Monday, August 1, 2011

AC problems and cheap fix

Ok, we had the AC serviced before we moved. The service technician said there was a sensor that was bad but he could bypass it and get the ac to work. It works great, with one problem, the sensor kept the ac unit from freezing up. Now after it has ran about 5 hours it freezes and kicks off the main breaker. Because of the age of the ac unit, cannot get a replacement sensor. A new unit costs about 900 dollars. With this information I chose to put in a window unit instead. I purchased a 12,000 BTU window unit on sale at Lowes for 300 dollars, along with some expanding foam insulation, and some wood trim. Don't worry about putting in a window unit, like i've said in an earlier post, most campers with people living in them full time have many imaginative upgrades. There are about 50 in the park we are in with window units.
First remove the louvered window panes. Then remove the opening machanisms by drilling our the rivets that hold them in. Sorry I don't have pictures of this. Lisa was unpacking while I installed the unit. There are only 4 to 6 rivets that hold the mechanisms in. Then install the window ac unit like you would in a house. If you have never installed a window unit, read the instructions, it is pretty strait forward.
After the unit is installed install the trim on the inside. I fit it around the window unit like a picture frame. you may have to rip the moulding down to the proper width, depending on the type of windows in your camper.
I then sprayed in the expanding foam insulation from the outside, allow it to dry and expand overnight, otherwise it will push off the trim. After dry cut off any insulation that has expanded outside the wall, and cover the outside with trim just like the inside. Next caulk all edges of the trim on the outside and paint to match the camper.
AC unit after finished.
This is also a good idea if your rooftop unit doesn't cool the camper as well as you'd like. Or if like my you like to be cooler at night while your sleeping.

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