After market air con for caravan
Submitted: Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 at 19:27
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72495
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6
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Member - Julie P (VIC)
Has anyone had experience with a rooftop aircon unit for their van - we have a 4.3m Coromal pop top - what capacity, etc, should we be looking at - and what price approximately? We are in Qld at the moment - any recommedations as to where to go looking?
Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 at 20:04
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 at 20:04
Try Camec at Coopers Plains in
Brisbane
They also sell an H shaped metal rack to brace the roof and hold the unit up.
Some can weigh 41 kg so think about weight limits of van before buying
AnswerID:
384382
Reply By: paulnsw - Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 at 22:05
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 at 22:05
better off fitting big name domestic inverter split system
quiet and work. Would be 3X more efficient and quieter than rubbish roof top air con. had Mitsubishi inverter split system fitted in new van at factory.
mate dumped the rubbish noisy Heron as nobody could fix and under warranty. fitted LG inverter split system. moved gas bottles to outside of unit.
AnswerID:
384394
Follow Up By: Member - Leave_enough_space - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 07:51
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 07:51
Mmmm!,
Gas bottle move may not be legal?
FollowupID:
652174
Follow Up By: Member - Leave_enough_space - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 07:54
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 07:54
Oooops!
Please disregard previous message - I didn't read the original posting correctly and was a bit too quick in responding!
FollowupID:
652176
Follow Up By: Member - Wim (Qld) - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 14:55
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 14:55
paulnsw
Paul, you raise an interesting issue "noise".
Much has been said over time on this site regarding the noise of generators.
I would like people to consider the noise generated by A/C units on vans.
While they may be nice and cool inside their van and insulated from the outside noise, others may being putting up with the heat inside their tent or canvas sided camper trying to get some sleep only to be waken by the cycling of some ones A/C unit.
The noise of some of those units can travel quite some way in a normally quite
camping area.
Oh, and then there are the generators that power the units in
bush camps.
Not directed at anyone in particular, just some food for thought.
Safe travels everyone.
FollowupID:
652205
Reply By: ozjohn0 - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 09:38
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 09:38
'Dometic' Make a 2kw Roof Top Air Con suited for after market fitting to Pop Tops.
The unit is around 33kg plus the mounting frame. All up around 40kg.
Suggest you make inquiries at your local caravan service centre.
They usually mount them towards the rear of the van to give better air flow inside, but this also reduces the vans Ball Weight whilst increasing the overall Tow weight.
Repacking of the van maybe required to maintain correct ball Weight and not exceed the vans ATM
ozjohn.
AnswerID:
384431
Follow Up By: Keith_A (Qld) - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 10:24
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 10:24
We have a roof mounted "Dometic" brand on our 2007 offroad poptop.
It has broken on 3 trips out of 3. Pipes break - gas leaks out.
Cost for repairs to date - $2000 - and still not working.
Since we don't use it very often - would love to just get rid of the fool thing, but would cost more money -eg to replace roof sheeting, resealing etc.
I have seen many vans with a standard home split system. Could be the answer.
.................Keith
FollowupID:
652187
Follow Up By: singlepurpose - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 11:15
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 11:15
I also have a dometic roof mounted air con and it has been replaced twice inpast 2 years.....and the service with this company stinks !!!!!....and at $2000 a unit... i could NOT recommend them AT ALL...oh and its broken right now....havent used it for past 10months cause i refuse to pay to fix it.
FollowupID:
652191
Follow Up By: PatrolSTL04 - Friday, Sep 25, 2009 at 00:25
Friday, Sep 25, 2009 at 00:25
Dont waste your money on Dometic.
Air Command is the way to go. Very quiet and works fantastic. Runs off my 2.4 Yamaha.
Spend a little time in a caravan
park and you will hear the same story....Dometic simply do not get cold enough to cool a van.
Brett.....
FollowupID:
652324
Reply By: MARIC - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 11:05
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 11:05
hi Julie, if you are interested I have a photo taken at Kalgoorlie caravan
park recently of a pop top with a inverter air con mounted on the draw bar, I tried downloading here but as a visitor unable to do I am at "hrk84@hotmail.com"
........... rgards Mary
AnswerID:
384437
Reply By: Canvas Charisma - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 14:21
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 14:21
Hi Julie,
We have a Dometic rooftop air con in our 2008 Avan poptop and it is great so far. It has had a reasonable amount of work and so far so good. Performance wise it is very good on both cooling when ambient temp was 33 degrees and heating when ambient temp was around 3 degrees. Noise levels are OK but not brilliant. Haven't had to deal with after sales service so can't comment on that part. One plus I see is that you don't lose any cupboard space going roof mounted. Hope you find what you are wanting.
Cheers
Brian
AnswerID:
384448
Reply By: Member - Wamuranman - Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 16:46
Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 16:46
HI Julie,
We have an Electrolux roof mounted a/c. It has never ever broken down and is over 10 years old. It is quiet and provides cool clean air. As has already been stated household models are too noisy and being mounted in a van window will provide noise to others camped nearby. On the roof any noise seems to dissapate and outside the van you can hardly hear ours running.
Cheers
AnswerID:
384478