adding a roof air

[encantotom]

hi everyone. my coach is a 38' and came with 2 roof airs. it is fine except in the hot arizona summer. so, i decided to add a 3rd air.

i ordered it today off of ebay, a matching coleman mach15 15kbtu unit.

incredible price compared to camping world. over 300 dollars cheaper.

my son who is home from college for spring break and i marked it out on the roof today and will put it in the middle in front of the fridge.

nothing like a sawzall cutting a hole in the roof. i talked to steve about his install and i think mine will be easier.

i will take pictures.

should have it next week and will install it that weekend.

later

tom

[encantotom]

i got the coleman mach 15 roof air friday. so to make a long story short, i cut the hole in the roof and put it on.

ok, it was a little more work than that....i did the hole in the ceiling first and cut the foam away. then drilled holes in the 4 corners of the 14" cutout and then went to the roof. i had a buddy help me and it made it a ton easier. he drew connecting lines on the 4 small holes i drilled and we made sure the unit would fit uptop without interfering with anything. it was fine. so then i drilled larger holes that a sabre saw blade could go in and cut out the aluminum square. then i used a few pop rivets and silicone to make sure it was all sealed at where the pieces of aluminum overlap in the middle. while we were up there we sealed with silicone anything that looked like it needed resealing.

the ceiling where the cutout had the plywood delaminate so the screws you see around the edges are where i sucked it all back together. then i used a staple gun to put the roof vinyl up around the cutout.

i happen to have a buddy who lives a few blocks away that has a fork lift. so he popped over and was here about ten minutes or less as he lifted up the 90 pound roof unit that i had attached to a pallet. then we offloaded it and he was off. it made it really a ton easier to have the fork lift. not sure how i would have got it up top without whanging it or the coach up.

then i tightened down the mounting bracket sucking the unit down to seal it good. between me inside and my buddy on the roof we centered the unit on the top so it wasnt crooked.

then wired it up and found which leg to put it on of the 50amp to balance it with all the amperage hog things in the coach, wired in a new 20 sq D QO 20amp breaker and i was off and cooling. looks original and makes a big difference having 3 rather than 2 airs. it should make it so i can stay cool in the 115 degree summer here. it was marginal with 2.

here are a few pictures.

later

tom

[fulltiming]

As always Tom, you are doing great work. I know you will enjoy having the extra cooling capacity there in Arizona.

[Richard and Rhonda]

Cool !!!

Now looks you are ready to come to Austin. BTW, I talked to the owners of the RV park and they told me about how they try to maintain a first class operation. They specicifically asked that none of us bring any of that Jeff Gordon trash to clutter up their park.

Seriously, it looks great. That had to be a big gut check when you put the saw to the roof. No turning back then. Nothing says commitment like a sawzall.

Was the Romex already there? Or did you have to run it. I found wiring in my ceiling for additional lights that was not used.

[encantotom]

i had looked into adding a 3rd roof air before. i was going to put it in where ti put the new fantastic fan. then i just didnt.

late last year i called newell and was able to get a set of the blueprints for the coach. they are the normal top and side views with some details.

it showed a framed out hole in front of the fridge marked future air conditioner. sure enough, i went out into the coach and felt the frame in the ceiling.

i looked in the power panel and there was a romex tucked up in the power panel marked future air. so that put me over the edge.

so, with the framing already in place and the wiring pre run, it was way easier than it would have been without.

i bought my coleman mach15 15k btu roof air complete with inside grill and mounting kit for 640 bucks delivered to my house. it was on ebay and ended up being about 300 bucks cheaper or more than camping world. it was at my house in less than a week from the time i bought and paid for it on ebay.

my neighbors have confirmation i am nuts. like "what are you cutting a hole in the roof for?"

glad i did it. it will make a huge difference this summer.

i am hoping my to do list will start to subside, but doesnt seem to be.

later

tom