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Old 06-03-2018, 05:47 PM   #1
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A/C not cooling in hot weather

We're recently were out camping and the temp was around 94 degrees. Inside the camper was like 86 degrees, which is not usual. As the evening cooled down, so did our camper. By midnight it was 74 degrees inside. Has anyone else experienced this problem? We have a 2016 Rezerve 31 BS. Didn't have this problem last year.
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Old 06-03-2018, 06:34 PM   #2
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Most campers are so poorly insulated (especially with slides) that in really hot weather it’s very difficult to keep cooled down during the day unless you have two air conditioners.
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Old 06-03-2018, 06:36 PM   #3
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I'd say your AC lost it's coolant, and needs a recharge. Need to call a AC, refrigerant repairman.
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Old 06-03-2018, 08:58 PM   #4
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The truth lies in the middle. It’s hot and RVs aren’t well insulated. Keep the door closed, use a vent/skylight plug to stop heat infiltration. Close shades on the sunny side and put out your awning to shade the sidewall. Use a fan inside to help circulate the cool air near the floor.
And, when you have time.... get the a/c serviced. If you just have one 13.5k BTU a/c, you might consider an upgrade to a 15k.
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:59 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Aceallenk View Post
I'd say your AC lost it's coolant, and needs a recharge. Need to call a AC, refrigerant repairman.
It's not a residential ac, can not be recharged, has to be replaced if that's the problem & the local HVAC guy can't/won't do anything with it.
Your best bet is to run a couple fans, keep blinds closed & park in the shade if possible.
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Old 06-04-2018, 12:24 AM   #6
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And when possible, turn on the ac early in the morning hours, set to come on at a reasonable temp. Once it gets really hot, it’s difficult to cool down. Check your filter and clean as necessary. You can also check to see if any of the interior structure in your ac shifted, allowing flow in places other than the ducts. Access is from the ceiling by way of four screws on my Dometic. I ended up using aluminum heating tape to seal up gaps that was making mine cycle on and off (another topic).
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Old 06-04-2018, 04:35 AM   #7
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And when possible, turn on the ac early in the morning hours, set to come on at a reasonable temp. Once it gets really hot, it’s difficult to cool down. Check your filter and clean as necessary. You can also check to see if any of the interior structure in your ac shifted, allowing flow in places other than the ducts. Access is from the ceiling by way of four screws on my Dometic. I ended up using aluminum heating tape to seal up gaps that was making mine cycle on and off (another topic).
Mid summer last year we were camping in a spot with no shade at all and i noticed that the AC had been running for hours yet the camper was not cooling off. I checked the duct temp at the unit and it was barely cooler than room temperature. I pulled the inside cover off by removing 4 screws as Steve mentioned above and the fan was spitting out some ice chips. The whole unit had frozen up. From what I could tell the center divider that separates the cold air from the return air had come loose and most of the cold air was being recirculated right back into the unit. I had to just leave the fan running for a few hours to defrost it and then took a bunch of foil tape to close off a couple of open holes around the vents but more importantly got the center divider back in place and all taped up and have never had a problem since. We just got back from the beach a couple weeks ago and it was 86 in direct sun but the vents were spitting out low 40’s. Kept the rig at 70 the whole week.
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Old 06-04-2018, 05:35 AM   #8
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One AC is marginal for all but the smallest low to mid grade trailers in really hot conditions and the really high end ones which are presumably better insulated are generally too big for just one. Good workarounds mentioned above.
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Old 06-04-2018, 10:40 AM   #9
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There's a host of issues "that could be". The flow/return gasket was out on mine as well, a couple of the vent collars were too tall blocking that particular vent, duct at one end just opened into the attic, I used the foam pipe insulation to block it off. It's just trial & error, but still they are rvs & hard to cool.
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Old 06-04-2018, 02:02 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gblackburn120 View Post
We're recently were out camping and the temp was around 94 degrees. Inside the camper was like 86 degrees, which is not usual. As the evening cooled down, so did our camper. By midnight it was 74 degrees inside. Has anyone else experienced this problem? We have a 2016 Rezerve 31 BS. Didn't have this problem last year.
Are you certain the compressor is working and not just the fan is running?
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Old 06-07-2018, 06:31 PM   #11
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Ours was having the same problem. Not cooling as well as it did last summer. I know we need to add the second unit, but it was a lot worse than last summer. I ended up getting up and checking the unit. The fins were coated with the pollen & stuff we see floating through the air every spring at our site. I carefully peeled off the thin layer of stuff and cleaned the coils. Made a huge difference! It was cooling much better after that!


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Old 06-08-2018, 08:16 AM   #12
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we have a 2011 crossroads 5th wheel...... we are on our 2nd a/c and 3rd fridge,(fridge still doesn't work on gas) and we only use 60 to 90 days a yr..... both dometic....... welcome to RVing...... glad we bought the extended warranty.... a/c's seem to work for one or two seasons...... only 1 k to replace..... the shame is, i have friends and family with a/c's and fridges 25 yrs old, still work...... modern ones are make to last 2 or 3 yrs, then replace..... imo
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Old 06-09-2018, 12:36 PM   #13
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we have a 2011 crossroads 5th wheel...... we are on our 2nd a/c and 3rd fridge,(fridge still doesn't work on gas) and we only use 60 to 90 days a yr..... both dometic....... welcome to RVing...... glad we bought the extended warranty.... a/c's seem to work for one or two seasons...... only 1 k to replace..... the shame is, i have friends and family with a/c's and fridges 25 yrs old, still work...... modern ones are make to last 2 or 3 yrs, then replace..... imo

They don’t make em like they used to. We stopped at an RV dealer we bought our first fifth wheel from. They told me they had a storage building full of bad Dometic ACs. Met a couple last year in Livingston, TX. Their Sandpiper was barely two years old. Both ACs went out at the same time. (Dometic). Our front unit is less than two years old. Nothing but trouble.


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Old 06-10-2018, 04:24 PM   #14
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Update on a/c. I pulled the unit apart on the inside and sealed up the inside of the unit. I believe the cold air was mixing with the warm air. It seemed to be blowing colder afterwards. Temp on inside was 78 degrees and temp coming out of ducts was 50 degrees. We'll see on our next excursion. Thanks for all the ideas!
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