21' NE air conditioner

[mfschu]

OK, thanks rjbny! So one might need to add a shim under the rear of the Houghton? I wasn't sure if you've already purchased the Houghton and are in the process of installation or how far along you are.

[rjbny]

Originally Posted by mfschu

OK, thanks rjbny! So one might need to add a shim under the rear of the Houghton? I wasn't sure if you've already purchased the Houghton and are in the process of installation or how far along you are.

Yes, you could add a shim, but we're pretty sure that it will be fine without it. The rear foam block won't be completely on the roof, but at least half will be on and there are other supports. Wouldn't be too hard to add if we need to after the fact. Not sure what the material is, but probably some sort of somewhat dense EVA foam.

Just finished installing the mounting frame and caulking using ProFlex. Next step will be to lift the AC unit into place and wiring it up (photo prior to caulking job).

[Greg A]

I may have missed it, but can this unit be wired to the existing thermostat? One of the features we’ve loved is having the single house thermostat to control both heat and AC.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Greg A

I may have missed it, but can this unit be wired to the existing thermostat? One of the features we’ve loved is having the single house thermostat to control both heat and AC.

Greg: This Houghton unit has its own remote control which makes it convenient for retrofits. Given the issues that some have with the Dometic thermostats I think this would be a welcome feature. We have mini-split heating and cooling on remote control and the furnace on a separate digital thermostat and everything works perfectly.

[rjbny]

Completed the Houghton A3400 install today!

Everything working quite nicely.

[rjbny]

For those of you who are interested in the length compared to the Penguin II, here are a couple of shots that show where the rear spacing block lands on the raised section of our 19.

There are other spacing blocks including a couple that weren't circled in red on the diagram below.

[tacchino]

Originally Posted by rjbny

Completed the Houghton A3400 install today!

Everything working quite nicely.

Awesome! Looks great. Any initial impressions on the sound levels?

Thanks for finding and sharing, looking forward to having ours on in the next couple of weeks

[Greg A]

Well, it certainly looks much better, nice work.
Now the operational comparisons.

[rjbny]

Originally Posted by tacchino

Awesome! Looks great. Any initial impressions on the sound levels?

Initial impression is that it is quiet. The pitch seems low, more of a hum, sort of like the sound from the fan my wife likes to have running at night. But, I didn't have a lot of time after I completed the install to run it much because of family commitments.

[mfschu]

Looks great, nice installation! I believe another advantage of the Houghton is that it is 1"- 2" shorter than the Dometic and the Coleman and it looks it in the photos. Maybe you'll get to try out the Heat Pump before the AC?

[tacchino]

Got our unit installed yesterday by a local shop. Two hours of labor to get it done. Haven't tested anything yet since I don't have it parked with power but the shop owner was impressed with how quiet it was. Hopefully will get to test it out this weekend although probably the heat pump and not the A/C

[mfschu]

Cool! or Warm! Can't wait to hear more about how you like it and what kind of decibel reading you are getting compared to Advance RV. Thanks!

[tacchino]

Did some limited testing with the new unit this weekend, heat pump mode only. The unit is without a doubt much quieter than the Dometic units we had on our 2004 MH. Only thing I've been around that came close was a Dometic NDQ. I didn't do any actual decibel level testing but could have a conversation without having to adjust our speaking levels. So, so far no complaint whatsoever on the level of noise from the unit.

A few things to note.

* While running the unit only displays the set point, not the measured temperature
* The unit seemed to cycle the compressor on and off while the fan would remain running. Not clear if that was because it had reached set point or not (see point #1) but would expect the fan to shut down at the same time
* When the compressor shut down it was with a significant shudder that you could feel. Combine that with the cycling and it wasn't great.
* When using the remote, which is more than just convenience due to limited controls on the unit itself, you do have to pay attention to whether the unit received your input (indicated via an audible beep). I had it miss several which would mean the remote display would be out of sync with the unit.

I only ran it for 15 minutes or so and feel like I need more testing. Definitely want to see what the cooling behavior is as well but that will have to wait.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by tacchino

Did some limited testing with the new unit this weekend, heat pump mode only. The unit is without a doubt much quieter than the Dometic units we had on our 2004 MH. Only thing I've been around that came close was a Dometic NDQ. I didn't do any actual decibel level testing but could have a conversation without having to adjust our speaking levels. So, so far no complaint whatsoever on the level of noise from the unit.

