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Old 11-03-2015, 03:19 PM   #1
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Voltage 3950 main area air conditioner low airflow

I started this thread because I don't want to hijack the other guy's thread about garage AC.

I'm thinking of replacing the round vents with larger ones that only direct the air one way. Maybe adding more vents. Anybody either of these?

Also, sometimes there's a very low frequency whistling or fluttering coming from the return air ducts. Is that because they're collapsing? Someone mentioned stuffing 1x2's into the duct - how long a piece did you use?

Thanks.

Joe
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Old 11-03-2015, 03:54 PM   #2
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Some of us use these vents. http://www.dwincorp.com/products/10/...C-Ceiling-Vent

They work at directing the air flow where you want it. Can't really add more vents unless you open the ceiling and tie into the ductwork.


The whistling is a guess. It could be partial collapse or loose tape or misaligned ducting or .....................
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Old 11-03-2015, 03:55 PM   #3
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Here's what I had to do to mine: Remove the A/C unit on the roof and inspect the metal tape job under it in the plenum ducts. Most of ours were poorly done and the tape was wrapped up in a ball blocking the ducts. Once that is cleaned out and the new tape applied the A/C can be reinstalled. This procedure helps keep the cold air in the ducts and not leak into the ceiling.

Next you have to replace the tape applied to the duct vents in the ceiling. I also replaced the screw-in vents with directional, louvered vents called Spaceports Venting Products / AC Vents / "Spaceport" #8841 Fully Adjustable RV AC Ceiling Vent - DW Inc.

Lastly I inspected the two intake vents and found that the duct work was collapsing. I had a couple of 1"x1" pieces of PVC laying around and found I could jam those into the vent and hold it open.

Once these three procedures were done, I had a good strong breeze flowing out of the vents. Afterwards we went camping and normally I would have had the main and bedroom A/C's going but the main now worked fine by itself.
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Old 11-03-2015, 04:17 PM   #4
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Look at increasing the size of the intake also. The more air it can suck in, the more it can push out...obviously there comes a point of equilibrium, but our intake/outflows aren't sized to the full potential of the AC unit.

Cale
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Old 11-03-2015, 08:31 PM   #5
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Lastly I inspected the two intake vents and found that the duct work was collapsing. I had a couple of 1"x1" pieces of PVC laying around and found I could jam those into the vent and hold it open.
Ooh I like that idea. Are the ducts really only 1" high?
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Old 11-05-2015, 12:44 PM   #6
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My problem was in the bedroom... The front ac ties into the living area and the divider inside the distribution box was laying over allowing it to recirculate most of the air inside the front unit. The bedroom and bath would still be cool even though the front unit was not working 100%. I fixed the divider and got a new load of construction debris out of the living room vents.
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Old 11-05-2015, 12:47 PM   #7
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the divider inside the distribution box was laying over
Is that inside the bedroom AC?
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Old 11-05-2015, 01:37 PM   #8
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Yes, take the cover off from inside.
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Old 11-07-2015, 01:07 PM   #9
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I finally got a chance to look inside the ducts, etc.

The divider in the front ac was a little bit loose so for sure some air was recirculating inside the box. I fixed that and the entrance to the ducts with aluminum tape.

On a different adventure I had re-taped all the main area vents. This time I did the two in the bedroom. On one side, balled up tape must have been blocking 75% on the airflow to the main area. The other side maybe only 50%.

I took off a return vent cover and with a mirror was able to spy all the way across to the other return vent - surprisingly, it was clear. The hole in the roof going to the ac is only about 4x8" so I'm not sure making the return vents bigger will have any effect.

I'm definitely going to get some of those directional vents. Check the photo to see how my 'directional vent' acts as a poor man's garage ac:

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Old 11-10-2015, 01:28 PM   #10
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Since you are talking AC does anyone know what I am doing wrong, when I turn on my heater the AC blows cold air out also? Any help would be appreciated.
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Old 11-10-2015, 01:47 PM   #11
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You probably have the fan set to "ON" at the thermostat.
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Old 11-10-2015, 01:48 PM   #12
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Since you are talking AC does anyone know what I am doing wrong, when I turn on my heater the AC blows cold air out also? Any help would be appreciated.
Check your FAN setting...

If you have the CCC2 thermostat (Zoned areas), the Fan setting should be on AUTO. If it is on anything else (HIGH, MED, LOW), it will also come on with your furnace.
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Old 11-11-2015, 11:26 AM   #13
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Not to hijack the thread, but since we are talking about the CCC2 thermostat and we are in the winter months running the heat.....

I have seen a CCC thermostat that looks exactly like ours, but has a dehumidify option on it, bottom right button IIRC. In the winter with only the furnace running, humidity tends to climb throughout the trailer...does anyone know if the Dometic thermostat with Dehumidify will work??

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Old 11-11-2015, 01:14 PM   #14
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does anyone know if the Dometic thermostat with Dehumidify will work??
I don't have that button on my thermostat. Scanning the operator's manual, it appears your a/c has to be 'special' to dehumidify.

I don't think dehumidify would help with my air circulation problem.
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Old 11-11-2015, 05:20 PM   #15
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Thanks, I will try Auto as the fan does not have an off setting
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Old 11-11-2015, 11:07 PM   #16
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Taking the advice of others to check the vent openings for proper taping, I made use of some recently nice weather here in Maryland and pulled each vent and return to check them out. Not surprising that I found 4 of the 8 vent openings with missing tape and gaps between the duct and the ceiling. Worth my efforts to repair them. Airflow from all vents have improved tremendously and now feel much better that I'm no longer going to air condition my "attick" space. So simple yet so difficult for the factory to do it right!
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Old 11-12-2015, 05:57 PM   #17
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Mother2001, If the A/C still comes on with the heater and you can't get it to work any other way, My friends RV did that, so I had him turn off the A/C, by turning off the power at the Breaker, until you can make the thermostat work?
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Old 11-14-2015, 01:59 AM   #18
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I believe power to the t-stat must be cut for at least 20 minutes to completely reset it.
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Old 11-14-2015, 11:57 AM   #19
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On the bright side, if the main fan (no AC compressor) is running while the heat is also running, the rising heat may be distributed throughout the trailer....assuming it hasn't cooled down a whole lot...

Cale
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