New Air conditioning system for 2020 - Elwell Air-8

Cbusguy

Elwell Air-8

From a post about a new tab 400.   I imagine it will be the same unit installed in the 320's as well.    

A bit concerning as the Elwell website has zero specs or service info.     Hopefully it changes.   

I would have rather had a known quantity like dometic.......

(Title edited for search purposes.  Sharon)

TNOutback

I liked the idea of the integrated heat pump; sorry to see that gone with the new unit.

Travelin3D

Previous information stated that the new 320 would be getting a Cool Cat in place of the Danby unit - I'll find out in about 10 days. 

DougH

Curious what the wattage will be for the unit in the 320.  It's handy having the ability to use solar to power air conditioning that only periodically cycles to 600W on Eco mode.  A 10000 or 13000 BTU A/C would require too many batteries and panels.

(T@B S Max with LG 6500BTU A/C replacing stock Danby unit) 

Cbusguy

@DougH I am a bit unnerved by the complete lack of info on the Elwell website.

They seem like just a marketing company and I worry about getting stuck with a weird install which is unrepairable except for an extreme make over.    been searching the web for the OEM with no luck so far

PamandJohnUpNorth2

Little bit of info here:

www.elwellcorp.com/air8

Cbusguy

@PamandJohnUpNorth2 I linked to that page in my original post.   Zero info on that page beyond dimensions and weight

Mouseketab

Yeah, I did some searching too. It also looks like it's brand new, just introduced to the RV community in March of this year.

jkjenn

If they are made by Truma, they are likely top shelf. Truma makes excellent rv furnaces.

Cbusguy

@jkjenn I noticed the marketing bio and they rep for a number of European manufacturers including alde.   So I searched based on that.   I saw Truma and hope you are correct as the company looks like a quality manufacturer.

with that said it has potential to be as efficient as the danby window ac unit allowing for the possibility of running on solar.

DougH

A bit more optioned than the original stock Danby...

http://www.rvbusiness-digital.com/marapr2019/Default/37/0#&pageSet=37&page=0&contentItem=undefined

jkjenn

The quieter and better energy efficiency are the biggest perks, to me. I see there are lots of videos on Youtube....in other languages, lol.

Cbusguy

sounds like a solid choice.    Just tough being first owning something new and being the lab rat.

DougH

Is it this model?

https://www.mygenerator.com.au/truma-saphir-comfort-reverse-cycle-air-conditioner.html

Cooling power (BTU): 6150

Current consumption Cooling: 2.8 A (230 V) / 55 A (12 V)

"Never mind.  Discussed in another thread."

Cbusguy

@DougH

that is the one.     if true,  55a at 12 volt is very doable......especially if long term boondocking.    that is only 700 watts of solar.   

On my shed I have 400 watts of solar I wired 200 watts at 24 volts......through my mppt controller I regularly see 28 amps at 13 volts.    I might experiment when I get home from work and wire it 400 watts at 12 volts and see what I get.     I could see 32-38 amps at 12 volts......

now thinking about over nights,   8 hours at 55amps is 440 amp hours,  seems entirely feasible.    Especially with the availability of lithium iron prismatic cells reasonably priced. 

DougH

@Cbusguy : My A/C occasionally hits 50A, but in Eco mode it's cycling on a few minutes, then off 5-10 minutes at which point I'm either at 1.6A with several lights and the Jensen playing, or more often negative 1-5A if battery bank is down at least 25% and it's daylight (net charging).  300W and 375Ah seems like more than enough for the 320, at least for me.

Now that NuCamp is going to more upscale A/C, maybe next year's solar package will be a 2000-3000W PSW inverter, and 300-400W panels with 400-500Ah bank and a nice integrated system panel.  Call it the 320 Boondock-E.  With an audiophile speaker system.  Oh, and with a great buy-back program for old T@B S Max units with hail damaged roofs. 

1968Healey

DougH@, I do wonder if nuCamp will eventually move to a Victron Smart Charger/Inverter.  They’re already using the Victron mppt solar controller.  NuCamp seems to use top end equipment and the Victron certainly is up there.

N7SHG_Ham

@1968Healey I plan to add a Victron MultiPlus, 2000w, already have the charge controller and battery monitor. Being all integrated via BT has some advantages.

Cbusguy

@1968Healey The issue is that it is easily 5 X the cost of what they are currently using.     That device alone would easily add $800-1,000 to the price of the camper.    I could certainly see it as an option.    

If 3 inch longer stabilizers for a mere $5 more per pair aren't in nucamps budget then a $1k inverter isn't

JEB

jkjenn said:

If they are made by Truma, they are likely top shelf. Truma makes excellent rv furnaces.

I wonder if this move to one Truma product is a stalking horse for a more radical shift to Truma utilities generally.  The Truma Combi would appear to be a natural replacement for the Alde, since it is a combination boiler and furnace and the needed duct work is already in place from the AC relocation to the rear.  Maintenance issues would probably decline.

