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Old 07-17-2017, 03:24 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Thor ACE 30.2 Bunkhouse
State: Nevada
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THOR #5275
Smile AC installed in ACE bedroom

So I ordered a Coleman 13.5 PS and installed it in the bedroom of my 30.2. Getting the wiring in was a bear but its done now and I'm thrilled to have it. I ran the power (10-2) concealed to a boat style receptacle next to the generator. Now while at a campground we can use it for extra cooling or electric heat in the winter months. I know the existing generator cannot power both however we have a small Honda 2000 that I can bring along as required. Most of the time we will have shore power to use. I really wish Thor would have pre-wired the bedroom for an AC. Seriously how hard could that be during manufacture??

It was 110 degrees this weekend and we didn't want to struggle in the heat lifting it up on the roof. I backed the RV up to the house and just carried it out the window of the house onto the RV. It wasn't too difficult once the sun went down. We tried during the day with a ladder but the sun quickly heated up both the ladder and the AC cover from the heat. My neighbors probably think i'm crazy but hey it got the job done.
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Old 07-17-2017, 04:22 PM   #2
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Cool! In more ways than one. How did you end up running the wires?
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Old 07-17-2017, 04:39 PM   #3
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I'd love to hear more about how you ran wire, cost, time and pics. I'm wanting to do this in my Four Winds which is a similar floor plan. I have power vents. Figured on using the wire from the vent to pull the right sized wire. Looks like a nice clean install. Nice job.
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Old 07-17-2017, 04:45 PM   #4
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Wow! 10-2 seems like overkill for a single 13,500 AC. I would have thought 14-2 would suffice.
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Old 07-17-2017, 05:04 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Tfryman View Post
Wow! 10-2 seems like overkill for a single 13,500 AC. I would have thought 14-2 would suffice.
Actually if you use a wire gauge calculator with 10' of wire and 20 amps (X1.25 for a single motor) you come out with 12 gauge wire recommended. I always like to go up one size so 10 gauge is not out of line. While the 13.5 only draws 15.3 amps, startup is higher. My question is why 10-2? This is a 110v install with a 3 prong plug. Shouldn't it be a 10 or 12-3.
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Old 07-17-2017, 05:23 PM   #6
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Good job! Did the same thing last year. A single unit has a hard time keeping up in 90+. I wired mine the same for a separate plug into the 20 amp pedestal and also installed a 20 amp breaker into the rv panel so I can plug it in and run either one from the generator or pedestal. I have actually run both at the same time and see right at 30 amps with nothing else on electric. The good thing about the bedroom one I installed is it blows the cold air straight down the middle of the rv. A good surge protector helps to monitor voltage, amps and any errors plus could save your appliances. Here's how I got mine on the roof. The unit had a wooden skid mounted to it. Tied a rope on and pulled it up on top by myself. Very easy.
The hardest part was pulling that stiff wire through the roof channel and down the wall to the black tank compartment.
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Old 07-17-2017, 06:35 PM   #7
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My mistake the wire was 10-3. Green, White and Black. The manual online I read suggested 10 gauge and the Home Cheapo cost was similar so I bought the lower resistance. I wanted to use this wire to allow powering the heating element as well. Having the electric heater should save propane in the winter months.

As for routing the wire I drilled a hole in the drivers side of the steel structure that holds the fan. This allowed access to the adjacent Styrofoam duct that runs the length of the coach. The back of the ACE has a panel attached with 6 screws that when removed exposes the camera and other wiring. Using a long drill from Home depot I was able to make a hole in the 2 by 4 at the end of the cooling duct. This got the wire to the very back of the coach where the camera wire, etc is. There is a channel in the back wall that runs to the RV floor that was very easy to route.

Now I need to purchase a pigtail splitter that allows 50 amp to 30/20 amp connections. Just in case the campground wire pedistal doesn't have a normal plug next to the 30/50 amp.
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Old 07-17-2017, 08:06 PM   #8
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Pigtail splitter

Quote:
Originally Posted by davepetroski View Post
My mistake the wire was 10-3. Green, White and Black. The manual online I read suggested 10 gauge and the Home Cheapo cost was similar so I bought the lower resistance. I wanted to use this wire to allow powering the heating element as well. Having the electric heater should save propane in the winter months.

As for routing the wire I drilled a hole in the drivers side of the steel structure that holds the fan. This allowed access to the adjacent Styrofoam duct that runs the length of the coach. The back of the ACE has a panel attached with 6 screws that when removed exposes the camera and other wiring. Using a long drill from Home depot I was able to make a hole in the 2 by 4 at the end of the cooling duct. This got the wire to the very back of the coach where the camera wire, etc is. There is a channel in the back wall that runs to the RV floor that was very easy to route.

Now I need to purchase a pigtail splitter that allows 50 amp to 30/20 amp connections. Just in case the campground wire pedistal doesn't have a normal plug next to the 30/50 amp.

