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Old 06-29-2018, 10:45 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2
State: Georgia
Posts: 113
THOR #5927
How we stay cool with one 15K BTU air conditioner in our 16 Axis 25.2

I thought I would take the time to write up how we stayed cool during the last trip we made. The daytime highs were between 90 and 98 for the 4 day trek from Utah back to Atlanta. And, we had no problem keeping the Axis cool for the entire trip.

We knew going in to buying the Axis, that keeping it cool was probably going to the biggest issue (thanks to this forum). So, after a few improvements, and some good thermal management, we had no issue keeping the RV down in the 72-74 degree range.

Improvements that we made:
1. We put in a curtain behind the captains chairs. I used this as the track and used this as the curtains and these curtain carriers. I had to hem them up some and we also went to a fabric store and lined the curtains with fleece. (I also learned that I shouldn't quit my day job to sew curtains!).
2. We made "pillows" for the vents. I simply used some foam that I had laying around and the left over fleece from the curtains. Or, you could just buy these.
3. Used windshield shades for all of the windows except for the kitchen sink window. We used windshield shades that we cut down to fit each window because we were on a trip (and dying from the heat) and the only thing around was Walmart. You could use Reflectix if you have a good big box hardware store around.
4. We added vent to the cover of the AC that has been discussed all over this forum. If you don't think this will help, take off the cover on your AC and turn it on. It will blow you away--literally.
5. Windshield shades for the main window in the cab area. We used this. The neat thing that I discovered (unfortunately on the last day of the trip) is that if you place the top in first, there is enough of an overhang from the trim at the top of the windshield to hold them in place.
6. I taped off the wholes in the outside shower. On the last trip, I was lounging on the sofa and there was a draft coming up behind the sofa from the outside shower. So, I just took some metalic duct sealing tape and taped over the holes in the external shower--no more draft.

With all of these improvements in place, it all became a matter of thermal management. We discovered that we needed to start the air in the house we are going to atleast 2 days before our arrival to get the house cool. It took that long to get the 85 degree house down in to the low 70s. There is a lot of thermal mass there--so, you not only have to cool the air, you also have to cool everything else. That got me thinking about how we were miserable when we got off the road on our trips and the RV was over 90 and the air would take forever to cool.

So, on this last trip, we would break down camp each morning and leave the curtain open. The cab AC would keep everything cool up until around lunch time. By that time, the back of the RV would be around 82ish. We fired up the generator to make lunch and start the AC. We'd set it 78-80 and let it run for the rest of the driving that day. When we got to our destination, I'd put up the windshield shade, drop the built in shade, put the curtains along the windows, and pull the curtain behind the seats. It took the AC no time at all to get the RV down to 74.

Possible additions I might make for the next trip (which will be just as hot) are:
1. Right angle faucet for outside shower (so it doesn't have to go in and back out of the box), or simply cap it off and insulate the entire cavity.
2. I will probably make passenger and driver window shades from Reflectix. The cap still get's really hot.

I hope this helps. I don't think any of these ideas are particularly novel (I did get most of them from the forum). But, all together they seem to work really well.

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Old 06-30-2018, 12:32 AM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: compass 23tw
State: California
Posts: 229
THOR #7466
Quote:
Originally Posted by BSexton View Post
I thought I would take the time to write up how we stayed cool during the last trip we made. The daytime highs were between 90 and 98 for the 4 day trek from Utah back to Atlanta. And, we had no problem keeping the Axis cool for the entire trip.

We knew going in to buying the Axis, that keeping it cool was probably going to the biggest issue (thanks to this forum). So, after a few improvements, and some good thermal management, we had no issue keeping the RV down in the 72-74 degree range.

