2 AC units in a 2552

TomHanlon

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2017, 03:32:27 pm »

Are you getting the ladder? If so it is mounted to the right of the bathroom vent and the top part of the ladder takes the first 6 inches of the roof. In your bottom layout, you would be stepping on the solar panel. Also you want to condsider where inside the a/c units will be. Phoenix gets the roof and walls already made up with the braces in set positions. Make sure you and Earl are on the same page before ordering. You don't want any surprises on delivery day.

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Ron Dittmer

5647
Ron and Irene
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ExtColor: Full Body Gray
Location: N/E Illinois

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #16 on: July 15, 2017, 09:29:02 am »

Tom,

I think the rear of the motor home is to the right. If I am correct, renotse should be able to step from the ladder onto the roof in any of the three scenarios, but would immediately need to step over the bathroom vent in the 3rd one.

It appears that he could place as many as six 100-watt solar panels.

Ron Dittmer

« Last Edit: July 15, 2017, 09:36:01 am by ron.dittmer »

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Ron (& Irene) Dittmer

TomHanlon

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #17 on: July 15, 2017, 03:48:43 pm »

Ron I understand that the rear of the coach is to the right. The ladder is to the drawing top (right) of the bathroom vent, and the shower dome is to the left of the vent. The ladder has hand rails that prude about 6 inches on the top of the roof. Centered in between them is the black tank vent. One can not step there or to the left or right, off the edge. One might be able to step left over the vent, in between the vent and the dome, but if you slip, you are going to crush one of them and you will never have any more kids. When I climb the ladder I have to step forward about a foot over the black tank vent. Maybe Phoenix has moved the black tank vent since my 2552 was built. Best to check with Earl where the black and gray vents are now a days. I don't see them in any of the above drawings.

Also if he is going to put vent covers over any of the vents, he needs to account for the added size.

« Last Edit: July 15, 2017, 03:51:07 pm by TomHanlon »

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Ron Dittmer

5647
Ron and Irene
OwnPC: Yes
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Location: N/E Illinois

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #18 on: July 15, 2017, 03:52:17 pm »

Ah, Thanks Tom For the detailed clarity. It makes sense.

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Ron (& Irene) Dittmer

fandj

345
OwnPC: Yes
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Model: 2552
ModelYear: 2016
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IntColor: Graystone
ExtColor: Nightscape - full body
Location: Virginia

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #19 on: July 16, 2017, 10:43:44 am »

Another option you may want to consider is using the Max Fan Deluxe in lieu of the Fantastic Fan. It has a built in rain shield cover which is lower profile than the Fantastic Fan optional rain cover to reduce solar panel shading during low angle sun periods. The Max Fan also has 10 speed. I have had both manufacturers fans in various camping units and prefer the Max Fan. When we ordered our 2552 we elected to have the optional vent and three Max Fans installed. We attempt to choose our camping destinations where we are able to be comfortable with the fans only. The non ducted air conditioners are in my opinion excessively noisy.

We have two 160 watt panels mounted on the rear. We anticipated we might want to add two more 160 watt panels in the front but so far have not seen a need to add them.

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Ron Dittmer

5647
Ron and Irene
OwnPC: Yes
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Location: N/E Illinois

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #20 on: July 16, 2017, 12:52:12 pm »

Quote from: fandj on July 16, 2017, 10:43:44 am

When we ordered our 2552 we elected to have the optional vent and three Max Fans installed. We attempt to choose our camping destinations where we are able to be comfortable with the fans only. The non ducted air conditioners are in my opinion excessively noisy.

THREE Max Fans in a 2552? "WOW" with all 3 running, it must get quite windy inside. Are you certain one would not be sufficient? It seems to me that if you put one Max Fan or Fantastic fan in the rear bathroom, and open a "forward" screened window, you would have plenty of flow-thru ventilation.

In our 2350, we have a Fantastic roof vent in the bedroom area and a generic power vent in the bathroom. They are only a couple feet apart from each other with the bathroom wall in between them. I wished I had foreseen 10 years back when ordering ours, that we could have placed the quality-made Fantastic fan in the bathroom and have one less major hole in our roof. Then add a vent above the bath door mirror to allow air to pass through the door when closed. Have it louver-controlled so we could close it off for throne-time privacy.

Those of you who know me, know that I am not into extra holes....ceiling vents, slide outs, crank-up antennas, ladders & roof racks and such. Speaking of which I wish we had a 360 degree fixed antenna available back in 2007. Our crank-up added a pile of holes, a plate and a tube full of caulk in the beautiful B+ roof.

If we ever had to replace our B+ cap for any reason, that dang antenna is going with it.

It's just some thoughts after owning ours for so long now. I am not suggesting rentse follows along. He needs to do what is right for him.

« Last Edit: July 16, 2017, 01:07:03 pm by ron.dittmer »

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Ron (& Irene) Dittmer

fandj

345
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Location: Virginia

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #21 on: July 16, 2017, 02:23:43 pm »

Ron, actually with three fans running they are quieter than alternately running one fan moving the same amount of air as the sum of three fans. The Max Fan 10 speed models when running in the lower speed range are significantly quieter than the Fantastic fans when operated at their lowest speed.

