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  1. #1
    Big Traveler
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    Did some HVAC maintenance today and oh boy.....

    Since we're about to head out for our summer trip, I decided to make sure the air conditioner unit was up to snuff. Ours are Coleman Machs.

    I first took the screens off, and oh boy were they dirty! I found the best way to clean them was to use a vacuum. But the vacuum didn't really get all that nasty dirty out. I found that if I placed my fingers on the other side of the screen with my fingers slightly spread apart, the vacuum was able to suction harder and get all that dirt off (venturi effect?).
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Then I got the faceplate off, only to discover another plate below that one. Good thing I had my power tools with me.

    This is what I saw when I got it all apart.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Seems ok except for the mess of wires right? Well what I found out was that when I reached into the ducts on either side of the cold air side, the opening was about 1/3 obscured by foil tape. I pushed the divider over so that it was now 1/3 intake and 2/3 cold air. Then I pushed back the sloppy foil job and woila, the duct opening was significantly larger! I also added some more tape to smooth out the area.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    The duct opening went from this:
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    to this:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    I know others have managed to clean up that mess of wires. At this point I was already dead tired so I just left them. Maybe a project for another day.

    Then I took a look at the bedroom unit. I got the faceplate off, but I couldn't remove the one under that because the stupid dealer had used screws with bolt heads and they'd mangled all the bolt heads. When I have the time I'm going to bring it back to the dealer and make him fix that.

    So with this unit, I had much less room to maneuver. But yep, I found that divider was in the wrong place as well. The size of the duct opening was too small as a result. To make matters worse, the ceiling wallboard was pulling down in the area of the duct, effectively making the duct even smaller! There was no foil tape here at all. What tape was on there was a totally haphazard lazy job done by someone who totally couldn't give a rat's you know what.

    Continued in next post due to restrictions on number attachments per post.................
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

  2. #2
    Big Traveler
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    Continuation from previous post....

    Ok so this is what the duct looked like. You can see the gap between the plywood of the ceiling and the wallboard material they use to cover the inside of the roof. Sorry for the pic rotation. I don't know how to fix that.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    After some difficult maneuvering due to my inability to remove the undercover, it looked like this. Note how much wider and taller the opening is:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    I also popped off the rotating vent covers on all the vents in the main room. The ones in the bunk room and our bedroom are not removable it seems. The slots in the vents in the main room are at a fixed angle, but the vent can be rotated. The bedroom vents and the bunkhouse vents have louvers that can be adjusted from open to closed and also rotate.

    The fixed angle slot vents have covers that can easily be removed. The adjustable angle louver vents are locked in placed so hard it's not possible to remove them. They come as two pieces. You screw in the vent. Then you snap in the adjustable louver faceplate. The thing snaps down and locks. It's not possible to pry it apart. I found this out because the boys broke their adjustable louver vent. I tried to pull the thing apart and ended up pulling the whole thing, screws and all off the ceiling. Even after I had the whole thing in my hand, it was nearly impossible to pull the thing apart. I ended up using an automobile trim screw puller to wedge it apart. I have no idea how anyone could ever do that with the vent in place in the ceiling.

    Anyway, when I got the vent covers of the vents in the main room I found this:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    The foil tape was sticking UP, acting like an air brake! I managed to smooth it all down flat.

    I ran the bedroom AC for a few minutes to see if there was any change. I didn't perceive any increased airflow in the vents of the main room. The airflow in the master bedroom definitely felt stronger however. It was so strong I started to hear a loud whistle coming from the ac unit. It turns out the faceplate doesn't sit perfectly flush against the ceiling because the ceiling wallboard is in two pieces and there's a piece of trim to hide the seam. That piece of trim doesn't sit flush. It's got a bit of a rounded bump, like a very low and wide speedbump. Therefore there is a gap between the ac unit faceplate and the ceiling where the faceplate sits on the trim piece. Argh!!!!!

    By this time I was beyond exhausted so I just folded over some heavy construction paper and wedged in in there to fill the gap. Whistle gone.

    I think when I have the time and energy, I'll take some clear silicone caulking and squirt it into the gap and see if that solves it more elegantly. If not then the next step would be to cut out the trim piece where the ac faceplate sits. I just might make the dealer do that when I bring it in to fix the stupid stripped out bolt head screws.

    So that's about it.

