bolo64 Report post Posted August 31, 2020 Looking at replacing my AC units on my 2002 Bounder. Currently I have Coleman Mach 2. 13000 & 13500 BTU. Would like some suggestions and want to make sure it will work with my current Intellect Climate Control System. What model would you use? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted August 31, 2020 What's wrong with your current AC's? Not working or not cold enough? Length of Bounder & # of slide outs would help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsbilledwards Report post Posted August 31, 2020 Go to PPL R$v and ask Paul. He helped me and believe you me o0ne can get in a pile of trouble looking and trying to determine it for ones own sake, just ask me how I know. All of that said I have a 1999 Safari Panther. I replaced one and now the other with 15,000 BTU units with heat pumps. This is a big difference and the coach much more comfortable when it is cool or cold out. Originals were 13,000 BTU units. One must know whether ducted or non=ducted. Whether or not multi zone or single zone. Typically with older unit thermostats need changing as they are digital and the preceding info applies to them as well. All of the preceding applies to Dometic or Duo Therm and probably Coleman though it is a different manufacturer. Coach is nearly 20 years old, technology has moved forward alot. Good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted August 31, 2020 Bill E. Why have you not changed your profile yet? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bolo64 Report post Posted August 31, 2020 Great Thank you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bolo64 Report post Posted August 31, 2020 It works, but getting old (2002) Like to replace it before I have problems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsbilledwards Report post Posted September 1, 2020 They will last a lot longer than you think. I have two 13s that need a home and very low hour use. Carl still looking for a moment in time when I am thinking about it. I did go to my profile and no go. It appears to be more than that. You can help me when you are here... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
docj Report post Posted September 1, 2020 I just replaced the two original A/C's on my 2000 Beaver. They were Dometics of the period (before they started calling them Penguins). Both were 13.5k BTU units. After much research I opted to replace them with Coleman Mach 8+ 15k BTU heat pumps. For those who aren't aware most current Dometic models now require use of "communications cable" (phone line) to connect the thermostat to the control unit. My old coach didn't have that wire installed and it wouldn't have been easy to retrofit given where the thermostats are located. With the Coleman units we were able to use the existing wiring. One thing I liked about the Coleman/Airexcel Mach 8+ is that it has two separate fan motors. One circulates air inside the RV through the evaporator and the other, on the roof, forces air through the condenser. Coleman claims that this approach allows for the full 15k BTU to be available even when using low fan speed. Another feature I liked was the 2-year warranty with an ability to purchase an additional 3 years of parts warranty for a reasonable cost. So far I've been very impressed. Compared to the Dometics these are significantly quieter inside and the cooling power is impressive. We're sitting in coastal TX with virtually no shade and temps running ~95F every day with humidity to match and we've been able to keep the MH quite comfortable. Our site faces into the setting sun and even with a MagnaShade sunshade there's quite a heat load but the Colemans have easily handled it. So far so good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rls7201 Report post Posted September 3, 2020 You may be surprised at how long some of those rooftop ACs last. The 2 ACs on my 95 Bounder are original. Richard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted September 4, 2020 I replaced one of my two Carrier air five with a Coleman Mach 8 last year because Carrier no longer makes RV AC's. The Coleman is three times as loud as the Carrier units, I hate it because of the noise, it does cool well, but the blower noise is awful even on low fan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted September 4, 2020 10 hours ago, kaypsmith said: The Coleman is three times as loud I was wondering if someone had a comparison. Our friends trailer has the Coleman Mach on the roof and you cannot have a conversation inside. Our Dometic Penguins I don't consider them quiet but you can carry on a conversation inside without yelling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
docj Report post Posted September 4, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, jleamont said: I was wondering if someone had a comparison. Our friends trailer has the Coleman Mach on the roof and you cannot have a conversation inside. Our Dometic Penguins I don't consider them quiet but you can carry on a conversation inside without yelling. With all due respect my experience is TOTALLY different from what kaypsmith reports. My Coleman units are much quieter than the Dometics they replaced. In comparison to the Dometics, there is virtually no compressor noise and even the fan noise is less. Using an app on my phone I measure ~58 dB sitting in my chair within 4 feet from the air return. I can't vouch for the calibration of the app, but the noise has much less effect on our ability to watch TV in the same room. In addition, since the Colemans have their full cooling capability available when running on low fan speed, we never need to use the high speed even with outdoor temps in the mid-to-upper 90's in coastal TX. And the fan, on low speed, is so powerful that there's plenty of air flow in the back of the coach just from the front A/C. Lastly, the humidity reduction is so good that I turned off my dehumidifier because it can't find any water vapor to take out of the air! Edited September 4, 2020 by docj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsbilledwards Report post Posted September 4, 2020 (edited) Docj, Maybe the upscale Beaver was wired differently than the SMC Panthers. I replaced the front unit, 13,000 with a Dometic 15K and no wire issues. It took me 15 minutes to wire it up. That said single zone, ducted and the thermostat in the living room controlled only that one. I have several question of you if you have a minute for number one. What Beaver do you have? Does it have air brakes, air over hydraulic or hydraulic over hydraulic? I am thinking of a brake system upgrade and need a Beaver owner that has what I want to do for a reference. Can you supply the number of the MACH 8 you used as I am now going to switch the other AC unit to a 15/heat pump. Thanks for the comment as well Joe. That one over rode Kay's response...hope it is! Edited September 4, 2020 by RSBILLEDWARDS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
