Atwood A/C

[Free2Roam]

2. The drip line is outside the trailer so there is always a stream of water coming off the trailer. Not an issue for me, and Dusten added some flexible molding to route the water away from windows..

 

Regarding the Atwood A/C, how much water runs down the side?  We are supposed to go into production next week and were planning on getting the Atwood in place of the Dometic.  Just found out about the lack of a drain on the Atwood.  This concerns me about long term effects on the  gel coal/fiberglass.  For those who have the Atwood, can you provide your thoughts, please?

 

Thanks, Angela

[John E Davies]

I think that this is an issue only if you live and camp in a humid climate. I was bothered by the water draining off the back in TN because there was some tree debris on the roof and the water stain was brown and difficult  to remove. I needed to use Starbrite marine hull cleaner to get it off. 409 would not touch it.

 

 

 

OTH I live and camp in an arid climate and the water will not be a problem IMHO.  I have no regrets about the Air Command, but I do recommend that you get the bigger model if you plan to use it a lot. Mine is the 13.5k "equivalent" and it works pretty hard on nasty hot days, but I chose it due to the ease of running it off my generator, and  because of its REALLY quiet noise level.

 

I will be giving it a really good test next week. We will be camping two days and nights during a killer Northwest heat wave. But it's a dry heat LOL.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

 

 

[Free2Roam]

This is helpful.  thank you, John.  Will need to think about this.  We live in central Oklahoma and still being in the workforce, will be using it in this region a bit.  -Angela

[bradbev]

I went with the Penguin II and when picking up the trailer, the amount of moisture there in Tennessee was too much for the internal drain, water was coming off the side of the trailer.

 

(Not so much of an issue here in New Mexico.)

 

Had I done more research, I might have gone with the Atwood, but I didn't.  I spoke to Jason about exchanging and the rewiring of the thermostat sounded like the larger issue.   I'd like to run off the Honda 2000.  I've purchased the EasyStart but haven't installed yet.

[Free2Roam]

We've decided to go with our gut and chose the Atwood.  We just will need to be vigilant about cleaning it.  I think the benefits outweigh any perceived hassle of cleaning.  I greatly appreciate the comments and pics!

 

-Angela

[Try2Relax]

I have the same "stain" as John and I have a Coleman Mach 8, condensate water running off the roof wouldn't bother me, or the hull I would think, it's if there's crap on the roof that mixes with it and it's parked near shedding maples trees.

 

While the awning gaskets work great to keep the rain from running down the sides, they also collect the water and debris to properly mix it and then focus the runoff to one spot so it REALLY shows...

[trumpetguy]

You won't regret going with the Atwood.  Remember that you need special wiring to connect it to your  thermostat to turn the fan on and off.  Otherwise the unit will run constantly.  This can wear on you after a few days.  I solved this with a separate Honeywell digital thermostat to control the Atwood.  Send the signal to a 30 amp relay and you control the Atwood the same as your AC at home.  Oliver should be able to do for you during the build.

 

when I bought my Airstream it came with a Dometic Brisk 15000 and I did the same mod with it.  Works great.

[crookedcreekfarms]

Hi all! We are from Kansas and our start date is the end of August. We were not offered any other AC unit but the standard Dometic Penguin 2. None was listed as an option or upgrade. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

[John E Davies]

Hi all! We are from Kansas and our start date is the end of August. We were not offered any other AC unit but the standard Dometic Penguin 2. None was listed as an option or upgrade. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

Just call and ask for it to be added. There are a number of "unlisted" options, like extra inspection or access hatches. I am not sure why they have not been added to the build spreadsheet. Why don't you see if you can get an answer...?

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[Try2Relax]

My guess to the "why not" is that a lot of times too many choices can be confusing and overwhelming, to the uninitiated and actually turn people off who aren't good with decisions.

 

So it's good for a company to pick what works well and at a good price and offer that.

 

The problem comes in when that is all they offer. This is where Oliver excels, for people who know what they are doing and what they are looking for, they do everything they can to accommodate the customer's request, like the AC, more solar, or even the AC/DC marine fridge.

 

One just needs to know what they are looking for and ask.

