GypsyR
RVF VIP
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2021
- Messages
- 387
- Location
- upstate SC
- RV Year
- 1993
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Kountry Aire
- RV Length
- 38 feet
- Chassis
- F53
- Engine
- 7.5
- TOW/TOAD
- Matrix
- Fulltimer
- No
I posted this somewhere else too but no one there seemed interested.
My 35 year Penguin rooftop AC self destructed some time back. Toasted the compressor, fan motor, and control board all at once. After finding out the control board in particular was non-repairable AND that there were no campatible news ones to be had I figured there was no point in trying to mess with the rest of it. About that time I happened upon a screaming deal on an installed, but never used, Brisk Air II. Was on a new ambulance but they wanted a 12 volt unit or something. Great for me, but it was a through ceiling type and my system is ducted with a remote thermostat. This one had zero onboard controls. I figured I would find some control board that would work. I couldn't. My thermostat is and antique and positioned far enough away from the unit to make new wiring to it not an option.
So I spent a LOT of time looking at wiring diagrams trying to figure out how to get something to interface with my antique wiring that wouldn't cost an arm and leg. I get that RV stuff isn't cheap but I didn't want to buy something expensive and non-returnable only to have it not work with my setup. Not cheap is bearable, flushing dollars down the john not so much.
So I straight wired it, kind of had to have it. Actually how I bench tested it to make sure it worked when I bought it. This means I wired it to the breaker (which powers nothing but that one AC). Breaker on, the AC goes to full tilt boogie. Basically the exact opposite of a soft-start and not really what you want to be doing. But it worked. Full on AC, along with the rear unit during hot days and then just the regulated rear AC at night. Worked for most situations but less than satisfactory.
I ran across some Chinses controllers for mini-splits. Cheap. $25 later I had one. Wired it in. On issue is that it has a wired in remote. But that remote is NOT the thermostat. Also the wires are only like three feet long. So I drilled a small (carefully placed) hole in my ceiling and mounted it there. It kind of sort of worked but the compressor would only come on a minute and cycle off. I messed with the setup more than I'd like to admit but no dice. I had a feeling maybe the evaporator temperature sensor was faulty. Maybe.
I decided to take another shot at one. The first one had three buttons and some tiny LEDs. This one had an actual numerical temperature display, along with the same buttons and a different board. Exact same wireless remote though. About $70 this time, eBay. It works.
Upsides, It's now controllable, No on and off with the breaker any more. If you can't find the remote you can't mess with the settings but you can turn it on (to "auto") and off by the buttons. Temperature and cooling temperature displays. Snazzy remote you can use anywhere in sight of the display. I can now control the front AC while driving. Big plus! Probably can (and will) be able to add a soft start to it.
Downsides. It never stops. Sort of. You can shut it down, of course. Or set it to "sleep" for five hours (actually handy). But when on it never shuts down. This is because it doesn't have a remote temperature sensing thermostat, it samples air from the return air duct and for that sample to be useful the fan has to be running. The fan at least never stops. On "auto" the compressor cycles on and off and the fan goes to whichever of three speeds it thinks appropriate. So it works fine, just the fan never shuts down completely. The display is in Celsius. And I can't seem to change it. And I'm not sure but I feel like on high cool it's not working quite as hard as it was when straight wired. Maybe.
All in all I'm calling it a success. And I'm out a hundred dollar bill versus hundreds for some "correct" Dometic parts and probably a lot more effort making them work.
My 35 year Penguin rooftop AC self destructed some time back. Toasted the compressor, fan motor, and control board all at once. After finding out the control board in particular was non-repairable AND that there were no campatible news ones to be had I figured there was no point in trying to mess with the rest of it. About that time I happened upon a screaming deal on an installed, but never used, Brisk Air II. Was on a new ambulance but they wanted a 12 volt unit or something. Great for me, but it was a through ceiling type and my system is ducted with a remote thermostat. This one had zero onboard controls. I figured I would find some control board that would work. I couldn't. My thermostat is and antique and positioned far enough away from the unit to make new wiring to it not an option.
So I spent a LOT of time looking at wiring diagrams trying to figure out how to get something to interface with my antique wiring that wouldn't cost an arm and leg. I get that RV stuff isn't cheap but I didn't want to buy something expensive and non-returnable only to have it not work with my setup. Not cheap is bearable, flushing dollars down the john not so much.
So I straight wired it, kind of had to have it. Actually how I bench tested it to make sure it worked when I bought it. This means I wired it to the breaker (which powers nothing but that one AC). Breaker on, the AC goes to full tilt boogie. Basically the exact opposite of a soft-start and not really what you want to be doing. But it worked. Full on AC, along with the rear unit during hot days and then just the regulated rear AC at night. Worked for most situations but less than satisfactory.
I ran across some Chinses controllers for mini-splits. Cheap. $25 later I had one. Wired it in. On issue is that it has a wired in remote. But that remote is NOT the thermostat. Also the wires are only like three feet long. So I drilled a small (carefully placed) hole in my ceiling and mounted it there. It kind of sort of worked but the compressor would only come on a minute and cycle off. I messed with the setup more than I'd like to admit but no dice. I had a feeling maybe the evaporator temperature sensor was faulty. Maybe.
I decided to take another shot at one. The first one had three buttons and some tiny LEDs. This one had an actual numerical temperature display, along with the same buttons and a different board. Exact same wireless remote though. About $70 this time, eBay. It works.
Upsides, It's now controllable, No on and off with the breaker any more. If you can't find the remote you can't mess with the settings but you can turn it on (to "auto") and off by the buttons. Temperature and cooling temperature displays. Snazzy remote you can use anywhere in sight of the display. I can now control the front AC while driving. Big plus! Probably can (and will) be able to add a soft start to it.
Downsides. It never stops. Sort of. You can shut it down, of course. Or set it to "sleep" for five hours (actually handy). But when on it never shuts down. This is because it doesn't have a remote temperature sensing thermostat, it samples air from the return air duct and for that sample to be useful the fan has to be running. The fan at least never stops. On "auto" the compressor cycles on and off and the fan goes to whichever of three speeds it thinks appropriate. So it works fine, just the fan never shuts down completely. The display is in Celsius. And I can't seem to change it. And I'm not sure but I feel like on high cool it's not working quite as hard as it was when straight wired. Maybe.
All in all I'm calling it a success. And I'm out a hundred dollar bill versus hundreds for some "correct" Dometic parts and probably a lot more effort making them work.