A few things to note.

* While running the unit only displays the set point, not the measured temperature
* The unit seemed to cycle the compressor on and off while the fan would remain running. Not clear if that was because it had reached set point or not (see point #1) but would expect the fan to shut down at the same time
* When the compressor shut down it was with a significant shudder that you could feel. Combine that with the cycling and it wasn't great.
* When using the remote, which is more than just convenience due to limited controls on the unit itself, you do have to pay attention to whether the unit received your input (indicated via an audible beep). I had it miss several which would mean the remote display would be out of sync with the unit.

I only ran it for 15 minutes or so and feel like I need more testing. Definitely want to see what the cooling behavior is as well but that will have to wait.

Thanks for the update. I believe you may have meant Coleman NDQ in your opening paragraph. Unfortunately the manual that I found online does not go into great detail on the operational particulars of the unit. It will be interesting to see if it behaves differently in cooling mode - the rec pro website information implies the fan should shut off. It is worded strangely and I don't completely understand it but this is what it says: "The fan on the heat pump is controlled through a temperature sensor near the evaporator coils. Unless this sensor reads temperatures below 64°F, the fan will run at a low speed. This is necessary to modulate power consumption and keep up efficiency. If the fan on your AC unit is running and you would like it to stop, then the set temperature is likely too low. To fix this problem, we suggest that you set the desired temperature to a higher amount."

Although the unit is quieter I believe the compressor is still constant speed (not inverter/variable technology) so that likely explains the hard stop. Our older Dometic rooftop did the same thing.

If you have the EMS I would be interested in how many amps you are seeing the unit draw.

[tacchino]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Thanks for the update. I believe you may have meant Coleman NDQ in your opening paragraph. Unfortunately the manual that I found online does not go into great detail on the operational particulars of the unit. It will be interesting to see if it behaves differently in cooling mode - the rec pro website information implies the fan should shut off. It is worded strangely and I don't completely understand it but this is what it says: "The fan on the heat pump is controlled through a temperature sensor near the evaporator coils. Unless this sensor reads temperatures below 64°F, the fan will run at a low speed. This is necessary to modulate power consumption and keep up efficiency. If the fan on your AC unit is running and you would like it to stop, then the set temperature is likely too low. To fix this problem, we suggest that you set the desired temperature to a higher amount."

Although the unit is quieter I believe the compressor is still constant speed (not inverter/variable technology) so that likely explains the hard stop. Our older Dometic rooftop did the same thing.

If you have the EMS I would be interested in how many amps you are seeing the unit draw.

You are correct, it's the Coleman I was thinking of, same one that Escape is now using. Have briefly been around that in a camper van install and was impressed.

Interesting find on the fan, I hadn't noticed that there before. I'm not sure how concerned about the heat pump operation anyway, we carry a small space heater that is super quiet and has the advantage of not being near us when in the bed.

Didn't think to look at power draw but I will next time.

[sameo416]

Originally Posted by rjbny

Yes, you could add a shim, but we're pretty sure that it will be fine without it. The rear foam block won't be completely on the roof, but at least half will be on and there are other supports. Wouldn't be too hard to add if we need to after the fact. Not sure what the material is, but probably some sort of somewhat dense EVA foam.

Just finished installing the mounting frame and caulking using ProFlex. Next step will be to lift the AC unit into place and wiring it up (photo prior to caulking job).

That's the same unit we're looking at, now that we've heard the Coleman will not be available for our build.

Did you need to use the adapter for installation in a thick roof? Haven't seen a measurement of roof thickness anywhere.
https://www.recpro.com/rv-a-c-unit-e...profile-model/

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by sameo416

Did you need to use the adapter for installation in a thick roof? Haven't seen a measurement of roof thickness anywhere.
https://www.recpro.com/rv-a-c-unit-e...profile-model/

You should not need this kit for installation on an Escape.

[rjbny]

We didn't need the thick roof kit for our 19

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Here is a build picture. From the photo I would guess you will not need any thick roof kit. anyone thinking of these units before there build it might be possible for ETI to cut the whole inch or two forward so the units supports landed entirely on the raised roof area. This might be a great option for ETI to look into for future builds If they could get enough units..

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Originally Posted by rjbny

Completed the Houghton A3400 install today!

Everything working quite nicely.

That looks great.