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Old 05-20-2014, 09:55 PM   #1
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Air conditioning

2014 Kodiak 240 BHSL
I know this subject has been pretty heavily discussed but I still have one question. What is the normal temp difference inside to outside on a working unit?
We live in the mountains at 7K feet and very rarely camp in warmer areas but currently we are camped out and it's in the upper 80's (I know, not bad but hot for us ) I'm looking at my inside/outside thermometer and outside is 86 and inside is 82. That seem to be about the spread no mater what the temp is if it's in the mid 80's or above (ie 89 then inside 85). Is this pretty normal?
I should also point out we came off of a 50 degree night, thermostat is set to 67 and the AC is running non stop until sunset. It almost never stops blowing.
I do have cold air coming out of the vents (3 vent, bathroom, main area and bedroom). At first it was all blowing into the bathroom and the bathroom was very cool. I went and bought a vent that I could close off most of the way to direct the air to the other vents and we set up a small fan in the bathroom to pull that cold air out.
Prior to doing this we were only getting about a 2 degree difference.
The real reason for the question is to see if it's worth the trouble of getting it looked at. As I said we do not do these warmer temps often and I know if I take it in I'll likely loose it for a month +. However if there is a problem for certain then I think I'll give it up for a month to have it operating correctly. I just don't want to get it back and have it cooling at the same rate or maybe just a degree or 2 better.
So back to the original question. What should I expect for an inside temp when it's say.......87 degrees out?

Thanks,
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Old 05-21-2014, 03:03 AM   #2
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I have read on several posts that you should see about a 20 degree difference between the intake air and the "conditioned" air. I would check that first just to make sure your AC is cooling properly. Next, make sure you are getting good airflow out of all ducted vents. There are several models (mine included) where Dutchmen did a really crappy job of sealing the ducts, and 75% of the cold air was being dumped into the attic space. If that's good, then your AC may not be large enough to cool your camper effectively, you have a serious opening somewhere where cool air is escaping, or they did a crappy job insulating your camper. Good luck finding the source of your problems.
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Old 05-21-2014, 03:31 AM   #3
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Thank you

I'll have to get a thermometer I can get into the air register but I'd bet the air coming out of there is 20 degrees colder.
I see people posting on here from Florida, etc where it get's a heck of a lot hotter than I'm seeing. So when the temps for these people are hitting 90's and 100 degrees what are you getting your inside temp down to?
I have great air pressure out at the bathroom which is below the roof unit then weak pressure (but still some) at the other 2 down stream. In the end I'll probably have to take it in and let them look at it. I just have no idea how it should perform.
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Old 05-21-2014, 02:46 PM   #4
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I haven't yet camped during really hot weather in my current rig but in my previous 31' travel trailer with a single 15,000 BTU A/C, on 95+ degree days it struggled to keep the inside temp below 80-85 degrees. Like yours, my A/C ran all day, but there definitely seems like something is wrong with yours only being able to bring the temps down by 4 degrees. Does your AC have a "dump" vent where you can open a vent on the shroud and dump cold air directly from the AC (bypassing the ducts)? If so, you could try opening that and placing a fan on the floor directly beneath to distribute the cold air. I'm not saying that's a permanent fix, but it could help for your current trip, and it will also pinpoint part of the problem on the ducts.
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Old 05-21-2014, 03:36 PM   #5
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Just a thought, but do you have any water dipping off your roof. Possibly frozen?
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Old 05-22-2014, 06:53 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rcharrette View Post
I'll have to get a thermometer I can get into the air register but I'd bet the air coming out of there is 20 degrees colder.
If you have a 20 degree temperature differential then your AC is outsized and you need more BTU.

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