On Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 10:06
Member Mik n Al posted
about Noisy Roof Mounted Aircon Unit
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The post
Hi there again Fellow BTer's,
Another item which has been buggin us is the noise which comes from our aircon when operating.
When the aircon is switched on we can only run it on high fan initially to get the temperature down as the dammed thing is so noisy you nearly have to yell to be heard over it.
Neadless to say sleeping with it running is very nearly impossible.
I pulled the cover off and checked mounting bolts etc and found a couple of them not real tight but apart from that could not find too much else which would indicate why it was so noisy,did have a thought whether the fan balance could be out?
Anyone else have the same issues or remedy for the noise apart from not using the @#% noisy thing.
 | Gizmo
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Reply 1 of 6 posted 31 Jan 2010 at 11:04
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Member Grumblebum & Dragon replied to the question
Hi Gizmo,
Yes they are a noisy beast - however this is the price you pay to have a robust unit. A standard household unit you will be used to would just fall apart.
We rarely use ours - preferring to follow the sun rather than the extreme heat.
Cheers John | Sometimes I wake up Grumpy...
other times I let her sleep in!
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Reply 2 of 6 posted 01 Feb 2010 at 15:40
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Member Wherrol replied to the question
Hi Gizmo,
We had a noisy Dometic air con that spent more time not working than working. On the few times we would use it we would have the internal temperature gauge next to the read out from the remote outside temperature gauge trying to work out if it were cooler in the van or out!
About two days before Christmas last year we gave up. After all the recommendations from BOG members we went and bought an Air Command Ibis and threw out the Dometic.
In the last month we have been 'stuck' in a caravan park on the Sunshine Coast it has been really hot and the Ibis has been in constant use. What a blessing it has been. Quiet, peaceful, and it works.
Now all we have to find out is how it travels on rough roads!
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Allan and Sharon | Wherrol we head next?
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FollowUp 1 of 1 posted 01 Feb 2010 at 16:23
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Committee Member Turist posted this followup
We found that the 40º temperatures at Tamworth were only reduced to 32º inside the van even after the Electrolux air con was running for a few hours.
(Electrolux is the one Dometic took over.)
Moving on into the cooler parts of Qld the air con would still only bring a 36º outside temp down to 28º and that took a few hours.
Back in Sydney the ambient is around 28º and the air con is working OK, chilly inside the van.
Damned thing just will not handle a high heat load.
I am now considering a change and looking at the Air Command products.
Alan I note that you chose the Air Command Ibis that has a cooling capacity of 3.2 KW, the same rating as the Dometic model that you replaced.
Any reason for not selecting the Air Command Cormorant with a higher cooling rating of 3.5Kw?
Regards
Bob
 | "Do It While You Can"
Nobody is getting any younger.
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Reply 3 of 6 posted 01 Feb 2010 at 17:22
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Member Wherrol replied to the question
Hello Bob,
In our caravan the Ibis reduces the outside ambient temp around 8 to 10 degrees. The other day it was 37 degrees when we came home. Within 30 minutes it was down to 27 degrees. What we do is open the hatch above the bed and let the hot air out for 15 minutes.
In answer to your questions on why we chose the Ibis against the Cormorant. First of all there was favourable information on the web site and after a lot of research we found.
1. Coromorant was nearly 126 mm higher and we prefer the lower profile
2. Although we have not tried it, yet, we believe the 2kva Honda Genny will power the Ibis
3. We don't need the extra heating capacity of the Cormorant as we have the Webasto
Even though the cooling capacity is listed as the same as the Dometic we replaced we find that our new Ibis actually works and cools the van down. We presume the original Dometic never functioned according to specs.
The other problem with our Dometic was the usual mounting screws coming loose these have been fixed twice.
The final straw was when we had the air con fixed after the capillary pipe rubbed through and let the gas out. We had it fixed in Ceduna and the poor chap was on the roof fixing the thing in 43 degrees temp. We thought all was well, all be it noisy and all be it not that cool and once we got back to Brisbane the air con had karked it again. We decided that forking out good money after bad was not for us.
And after all of that the quietness is something to behold. Previously we probably needed radio communications between us just to talk to each other from one end of the 19ft van to the other.
Cheers
Allan and Sharon
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FollowUp 1 of 1 posted 02 Feb 2010 at 11:35
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Member Traveling Macs posted this followup
I have new van being delivered in June and was wanting to know if there are any modifications needed to slot the air command unit into the roof. I also had dreadful run with dometic in a kimberly karavan having it replaced eventually under warranty.
Cheers
John
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Reply 4 of 6 posted 02 Feb 2010 at 10:30
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Member Bushpig replied to the question
I have just replaced my Dometic with another Dometic. These units are a load of rubbish. Cannot even cool down on a moderatly warm day. I have had enough of this life style and constant struggles with the heat and cooling. My complete rig is for sale effective imeadeately.
$195000 ono. Will be listed on RV point if anyone is interested.
Jack | ....and I, I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.
Follow us: www.jacklin.net.au
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Reply 5 of 6 posted 02 Feb 2010 at 12:03
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Member Wherrol replied to the question
Hello John,
We had the folks at Capalaba Caravans simply take out the 2 year old Dometic and 'pop' the Ibis in.
However, word of warning, we have not tried the Air Command on any roads other than the freeway from Rochedale Caravan Park, up to Tewantin and down to Maroochydore. So cannot comment on the performance on the rougher roads.
We love the Ibis and we love the BT lifestyle.
Kind regards
Allan and Sharon | Wherrol we head next?
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Reply 6 of 6 posted 07 Feb 2010 at 07:45
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Kiwi1 replied to the question
After two failures of our noisy Dometic (Electrolux) unit from rough roads, the Ibis can hardly be much more fragile. Good to know it will just slot in and replace the Dometic if (when) it fails us again.
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