docj Report post Posted September 4, 2020 (edited) RSBILLEDWARDS Our coaches appear to be the same with respect to the A/C's. Simple, single zone thermostats. I've now upgraded both to 15k BTU heat pumps and don't really care about not having the multi-zone capability of "modern" MHs. I have both thermostats set to 75 and have no problem maintaining that throughout even though our home site in coastal TX faces into the brutal setting sun. Having a Magnashade windshield shade sure does help with that. As for the brakes, I have the air-over-hydraulic version and I've by now replaced the 6 major brake lines (2 each to the rear wheels because of the ABS). I have to admit that occasionally I still have brake failures. One of my front calipers started dragging on the way back to TX last September, but the replacement was readily available from NAPA and isn't all that expensive. The biggest brake problem I had with this particular coach was, surprisingly, with my parking brake. The Patriot Thunder in 2000 used a driveshaft-mounted rotor with caliper. After repeated parts failures and dragging pads I "researched" the problem online and discovered that I wasn't alone. If you don't put all that many miles on the coach you might never get to the point of failure but for us, we were repeatedly encountering the issue. With the help of an excellent repair and remodeling facility, Ironhorse RV in San Antonio, we devised a solution which involved the use of a Mico BrakeLok system.. An electrically driven pump supplies brake fluid pressure to all 4 wheel cylinders using lines that are separated from those of the brake system itself. Even if one wheel cylinder failed or leaked there would still be pressure on the others. Quite honestly, this is a more robust parking brake than I used to have. My C12 would have had no problem moving forward if I had forgotten to release the old parking brake. Not so with this new system. No, it wasn't cheap to buy or install, but it enabled us to continue to use this coach; parts for the old parking brake system were expensive and were becoming difficult to obtain. Sorry, to go on about this parking brake issue, but I wanted to lay it out in case anyone else knows of someone with a 1999-2001 Thunder. In my research I had actually found a post from someone I knew who had written that she had sold her MH because of this issue. Edited September 4, 2020 by docj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsbilledwards Report post Posted September 4, 2020 Docj, Thanks for the quick response! yup you are right about the park brake setup and yes the C 12 will easily over power it, just ask me how I know. Changing the one pad has become a frequent effort well sort of, three times. Good thing I can still handle it and now pretty quick at it. Better yet your experience with the air over hydraulic which appears only marginally better than the Hydraulic over hydraulic that I presently have. My coach is pre ABS and I have no problem with that. It works but is at its high limit. Fortunately I have had no caliper issues. I suspect that the ones on my coach have the phenolic pucks in them. Good to know NAPA is a reliable source. If you know someone with a Marquis and full on S cam air brakes I would appreciate the contact. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rsbilledwards Report post Posted September 4, 2020 Docj, the model of the Coleman Mach 8 ???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
docj Report post Posted September 4, 2020 5 minutes ago, RSBILLEDWARDS said: Changing the one pad has become a frequent effort well sort of, three times. Had it only been pads, I probably could have lived with it, although one time a worn pad had become dangerously close to being ignited! But, given the number of miles on the coach (we bought it at 55,000 and now have >125,000) we had, a couple of times, experienced catastrophic failure of the air "actuator" which left us stranded for than once. Of course, it takes air pressure to release the brake so if the actuator has blown you can't go anywhere! Once in IA and once in MO that was our situation. The actuator was ~$900 through Beaver Coach plus labor and the caliper itself was ~$2k and was on a once a year production schedule at Haldex (as I recall). We actually drove for a year without a parking bake at all! My wife got good at hopping out and chocking the wheels! 😀 We knew that was not a sustainable solution but we hadn't yet come up with an alternative. In fact, it was someone in one of these forums who first suggested I look at Mico BrakeLock systems. As for my coach having ABS and yours not, I've given up maintaining the Wabco ABS. Every time I have an overheated brake I would lose an ABS sensor. I finally decided I've driven plenty of non-ABS vehicles in my life and don't really need it. One thing about why we suffered a number of brake failures that you should be aware of. We were having brakes locking in hot weather and couldn't explain the problem until someone online suggested that the inner liner of the flexible hydraulic lines may have separated from the walls of the hose. That could then act as a "check valve" preventing pressure in the line from releasing when the brake pedal was released. Sure enough replacing all the lines, which were old and rusting, anyway, resolved most of the problems. This past year's sticking caliper I chalked up to it being ~10 years old. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted September 4, 2020 Some very good information but let's get back to the topic, ColemanA/C. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted September 4, 2020 (edited) The compressor noise on the Coleman unit is not a problem, it is the fan noise. It sounds as if you are in a wind tunnel, the air outlet is entirely too small for the amount of air being circulated by the fan. With the DB app on my phone. the Carrier measures 53 db @ 10 ft away. The Coleman measures 83 @ 10 ft away. Both were on low cool. Edited September 4, 2020 by kaypsmith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
