Roof air or not?

[luvrbus]

Wayne, you will be better off with a Red Dot or equal unit driving a compressor off the engine 13,500 BTU is a waste of time and money trying to cool the drivers area traveling down the road.
Go for a 28 to 30,000 BTU for drivers comfort been there done that and have the tee shirt.
Nothing is more uncomfortable as a hot bus and co-pilot I can live with the heat the co-pilot is the problem.  
Living in the desert where it was a 115 Monday I know what I am talking about  


good luck

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Wayne,

You have alot of good info given to you by our members.  Take what you got from it and make your choice based on your likes/needs.

Roof warts work, I just don't care to look at them and I dislike the stains/streaks they produce on a paint job when they condensate.

Ductless Splits are efficient, a good bang for the buck, and I sell many of them to my customers. I dislike them in a bus conversion for

a few reasons. 1- the evaporators are not designed to drain from both ends if you were not parked level. 2- the inside evaporators look bulky

and noticable in a small area. 3- the bay space it takes to properly disapate the discharge air and to fit the physical size of the condencer is double

compaired to basement units.

Basement units also work. Although there is alot of duct work involved to make a proper functioning system. They are almost silent, and can only

take up 1/4 of your bay if placed correctly. No water dripping from your roof, and no warts to look at. What you end up with is a clean looking install..

Working my way up from here is the Dometic/Cruisair split systems. Ruggedly built, Many last 20+ years and I have serviced older. Again, more costly

to install with remote units, and reefer lines to chace but lots of options too.

Next would be the Nordicair systems. Built to indudtrial standards is why most race car transporters, and hospitality rigs use them. The only draw back

is they only build them to operate off 230v. [My next coach will have these systems, I don't care.. I will just visit parks with 50amp service] LOL..

Well, I think I covered everything but household systems.

Good Luck
Nick-

[luvrbus]

Wayne, water not running off the coach is another reason I like the Carriers the unit uses the water in the cooling process.   


good luck

[loosenut]

Wayne, not sure what my system is called, but names aside, it cools the driver's area quite well even with the big glass bubble.

At the engine it looks like a passenger car set up with a compressor and condenser.  Then it sends cold freon all the way to the front also like a car and blows air over the evaporator.  It cools the driver quite well and Lisa who rides on the couch in the salon.  Don't know if it cools the bed and bath.

My set up needs more freon considering the length of the tubes it travels.  BTW I still have last gen freon R-12 which may make a difference. 

Mike

[NewbeeMC9]

Wayne, water not running off the coach is another reason I like the Carriers the unit uses the water in the cooling process.   


good luck

They have the slinger ring to evaporate the water and increase efficiency.  They also have an air vent that blows strait down and can oscillate. You can get a little warm if you sit underneath my coleman.  There was a way to put vents in the middle, I think Dallas has a link to vents(You still have that, I could use it)


Also,  IMHO,  THE biggest bang for the buck is the driver fan.

[Busted Knuckle]

Wayne,
I got no advice fer the main unit! Period end of story! I am a seated bus man, not a converted bus man. (not yet anyway!)

But if you didn't yank it out you got a good start on what ya need for a driver air system already there!
Setra has the evaporator and blowers alreay there for the drivers area. All ya need is a condenser & compressor!
Good luck and hope to see ya in September! (shouldn't need air at night here then! )
  BK 

[Dreamscape]

We have three older roof warts, they work well and the noise helps my wife sleep through my snoring! We don't have any room in the bays for the mini splits anyway, they're full of everything but the kitchen sink!

Paul

[belfert]

My Carrier roof tops still discharge plenty of condensate even though it is flung into the condenser.  It is often plenty humid in Minnesota which might explain it.

[Ericbsc]

I have three of the new Carrier lo pro roof tops on a 40' Eagle. Even though the inside is not finished the noise level is very low. They have a plug inside that you can connect to a drain to keep water off the roof. I was loading my generator last week for a test and ran two of the units with all six windows open for 8 hrs. in 90 plus heat. To my amazement the bus was still somewhat cool inside. It has high den foam blown in. Mine are just ac not heat pumps. The pump came out after I bought mine. I have had all of the different warts and rate this one as the best performer as well as the lowest profile.With the roof raise the are barley visable!! I had 2 coleman basements units new but after looking at the requirements felt it was too much to work the ducting. I am using an aux pump off the engine to run a dash air unit that I got from Ron the bus nut.