Air Conditioner Noise - Dometic Penguin II owner's

[Foy_Mirna]

I want to ask Dometic Penguin II owner's about the noise level then your AC is running. While I am very happy with the cooling performance on our unit, especially here is sunny Florida, the noise is overwhelming. When the AC kicks in and we are watching the TV and with the audio turned up all the way, we can't hear it. While I can pump the TV audio through the four speakers to fix this situation somewhat, it is very distorted at best.

 

I have read the threads in the forum regarding AC noise but found no real answers. I also searched the web and dometic.com for noise issues around the Dometic Penguin II but, can't find anything other then what a great improvement this unit is over older ones. That may be true, but I hope not. Would appreciate your thoughts on this issue.

 

Thanks,

[rideandfly]

Foy,

 

When our Dometic AC turns on while watching TV with all 4 speakers operating, it's easier for me to hear the TV while sitting at the Dinette with one speaker over the Dinette and further from the AC compared to the twin bed area. Noticed Debbie watching TV in the bathroom door mirror while sitting at the Dinette, too. Found I do not need to increase volume while sitting at the Dinette, but need to increase the volume while at the twin bed area.

 

In a past travel trailer we had, used to use inexpensive headsets while watching TV with the AC operating. Have though about this while laying in bed watching TV in Ollie, but have not tried using headsets with the Furrion receiver/amplifier, yet.

[BackofBeyond]

I would be curious as to what a sound meter would register at various settings, and from different locations in the Trailer. From my experience, most are unpleasantly loud, however, one mans to loud, can be another's tranquility. I spent some time a few years back researching non ducted roof AC's, and the noise issue was common, never did find sound pressure data for comparison - this may have changed by now. Unlike comparing small gas powered generators - its common to compare sound levels, and outputs.

 

 

Sure the RV design, set up, etc. will affect the readings, but any base line is better than subjective evaluations. Maybe when I get my unit, I'll take a gander at the issue...

[Foy_Mirna]

In a past travel trailer we had, used to use inexpensive headsets while watching TV with the AC operating.

 

That's a great idea Bill!

[Foy_Mirna]

I would be curious as to what a sound meter would register at various settings, and from different locations in the Trailer.

 

I too am interested in how load it is. Just need to find a sound meter to barrow :)

[Overland]

If you have a smartphone you can download an app. The one I have is appropriately named dB Meter.

 

On low fan, I get 65dB- 70dB standing directly under the AC and 60dB-65dB at both bed height and the dinette. Add 5 dB to those numbers when the fan is on high. So, roughly the same level as a vacuum cleaner for reference. That’s with around 35dB background level without the AC running - the trailer is pretty quiet which makes the noise seem even worse.

 

I believe the Honda generators are rated at under 50dB, so yes these suckers are really loud. The odd thing to me is that it’s the fan and not the compressor that makes most of the noise. Seems to me like Dometic could stand to do a bit more engineering.

[rideandfly]

For me, need to turn volume up when using 4 speakers while in bed area compared to dinette area where I don't need to increase volume when AC is operating. Have to admit lost some hearing in the past due to loud activities. May be the difference of locations of front speakers compared to rear speakers for me. Going to experiment with headphones while watching TV from bed area.

[Alison]

Foy, The first night we tried to sleep with the unit on, I felt like I was sleeping on a runway! Ours is also terribly loud and I can’t watch tv when it is on or sleep with it on. I did find that manually lowering the fan to low rather than leaving it on auto made a big difference for me - the low setting was much more tolerable. I feel lucky to live in Colorado where I’ll probably never use the air conditioner again!

 

Alison

[Mike and Carol]

We keep the fan on low, too. If we have to go to sleep with it running I will usually get up after midnight sometime and turn it off, open the windows and turn on the max fan. Then we can enjoy silence the rest of the night! Mike

[Overland]

Our fan on auto is super annoying. It switches back and forth between high and low constantly and whenever it does the entire unit has to switch off while it thinks about it. It's really a very odd contraption. It does seem to cool the trailer off pretty fast though, but I think that's more thanks to the small volume of the trailer than it is the AC.

 

I'd be interested to know the real life dB levels of the Attwood. Maybe @john-e-davies can measure his.

[Foy_Mirna]

On low fan, I get 65dB- 70dB standing directly under the AC and 60dB-65dB at both bed height and the dinette.

 

Thanks OverLand! Got eh app and yes very cool tool. I get 75dB standing directly under the AC and 65dB at both bed height and the dinette. OSHA permissible noise level is 90dB for 8 hours and we are below that sleeping at 65dB.

[Foy_Mirna]

I feel lucky to live in Colorado where I’ll probably never use the air conditioner again!

 

Oh the thought of Colorado in the summer. In Florida its 88 this morning and going to 93 by mid-day.

[Foy_Mirna]

Going to experiment with headphones while watching TV from bed area.

 

Bill you got a great idea here. I too will try it.

[John E Davies]

I have the Attwood Air Command, the 16K BTU model, which uses two small variable speed motors instead of one monster motor. It starts and runs fine off my Yamaha 2400 watt generator without needing an Easy Start, and it pulls about 11 amps running. It runs fine off a 15A circuit if there are no other large loads. It is EXTREMELY quiet outside, whisper quiet, amazingly quiet.

