RV Airflow

[errisuriz]

Hello everyone. New to the GD forum but not to RVing. I was reading up on the Air Flow Systems. We just bought a GD with a GE ac. Have never owned an RV with anything but a Coleman...we'll see how it performs. Anyway, I contacted GD as it seems the Air Flow system can be ordered from a GD dealer, I figured I could order it from them. The $55 price is almost to good to be true since it retails for $170. I was told I had to purchase through Air Flow Systems. Does anyone know for sure? Does anyone know the cost?

Thanks, eddie

[IBEW Sparky]

Hello everyone. New to the GD forum but not to RVing. I was reading up on the Air Flow Systems. We just bought a GD with a GE ac. Have never owned an RV with anything but a Coleman...we'll see how it performs. Anyway, I contacted GD as it seems the Air Flow system can be ordered from a GD dealer, I figured I could order it from them. The $55 price is almost to good to be true since it retails for $170. I was told I had to purchase through Air Flow Systems. Does anyone know for sure? Does anyone know the cost?

Thanks, eddie

Scroll back one page and read my last post (#70)... I purchased 2 of them @ $74 each directly from GD.

[errisuriz]

IBEW Sparky...thank you for your reply and assistance. Just trying to save some bucks. I see that you purchased 2 at $74 each. As I mentioned my new GD has a GE air conditioner. I've always had Colemans. Going to see how the GE performs. Anyway, the ones you purchased were for a Coleman. GD told me I would have to go directly to Air Flow Systems for the GE product. Just wanted to know if that's truly the case.

eddie

[IBEW Sparky]

IBEW Sparky...thank you for your reply and assistance. Just trying to save some bucks. I see that you purchased 2 at $74 each. As I mentioned my new GD has a GE air conditioner. I've always had Colemans. Going to see how the GE performs. Anyway, the ones you purchased were for a Coleman. GD told me I would have to go directly to Air Flow Systems for the GE product. Just wanted to know if that's truly the case.

eddie

Got it... I misread the GE air conditioner part! Hopefully they will be made available soon from Air Flow Systems to GD if they are going to continue installing GE ac units. Have you removed the interior covers on your ac units to check things out? Perhaps you'll be lucky and GE has designed them properly with no need for an aftermarket kit. Keep us posted.

[errisuriz]

Good morning. No worries. Thanks for the reply. I haven't removed the interior covers but I will. I am betting that the original GE design isn't any better since Air Flow Systems has a product for it specifically. I would just hate spending $170.00 buying it from Air Flow Systems if its somewhere around $55 according to what I've read. Then again GD customer service said I would have to get it from Air Flow Systems. Time to give them a call.
Make it a great day!

eddie

[Dick Noble]

When I started this, I decided that I would spend the money to get a product that would fit without problems. RV Airflow fit right in without any problems. I haven't convinced DW that we need one in the bedroom -- yet.

[IBEW Sparky]

*UPDATE* to my previous post (#70)

I received both of my AirFlow styrofoam inserts as scheduled and did the install this past weekend. While it wasn't a difficult job it did take me longer than I expected. I'll skip the disassembly part of the cover, air deflector, and air plenum divider as there are enough YouTube videos out there covering that. I'll try and post pictures with some explanation of what I encountered. Keep in mind when purchasing from GD you only get the two molded styrofoam parts and not the plastic inserts that come with the kits (at a much higher $ cost). I don't know if those parts would have been of much help anyway.
While I should have expected it I was still surprised at just how crappy of a job GD does of (A) framing the duct openings and (B) sealing them up to prevent air leaks. Also the wiring is just as it is everywhere else in the RV... a rats nest just shoved up in there!

Here's a few pictures of their quality of work. *SORRY that they are are all uploading sideways! I purposely took them all with my phone in the correct orientation but they still want to rotate when posted... maybe one of the moderators can easily flip them so it actually look like you are looking up at the ceiling. Thanks!






Here's some of the gaps I encountered. Also on two of the air ducts they stuck out into the airbox by about 1/4" and were smashed all the way into the corner. Also check for gaps where the wiring enters the return air plenum and seal them up too!




I believe that is all of the pictures I'm able to upload on a single post so I'll post the improvements below.

[IBEW Sparky]

Here are some pictures of the improved tape job and slightly neater wiring in the return air plenum.









The foil tape isn't the easiest stuff to work with but you would think that someone that is doing this everyday would be proficient at it and have a system down to do a nice clean install. My work isn't A+ but it turned out better than I received from the factory....
More pictures to follow below.

[IBEW Sparky]

One of the problems I encountered in the bedroom AC was the styrofoam shroud around the blower fan was blocking about 3/4" of the discharge air flow from the opening that was small to begin with. I elected to use a blade from a hacksaw and just shave the styrofoam down so the airflow wasn't restricted. I had to do the same thing on the edge closer to the fan in the living room AC.







The next issue was that the actual framed opening was slightly above 3/4" larger than the actual styrofoam insert manufactured by Airflow. While I probably could have just put them in and used foil taped around everything I wanted a better seal and the ability to remove them easier if needed. I opted for adding nylon foam weather strip tape.





More pictures to follow below...

[IBEW Sparky]

Here's the tape I purchased from Home Depot for about $2.50 per roll. I purchased two of them but only needed about 18" of the second roll.


Here's where the tape was installed on both ac unit Airflow pieces... care is needed when installing the pieces into the ac unit as not to rip the tape off. I temporarily taped a piece of wax paper on the sides covering the foil tape and duct openings to assist with the installation. Only tape along the bottom edge and out past the styrofoam so you can pull the wax paper back out. Work the styrofoam piece back and forth, compressing the foam tape as you slowly work the styrofoam up into place.



Here's the finished install. Lining up the holes for bolts to the rooftop unit wasn't too difficult but I did have to lift and slightly move the bedroom ac unit to get the parts lined up.



All in all everything went well. I took my time and probably spent about 2 hrs on each unit including clean up.
While I didn't take any before or after air volume measurements I can tell you this....
as others have stated, there is a HUGE increase in the amount of air flow out of all the ducts, even when operating only the smaller bedroom unit the airflow out of the furthest living room duct was amazing... enough to actual blow the big window shade behind the sofa around a little! I highly recommend this upgrade to each ac unit in your RV!
Thanks for your patience with all of these separate posts!