Improvements that we made:
1. We put in a curtain behind the captains chairs. I used this as the track and used this as the curtains and these curtain carriers. I had to hem them up some and we also went to a fabric store and lined the curtains with fleece. (I also learned that I shouldn't quit my day job to sew curtains!).
2. We made "pillows" for the vents. I simply used some foam that I had laying around and the left over fleece from the curtains. Or, you could just buy these.
3. Used windshield shades for all of the windows except for the kitchen sink window. We used windshield shades that we cut down to fit each window because we were on a trip (and dying from the heat) and the only thing around was Walmart. You could use Reflectix if you have a good big box hardware store around.
4. We added vent to the cover of the AC that has been discussed all over this forum. If you don't think this will help, take off the cover on your AC and turn it on. It will blow you away--literally.
5. Windshield shades for the main window in the cab area. We used this. The neat thing that I discovered (unfortunately on the last day of the trip) is that if you place the top in first, there is enough of an overhang from the trim at the top of the windshield to hold them in place.
6. I taped off the wholes in the outside shower. On the last trip, I was lounging on the sofa and there was a draft coming up behind the sofa from the outside shower. So, I just took some metalic duct sealing tape and taped over the holes in the external shower--no more draft.

With all of these improvements in place, it all became a matter of thermal management. We discovered that we needed to start the air in the house we are going to atleast 2 days before our arrival to get the house cool. It took that long to get the 85 degree house down in to the low 70s. There is a lot of thermal mass there--so, you not only have to cool the air, you also have to cool everything else. That got me thinking about how we were miserable when we got off the road on our trips and the RV was over 90 and the air would take forever to cool.

So, on this last trip, we would break down camp each morning and leave the curtain open. The cab AC would keep everything cool up until around lunch time. By that time, the back of the RV would be around 82ish. We fired up the generator to make lunch and start the AC. We'd set it 78-80 and let it run for the rest of the driving that day. When we got to our destination, I'd put up the windshield shade, drop the built in shade, put the curtains along the windows, and pull the curtain behind the seats. It took the AC no time at all to get the RV down to 74.

Possible additions I might make for the next trip (which will be just as hot) are:
1. Right angle faucet for outside shower (so it doesn't have to go in and back out of the box), or simply cap it off and insulate the entire cavity.
2. I will probably make passenger and driver window shades from Reflectix. The cap still get's really hot.

I hope this helps. I don't think any of these ideas are particularly novel (I did get most of them from the forum). But, all together they seem to work really well.

thank you for the time to give us heads up
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Old 06-30-2018, 12:41 AM   #3
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THOR #1150
Note that if you cover the front window on the outside (either a Magneshade, or a Sunguard shade) you'll be a lot better off keeping all that thermal energy outside the window to begin with.
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Old 06-30-2018, 01:10 AM   #4
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Model: Four Winds 31W
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THOR #7230
Did you say you put a vent on top of your roof ac unit? Do you happen to have a picture of what you used and did?
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Old 06-30-2018, 01:41 AM   #5
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Model: Forest River Forester 235
State: Indiana
Posts: 4,883
THOR #6826
Quote:
Originally Posted by BSexton View Post
I thought I would take the time to write up how we stayed cool during the last trip we made. The daytime highs were between 90 and 98 for the 4 day trek from Utah back to Atlanta. And, we had no problem keeping the Axis cool for the entire trip.

We knew going in to buying the Axis, that keeping it cool was probably going to the biggest issue (thanks to this forum). So, after a few improvements, and some good thermal management, we had no issue keeping the RV down in the 72-74 degree range.

Improvements that we made:
1. We put in a curtain behind the captains chairs. I used this as the track and used this as the curtains and these curtain carriers. I had to hem them up some and we also went to a fabric store and lined the curtains with fleece. (I also learned that I shouldn't quit my day job to sew curtains!).
2. We made "pillows" for the vents. I simply used some foam that I had laying around and the left over fleece from the curtains. Or, you could just buy these.
3. Used windshield shades for all of the windows except for the kitchen sink window. We used windshield shades that we cut down to fit each window because we were on a trip (and dying from the heat) and the only thing around was Walmart. You could use Reflectix if you have a good big box hardware store around.
4. We added vent to the cover of the AC that has been discussed all over this forum. If you don't think this will help, take off the cover on your AC and turn it on. It will blow you away--literally.
5. Windshield shades for the main window in the cab area. We used this. The neat thing that I discovered (unfortunately on the last day of the trip) is that if you place the top in first, there is enough of an overhang from the trim at the top of the windshield to hold them in place.
6. I taped off the wholes in the outside shower. On the last trip, I was lounging on the sofa and there was a draft coming up behind the sofa from the outside shower. So, I just took some metalic duct sealing tape and taped over the holes in the external shower--no more draft.

