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Jeff
It is a Carrier from the factory. I had Thermo King convert it to R134a. He did not replace the dryer and that bothered me. It does cool but I think it should do a little more.
Jim
The conversion was done in Hueytown, AL by http://www.vulcancoach.com/
I Do not have any pictures on file but it is still @ http://www.rvsfsbo.com/show.aspx?adnum=58573
I bought it over three years ago and it is still listed.
Mark
I was going over some issues that I was dissatisfied with concerning the poor preformance of the drivers air with a service shop forman.
Our OTR system has only the 1 large 10 ton carrier compressor and the refrigerent lines are teed off at the condencer and flow from the main system to the second smaller evaporator for the driver.
It did not cool and I have found out that the temp. control valve for the heater core up there has worn and it does not close completly, and this is not uncommon on many older busses, so I'm told.
I clamped off one of the hoses to it manually to check it and shazam I'm now getting COLD AIR.
The culprit is located on the top of the spare tire bay.
I was adding some 134A to my bus cooling system and it sprung a leak. I located it at the condensor so it wasn't going to cool till I got it replaced.
We had a wedding in Lincoln and was taking the inlaws and a couple of grandkids so I wanted it to be cool. But that wasn't going to happen, I had to just run the generator for the day to keep the bus cool.
I took off the condensor and took it to the local radiator shop and they said it was shot. I had called Prevost just in case they couldn't fix it. Prevost said an aluminum one would be a little over $1000. and a copper one would be $2200, was this a shock! My local guy had a rebuilt one on the shelf for $90. I installed it today and will vacume the line tomorrow, if it holds, I will recharge.
Just goes to show you.....there's always somthing.
Dale,
Are you talking about the big condenser that is on the hinged door, passenger side?
Regardless of whether you have OTR or just driver's air how does a condenser get bad. I understand a fatigue crack that needs to be welded, but unless it has corroded from external elements they should be good for a long time. No?
Jon, I have drivers air and the condensor sits on the outside of the radiator. It looked like some salt or some chemical hit part of it and started to decay. I had an aluminum one and put another one back on. I think the copper one would be a better choice, but do they cost!
Dale,
Now I understand. Of general interest to all, we ran in the snow belt for years with our other coach. Salt either from the roads, or from the air if you live near a coast is a killer. I had to replace radiators from corrosion. The salt would literally eat the fins so bad they would crumble.
Now with 20/20 hind sight I realize that frequent gentle flushing with water periodically would increase the life span.
In our buses, it affects condensing coils, air to air intercoolers, oil coolers, radiators (bus and generator), cruise air condensing units and if near a coast, roof airs.
Just came thru Lake Mead and Las Vegas with 113 degree temps and interior temps of 95. Should 3 cruise airs handle this?
I replaced the insulation in the brow windows with thermal king duct tube wrap. That compartment really gets hot without some insulation up there.
I was wondering if we painted our buses underbellies white or silver if that would help with the road heat?
It was so hot in the coach that the kitchen tile was hot to your bare feet.
I saw two coaches at Circus Circus RV park both owners not at home (one Royal, roof air and one Marathon, bsement air) I was going ask them if there a/c were working OK.
GregM
Greg,
We were in Las Vegas last year and it was 110 and the Cruisairs kept up (1) when we were sitting still (2) with the awnings helping shade the coach and (3) with me tuning up the snapperhead girls for going in and out the door constantly. And the roof of our coach is painted white.
When we were in motion, the coach air was plenty good. Except for when we detoured around the dam and started up the other side headed to Winslow. Then I cut the OTR AC off and fired the Cruisairs up (with the generator running). It was look enough, but not nearly as cool as the OTR ac. As soon as we hit the summit, I reversed the whole thing and the girls started squaking about it being too cold, so it was okay.
Greg,
When you are sitting still the ground beneath the coach is shaded. That means it is not radiating heat absorbed from the sun. Because of that the Cruise Airs will work well. On the road however they are getting hot air radiating from the highway drawn through the condensing units severely limiting the amount of heat the condensing units can get rid of.
If they do work when going down the road it is generally because the temperatures are cool. Mine never worked when going down the road when the temps outside were 90 or greater and the sun was shining.
For those with OTR A/C heat:
1. If the ambient temperature is below 80 degrees, but your coach is warm from the sun on startup, don't be surprised to see your compressor light go in. It may do so intermittently for a bit. Don't panic as I did the first time this occurs. All this means is that the refrigerant is below 20 psi in pressure and as it warms up and the pressure reaches 20 psi, the light will go back to sleep. It doesn't mean you are burning up a $2300 part.
2. Whenever you check coolant, always make sure to run the engine completely up and beyond the thermostat kick in. In this way you can make sure to fill the heating coils in the coach to the proscribed level. If not, you'll find that when you do turn on the heat, it'll suck up the coolant into the heating system. Then when you start up again in the morning, the coach will go into automatic shutdown. Then you think you broke the motor, which is substantially more than $2300.
Been there, done it.
And Mango's Karma helps too.