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Don, how's your frame repair and floor rebuild coming along?

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Don DeRyke
Sunrise, Florida

2009 Classic, 2020 Ford Escape, 2.0 liter EcoBoost, AWD.?
Previous TV 2015 Ford Escape 1.6 ltr EcoBoost engine.

--
Don DeRyke
Sunrise, Florida

2009 Classic, 2020 Ford Escape, 2.0 liter EcoBoost, AWD.?
Previous TV 2015 Ford Escape 1.6 ltr EcoBoost engine.

It appears that each model of Aliner has a different configuration of air ducts from the heat pump.? Our expedition has 3, several folks have mentioned that they have 2, and the late model LXE also has three - but with differently placed outlets.? What seems to be consistent, however, is the under-performing of the unit for cooling.? Some this can't be helped as nothing can extend above the wall fold-line.? So putting A/C vents up high, permanently, is not possible.

So, to summarize what the issues are, and what we have done to alleviate them:?

·???????? Plug air leaks

o?? Backer rod pressed into seams – roof, dormers

o?? Plug leaks around door

o?? Plug leaks through floor

·???????? Reduce sun heat gain

o?? Park in shade when possible

o?? Use sunscreen on outside of windows (with suction clips)

·???????? Improve air flow of A/C

o?? Fan on floor in front of /C outlets to raise cool air up in the trailer

o?? Fan of opposite end of the trailer to push air back toward the main bed area

o?? Do not pull-out main bed – use it as a twin size along with the conversion of the dining area to another bed

·???????? Decrease cubic footage of air to condition

o?? Lower dormers – less cubic feet to cool; less wall square footage to outside; increased insulation of area above dormers (double thickness)

During the heat of the day, on real hot days, we simply lowered the dormers and clipped them down.? This seemed to help with the A/C.

We decided to use sunscreen material on the outside to reduce heat gain.? The reflectix seems like a great product, but we wanted to be able to see out of the trailer while reducing the heat gain.? We purchased a roll of sunscreen material and cut pieces to fit our windows.? We live south of Houston, and the solar screens on our home work real well.

I found “holes” in the floor through which utilities came into the trailer from the outside.? One was around the inlet for the gas line to the furnace.? From the inside I could look through the vent cover for the furnace and see daylight.? So I caulked from below any such leaks I found.? Around the door were also smaller leaks, especially where the wall folds down.? I used pieces of backer rod to stuff in there.?

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Together, these activities allowed much better comfort in the heat.? The last thing I will do is think about how to best re-route the current flexible ducts to improve distribution of cool air.? If I come up with my take on a solution to the routing of ducts, I will certainly post again.

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Products:

Backer rods are available in various diameters to fit different gaps.? These are closed cell and easy to push into the gaps around the seams/roof panel. ???? is a search that provides some options.

Suction clips are used to hold the pieces of sunscreen to the outside of the windows.? is an example of such clips.? They stick pretty well to the flat, smooth outside walls around the windows.? You may need to wipe off the dust from the wall before adhering, and slightly dampen the suction cup.

To Joe S - thanks for the suggestion about the Styrofoam panels.? I had not thought about this.? I will certainly look into doing something like this to my RV!

Thanks for the great discussion of this topic.

Steve S.

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Patricia,
I got a package of 3/4” styrofoam panels at Lowe’s/Home Depot? I cut them with an old kitchen knife heated up. Most are friction fit between the 3/4” thick supports. Some needed to be held in place with a short screw and large plastic washer. ?

Stay cool,
JoeS

Thank you Joe, for this suggestion.? I may give it a try.

Hi Steve, I was in awe of your accomplishments in under a month. Sorry, I’ll have to remove your Superman cape. ?I am completely new to trailers. We bought our 2022 Aliner Classic in late September of ‘22 and is the first trailer of any kind I have ever owned.

One of the things I did was install 3/4” styrofoam panels to separate the under bed a/c area from the storage/fresh water areas. That seemed to help with hot humid air mixing in. Our weather in northeast Ohio this past week has been in the high 90s. Our camper is parked outside right now and I was concerned about those temperatures with it being closed up in the sun. ?I opened it up and turned the a/c to 70. The daytime temperature in the shade has been around 97, with the camper in the sun the camper stayed at 70 all week. ?I don’t have solid data to prove it was the styrofoam but it seems to work much better so that is my belief. ?

These discussions are so helpful because of all the knowledge in this group.
Thank you all,
JoeS

Hi All,? ?Thank you for all these comments.? I'm in Dallas, Tx. and bought a 2024 LXE last November.? I believe that I have a similar set up with the air conditioner and heat pump.? I'm planning to leave on a summer trip to Upper Michigan on July 4th.? I have been testing my air conditioner for the last couple of days.? It's 97 to 100 degrees here today.? Yesterday it took one hour for it to cool down from 95 degrees inside to 82 degrees.? I have reflectix on all the windows and parked in the shade.? I thought that the air conditioner would do a better job and cool a lot faster.? There are three vents; one under the queen bed, one going throught a lower cabinet to the entry way and one going through another cabinet next to the refrigerator coming out over the converter.? I also put a fan on the floor next to the vent under the bed.? This helped a little.? Right now I don't have time to do any major rerouting of ducts under the bed.? I will bring another fan to put on top of the refrigerator counter.? I'm so disappointed with this situation.??

I traded in my 2014 Aliner Ranger 10 to get this LXE.? The Ranger 10 had a window unit air conditioner on the door side and it would cool down the inside to 77 degrees in about 15 minutes.? I hope that it will start to get cooler as I travel north.?