 

Inside is another story, the fan is obnoxiously loud and the fan stays running when the compressor kicks off. I saw no mention of this in their advertising...they claim “2X quieter, as low as 66dB” . http://www.atwoodmobile.com/images/air-conditioners-brochure.pdf

 

I don’t see any way to avoid the high noise, you are living several feet from the high-speed moving parts and rushing air flow. A ducted system, or a unit mounted as far forward on the roof as possible, makes more sense to me, rather than having it right over the sleeping area!

 

This is an interesting article. .... http://www.beginningfromthismorning.com/mini-split-ac/

 

I am not aware of ANY small RV certified unit that would work reliably in our small trailers and withstand the rocking and jostling without fracturing the copper freon lines. There are DC coolers out there but they consume an enormous amount of battery power. .... https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/finally-a-real-12v-air-conditioner-indel-sleeping-well-cube.142600/

 

I keep a large bag of earplugs for the very rare ocassions I have to sleep with the AC running.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[Rumline]

The silver lining is: the more you hear something loud, the less you hear (it).

[rideandfly]

The silver lining is: the more you hear something loud, the less you hear (it).

 

 

Run the AC fan when campground neighbors have loud parties so we don't hear the noise. :)

 

Found old headphones we used with our previous travel trailer while watching TV with the AC on. Tested them yesterday with Ollie's Furrion receiver/amplifier, works fine. These headphones are wired, eventually will find a dual headphone wireless system.

[earthdog]

We also find the AC loud. Music and TV out of the question when AC running.

 

any thoughts on wireless headphones to Watch TV or Music?

[Foy_Mirna]

any thoughts on wireless headphones to Watch TV or Music?

 

I decided to address this problem by purchasing a mid-level wireless TV headphones and an Extra headset made by ARTISTE. You can find both at Amazon with the links below for a total cost of $120.00.

 

http://a.co/aJeVrIW

 

http://a.co/0tXXVHz

 

Once they arrived I tested them in our home and they worked great.  We could walk around the hold house without a problem in reception.  Next, I took them out to our Oliver for a test drive.  I placed the transmitter/charger in the back overhead storage and plugged it into the outlet.  Note there a two video/audio jacks on your TV and one HDMI port.  One set of video/audio jacks runs to your receiver and the other is a spare cable in your read overhead storage.  I used the space cable instead of the one supplied.  Very simple and quick.  When I tested the noise level with the AC on and the fan on high it was at 65dB+, to loud to hear the TV.  With the headphone on, it worked perfectly.  The charge last about 8 hours and charges back up in about an hour.  Not the best sound quality, a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.  Bose would be a 10 but also cost $400.  After all its just TV.  Better Call Saul season 4 anyone?

 

Onward,

[BackofBeyond]

I can attest to that Rumline, when we were newly married and living mostly on "love", we resided right next to a train track, at first the noise and vibration was highly intrusive, but after some time, we rarely noticed when a train came rumbling by..... amazing what one becomes accustomed to.

[Corcomi]

Foy, I have the same issue with the noise. On the hot summer months here in Georgia I run the air conditioner on low fan speed and it helps some with the noise. Not a lot but it’s better than on auto. I run the air until late at night when the temperatures outside are below 70 and then turn if off and I then turn on the overhead fan and open the two bedside windows. I also bought a small rotating fan I bought at Walmart that I have on the nightstand and with that I sleep without the air conditioner. I’m going to try the wireless headphones ? because the air is so loud I can’t watch it without putting on the 4 speakers and cranking it up so high you can hear the tv from outside the trailer.

[Going]

Just read through all the post.  I had the exact same question last week while camping in high humidity.  Ran the unit all night and cannot hear TV well even using 4 speakers.  The AC never cut on and off even if I set the temp higher.  I assumed it should and I don’t know how to set the fan to low.   Any answers on that?

[geO]

Just read through all the post. I had the exact same question last week while camping in high humidity. Ran the unit all night and cannot hear TV well even using 4 speakers. The AC never cut on and off even if I set the temp higher. I assumed it should and I don’t know how to set the fan to low. Any answers on that?

 

I think if you have your fan in any setting other then auto the fan will continuously run.

[Going]

I didn’t see another setting on the thermostat for cool and low, only auto. Is there a manual override?

[Overland]

If you set the thermostat on Fan you can use the up/down arrows to cycle through hi/low/auto and it will apply to the AC as well.

[Going]

Has anyone experienced haveing the unit on Auto and have it cut off?  Mine ran all night on high even set at 72.  Also, the other thing that came up in this thread is listening to the TV through the stereo speakers.  I see audio out cables from the TV in the wire group but they must not be connected to my Furion receiver.  No selection plays TV sound through the 4 speakers, only DVD.  The Furion receiver manual shows an Audio in but perhaps mine are not connected or I haven’t found the TV menu option to divert the sound.  I did try the AC on low today and it is much much better even from the TV speakers..