2021 320 air 8 relocation of sensor

Addison

Hey gang, I recieved the kit from air8 to reposition the sensor, well when I say kit, it's a wire and a plug. Has anyone with a 2021 320 done this, coments? Does it work? Etc etc
Please only 2021 320 owners reply....

sptucker

I was unaware of there being an issue with Air8 performance in the 2021 320s, so I’m interested in any feedback too...

GC3

Let us know how it works, with pics 

Addison

I'm waiting to hear from someone who did it first, they want the sensor relocated to bottom half of the bed

ontheroad

@Addison...when you say the bottom half of the bed...where abouts..any specific area that NuCamp suggested?

jkjenn

Addison said:

I'm waiting to hear from someone who did it first, they want the sensor relocated to bottom half of the bed

Won't that put it right in the direct path of that lower vent? Is that the desired effect?

Addison

I know right? I'm waiting to hear from someone else that did it and where they put it, I'm thinking at the end opposite the fridge away from the vent there? 

CharlieB

Does anyone have any information about this? I got the sensor kit with the wire and the plug too, but have no idea how to install it. I have a 2021 320-S Boondock. Any instructions or pictures would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Yoshi_TAB

Hi,  I did not install it, as my '21 came with it already installed from the factory.  But here is a picture of the location (below the speaker) of the sensor on my '21 320BD.

Sharon_is_SAM

@CharlieB - If returning to your dealer is not an option, I would contact nuCamp and ask for instructions.  Help@nuCamprv.com

Alt_Tab

I have installed it and have a word of warning - the instructions stating "just unplug the wires" from the white wiring harness are grossly over simplified and I have contacted NuCamp to tell them as much but they were NOT receptive and said that no one has had an issue. A posting by my wife asking for feedback has yielded opinions to the contrary with non in agreement with NuCamp at the time of this posting.

Drilling the hole in the required location and running the wires was relatively simple - providing you happen to have the required size drill bit which is quite large.

The wires do not unplug from the white harness and the best description I can think of is that they are barbed and not meant to come out unless you have a special tool. Pulling on the wires to "unplug" them resulted in the wires breaking off and the metal leads or barbs staying within the white plug. I had to ever so slightly cut the base of them to get them out after the wires broke. Once I plugged the new leads in they would not stay firmly in place so I used electrical tape to secure it and placed the white connector back on the circuit board. So far it has held and the sensor has given a temperature reading. 

I have requested 4 metal leads and the white connector in case it fails but NuCamp says they need to get it from Elwell and I haven't received them to date.

If I were going to do it again I would just cut the wire, splice them, and shrink wrap them without removing them from the white harness.

Just a heads up if you are going to do it yourself.

I will add that the sensor seems to be mostly inside the cabinet than in the open air and seems to read a bit high as I think it is reading residual heat from the cabinet.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Good luck!

CanadianTabber

Presently, where is the sensor located pre this mod?

Dutch061

Pre mod it is located in the inlet of the Air8, well insulated from the ambient air unless the reprogramming has been done to help keep ambient air moving across the sensor.

Brad

CanadianTabber

Is this sensor sent from Elwell or NuCamp?

Dutch061

ElWell sent me the one for our 2020 400 BDL.

First, you need to determine if the sensor has been moved outside of the intake plenum on 2021. This is what mine looked like after I installed it in the 400 BDL. It is the black mushroom above the thermostat for the Air8, look for this in your camper to determine if it is already installed in the cabinet area near the speaker. 

Brad

Overlord

We have a 2021 320CSS BD that the AC was working great on, and then one day it just stopped blowing cold air.  The compressor and fans and everything were running but the air never cooled down below a few degrees.  I dropped it of at our dealer a week and a half ago, and am being told that NuCamp says it's a bad thermocouple.  They said they are waiting on NuCamp to send a replacement.  I suspect that it's actually a replacement thermistor (what people are calling the black mushroom) like the one's the T@b 400 owners have gotten or the newer 2021 320s are coming with, where it has the longer wires so it can be placed outside of the under bed area, away from the intake on the Air8. 

In our case I think the Air8 is probably an OK size for the T@b 320, because it was cooling the trailer down 20 plus degrees from the outside temperature when it would get up into the mid 90s and the problem was that the original thermistor stopped working correctly or failed somehow.  We have reservations to camp for a week at the Outer Banks starting this weekend and now I am very concerned that the dealer won't have received the new thermistor and installed it before this weekend.  I'm not sure we will even try to take our planned vacation if the issue is not resolved in time.  I don't think it will be bearable to stay in the trailer at the beach without AC.  We bought the T@b new the first week of May 2021 and have used it 4 or 5 times on weekend camping in the area this summer, so it's very disappointing that the AC has failed already.  If the new part does not correct the issue it will be my inclination to sell the camper, which is a shame because we really like the T@b 320 overall, but having good heating and air is a must for us.

MarkAl

I just saw the above post on the factory putting the "mushroom" by the speaker on the 2021 320S. I've been procrastinating as mine has it internal to the AC and I've not wanted to run it over to the bath and up the wall to locate it by the thermostat. This location would be MUCH easier and should be almost as good as the bath location. Any comments from people with it moved (other than moving it away from the AC inlet is better....)

CanadianTabber

I asked NuCamp what the current procedure was for the placement of the Air 8 sensor...they sent me the attached....a little unclear about the wiring from the new location to the AC unit though.

CharlieB

Many thanks to all of you for your thoughts and suggestions about this. It's interesting that some the newer Tabs have the sensor located outside the air intake. That makes a lot more sense. But unfortunately that's not the case with ours. It's not visible in any of the places that have been suggested - or anywhere else that I can see.

I agree with @MarkAl that it seems easiest to put the sensor by the speaker - and I really appreciate @CanadianTabber for including the instructions from NuCamp. I have contacted them as well and will let you all know if I get the same thing or something different.

I'm still not completely convinced that I want to do this myself - especially in light of the post from @Alt_Tab about how difficult it was. So I may take @Sharon_is_SAM's advice and ask our dealer to do it. For me at least, that may be best :-). I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again to all of you. The Tab is a great trailer, and Tab owners are a wonderful community!

Freespirit

@CanadianTabber, thanks for attaching the Air8 coupler pdf file you received from Nucamp, it was a lifesaver for detailing how to install the a/c sensor I received from  Nucamp. Without it I would have had no idea where to start. Using the pdf file as my guide, it was a 10 minute job from start to finish (unplugging old wires and installing new plug in). I am still deciding where I want to permanently install the mushroom sensor. 

Mobean

I thought it made sense to place the thermocouple near the digital read out in our 2021 TAB S.  Plenty of wire which easily feeds through existing openings. Easy to remove TV, TV bracket and wall casing then feed wire through ½" hole drilled under thermostat.  Only last photo would copy upright for some reason.

MuttonChops

To assist folks concerned by @Alt_Tab difficultly removing the old sensor wires from the Air8 Connector Block here is an overview of how the Connector Locking Arm works.

Sharon_is_SAM

@Mobean - photos taken in landscape mode will post without flipping.  Turn your phone sideways.