Carrier vs Duo Therm A/C

[Alan]

My 87FC35 has two non-ducted A/Cs. They are both Dometics. One
appears to be wearing out. (Compressor does not start sometimes.)
I think they are 13,500btu units (they look original). I want to
upgrade one or both to 15,000 btu's. (I think I am going to need
more cooling here in Texas.)

I've read reviews on Camping World's website. There aren't too many
reviews, but the DuoTherm reviews on their new a/c's are mostly very
bad.

Here are my questions:
1. Are there any other good options besides Carrier or Duo?
2. If you have bought a new a/c lately, what has been your
experience.
3. Carrier or Duo (and why?)

Thanks,
Alan Johnson
Dallas, TX
87FC35

[jvredden@...]

I have 91 PT40. The AC were 16 years old 13500 Duotherms (ducted). They
were working but had noticed cooling fins were damages ( probably from trying
to clean with pressure washer) and my rear one seemed weaker than the others.
I decided to replace all three with 15000 units but opted for heat pumps
as my primary heat is primus using propane. The primus still works great but
if I can heat the coach with their AC and not my primus (propane) it made
sense to upgrade to heat pumps.. It was only a minor cost upgrade from standard
AC to heat pumps. My local dealer in North Carolina is Foothills RV in
Taylorsville. He recommended Duotherms over the carrier. He installed them at
a
price well under Camping World or some other folks I found on the web in
Florida. They have worked well and seem to cool much better than the old
units.
The impression of increased cooling may also be impacted by the air dumps
that were installed with the new units. It allows you to bypass the ducting
systems and dump it into the area where the return is. With less air
resistance because of bypassing the ducting its function is more efficient.
Still
use the ducting if I am keeping it cool instead of getting it cool. I have not
used the heat portion is the dead of winter yet but in the low 40's which is
as low as I have had the chance to try the heat part of the heat pump, the
heat from the non ducted dump discharge would have been sufficient to dry my
wife's hair. ( to say it would dry my old bald head would not say much...I
can do it with a paper towel) So far have been happy with the upgrade. The
factory installed Duotherms lasted 16 years and were still cooling...that's
about all I could have expected.

john redden 91 PT 40


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Eric Johnson]

Hello Alan,
I replaced the two original Dometics on our coach with two Dometic Model 595's
in August
2004. Units were installed by Camping World. Camping World typically has a
sales
promotion on these units at this time of year and I couldn't beat their price
locally. I have
since installed the optional heating elements.

We've been happy with the performance of these units. They keep the coach
comfortable
in 95-100ºF weather while running down the road or parked. The multispeed fan
is a real
upgrade for us over the old single speed units as we often only need to run them
on low
or medium speed and that is much quieter than before.

Electric heating elements are adequate to get the chill off the coach in the
morning during
our short "winters".

I didn't evaluate Carrier units. Figured original Dometics were still running
after 20 years
so thought it wise to stick with a proven brand.

Eric in San Antonio
84FC35SBWL2

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Alan" wrote:
>
> My 87FC35 has two non-ducted A/Cs. They are both Dometics. One
> appears to be wearing out. (Compressor does not start sometimes.)
> I think they are 13,500btu units (they look original). I want to
> upgrade one or both to 15,000 btu's. (I think I am going to need
> more cooling here in Texas.)
>
> I've read reviews on Camping World's website. There aren't too many
> reviews, but the DuoTherm reviews on their new a/c's are mostly very
> bad.
>
> Here are my questions:
> 1. Are there any other good options besides Carrier or Duo?
> 2. If you have bought a new a/c lately, what has been your
> experience.
> 3. Carrier or Duo (and why?)
>
> Thanks,
> Alan Johnson
> Dallas, TX
> 87FC35
>