As to your question would one fan be enough I suppose much of the time the answer would be yes if it was just a matter of airflow as we almost never run our fans at maximum speed. We were looking for adequate airflow at low noise levels which is important to us to enhance our overall camping experience. Most of our summer camping trips are to the higher elevation NFS campgrounds in the Virginia or North Carolina mountains or western state mountains where AC is typically not needed so our needs/desires no doubt differ from other PC owners.

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jatrax

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John and Carrie
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Location: Oregon Mountains

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #22 on: August 09, 2017, 09:05:11 pm »

Looks from that drawing that there might be room for two more up forward. Nice layout. Though without additional battery capacity not sure how useful they would be.

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fandj

345
OwnPC: Yes
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Model: 2552
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Location: Virginia

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #23 on: August 10, 2017, 07:31:18 am »

I have two 160 watt panels for the 220 ah bank or approx 1.5 watts per ah which is very similar to yours. I think you will find higher panel output closer to the "sweet spot" than the 1.0 ratio. As you know panel output ratings are at ideal conditions which seldom happens. Marginal weather and low seasonal sun angles i suspect will make you glad you went higher than 1.0.

I also have the ability to add two more 160 watt panels but based on what I have seen without additional battery capacity I would almost never be able to use the added panel capacity while limiting my charging voltage to 14.7 - 14.8 volts. Though replacing the existing lead acid batteries with Lithium batteries looks interesting and would accommodate the extra panels I don't think with our typical power consumption it could be justified.

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fandj

345
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: New
Model: 2552
ModelYear: 2016
Slide: Yes
IntColor: Graystone
ExtColor: Nightscape - full body
Location: Virginia

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #24 on: August 11, 2017, 09:39:29 am »

Hopefully this photo satisfies your needs. Unfortunately I don't have a high enough vantage point to get the full roof.

« Last Edit: August 11, 2017, 09:44:23 am by fandj »

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keelhauler

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Location: Westlake, OH

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #25 on: August 11, 2017, 11:25:05 am »

Fandj
Do you have problems with the vent putting a shadow on your arrays. Shadows take array output to near zero.

That is why I moved the antenna to get my arrays up front and I seldom use the front vent.
With that and low sun angles and clouds you get way less current from your arrays then you planned for.
So even with 2 batteries, I'll bet 4 arrays would be good.

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John

fandj

345
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: New
Model: 2552
ModelYear: 2016
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IntColor: Graystone
ExtColor: Nightscape - full body
Location: Virginia

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #26 on: August 11, 2017, 01:48:30 pm »

Quote from: keelhauler on August 11, 2017, 11:25:05 am

Fandj
Do you have problems with the vent putting a shadow on your arrays. Shadows take array output to near zero.

That is why I moved the antenna to get my arrays up front and I seldom use the front vent.
With that and low sun angles and clouds you get way less current from your arrays then you planned for.
So even with 2 batteries, I'll bet 4 arrays would be good.

Shading was certainly a concern in designing my solar charging system. I elected to go with 3 MaxxFans which are significantly lower profile than the Fantastic Fan rain covers. PHoenix mounted my King antenna front and center of the roof to minimize shading should I decide to add two more panels in the future. I also considered connecting the panels in series to my MPPT controller but discarded this idea as even a small amount of shading on one panel essentially kills the total array output. Instead if connected in parallel and one panel is shaded and the other not I still have the output from the unshaded panel.

From what I have seen using my Victron power monitor I typically use 20 % or less of battery charge with most overnight usage being 10% or less. With this relatively small usage the batteries are typically returned to 100 % state of charge by noon. Typically what I see after about 9:00 -10:00 am is the controller reducing the panel output to limit the charging voltage to 14.7 - 14.8 volts.

No doubt adding two more panels would bring the charging voltage up to 14.7 volts quicker but since I typically see 100 % SOC by mid day I don't see much benefit of adding additional panels. Should my power consumption go up because I change out the current absorption refrigerator to a residential style compressor model and or run the microwave or other higher power consuming loads the additional panels would be more valuable. The other scenario that I could foresee where the additional panels could be justified is if we did a lot of winter camping (lower sun angle and greater furnace usage) without electrical hookup. Currently our winter camping has been in Florida with hookups.

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Ron Dittmer

5647
Ron and Irene
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: New
PurchDate: June 2007
Model: 2350 Ford
ModelYear: 2007
Slide: No
IntColor: Cherry Green&Gray
ExtColor: Full Body Gray
Location: N/E Illinois

Re: 2 AC units in a 2552

« Reply #27 on: October 04, 2017, 06:10:23 pm »

Quote from: renotse on October 04, 2017, 05:49:28 pm

This is what dual 15k (heat pump) A/C looks like on a 2018 2552 with retro paint in Greystone.

I'll post a better picture when we get it home.

I like your green exterior paint job. I wished we ordered the green FBP job back in 2007 but there were no pictures to look at back then, only a poor color photo copy of a copy of which all the choices looked terrible. We did see a FBP blue in the yard at the time and didn't care for it and so we got gun shy about the green, so we went the safe route and went with the gray FBP as shown nicely on the front cover of the 2007 brochure. It took maybe 3 years before we seen a good picture of a green one and wished we took the risk. We really like the green shown here on a 2006. A 2007 would be the same.