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So,
Did the install yesterday. No pics yet since I still have to finish the trim pieces.
Couple of comments. It was of course more challenging than I thought despite having the help of my electrical engineer father-in-law and my three boys.
First, what i thought would be the hardest part, hoisting that monster on the roof, was was the easiest part of the process since I planned it out. I bought a adjustable scaffold. I already had one of those adjustable multi position ladders that breaks down into two 6 foot folding ladders. The scaffold was the best 200 bucks I have spent in a long time. We did it in stages and had it on the roof in about 60 seconds.
Now the hard parts...
It took a couple hours to clean most of the remaining lap sealant from the original vent install. the challenge is the roofing membrane is just stapled on the inside of the vent frame and pulling up the old sealant without damaging the membrane was an arduous task. Crossroads used both a black base sealant to set the vent frame and color matching leveling sealant over the top. Real pain in the backside IMHO. Centering the unit once it was sitting on the roof was actually easy with two sets of hands pushing up from the inside the vent opening inside the trailer.
The instructions from Dometic were not accurate or detailed for the DIYr. The parts list for the air conditioner did not match with the plenum cover and vent kit, which of course did not come with instructions. Of course the question I had was "how clean does the roof need to be for the compression foam mount to not leak?". Also, most trailers now have the curved roof. It creates a challenge when bolting in the ac unit to understand how much pressure to use since the instructions called for 5 foot pounds of torque which would have left a gap. Also, they included sets of screws with no instructions. I assume it is to further secure the vent cover in the ceiling like my factory Colemen unit.
Crossroads did their job for the ac prep. The existing vent frame is reinforced well. The wiring was correct and left us quite a bit of extra length wire to run to the ac unit. The box in the ceiling is actually a union box to feed both wires, however I just used wire nuts and wrapped it in electrical tape and put the box back. They also had ran a controller wire set that I didnt need, just worth noting it was there.
The vent cover for the Atwood ACs is huge. I still need cut back the existing outlet, in-ceiling ac vent, and wood trim so the vent cover is flush to the ceiling.
Got it all in and took a power washer on low pressure setting and hit the AC seal with a good flow of water to test for leaks. I think we're good.
All in all, took a better part of the day, lots of people standing around until I got the roof clean enough around the opening. I think next time I'd not be so careful about the remaining sealant on the vent opening since that foam seal on the bottom of the ac unit compresses really well.
I am glad I upgraded to the heat pump version. Also, going ductless was a good move. The vent opening it not precise and not sure how much messing around I would have had to do to line it up. Also, Crossroads did not include a multizone thermostat, so I would have spent about 300 bucks on controller boards for BOTH units and a new thermostat, as well as having to mess around with the wiring in the wall.
The whole thing cost us under 700 bucks not including the scaffold I bought which I plan on using when I clean the trailer roof. I see it as significant cost savings since the dealer wanted $1400 to install a basic Atwood unit plus time an gas driving 3 hours away to my dealer.
Advice I would give: 1) You need at least 2 sets of hands that can lift the unit in place. I had 3 adults available when the time came to hoist it up on the trailer. 2)Go unducted. As I mentioned, setting up a multizone centrally controlled system would require upgrading the controller on the existing AC, limited us to buying one of two models available from Coleman Mach ad upgrading the thermostat. Plus my Atwood has both ceiling controls and a nice infrared remote. 3) Get the heat option on the unit. If your going through all the trouble to add the second unit, having heat to help take the chill off on cool nights is great. 4)I'd do it on a weekday when I could call the manufacturer support line with questions. The instructions for my Atwood (also now Dometic) were very generic and did not accurate. I had sets of screws not on the parts list, etc. We had to figure things out ourselves based on online blogs like this and youtube videos. 5)Lastly, plan for a full day and make sure your not getting rain for a couple more days in case you run into a snag.
Once I get all the stuff trimmed back on the ceiling so I get a clean fit for the trim ring, I'll post pics.
We're now all ready for our trip out west when we hit triple digits!
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2017 Ford F350 Super Duty 6.7 King Ranch Crew
Sold the 2016 Crossroads Sunset Trail Grand Reserve 32BH
2020 Grand Design Momentum 320G
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