2010 Winnie DP's to all have roof air conditioners instead of basement air (?)

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FrontrangeRVer

FrontrangeRVer

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I have heard this, and wondered if this is true......something about the emissions that the new diesels built after Jan 1 2010, will have to use the space where the basement air currently resides.

I also wonder if the basement air eventually goes away in the future (for the gas and Fred units).

With the cooling capacity and non-redunduntcy of the basement air, we won't own another unit with basement air.  I know some love them, but we don't.
 
We just took the tour yesterday. I thought that the guide said that all DP's had the basement air with the exception of the greater than 40' units which needed 3 roof air conditioners. From this, the basement air probably does not work very well on the larger 42 and 45 footers. However I could have misunderstood.
 
Yup - I think Wayne is on-target.  AFAIK, only the 42' model has roof air.  The basement air is fine for me - once I add a roof air in the center Fantastic vent hole, I'll be good  :)

The trick is being at the right elevation at the appropriate time of the year (we're currently at about 4500'.)
 
I had also originally heard that only the 42' model would have the roof airs, but with the new emissions, the DP's built after 2010 would take up the basement space, and now ALL the DP's from Winnie will be roof airs.  Thats the new rumor and I am looking for confirmation.
 
John Canfield said:
The basement air is fine for me - once I add a roof air in the center Fantastic vent hole, I'll be good  :)
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My 2001 34' Suncruiser had basement air and it worked great. My new 38' Meridian has abasement air unit. I was going to work in the motorhome this weekend so I turned the AC to 78 in the morning when the outside temp was around 80. At 4:00 in the afternoon with the AC running all day, the outside temp was 98 and the inside temp was 80. This was with every shade closed and both vents covered.

It's been in to the dealer twice about this who says there's nothing wrong with the AC. I have been thinking about a roof AC, too.
 
A temperature differential of 20F is all that an RV A/C unit is designed to maintain, so 80 inside while 98 outside is normal.  If the RV were in the sun it's excellent.
 
Ned said:
A temperature differential of 20F is all that an RV A/C unit is designed to maintain, so 80 inside while 98 outside is normal.  If the RV were in the sun it's excellent.
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A 1981 Foretravel did better than that. So did the Suncruiser. What do RVers in Arizona do? When it's 110 out, 90 inside is OK?

I'm thinking that more BTUs will do better. I'm only disappointed because this is the nicest coach I ever had and it has the poorest AC performance of any that I have had. 
 
My understanding is the the oft-mentioned 20 degree differential is between the intake and output of the A/C unit.  In an RV the intake is inside air (just like selecting 'Max Cool' or 'Recirculate' in your car), not outside air.  So, assuming enough capacity, one should be able to get more than a 20 degree drop inside compared to the outside temperature.
 
We were in Vegas last week where it was 107F.  Our basement air ran all day and maintained our 39 foot Journey at 80F (could never make 79F until the sun got lower).  It felt good when compared to the outside temp.  We kept the awnings out and the shades down to help reduce the heat load.  Just like winter in Minnesota in reverse.

At least no condensate ran off the roof--just on the ground in the back corner.
 
cbeierl said:
My understanding is the the oft-mentioned 20 degree differential is between the intake and output of the A/C unit. 
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That's my take on it as well, so you can effectively wind up with a ~30 degree differential between outside ambient air and inside air.

A couple of years ago (in June) we were in Gila Bend, AZ and it was 112 outside and I think the inside of the coach was a max of 98 (we were in full sun.)  The inside walls were quite warm (forgot how warm) and in this situation, there was just too much heat gain for our AC to do any better.  A major factor was heat gain from the windshield - we only had curtains at that time.  Now we have the bubble insulation that goes in place when we have outside temps in the 90s.
 
When we lived in our coach in Kernville, Ca two summers ago for a short while when the house was being built, we hit 110 degrees at one point.  The A/Cs kept the inside at 78-80 degrees.  We were impressed.  We have outside awnings, double paned windows and kept the shades pulled down.  We had a large tree that shaded the front part of the coach; but the back was completely exposed to full sun.  We were only there for a month or so then headed to cooler Oregon/Washington.... ;)
 
The rumor I heard at GNR was that the 2012s will have roof air on all of the DPs since the present location of the A/C will be used for the urea tank, required for Cummins to meet the new emission standards.  Sounds like a good rumor, even if it isn't true.  BTW, after 7 other RVs, I'll take the basement air any time.  The first comment heard when we were touring the 2010 42 Tag model was "boy, that a/c's loud".  I guess we're spoiled.
 
We like the basement air in the Ultimate Freedom - so far - so good -- ... We did look at a 45' Essex with roof air this last Saturday. The salesman said that with the roof air they could get more uniform cooling through out the unit. The unit had the hydro hot heating system. We have the hurricane hot water heat system and have had a couple of problems -- I have been told by several different shops that the hydro hot is a lot easier to work on. Bill
 
With three roof airs on their own thermostats, I can imagine an easier time of fine-tuning the zones.  However, we haven't noticed much if any problem with great temp differences in ours except in the cab area with all of the glass.  Then, we use the foil-bubble wrap thingy in the windshield.

On the whole, we have been quite happy with our basement air.  There just isn't enough BTUs for cooling when you are in the mid-90s and full sun.
 
I think that this is one time when size really does matter.  My 32' stays very comfortable at 100+ temps outside.  I use all awnings and an outside window screen to deflect the heat from hitting the glass.  In comparison my last rig was a 30' fiver with one roof mounted 15k unit.  It was pathetic at best and very noisy to boot.  I know that 2 or three mounted on a MH whuld be more efficient, but I really like the basement air.

Sarge
 
SargeW said:
My 32' stays very comfortable at 100+ temps outside. 
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You betcha - your two tons of AC is cooling 32' and my two tons is cooling 40'.  However, we have recently been in the coastal mid-Atlantic region with 127% humidity and temps in the high 80s and low 90s (and we are currently in full sun), and we are quite comfortable.
 
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