Roof or Basement Aircon

[Bus Hunter]

Hello forum world,

I have been researching Newell motor homes for quite sometime now and have a couple I want to take a look at, one with roof mount ac units and the other with basement ac units. Can you kindly answer what are the advantages/disadvantages of both? I want to hear from actual owners how efficient each are and cost of maintenance and so on.

Derek

[Neweller]

Bus Hunter, welcome to the site and forum.

Just on a personal note, I prefer the roof airs and would not have the basement type. Once the basement type go bad, you are usually looking at some big dollars to repair or replace systems. I have heard recently that the Newell factory has went strictly to roof airs due to this. Another con is the space they kill in the basement that could be used for storage etc. Roof airs would only affect space on the roof. There are those who love a forced air type of heat and they will differ with me, and rightfully so.

I know we have both types of owners on here and I'm sure somebody will be chomping at the bit to share their opinion.

Ken

[lbrachfe]

The basement airs are no longer manufactured by the company Newell was buying them from. In fact they were rebuilding a few they had from wrecked coaches when I was there last. Parts are almost impossible to find, especially control boards. Ken is correct that Newell is using stricly roof airs which are ducted so much quiter than basement airs and offer you 2 more compartment bays for storage or ?. The replacement cost if needed is considerably less on roof airs and any Camping World or RV shop can do it easily for around $1200 to $1500. If you decide you want basement airs then check with Winnebago as they still use them and can probably tell you who makes them for them and I'm sure they could be retrofit to a Newell if need be.

[fulltiming]

The primary reason that Newell switched to roof airs was the difficulty in getting proper ducting from the basement to the ceiling as slides were added. However, now that basement airs are rarely used, it is a pain getting parts. In the early 1990's, Newell used Dometic basement airs. Finding parts for these is getting increasingly difficult. I have an evaporator fan motor that has packed up and it looks like I will have to find an electric motor shop that will rebuild it since I haven't been able to find a new one. In the mid 1990's, Newell changed to a system made by SCS. I don't believe SCS is still in business but, at this time, it may be somewhat easier to get parts for them.

[larryweikart]

I have the Dometic basement airs and they have cost us a small fortune to maintain and repair. Parts are extremely difficult to find, if your lucky, and most manufacturers have returned to the old reliable roof airs! I would never purchase another coach with any type of basement airs.

[afrench45]

I have basement air, and would much rather have roof airs. I was told that the basement air was meant to cool the coach when the slides are out, not in. When I travel down the road on a warm-hot day, the back of my coach will run 90-100+ degrees which is extremely uncomfortable for any passengers to ride in. They also take up valuable bay storage area, and when you sit outside your coach they are noisy. I've talked to Newell about putting roof air on my coach, and it is about $4000 a unit. It is a tough job due to all the ceiling trim and accents.
Would I not buy a coach due to basement air again? Probably not, like I said when the slides are out you can hang meat it gets so cold.
Good luck!

[tuga]

I have the SCS basement ACs in my coach. Since I have re-wired the circuit boards (thank you Russ White) I have not had any trouble. Prior to re-wiring the circuit boards I had a good bit of trouble.

A tech at Newell told me that 80% of the problems that you will have with SCS basement ACs will be from the circuit boards. Russ White is an electrical engineer and he advised me to put a heavier wire with better connections on my AC circuit boards. According to him the size wire used by SCS was too small and couldn't carry the loads. Also the connections were basically crap!

I have been told by an aquaintence on another forum that ANY parts that are in the SCS basement AC can be easily replaced. Any good AC supply house can sell you a new compressor, fan motor, even an evaporator or condensor coil.
The reason that you hear so much flak about "we can't find parts" is the repair shop doesn't want to fool with it. They are interested is selling you a NEW unit.

Air conditioning units are basically all the same and parts can be found with just a little effort; often at much less cost than replacing an entire roof AC. Try this site: http://www.americanhvacparts.com/?ibp-adgroup=adwords&gclid=CMiK6POi2LECFQ-c7QodIGoAxw

Just my .02

[Maxwell55]

maybe i missed it but i don't think it was addressed. what year did they start with the basement A/C? and what year did they go back to roof A/C units? and is it true that basement A/C is basically a residential A/C unit?