1968Healey

@Cbusguy, you might be right - price will make that switch over to the MultiPlus difficult.  Although, it does combine some of the WFCO and some of the current inverter.

@JEB, I saw that the company that imports Alde to the US is the same distributor as this Elwell Air-8.  I bet this is a case of the same distributor lobbied for a switch over.   There might have even been a discount for nuCamp (buy Alde and Air-8 for each unit, get a discount).

tybladesmith

Truma and Alde are sister companies.

https://www.truma.net/about/news/Truma-and-Alde-Join-Forces-in-North-America

jcfaber1

We have a Truma in our Lance.  Last fall we went to Truma to have service done on it.  I spoke to the tech about the air-conditioner and he admitted that they are working on it.  The voltage in Europe is 220 and 120 here.  It has to receive ETL rating.  Maybe things are moving along quickly.
John

Cbusguy

   @1968Healey Like N7 I have a huge tinkering streak in me and will be installing a multiplus in my Trailer as well.    My concern is venting the heat......just need to get all the pieces to figure out how they are going to play together.

Arizonayeti

Yes, it's my first post. Here is a pic of the underside air vents for the Air8 unit on our 2020 400.  I'm planning on a lot of forest roads in the SW, so it will be interesting to see if there is some kind of cleaning procedure.  Delivery date is Tuesday, so (maybe) Tom's Camperland has more information on this unit. 

Arizonayeti

Picked up my new 400 today. The Elwell Air8 instruction manual is somewhat sparse.  However, some technical data is noted: 

Nominal cooling capacity 8000 BTU
Power consumption 1000W
Starting current 15 A (<1sec)
Operating current 9A
Air flow 220 CFM
Refrigerant R410A
Max tilt of unit in operation 5 degrees

The control board does offer a full display of functions including: automatic temp setting, multiple fan speeds, a fan only mode, cooling mode, and drying mode (dehumidifier?)  No heat pump.  There is a sleep mode too...but again, the instructions are pretty minimal so not sure what that is. The circulating air was pretty loud on high speed, but on the lower fan speeds wasn't too bad. 

atlasb

Arionayeti,  Please keep us posted how well the 8000 BTU cools the 400 in warm temps.  Also how is sleeping at night on top of the A/C work out for you.  Wonder about the Noise as compared to the cool cat mounted up front.  We found that by having the fan on low all the time it mutes the A/C cycling noise.  Thanks

Mouseketab

We found that by having the fan on low all the time it mutes the A/C cycling noise.  Thanks

That is how we've been running our CoolCat for 12 years. Keep the fan on low, and let the compressor just cycle. Definitely reduces the loud on/off noise. We never use it in Heat Pump mode. We use a small electric heater for heat. Don't have a furnace.

Arizonayeti

Well, our first outing with the AIR8 didn't fair so well.  Here is the message I sent our dealer several days ago:

"We did a shake-down overnighter with our 400 up in Cave Creek.  No real issues except the air conditioning, the Elwell AIR8 (Truma Saphir compact).  I’ll give you the details, and cced nuCamp to this email as this is a brand new unit in the 400s and they need to know about this issue. 

30amp shore power.  Saturday afternoon was only in the low 90s.  Started the a/c and initially it did feel to produce some cool air (cooling setting with the snowflake showing and fan speed auto).  However, after about 30min it shut down with an error code of E7 high pressure sensor trigger.  I turned it off and on again and it produced cold air for awhile then again shut down with the error code E7.  So, I turned off the system for 3+ hours and tried it again.  Despite hearing the compressor cycle on, there was no cool air produced.  So this morning, I tried one last time, and unfortunately, no cool air despite hearing the compressor cycle on."  

I tried again last night at our storage facility.  I connected to a 15 amp (I suspect) service and turned on the a/c.  It took about a minute for the system to kick on. First the fan, then the compressor came on...and no cold air once again. 

I wonder if any other 2020 400 owners have had these issues?  There is almost nothing online concerning the Truma Saphir and troubleshooting.  Our local warranty advisor said he knows nothing about this system and that he will need to reach out to nuCamp. I'm hoping nuCamp will just send out a whole new "box" so it can be just swapped out, so I can get back to camping.   

Cbusguy

We ran our AC on our outing the last two days without issue,   But we have a 320.    I wonder how well that ac unit will work in a trailer twice the size of the 320.    

the other issue is,  the manual has very little info in it and I the control screen graphics did not match the manual.      oh well.    

But at least our worked.

BigShowSkipper

Same issues with 2020 400 BDL air conditioner. 

I live in AZ and when parked in driveway the AC would shut off with an E07 error. Same thing happened when operating at a campsite with 30 amp power. Temps here are over 95 during day. 

It seems to fail once the ambient temps hit the mid 90s. 

It it runs fine when outside temps are 90 and below. The second morning the inside was 74 but it shut off at some point during the day. We came back to a hot trailer. 

I will I’ll be reaching out to our dealer this week. 

Some other her low level fixes after our first outing but otherwise we love the trailer.