Steve, please let us know how your modifications go.? I would like to know how I can do this myself.
Thank you,
Pat

Hi Joe.? First, let me clear up that the mods I listed in these messages were NOT mine.? Other, creative owners, have done these and I was just interested in them.? My apologies if I led anyone to think I created these.

Thanks for showing what you have done to try to improve the airflow.? I had not thought to use PVC schedule 40 pipe.? It certainly would not have the condensation issues that metal would.? I don't have lots of experience with A-frames as I have only had one for the last 3+ years.? I was led to look into how to make the heat pump work better.? Certainly, a 9000 btu A/C should keep a small unit like mine more comfortable.? Last year we were near Big Bend National Park and the temps were in the low 100s.? Our Expedition was not very comfortable.? I have read in these messages about why this can be.? It appears to be a combination of poor insulation, lots of air leakage around the seams, and maybe poor design of the heat pump installation.? I have been able to improve the cooling by inserting 1" backer rod into the roof seam and dormer seams and using several medium size fans to try to get the cool air off the floor and up into the RV.? With the main bed pulled out, it is very difficult to do this.? We have gone not pulling out the main queen bed in hot weather.? One of us sleeps on this bed as a twin size, and the other sleeps on the dinette converted into a bed.

My next step in improving the A/C is to make some mods to the HB9000 air distribution.? With your input, I have now looked at 3 different ways to do this.? I am still working on what I may do.?

The Expedition's installation of the HB9000 provides 3 output ducts through the panel under the main bed, near the floor.? From reading other posts, other models have the same or a similar heat pump, but with only 2 output ducts.? If the heat pumps are the same, it should be possible to add a 3rd duct for the output air.

I am thinking of routing my 3 output ducts so that 2 are along the back of the bed, under the outside dormer wall - and the other at one end of the bed (either at the feet or head). I just need to decide how I will do this, and I appreciate those who have provided some valuable input to the solution.?

Steve,
Your modifications look great and EASY! ?I rerouted the cooling hoses to give us more usable room under the bed. Yes, I probably reduced the efficiency by restricting the flow in and out but not noticeably, so I intend to make it a little cleaner and permanent. ?I used some 2” schedule 40 PVC that I had laying around. I’m very interested in adding a third vent on the back side of the bed. Any suggestions as to where to place it? At our heads, feet or middle?
JoeS

--
Don DeRyke
Sunrise, Florida

2009 Classic, 2020 Ford Escape, 2.0 liter EcoBoost, AWD.?
Previous TV 2015 Ford Escape 1.6 ltr EcoBoost engine.

I installed a DoHonest v25 wireless backup camera ~$80 a year ago. I mounted it high on the back of the camper and ran a wire to a fused water resistant switch on the outside of the camper battery box. The 5” monitor has a bracket to attach to the windshield and a cigarette lighter plug. The view is very wide so that when a speck on the horizon is identifiable as a vehicle it needs to be considered before changing lanes. It does help a lot for backing up. The picture is good with no delay (the camera is mounted line of sight with the monitor). ?The display has on occasion gone black but switching the monitor off and on brings it right back. I broke the bracket and DoHonest quickly replaced for free (the suction cup has a thin plastic cover that interferes with suction to the glass and the plastic covers a VERY strong adhesive).?

JoS

Hi again Roy.? I apologize that I did not include some other info with the pics I sent.? The product used was called StealthFlow Amerimax.? I found it on Amazon ( ? ) as well as an extension kit ( ).? These items are also available at Home Depot ( ) as well as other places.? From the pics it looks like the originator used the existing cardboard tubes and just extended them with black tubing like you found on Amazon.

Ah, thanks for those photos, Steve! Although I have done some fiberglass work before, the construction definitively would have taken me quite some time ? So I'm definitively interested in easier options.

I tried to find a part similar to the one in the 3 photos you posted, but so far I've only found flat dryer vent "hoses", like e.g. this one:
However, I don't think something of metal would work well, due to condensation. I've put insulation outside the ducting hoses in my current mod, and I've seen that even the metal hose clamps have started to rust.

Correction:? our 2021 Expedition Offroad has three(3) vents, rather then the two(2) in the mods I have reviewed.

Thanks for the information and links, Roy.? I plan to make some mods to my HB9000, but am considering options.? The mod explained in my first post, above, involves fabricating ducts out of thin plywood and then strengthening with fiberglass.? I have also reviewed another creative person's mod that involves much less fabrication.? Attached are 3 pics of this modification.? I am not sure which of these I will try, or if I will try to come up with another option.? My 2021 Expedition Offroad has 3 vents, rather then the three in both of the mentioned modifications.? So I will have to make minor changes to support 3 vents.? I might put 2 vents below the dormer and one to the left (as pictured above) to go over the head/foot of the sleepers.

I any others have suggestions for heat pump mods, please chime in!

I am continually amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of Aliner owners.? I wonder if the manufacturer spends any time reading these posts to find future improvements?

Thanks to everyone for sharing your vast knowledge of camping in an A-frame as well as making improvements.

I opted for the easiest solution I could find, so I went with this rechargeable wireless camera, with a magnetic base:

I only use it while backing up, and I use my phone or tablet as the screen.

I did a different AC mod 2 years ago, and I also had a hard time finding the correct size air duct parts back then. I ended up buying this hose from Amazon:
However, that one is currently unavailable, but I now see several 2.5" hoses on Amazon. Some examples:

Mounting flange:

I'm planning on doing the same mod myself (it seems far superior), so I would be interested in hearing about your experience with it. Both building it, and how well the mod works.