Camper life in hot weather

Marc - do you apply with roller or brush ?

 

I bought a 34' Forest River Micro Boost a few years ago. It has a crappy Furrion AC and a crappy Furrion fridge... When I first got it, I struggled with keeping the inside cool as well. Also, when the inside got hot enough the fridge would start having trouble too.

This is what I did that helped pretty significantly.
1. I run the AC full blast JUST off the unit into the main cabin (not using any of the vents) I do this starting from about 6am all the way through the race day/track day. This keeps the majority of the RV cool enough. for a quick relax/recovery after a race or when I double session while coaching (running Intermediate group then jumping into Advanced to party.) Since the fridge is also in the main cabin this also helps keep it running proper temps too.
2. I keep the garage door/ramp shut. I have a nice extra canopy with walls and a zip up door for when my wife wants to hang outside with our 9/month old. Wifi and everything reaches just fine if she wants to work as well. This helps keep airflow from the main cabin from getting pulled outside into the heat. I usually know what tools and supplies I will need throughout the day so I just put them under the race tent anyway.
3. At night when its cooler I will run the AC throughout the entire toy hauler vents, and if its really cool keep the AC off, but run the fan through all the vents. This keeps the whole RV cool and gives a good base for when I crank it up at 6am.
4. When the AC starts the struggle, usually its because it has frozen up across the condenser. When this happens I turn the AC off and run the fan on high, but keep the air flowing into the main cabin only. This brings in ambient air to melt the ice and get the AC going again.

My main thing with the AC is because we NEED to keep our fridge operating at proper temps. My wife is breastfeeding still and she still pumps for extra. So if we lose milk its a big deal. Our daughter is starting to eat a lot more solids, but milk is still her main source of calories.

The Furrion fridge is junk... And I've actually modified the wiring the move a fuse that kept popping to the front of the unit. So I can just pop new ones in when they pop. I plan on getting a new fridge, but the main wiring itself is pretty bad. So, I'm not sure what I'll end up doing. Other than tell the wife we need to get a 5th wheel. LOL.

 

Furrion is more Lippert junk. That company is the worst supplier to the RV world, but the biggest. I despise everything about them

 

Nice write up, but condensors don't freeze up.....the evaporator coil is what freezes. Freezing up can be caused by several different things or a combination of things. Many times, a frozen evaporator is a result of not enough air flow across it. That can be caused by not enough fan speed, dirty evaporator, airflow leaking somewhere and not flowing across the evaporator, low on freon, and even the freeze sensor failing OR falling out of the fins where it is located on an RV A/C unit. Hope this helps.

 

Damn, I didn't know that global warming had hit us already. Good to know that humans have adapted to breathing steam when out in nature.

 

Glad to hear that. Im in the middle of a patio remodel and was gonna put one of their outdoor televisions on the patio.

Prime day is this weekend was gonna snatch a cheap one.

 

Haha, so used to Celsius at work. lol.

 

I tried a roller but it was way too thick…. I ended up brushing it the second time…. If I am not mistaken I did use a roller the first.. Make sure you get the can shook up well… otherwise it will be a ball of rubber in chemicals…

 

Not sure if its been mentioned, But they do make heat blocking tent for rv windows. It doesnt change that view much but blocks heat and uv rays. I have talked to people that say it made a difference of 10-12 degrees.

 

Is that window "tint" or a window "tent"?

 

Yeah yeah... Thats what I meant or whatever.

Something freezes up, i turn JUST the fan on. The ice melts, the AC works again. I'm not looking any further into it until that stops being the solution. lol

 

Well, that's up to you, but at least you now have some ideas of things to look at that may be the issue. The timing on that is entirely up to you!

 

They both block heat, correct?

 

Yes, one might be a little more wind resistant for the road though

 

No one wants to hear about your tent Fraley.

 

Decades ago, my buddy had a 28' Terry tag along trailer he left at a spot at the beach that we used to crash at on the weekends. One rooftop A/C unit kept it cold enough to hang beef, even on 90+ degree humid days. There's an issue with your unit if it can't at least keep it cool.

 

Can't say that you are totally wrong, but a couple of things come to mind. 1. As someone mentioned earlier....Furrion is NOT known for being a good quality product and there are many people that have issues with their stuff, from A/C units, to their refrigerators, to their microwaves, to their camera systems, <<<fill in the blank>>>. 2 A couple of decades ago, when things were built, they were built to last and corners weren't cut to provide a "price point" selling feature. How well the trailer is insulated...or not makes a huge difference also, along with how much window glass, the quality of the actual install of the A/C unit and many other factors. Sounds like he isn't interested in looking for a "solution" just yet though, so it really almost becomes a moot point.

 

I have had some AC problems with my basement unit on the RV- so I've been watching a ton of videos. Seems one way you can improve the performance of the roof AC is with insulation board and aluminum tape- you can get up on the roof, get the cover off, and insulate the whole box where the air flows.

The basement AC is a bitch to work on, but it's 2 tons so I get all the cooling I need- crappy RV construction notwithstanding.

 

get these for your roof vents https://a.co/d/0iscCA7I

you can also make foil insulation window shades from the double sided foil bubble pack reflecting helps a ton