Here's the splitter I bought on Amazon to power my added A/C. It works great.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 07-18-2017, 06:24 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oneilkeys View Post
Actually if you use a wire gauge calculator with 10' of wire and 20 amps (X1.25 for a single motor) you come out with 12 gauge wire recommended. I always like to go up one size so 10 gauge is not out of line. While the 13.5 only draws 15.3 amps, startup is higher. My question is why 10-2? This is a 110v install with a 3 prong plug. Shouldn't it be a 10 or 12-3.
Quote:
Originally Posted by davepetroski View Post
My mistake the wire was 10-3. Green, White and Black. The manual online I read suggested 10 gauge and the Home Cheapo cost was similar so I bought the lower resistance. I wanted to use this wire to allow powering the heating element as well. Having the electric heater should save propane in the winter months.

As for routing the wire I drilled a hole in the drivers side of the steel structure that holds the fan. This allowed access to the adjacent Styrofoam duct that runs the length of the coach. The back of the ACE has a panel attached with 6 screws that when removed exposes the camera and other wiring. Using a long drill from Home depot I was able to make a hole in the 2 by 4 at the end of the cooling duct. This got the wire to the very back of the coach where the camera wire, etc is. There is a channel in the back wall that runs to the RV floor that was very easy to route.

Now I need to purchase a pigtail splitter that allows 50 amp to 30/20 amp connections. Just in case the campground wire pedistal doesn't have a normal plug next to the 30/50 amp.
No, it was 10-2. The ground is not counted as an active conductor so you have the Hot, Neutral, and ground wires in a #-2 cable.
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Old 07-18-2017, 08:02 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davepetroski View Post
My mistake the wire was 10-3. Green, White and Black. The manual online I read suggested 10 gauge and the Home Cheapo cost was similar so I bought the lower resistance. I wanted to use this wire to allow powering the heating element as well. Having the electric heater should save propane in the winter months.

As for routing the wire I drilled a hole in the drivers side of the steel structure that holds the fan. This allowed access to the adjacent Styrofoam duct that runs the length of the coach. The back of the ACE has a panel attached with 6 screws that when removed exposes the camera and other wiring. Using a long drill from Home depot I was able to make a hole in the 2 by 4 at the end of the cooling duct. This got the wire to the very back of the coach where the camera wire, etc is. There is a channel in the back wall that runs to the RV floor that was very easy to route.

Now I need to purchase a pigtail splitter that allows 50 amp to 30/20 amp connections. Just in case the campground wire pedistal doesn't have a normal plug next to the 30/50 amp.
A couple times I had issues with the 20 amp pedestal receptacle would trip, I plugged my 30 amp cord into the 50 amp plug and the 20 amp AC plug into a 30 amp adapter. Utilizing the 50 and 30 amp pedestal plugs.
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Old 07-18-2017, 08:31 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davepetroski View Post
So I ordered a Coleman 13.5 PS and installed it in the bedroom of my 30.2. Getting the wiring in was a bear but its done now and I'm thrilled to have it. I ran the power (10-2) concealed to a boat style receptacle next to the generator. Now while at a campground we can use it for extra cooling or electric heat in the winter months. I know the existing generator cannot power both however we have a small Honda 2000 that I can bring along as required. Most of the time we will have shore power to use. I really wish Thor would have pre-wired the bedroom for an AC. Seriously how hard could that be during manufacture??


....cut.....
Nice job.

Just curious if you plan to power the 13,500 Power Saver with the 2000-watt Honda? I've seen a few reports of 11,000 BTU/hr PS A/Cs run from a small 2000 Honda, but don't recall a 13,500 PS size. Granted, the 13,500 doesn't pull that much more power than the 11,000.

If it could run on a 2000-watt generator, how far off would you be from running two A/Cs from 4,000 watt generator provided nothing else is on? It's interesting that Onan rates the 2800 watt generator to power a 13,500 PS plus 600-watt base load with an additional 300 watts available.



I've been interested in Hondas powering A/Cs because some vans that don't have built-in generators often rely on 2000s as needed.
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Old 07-18-2017, 08:34 PM   #12
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I used to have a Lance truck camper that had a Coleman AC on the roof. It ran just fine with the Honda however I cannot recall what model it was. I am hopeful that the power saving features of the new Coleman will help with this.
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Old 07-18-2017, 08:52 PM   #13
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Yeah, the 13,500 Power Saver is rated not much over 10 Amps under standard conditions. Your desert conditions should be a little higher. The 11,000 PS (more popular in vans) is rated under 10 Amps (standard conditions), which is probably why Jayco uses two of them with 30-Amp and 4,000-watt Onan in some motorhomes.

Onan specs also make reference to a 7,800 BTU/hr high efficiency A/C but I've never seen one that size as a roof mounted unit. The smallest I've seen are typically 9,200 BTU/hr, but they use more power than the Power Savers. The small 9200 seem popular in truck campers and small trailers.
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