach, and am really thinking about taking it in within the next few weeks or so to have a second a/c put in. Was talking with a guy at the lake who has two a/c's. He rotates between the two as he has also said, the living room one just cant keep up. Has anyone else had this problem with their 3400RL or coach that is close in size to mine? I am open to all ideas and suggestions.

We have the 3685FL and the A/C is in the bedroom. The dinning and living rooms get a little warmer but not much. I use oscillating fans in the living room and bedroom and keep the ceiling fan on in the dinning room. Keeping the air circulating helps keep all areas of the camper near the same temperature.

We just came back from a 2 week vacation in Myrtle Beach where the temps were in the upper 80' and lower 90's and very humid. The only time the camper felt a little warm was in the late afternoon. That was partially due to people going in and out and leaving the door open.

I found that if I opened the bath vent it got too warm so I kept it closed. Same with the Fantastic Fan that's located between the living room and dinning room. When on it pulled out the cool air and felt muggy inside so I kept it off and closed.

Bill

[mobrownies]

I would be very reluctant to add the second A/C unit. Things you should consider is that it will take a 50 amp service which limits your camp site choices, it adds to the pin weight of your trailer and may increase the overall clearance height over the trailer.

If your unit is "freezing up" you may want to keep the fan on high.

We got the upgrade for the 15K unit and found that we have to watch our electric usage to keep from blowing 30 amp fuses. If you use the electric hot water heater with the A/C that is almost 30 amps without any lights on.

[Montana Sky]

The biggest problem for me would be that I only have 30amp service at the lake. This will still work for me as I can run the living room a/c for awhile, and then switch to the bedroom to let the main a/c have a rest. As for height from looking around it seems to only add 5 more inches to the overall height, and kingpin weight for me is well under the trucks capacities at the current moment. I will have to just watch and see how the main a/c works the rest of this summer.

[Montana_70]

Jerry 525,

I'm living in my 2980RL in hot and humid central Florida as I type this. I cannot imagine having a second AC in this unit. I have the one 15,000 BTU and it does the job. The last park I was in was a big open space with no trees. Just sitting in the blazing sun all day. Highs in the mid 90's. I hated it when I wanted to sit outside but inside I was quite comfortable. The only thing I did find was I was cooler keeping the blinds shut ( I have mini-blinds) because the sun was relentless from both sides and the rear throughout most of the day.

I am now in a park with lots of nice old oak trees. Same high temps but the big difference is my AC does not have to run as much and I can leave my blinds open. I am also back to having only 30 AMP service in the park. I just use the adapter for the 50 amp cord and use common sense when turning on different electrical devices at the same time. I also have a nice stash of fuses.

This is just my opinion but I think the overall length of this unit does not warrant a second AC. I'm not saying that would not be times, if you had a second AC that you might go ahead a run it but I don't think you would use it or need enough to justify the cost, weight, and maintenance.

[Montana_655]

quote:Originally posted by jerry525
First is the placement of the 2nd A/C unit in the bedroom which takes away the chance for a fantastic fan in the bedroom, the next closest location is in the toilet room. I assume he's correct in the assesment. So the questions are:

1. Put the 2nd A/C over the bed and fantastic fan in the bathroom area or just the reverse.

I'd be concerned about putting a fantastic fan in the bathroom so close to the sewer venting??

[sreigle]

The DuoTherms are notorious about freezing up in humid conditions when the fan is on Low. Since we now always run ours on High we've not had a freezeup. There probably are other reasons for freezeups but the duotherms are famous for this on low fan settings.