RV A/C upgrade

[MacDaddy67]

My 5th wheel front Dometic 15K BTU AC went out, low freon and its a sealed system...A/C guy wanted $600 to come out and evac the system, fix leak and tap in a valve to add freon too...plus more money if leak was harder to fix....wasnt worth it....
Upgraded to the new Furrion Chill Cube 18K BTU- its basically a mini split for RV roof tops now...variable speed motor, soft start built in, remote control is the thermostat now...took less than an hour to swap out with getting the AC on/off the roof being 90% of the work...
Picked it up for $860 on Amazon and got it in 2 days....if you need a new one I would highly recommend this brand....
Max draw on this is 11.6 Amps...so it is generator friendly and at 18K BTU that is awesome
It is already $90 more than last week, they are flying off the shelves I read on a RV forum..

One caveat though, the furnace thermostat will not work with this unit...( YET) a fix is in the works now they said hopefully around September....I will get a " heat only" thermostat if I need it by then and wire it up from the furnace..if need be

https://www.amazon.com/Furrion-Variable-Rooftop-Conditioner-Low-Profile/dp/B0DM6X2LGY/ref=sr_1_3_pp?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.p2KHBTOupFFuvtcrEkyW7vdw0msYI6hqrnvP2ApQ-JaQxDOZYtka1lcsYOeRi2yVLntJRjE-JIV7ZPCnR6-bPC0vRzTxZSwXbWLipU9mY_Kod5WJbQSbxVErdqSpqSXmN3jMvZhnLIvT5p9a308LzjkgZye1a5uHrXDS-NPXIIP9amXgvPWmaw4dSddNudjGege_w75JM4KsDrPIuTpOGorF9NEPGSoXX64lGsQyHFikyk0j1-E1Ne0-SYL_URpE.RlqF5F5iiv4_mkLgr6WENC_AI3YeFliGN44XtZ2Ikb0&dib_tag=se&hvadid=730984117592&hvdev=c&hvexpln=67&hvlocphy=9027577&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=1371630028403328029--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1371630028403328029&hvtargid=kwd-2366999602518&hydadcr=13861_13379814&keywords=furrion+chill+cube+18k&mcid=0a9af63f50e230ec90af7505be4f83a5&qid=1747181735&sr=8-3

[bboswell]

Great info! Thanks

[Quackerbox]

Did you install it?

[stickemhard3]

Thanks for sharing this. We just bought an RV and I am concerned about the AC keeping up in the summer.

[fowlwaters]

RV ac is not worth working on and they are super easy to install even if you are just wanting to add a 2nd one they are made to go in the existing roof square roof vents.

[bboswell]

Did you install it?

RV AC install is very straight forward once you get the heavy bastage onto the RV roof

[Quackerbox]

RV AC install is very straight forward once you get the heavy bastage onto the RV roof

Yea, a tractor with the ability to get the forks high enough would be a must

[TexasBob]

Did you install it?

I've done a standard one. Hardest part was getting the Dicor off of the roof as I was replacing a vent with an A/C. 4 bolts other than that and a few wires. Pretty crazy how little there is to it. For anyone that doesn't know, some RVs use "double square" screws. Looks like a fancy bit, but it's two orientations of a standard square bit like a kreg screw. No idea why, and I may have hammered in a torx bit before google got me the right answer.

[Dale Moser]

They are no fun to get on the roof, but a couple of things that help.

1. Leave the cover on it. It's an 80lb box made of razor blades otherwise.
2. Lay a piece of plywood on the roof to land it on, so the edges don't punch the roof membrane when you set it down.
3. A ladder that hits the side of the trailer just below the roof line, is much better than one that sticks above.
4. Back your truck up beside the camper, put your AC and your ladder in the bed, and work from there. Less distance to travel up, easier to adjust ladder, less distance to fall.

[bboswell]

Yea, a tractor with the ability to get the forks high enough would be a must

I lifted stacked pallets with the tractor forks to create extra lift height to get mine off/on the roof of mine

[MacDaddy67]

Did you install it?

yes I did...took less than an hour...center the AC over the 14" square hole....wire up three wires...tuck old wires into crawl space.....

Tighten 4 bolts down and it compresses the foam gasket to 1/2".....45 in/# technically.....

Seriously the hardest part is getting it up there and old one off...although I chunked that one off the top....

When my rear one goes out I will replace it with a 12V system that is 10K BTU....will run for 10 hours with a 300 amp hour lithium battery...or 2 150 amp batterys

[Quackerbox]

yes I did...took less than an hour...center the AC over the 14" square hole....wire up three wires...tuck old wires into crawl space.....

Tighten 4 bolts down and it compresses the foam gasket to 1/2".....45 in/# technically.....

Seriously the hardest part is getting it up there and old one off...although I chunked that one off the top....

When my rear one goes out I will replace it with a 12V system that is 10K BTU....will run for 10 hours with a 300 amp hour lithium battery...or 2 150 amp batterys

I had my current camper Ac replaced under warranty and the guy who did it said there's nothing to it. But he had a forklift