With all of these improvements in place, it all became a matter of thermal management. We discovered that we needed to start the air in the house we are going to atleast 2 days before our arrival to get the house cool. It took that long to get the 85 degree house down in to the low 70s. There is a lot of thermal mass there--so, you not only have to cool the air, you also have to cool everything else. That got me thinking about how we were miserable when we got off the road on our trips and the RV was over 90 and the air would take forever to cool.

So, on this last trip, we would break down camp each morning and leave the curtain open. The cab AC would keep everything cool up until around lunch time. By that time, the back of the RV would be around 82ish. We fired up the generator to make lunch and start the AC. We'd set it 78-80 and let it run for the rest of the driving that day. When we got to our destination, I'd put up the windshield shade, drop the built in shade, put the curtains along the windows, and pull the curtain behind the seats. It took the AC no time at all to get the RV down to 74.

Possible additions I might make for the next trip (which will be just as hot) are:
1. Right angle faucet for outside shower (so it doesn't have to go in and back out of the box), or simply cap it off and insulate the entire cavity.
2. I will probably make passenger and driver window shades from Reflectix. The cap still get's really hot.

I hope this helps. I don't think any of these ideas are particularly novel (I did get most of them from the forum). But, all together they seem to work really well.


All good stuff. I’m in the mid 90s this week and keeping my 29 ft class A under control with just the one unit. It’s working pretty hard, but it’s getting the job done. If you haven’t checked the position of the baffle in your air conditioner’s cover you might want to do so. Mine was significantly out of position and straightening it up and securing it with metal tape made a huge difference. Enjoy your travels.
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Old 06-30-2018, 01:55 AM   #6
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2
State: Georgia
Posts: 113
THOR #5927
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tacouser View Post
Did you say you put a vent on top of your roof ac unit? Do you happen to have a picture of what you used and did?


No, it is on the inside cover right under the cold air output of the AC. Do a search and you can find lots of posts on that.
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Old 06-30-2018, 01:57 AM   #7
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2
State: Georgia
Posts: 113
THOR #5927
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete'sMH View Post
All good stuff. I’m in the mid 90s this week and keeping my 29 ft class A under control with just the one unit. It’s working pretty hard, but it’s getting the job done. If you haven’t checked the position of the baffle in your air conditioner’s cover you might want to do so. Mine was significantly out of position and straightening it up and securing it with metal tape made a huge difference. Enjoy your travels.


Thanks, Pete for reminding me about that! Ours was also out of place. I also secured it with metal tape and made sure that the supply and output sides didn’t mix.
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Old 06-30-2018, 03:10 AM   #8
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Model: Windsport 29M
State: Pennsylvania
Posts: 223
THOR #10254
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tacouser View Post
Did you say you put a vent on top of your roof ac unit? Do you happen to have a picture of what you used and did?

here's a post that explains the AC vent being added directly under the main air flow....

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Old 07-09-2018, 03:31 PM   #9
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2017 Axis 25.4
State: Arkansas
Posts: 2,669
THOR #12231
My Axis was like yours until I make some major improvements. First thing I would look at is where the "Thermistor Probe" is located inside the RV on the old air return side (single white wire going into the aluminum fins). Mine was only one inch from the bottom. I moved it up about two inches and temp dropped 10 deg then I moved it up another 1.5 or so and I saw another 10 deg drop. Now when I crank up my AC (no matter what interior temp is) and stick my portable AC temp probe in the vents on the cover it show around 45 deg output within a few minutes (I was at 65 deg before). This mod dont cost anything either but check after a couple of hours to make sure its not frosting up - if it does move it down an half an inch or so. The 2nd major mod (but expensive) is "Ceramic Window Tint". I will put a post out something this week on that subject. I no longer need to use the reflective bubble wrap in the windows unless I want to black it out for privacy or am sitting all day in spot. Plus I like to look out my windows so I don’t like to feel like im living in a cave. I hope this helps.
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