360 CS AC

CountryGirl

Does anyone know how many BTUs the 360 AC has and how many vents?  Anyone have one and camp in hot weather that can tell me how they fare?

EasternJL

I've seen a couple threads on the Facebook 360 page with people expressing concerns about cooling.  Here's a quote from one of them-- "Is anyone else having problems with cooling in temperatures above 80, l am in the Panhandle of Florida can't the inside the below 80 until night time."

As someone who lives in a hot humid area (and camps in that weather too), I'd be very apprehensive about buying the 360 until there was confirmation about cooling capabilities.  I think this camper was rushed to market, and I wonder if any testing was done in hot climates.  This wouldn't be the first time Nucamp released a camper and had to later change to a more capable cooling system (can't remember the year(s)-- but the 400 and the Air8 had some major issues).   

It might be worth your time to check out the nuCamp TAB 360 page on Facebook.  There are also some posts about missing shades/blinds on the windows and other issues. 

jjfalardeau

My 360 Saphir manual says 7000 BTU cooling.  Mine has 3 duct tubes that feed 5 vents, I think.  Probably only going to cool down inside 15 to 20 degrees.

jkjenn

I have camped in extremely hot weather with the 360. My time in the Badlands in September was 90-105 for almost the entire 2 weeks I was there, and it was wide open sun. 

I find performance of the Saphir to be similar to the performance of the Elwell on the TAB 320 with a couple of differences: it is a little quieter and integration in the Alde panel is convenient and helps declutter the interior a bit.

If you are not camping in full sun it has no trouble keeping the interior cool. Just like the 320, if in full sun and temps climb into 90's and above, it will struggle. It's the sun, not the air temp you are fighting.

Things that I learned with my 320 make a difference:
1. Even partial shade helps
2. Don't wait until it is hot to try to cool down. In full sun and high heat it is hard to play catch-up.
3.Close the blinds on the sunny side of the camper.
4. An awning or sunshade on the side of the camper can make a difference as can window awnings. I have not used any of those on the 360, yet.

Even though the TAB is well insulated, when it is hot, you can feel the heat radiating on the wall on the side that the sun is beating down on.

I have found that cracking a window and exhausting the hot air helps a little in super hot weather.

When I arrive at a campsite, I do open the windows and exhaust the hot air, but when you get above 90-95, it is hard to cool it enough until the sun goes down or some nice cloud cover rolls in.

If you have a Maxxair Fan upgrade, you can travel with the fan open and that does make a difference, but it also can bring in a lot of dust in western arid climates.

I dont know that there would be room for a bigger AC unit and I for one would never want to see a rooftop unit. It would totally kill the asthetics of the exterior. Second, I am not sure a bigger unit is the solution to the full sun scenario. 7,000 btu is plenty big enough for the size of the camper. 

Galaxy

Second time out in my new 360, AC is undersized during the day ours struggled to keep 80 degrees indoors on a 90 degree day, very disappointing we traded our 2020 320 in for the 360 , our 320 had the Air8 which also was problematic, I beginning to believe the ac basement models are no good

Yoshi_TAB

Hi,

 I tend to agree that the AC is undersized, although ours works ok, not great.  When I look at similar size campers, many  have AC is the 10K-13K BTU range.  The Saphire is 7K BTUs.  Isn't the coolcat  in the 400 10K BTUs?  The interior of a 360 is pretty close to a 400.  I did a ROM and there  is only about a 5 % difference in volume between the two.   

I also wonder if splitting the ducts is causing efficiency issues.  The unit has 3 discharge ports but our  360 I believe has 5 outlets.  I would think splitting the air flow could result in cooling efficiency issues (as it would  it a home). 

Sharon_is_SAM

@Galaxy - the TaB roofs are big heat sinks.  We camped at Asseteague in the July heat and no A/C.  We covered our 320 with a popup canopy and we covered the sides with shade cloth.  A reflective Aluminet shade cloth will help.  As JKJenn noted - cooling before it gets extremely hot is essential.  

EasternJL

Glad I'm seeing this before buying a 360.  We live in the south and camp in hot weather, so A/C is essential.  Hopefully Nucamp makes some updates to address this in the next model year.  It makes you wonder if Nucamp tested this in hot weather or just relied on "the numbers" to determine the model they used.  I'm guessing they went with the Saphire instead of the Coolcat to simplify controls, and, of course, to save money.  

EasternJL

@Yoshi_TAB - -- wondering if you've reached out to Nucamp about the AC issues-- and perhaps your question about the extra air vents.  It's clearly the same volume of air, but the pressure drop becomes a problem (as you said-- like a home).  And really, I think the 7k BTU's is just not going to cut it. I believe the Air8 is 8K, so there's just no way 7K is going to do it in the 360.  I still scratch my head at why they would use an underpowered- or borderline unit after their experience with the Air8's in the 400s a few years ago.   

jkjenn

The Truma Saphir in the TAB 360/360 CS is a 7500 BTU AC, which is definitely not undersized. If you do any research on the unit, it is a highly reviewed product. The problem is that people expect th TAB to cool like their home or car and it just won't in high temperatures. Even though well insulated, it is not match for hot sun with no shade. I really don't see any difference in the way the Air8 performed in my 320 and the way the Saphir performs in the 360, except that it is a little quieter than the Air8. 

@Galaxy - a few questions:

• Are you running it an auto or manual?
• Do you see the sun or moon icons? - if so, those temps are overriding your thermostat settings.
• What temp are you starting at? I have found it is really important to start cooling before it gets hot. The same was true of my Air8.