    THANK YOU to the fine folks on this forum who have done this before me and documented it so well. I posted this just in case a different perspective might help someone else.
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

  3. #3
    Site Team xrated's Avatar
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    What a mess.....glad you got to the bottom of it and thank you for posting up and the pictures. Crappy workmanship for sure.
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  4. #4
    Site Sponsor
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLexx View Post
    Since we're about to head out for our summer trip, I decided to make sure the air conditioner unit was up to snuff. Ours are Coleman Machs.

    I first took the screens off, and oh boy were they dirty! I found the best way to clean them was to use a vacuum. But the vacuum didn't really get all that nasty dirty out. I found that if I placed my fingers on the other side of the screen with my fingers slightly spread apart, the vacuum was able to suction harder and get all that dirt off (venturi effect?).
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_2428.jpg 
Views:	79 
Size:	95.6 KB 
ID:	20557

    Then I got the faceplate off, only to discover another plate below that one. Good thing I had my power tools with me.

    This is what I saw when I got it all apart.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_2429.jpg 
Views:	126 
Size:	89.4 KB 
ID:	20558

    Seems ok except for the mess of wires right? Well what I found out was that when I reached into the ducts on either side of the cold air side, the opening was about 1/3 obscured by foil tape. I pushed the divider over so that it was now 1/3 intake and 2/3 cold air. Then I pushed back the sloppy foil job and woila, the duct opening was significantly larger! I also added some more tape to smooth out the area.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_2435.jpg 
Views:	102 
Size:	97.5 KB 
ID:	20559

    The duct opening went from this:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_2430.jpg 
Views:	96 
Size:	85.7 KB 
ID:	20560

    to this:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_2436.jpg 
Views:	90 
Size:	97.1 KB 
ID:	20561

    I know others have managed to clean up that mess of wires. At this point I was already dead tired so I just left them. Maybe a project for another day.

    Then I took a look at the bedroom unit. I got the faceplate off, but I couldn't remove the one under that because the stupid dealer had used screws with bolt heads and they'd mangled all the bolt heads. When I have the time I'm going to bring it back to the dealer and make him fix that.

    So with this unit, I had much less room to maneuver. But yep, I found that divider was in the wrong place as well. The size of the duct opening was too small as a result. To make matters worse, the ceiling wallboard was pulling down in the area of the duct, effectively making the duct even smaller! There was no foil tape here at all. What tape was on there was a totally haphazard lazy job done by someone who totally couldn't give a rat's you know what.

    Continued in next post due to restrictions on number attachments per post.................
    How do you get access to the screens? I tried to remove the cover but thought it was going to break.
    Steve & Ann Ellis
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  5. #5
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    Too bad I didn't see this before you started. While you had it apart you probably should grab a nut driver and snug down the retaining bolts on the A/C units. If someone is doing that poor a job with the vent tape then you may have A/C units that are loose. You will find out for sure come the first good rain storm. That's how I found my loose A/C unit. Which led to fixing the fallen separator board, which led to cleaning up the vent tape.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
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  6. #6
    Big Traveler
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    I found similar issues with all the heating ducts and vents as well as the A/C. A roll of furnace tape and some time improved function. Amazing how "quality" abounds under the surface.

  7. #7
    Big Traveler
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    Quote Originally Posted by D2Reid View Post
    Too bad I didn't see this before you started. While you had it apart you probably should grab a nut driver and snug down the retaining bolts on the A/C units. If someone is doing that poor a job with the vent tape then you may have A/C units that are loose. You will find out for sure come the first good rain storm. That's how I found my loose A/C unit. Which led to fixing the fallen separator board, which led to cleaning up the vent tape.
    Good idea. Fortunately as we park our trailer outside, and had major rainstorms this last year, there haven’t been any leaks. If I take the faceplate off again, I will certainly check!
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

  8. #8
    Big Traveler
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    Quote Originally Posted by sellis1053 View Post
    How do you get access to the screens? I tried to remove the cover but thought it was going to break.
    The screens are under a removable grill. Once you get the grill off, the screens are held in place by two retention tabs. All you have to do is to gently bend the perimeter frame of the plastic screen inward to release it from the retention tab. I’ll post a pic if I get the chance.
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
    2018 Grand Design Reflection 28bh

  9. #9
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    I put the screens in the sink with a little bit of dish detergent then scrub them with a brush. Rinse. A chore.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  10. #10
    Site Sponsor Skiddy's Avatar
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    Great post, lots of detail. Your description of the trim seal being like a speed bump made me smile. The design is not so grand on many of GDRV’s units. They seem to screw vent covers and AC units over these trim strips rather than locate the vents where it is against the flat ceiling.
    Judy & Larry
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