Coleman Mach 8 A/C Unit

Another option we had installed on our 2014 2552 is the Coleman Mach 8 15,000 btu A/C unit with heat strip.  This was not an additional unit, but rather a substitute for the standard A/C.  It is also a standard A/C unit, not the heat pump version.

Obviously, the weather isn't exactly at its finest for reviewing this kind of thing yet, but there are some things you might want to know if you are considering this yourselves.

The Coleman is made by AirXcel (rooftop section model 47203A879, ceiling section  model 9330F4552) and they use the RVComfort.HP thermostat by RV Products (model 8530-348).  This can be confusing, since the HP stands for Heat Pump and it is also used for the non heat pump units.  The thermostat literature only references heat pump units, so you'll need to infer a lot when referencing it for the non heat pump units. Unlike a lot of units I've seen, this Coleman does not have any controls on the ceiling unit.  Everything is controlled through the thermostat....gas heat, electric heat, a/c, fan speeds.

There are three main connection points.  One under the passenger side bed next to the furnace, one at the thermostat behind the wall and one on the roof in a control box at the a/c unit.

Here is the odd (to me at least) thing about this unit.  Switching the thermostat to electric heat may or may not also turn on the furnace.  It depends on the differential between current room temperature and where you set the temperature you want.  If the differential is more than 5 degrees, the furnace lights and runs along with the heat strip until a 5 degree differential or less is reached.  It makes sense to operate like this and it certainly would not be everyone's ideal way of operating, but you can just run the heat strip if you remember not to crank up the heat beyond 5 degrees above current room temperature.  I'm going to live with this way of doing business for a while and see if it becomes a hassle or great feature.  One could always install a second thermostat or just a switch for the heat strip.

Those interested in specs:   Blower Motor: FLA 1.3 HP 1/8    Fan Motor: FLA 1.8 HP 0.18    Electric Heater: 13.9A    Compressor: model 1450-405, LRA 63.0, RLA 14.0

The only other thing I can report on right now is the fan noise.  On high, it is loud.  On low it is quite quiet....very easy to carry on normal conversations, not distracting at all.  I guess this is all subjective, and again I don't have the stock unit to compare it to, so if you're interested in hearing it for yourself, look us up!

  - Mike

Mike, why did you pick this a/c over the stock unit? Was there a difference in cost.

Before I got my first PC, I had a winnie class A with the basement air. It worked the same way with the furnace coming on if the heat pump was selected and the temp was over 5 degrees cooler.

Another option we had installed on our 2014 2552 is the Coleman Mach 8 15,500 btu A/C unit with heat strip.  This was not an additional unit, but rather a substitute for the standard A/C.  It is also a standard A/C unit, not the heat pump version.

Here is the odd (to me at least) thing about this unit.  Switching the thermostat to electric heat may or may not also turn on the furnace.  It depends on the differential between current room temperature and where you set the temperature you want.  If the differential is more than 5 degrees, the furnace lights and runs along with the heat strip until a 5 degree differential or less is reached.  It makes sense to operate like this and it certainly would not be everyone's ideal way of operating, but you can just run the heat strip if you remember not to crank up the heat beyond 5 degrees above current room temperature.  I'm going to live with this way of doing business for a while and see if it becomes a hassle or great feature.  One could always install a second thermostat or just a switch for the heat strip.

The only other thing I can report on right now is the fan noise.  On high, it is loud.  On low it is quite quiet....very easy to carry on normal conversations, not distracting at all.  I guess this is all subjective, and again I don't have the stock unit to compare it to, so if you're interested in hearing it for yourself, look us up! - Mike

Mine is the HP model and the noise levels are as Mike describes. I was disappointed when I found that the heat cycle only operated on High. I am going to contact Coleman and see if the fan speed can be changed at the unit. I ordered mine with a separate thermostat for the gas furnace. The HP is not efficient below 45 degrees and the gas furnace on it's lowest setting works for those few days that it gets below freezing in the Sunny South.

Mike,
I just talked with Coleman and they said that the heatstrip model runs on low fan only. Is this the way yours works? I would have never gotten the HP model if I had known it ran on high only in heat mode. I can convert it to a heatstrip by changing two parts. Is your heatstrip as quiet as the A/C on low? Does your fan work on both auto and on when using the heatstrip? Thanks for your reply!

Tom: The Coleman cost $300 more than the standard A/C.  We had the option of a second A/C, because we had the 50 amp power setup.  Our thinking was that we wanted a bit more cooling than the 13,500 btu standard unit, and adding a second 11,000 btu unit was overkill in the 2552. We decided to look around at 15,000 btu units and the Coleman was a standout.  Very low profile on the roof (8 inches), very light (90 lbs), very quiet fan on low speed, highest btu strip heat of any RV unit (6000), operates in weather up to 125 degrees (ie: Scottsdale), two motors that provide the same high BTUs of cooling on both high and low speed operation.

Shipper: Yes, the fan is just as quiet using the heat strip and it only operates on low speed.  Yes also to the question of the heat strip running on both 'auto' and 'on' fan modes.

- Mike

Thanks Mike, I wish we had 15000 BTUs in the summer at the beach. Maybe PCwill start putting them on as an option in the future if enough people ask for them.

 To late for me as I don't thing my wife will let me trade a third time just for an a/c upgrade. If something were to go bad for some strange reason    then I could replace it with a stronger unit.