36RL third air conditioner

Dave6532 · 09-23-2016, 03:20 AM

Hey guys! I need help. I live in Texas full-time in my Redwood 36RL. During the summer, the inside temp can reach 83-87 depending on the day. I am looking into a third air conditioner and need help where to put it. Can they tie it into the other ducting? Please advise...

-Dave

formulabill · 09-23-2016, 06:06 AM

Dave,

I live in Fl. and camp in 97degree + weather. When i purchased the 36 i had the windows tinted with reflective tint that keeps out 90 % of the suns rays. My rv has always been very cool and comfortable. Another thing i did was put a piece of foam rubber in the large vent above the shower.

travelin' texans · 09-23-2016, 06:21 AM

Have you tried looking at some if ac performance improvements in past posts, it might save you some $$ on the 3rd unit.

GWHoll · 09-23-2016, 05:10 PM

Dave,

I also live in Texas (Henderson, near Tyler/Longview) and purchased a used 2012 36FL Redwood earlier this year. It came with a third AC unit in the front living area. I have not had to use it yet, but I did go through and do the improvements to the AC units as suggested by many on this forum, which has seemed to help. The only thing I have not done is checked the foam divider on the outside part of the units, which I will be doing in cooler weather this winter. As far as the third unit, it is a non-ducted unit and is wired totally seperate from everything else on my rig. It has it's own breaker box in my convenience center and a long cord to hook to shore power.

Glenn

Dave6532 · 09-23-2016, 06:19 PM

I have all the windows tinted and reflective insulation on all the windows. I will try to find where the ac improvement section is and look into this. In the end, I am afraid, I will need to buy a third air.

travelin' texans · 09-23-2016, 07:26 PM

We are currently in southern Arizona & yesterday my thermometer in the sun read 111 & had acs set at 76 & indoor thermometer read 78. The first thing I'd check is the foam gasket on the roof as that gap just mixes outside air with what you're trying to cool, second try removing the collars & taping the duct to the ceiling paneling indoors, those 2 items were the problem on mine.

atom ant · 09-23-2016, 08:05 PM

Adding a third retroactively would be quite a chore. It would end up on the higher roof over the bedroom or living room depending on the model. You could possibly capture the ducting, but you would have to add additional supply and return vents to accommodate the additional CFM. The thermostat would need to be hardwired to the wall and then you would need a power management system which would require the device, and rerouting power to all 3 ACs to come from the power management relays. A bit of work indeed.

I would think the other fixes would be a better approach. Other than the front closet, our 36RL stayed reasonably nice with 2 ACs and Nebraska gets hot too.

GA1817 · 09-27-2016, 03:11 PM

Interesting that I live in Georgia and rarely use the second AC except to rapidly pull the temp down when I have been away for the weekend. I do have my RV in the middle of the woods with a great hardwood canopy over it

! Set my temp at 75 and it keeps it well. The bedroom does stay a little warmer and I do use fans to keep the air stirred up.

mhs4771 · 09-27-2016, 04:08 PM

Two year ago we were just a little North of Vegas with our '12 36RL and no shade with temps 100+ and we kept the inside in the low 70s. Granted both ACs were running non-stop, but it was cool and comfy inside. Now we did keep the shades down and have the Dual Pane windows.

GA1817 · 09-27-2016, 09:54 PM

I know the dual pane windows help and we do keep the shades down for the most part. I wonder if the old school pleated shades are better than the roll-up ones in keeping it cooler. I am kind of glad we have the old ones as I think they look a lot better than the roll-up ones. Just my opinion

!

travelin' texans · 09-27-2016, 11:38 PM

Don't know about keeping any cooler, but we wouldn't swap back to the pleated blinds for all the tea in China.

Shane Wood · 09-28-2016, 01:36 AM

We live in southern CA and a good example it has been in the 100s the last couple days. My living room thermostat is set at 78 and bedroom at 76.we are running at those same temps. I did pull the covers off both ac,s and found the foam insert between the return and output moved causing cold and warm air to mix. I repaired that with aluminum tape and has been fine since. I also checked all the outlets and they were good. The air will run nonstop from morning until night but does keep it cool. We are in direct sunlight with no shade. In order to keep a trailer this size cool without the air running all day would require R40 insulation throughout slides, roof, floor, infact the whole trailer. Then there is still the problem with sealing the slides from the body of the trailer. I am am happy with ours. When I purchase a new one it will have 3 ac,so only to regulate the heat better from the living room to the bedroom.

HTX · 09-28-2016, 02:34 PM

I'm in South Texas with no shade and the heat index has been up to 107 at times. My new to me '12 36RL has 3 units but I only have 30 amp power for the time being so only running one at a time. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well the single unit has preformed, especially after reading all of the threads on AC issues and mods.

My old unit had most of the windows facing south and I had to use automotive type sun blockers to hold 80-82. The RW is just the opposite(kitchen side south) and think that has a lot to do with keeping the inside temp a reasonable 75-77 during the peak afternoon heat. Window coverings are 2 inch wood blinds but the back window also has a roll up solar screen on the exterior and I do keep that down during the day.

All that said, I'm looking forward to the fall temps.

HTX

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