[fulltiming]

Most of the coaches made until 1988 had roof airs. There were some roof airs and some basements airs for a couple of years. By 1990 almost all of the Newells (the 2000 Series) had basement airs. I am aware of a couple of 2001 coaches with roof airs. However, 2003 is when the major shift back to roof air occurred. By that time most of the Newells had 3 or 4 slides and basement airs were not easy to incorporate into multiple slide units. There will be occasional exceptions.

The basement A/C units are basically residential A/C split units in design. They are smaller than residential units and, hopefully, designed to take the rigors of mobile use. The two companies that supplied basement A/C units to Newell are both out of business today.

[Neweller]

I have a quick question Michael. Can you tell folks what the names of the companies were and what years Newell used each brand or was it choice? Do you know if most of the two slide Newell's were equipped with basement air?

I'm also wondering why those two companies went out of business? Were they supplying mostly the RV or bus industry by chance and did other companies get away from basement airs for the slide reason? I could see a company going out of business if they lost a large contract, but not a company the size of Newell.


Ken

[fulltiming]

Newell started out using Dometic basement airs. It is my understanding that back in the 1990's Dometic's customer service was not up to what Newell wanted to see, causing the change to another brand. By the mid 1990's Newell switched to basement airs made by SCS. I understand that SCS (Fort Worth, Texas I believe) went out of business a number of years ago. Although Dometic itself is still in business, they no long make nor supply parts for the RV basement airs used by Newells in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

CruisAir, a part of the Dometic group since 2003, still makes basement airs but primarily for marine applications. CruisAir has been used in marine applications and numerous Prevosts converters for many years. Coleman provided basement AC units to RV manufacturers also. I suspect that multiple slide-outs destroyed the basement AC business in RV's. Basement airs were always more expensive than roof airs.

[smagown]

I've been removing my basement air duct work from under my coach since going to roof airs. The quality of material and insulation of the ducts is way beyond what is in my home.
One thing I don't understand is why Newell didn't run it straight up thru floor registers instead of going up the walls and then thru the black pipes. I think this may have hurt efficiency.
I know houses have long runs but probably more tonnage and fan capacity.

[fulltiming]

I guess Newell was following the home HVAC principle of heat rises so put heater vents at the floor and AC vents near the roof even though it is more work and more expense.

[tuga]

Like many of you, I have had a few Newells (this is my 3rd). My first one was a 1987 Newell Classic 40' w/3 roof ACs. I had trouble with them tripping c.b. burning fan motors etc. My next Newell was a 1993 Newell 2000 44' w/3 basement ACs. I changed 5 condensor fan motors on the front and middle AC units plus 2 compressors!

My current Newell a 1999 45' w/2 slides has the SCS basement ACs. In 8 years the only trouble I have had has been with the circuit boards; overheating due to cheap plastic connections and wires that were too small to carry the loads. Since I have changed the wiring & connections on the circuit boards - no problems.

So I guess I'm the only guy who likes SCS basement ACs!

[Neweller]

Tuga, while I'm in the hunt for a new coach I will not waste my time looking at anything with the Dometic HVAC and will consider the SCS and figure on doing a wiring and connections upgrade to the circuit board otherwise I'm looking mostly at roof airs for the underneath storage space. If I could pick up a fixer and it penciled out I would convert a basement to roofs. I love a little sweat equity as its in my blood. I'm looking pretty hard at '97 to '99's right now.

Ken

[tuga]

Ken,

IMO the 1997 to 1999 models are the sweet spot of Newells. They have good slides, series 60 engine (35% better fuel economy), independent front suspension, rear bath + a half bath, and most of all the prices are very reasonable!

The next major innovation was the turning tag axle in 2004+ and those are upwards of $350K.

You are right on the money with a '97-'99 IMO.

[Aussies]

Which is best to own in regards to the resale value, Roof air or basement ?

[fulltiming]

Roof airs are difficult to find in the 1997-1999 range.