[Free2Roam]

Hi all! We are from Kansas and our start date is the end of August. We were not offered any other AC unit but the standard Dometic Penguin 2. None was listed as an option or upgrade. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

 

The Atwood wasn't offered to us, we asked about it.  My husband had done some research on RV A/Cs and I had done some browsing on the Forum.  We asked about it and they said they could do it.  There was an upcharge.  Part of it was ordering as a one off part instead of being able to get a bulk price as they do with the Dometics and also, I recently learned, for the modification for drainage.  The Atwood does not come with a drainage tube/pipe (I guess they don't need them in Australia) and so they are having to create a drain channel as there is with the Dometic so that the water doesn't drain on the outside of the trailer.  I was ecstatic to hear about that!  My husband was also wanting to have a different controller for the solar installed, but the build date was getting close and we decided that we would just go with the Zamp and change it out ourselves.

 

-Angela

[Rumline]

The Atwood website (aircommand.com.au) redirects to Dometic.com.  Did this get renamed to the Dometic Brisk II or is the product dead now?

[John E Davies]

The Atwood website (aircommand.com.au) redirects to Dometic.com. Did this get renamed to the Dometic Brisk II or is the product dead now?

Dometic bought Atwood a few years ago. Originally it was designed "for the outback" in Oz and units were imported here.

 

This is their webpage, it does send you to Dometic also.

 

http://www.atwoodmobile.com/air-conditioners/rv-air-conditioners.asp

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Rumline]

OK.  But when I drill down to their RV air conditioners https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/products/climate/air-conditioners/air-conditioners-for-rvs I don't see an "Air Command" or anything that looks exactly like the Atwood Air Command.  Their website specs don't list current draw either so it's hard to tell which is the best, low-draw model.

 

Edit: nevermind...I was getting redirected to the US website. When I manually go to the Australia site I see it now.

[Rumline]

Anita just confirmed that the only air conditioner they will install is the Dometic Penguin II (the one without the heat pump).

 

I guess the days of getting "secret menu" items done at the factory are over.  So far I'm batting zero on all requested modifications.

[Rumline]

Yeah, I wanted a compressor fridge too.  Oh well.  It sounds like most folks are happy enough with the propane fridge.  I'll just keep mine until it dies then replace with compressor.

 

I was interested in this Atwood AC because I'm concerned about being able to run the AC off a generator at altitude (5000-8000).  Due to my family's situation most of our big trips will be during the summer and it does get hot here even at those elevations.  I was hoping to get by with a Honda 2000i (or 2200i) but after converting to propane I'm not sure it'd have enough oomph.  So at this point I'm looking at the Champion 3400 dual-fuel generator which runs on propane out of the box.  Taking into consideration reduced power due to altitude, temperature, and propane, that Champion plus the easy start should run it no problem.

 

Will your CU do a written pre-approval?  From my understanding that's all Oliver needs to get you through production.

[Overland]

I think it's really odd that they won't get you a compressor fridge, since a) it's an easier install for them, and b) according to Jason, they're considering offering it as a standard option, if not switching to it as standard.  The trouble for you will be that if you want to swap them out later, the cutout for all of the compressor fridges that I'm familiar with is smaller than that of the Dometic.

 

You might approach it a different way, and ask if the fridge can be deleted entirely, with a compressor fridge installed in service as a separate deal.    I believe they're doing a fridge swap for someone else in service - ask SeaDawg if they're doing their swap themselves or if Oliver is doing it.

 

You'll find that the email and phone call issue is a cultural/institutional problem at Oliver.  Also, you'll find that only one person there, maybe two, ever writes anything down, so you'll end up going over things repeatedly with them.  Document your phone conversations, email the minutes of the conversations to everyone involved, and send follow up emails every week.  I'm terrible about all of that, but I think it's sound advice nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

[Rumline]

Yeah I'd rather have the Honda as well, if for nothing else than the weight and space savings.  On the other hand if I drop $1500 on a genny and it doesn't run the AC the first time we're in a heat wave, the Admiral will not be pleased.

 

According to Champion's specs, their generator makes 10% less power when running on propane vs gasoline.  If the converted Hondas suffer a similar performance reduction then the 2000i is looking pretty borderline.  But the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  Or, the running of the AC, as the case may be.

 

Please do post up your generator / AC experiences once you get your Ollie.  I'm very interested to see how the 2000 works for you.

[Free2Roam]

One downside so far of the Atwood A/C is that the fan runs constantly. There is a fix that requires the installation of a relay. The Oliver team does not do this modification. They install the unit per the strict instructions. We were informed that we will need to find a certified service facility to do it for us.

 

Operation-wise, it worked great and was so quiet. Could barely hear it running standing next to the trailer.

 

-Angela