Thor Forums

[captmetal]

ok, done with installing two new a/c units, a/c units seem to be thermostat sensitive, so be sure you get the correct model of unit to go with the a/c unit, your gonna be sold a new white plastic grill assembly, you need it, it was design as a install once only piece, almost always have to break it off, but you do gets new filter with it.

the wiring diagram is a nice label under the cover of the a/c unit. put your leveling jacks down to stop the coach from rocking, important when your 14 feet in the air.

the units them selves are easy to install, 4 bolts hold the unit down, new seal comes with unit. but at 80lbs it is a handful to manage easy to fall or drop unit. i had my mechanics tied off with safety harness and a large lift truck to hoist it up. a person inside is need to see the alignment of the bolt holes. can't adjust unit from inside the coach. wiring is easy.

the mess comes with lousy design by thor, and some by dometic. in the photo were i took off the cover you will see large foam gasket, this gasket seals the air chamber behind the cooling fan a old gasket here will reduce air flow through condenser.

on the inside you will 2 photos one show the hole about 2 x 6 inches and a vent tube 1 x 4 inches, this vent tube is for air flow into the a/c ducts. you can imagine how much air flow is lost to the roof of the coach. another photo shows the excess hole filled with spray foam. ( and holes for wires need to be foamed filled to ) the factory duct is way to small to move any good amount of air. did filling the holes improve flow through the a/c ducts, YES it did, would say i doubled air flow, but it is still very poor.

my plan is use the non-duct option and use a additional table fan to blow the cold air around the coach especially to the loft area. ( i bought a milwaukee tool 18v cordless fan forgot photo battery will run it for 18 hours) this is working well.
the air temp out of the new units was 49f really cold now!

now the the metal divider plate that has been the subject of conversation in the last few days, i have 2 photos here. look at the one installed without foam. you will see some small bumps, this design was very stupid, this can not been seen in the photo but between each bump there is a small horizontal slot (hole) this will leak air, the foam was put on to block air loss, but the foam may or may not be installed correctly. the foam is also used to stop leakage on the sides of the divider plate , again may or may not be done correctly.

the insulation of the divider plate may be theoretically correct but in practice a non-issue. the foam is a hole sealing function only.

it was mid 80's in the shop today and i was able to get the coach down to 65 deg pretty quick, outside in the hot sun probably a bit longer.

2013 thor outlaw LS