Just received the new Air Distribution Box (ADB) plenum, wiring conversion, Electronic Control Box and Comfort Control Center (CCC) Digital Thermostat. I was amazed to find that the ADB which was almost but not quite identical to my old ADB and fit perfectly to my new air conditioner. The outer cover looks just like the original.
I got everything fitted and set up and turned the electricity back on but nothing happened. No lights on the CCC no hum from the air conditioner no nothing. I checked and verified that there was 110V coming into the ECB. I did not have 12V DC at the thermostat position so I hooked up a jumper from the DC fuse box and did have 12V DC to the red and black wires of the digital wiring conversion. Still nothing lit up on the thermostat or fired up the A/C.
I checked both the thermostat end of the original wiring and the A/C unit end of the wiring in the ceiling. Both ends had 12V on the both red wires and both black wires were grounded. I would have thought that the CCC would at least light up when it had 12V power to it. And yes I did have the power switch on.
I'm hoping someone, like Pierce, has already gone through this process and can help me figure out why its not working. Also, if someone has done the conversion in a Grand Villa, where did you pull the 12V from for the thermostat CCC?
Update!! I finally got the CCC working. My only hitch now is getting 12V power to the rear air conditioner opening or to the thermostat on the bedroom wall on the passenger side of the coach between the shower and the bedroom. I am not finding any 12V wiring near the thermostat. I am also not finding access to the conduit where the 110V wire runs to the A/C opening or the conduit feeding the thermostat wire into the A/C opening. I talked to FOT but no help there.
Does anyone have any great ideas how to get 12V wiring up to the rear air conditioner without the wire being visible?
Kent,
Remember the Mighty Mouse song? Well, not sure if I can save the day as my digital control centers as well as the new airs were installed just before I picked it up. I will take a couple of photos later tonight or tomorrow morning, pull the dig thermo off the wall and try and see if I can figure out where the 12V is coming from. Hope that will help. Mine were done without visible wires.
I also installed digital thermostats for the heaters. The factory wiring diagram was incorrect but kept trying different terminal combinations until I got it working. Inexpensive replacement for the old analog units. Will post those photos also.
With all the brain power on this forum why do we still rely on hard wiring for the various systems such as the thermostats, can't there be a combining of off the self parts that will send a signal to the various controls and not have to run new wires? thanks jc
Thanks Pierce I thought you might have the answer. I have look under the vanity and behind the upper cabinet wall but no 12V source there. Any help will be appreciated.
JC, that's a great thought. I haven't got any idea how that would be accomplished but it sure sounds great.
This is a great bunch of people. So many go out of their way to help others. Pierce
Stewart taking the thermostat off the wall to see if he can learn something that will help Kent Spears. You just don't see that much cooperation day to day in the rest of our lives. We all deserve applause.
Kent, I know you have other priorities now BUT when you get the AC's up and running I would like to discuss your old analog thermostats, I have one that is failing and if compatible I'll pay you for it.
Gary B
Kent, don't know if this will apply in you case but just got my brother's replacement ac going for him. In this case the 12VDC was supplied by a 120VAC/12VDC separate transformer power supply board (not included with the new AC) located at the air cond. This was for a 5 button thermostat. Be sure to check the dip switches and reboot the thermostat after installation.
Chuck
OK, Kent, Here are the photos and my best guess.
I pulled the cover off the aft air and found the flat connector seen in the photo. It appears to me to head over to the thermostat through the ceiling. The same color codes seem to be on the wires in the wall at the thermostat. Looks easy to get 12V from the cabinet lights only inches away. Is this the same flat connector you got in your package? The other photo shows the forward air and the close proximity of the thermostat. Really short run to get to 12V in this case. Most of the wires remain in the wall and probably go to the 12V source. If you open the cabinet door, the wooden panels come off pretty easily and the connection may be in there. Just can't figure how they got the wires over there without pulling the headliner down a bit. A call to an installer could be just what the doctor ordered. Hope I have not sent you down a blind alley.
The other photos show the Honeywell thermostats I purchased to control the heaters. One in front, one in back. The wiring diagram supplied by Honeywell is incorrect so have pulled cover and the correct connections are shown. Just trial and error until it worked. Purchased at Home Depot for $19.95 as I remember. Aft installation was EZ. Forward was a bit tougher. I moved the thermostat above the galley counter. This took a couple of hours and a lot of reaching under the cabinets. They have batteries and work well. Part number visible on the inside photo.
Chuck, a transformer is a great idea. Can someone give me an idea of where one would purchase a 110V AC to 12V DC transformer small enough to fit up in the A/C unit. It won't have to be very big since the electrical requirement to power the thermostat is very low. Do you think I could take a simple wall plug adapter for AC to 12V DC and modify it?
Thanks Pierce, I can always count on you. The plugs and wiring looks the same. The problem is that the cabinet lights are on a wall switch and the constant hot wire source is at the other end of the overhead cabinets. It appears that the 110V to 12V DC transformer may be the best bet.
Kent,
I got to looking at the photo of the connector after I posted it. The wires are different colors on each side of the connector and the wire to the thermostat connector looks older. Might have used the existing wiring/connector when they did it. What do you think?
There is an adapter kit that they sent me. It plugs right in to the old 10 pin wiring harness on both ends providing the telephone plug needed for the new thermostat and the control board up in the A/C unit. Aside from the telephone plug it also has two blue, two yellow, a black and a red wire. In my case I don't need the two blues or the two yellow wires since I don't have a generator starter hooked up or a furnace tied into that thermostat. I just need to get 12V DC to the Red wire and a 12V DC ground to the black wire to power the digital thermostat. The DC power can be provided at either end. There is also a reverse polarity consideration but I haven't gotten that far yet.
Sure Kent, a 12 volt wall wart will work though you'll probably want to replace it with a more durable power supply at some point. Bet it will get you going, though. Watch those dip switches and be sure and follow the rebooting procedure for thermo to set up comm with AC unit.
Chuck
Chuck, I have not seen anything in the meager instructions I received that talked about rebooting the CCC. Where can I find info on this?
Kent, there's a button press sequence and restart, the thermo will show a code or two then reset. What that does is to get the thermostat to recognize the dip switch settings and operate accordingly. Unfortunately I do not remember the exact sequence but definitely found it in the paperwork. We're traveling or I'd go fetch the manual from brother Joe. He was pulling his hair out over installing this thing in an old Monaco, he had set the dip switches all to on rather than off, plus the same issue with 12V power, it's not real apparent which position is which.
I hope put together a microcontroller for my climate control in the near future, I have the old 4 button thermostat and it's starting to act a little hinky. Not looking forward to buying a new one and two conversion boards for old ac units...
Kent,
Went out to the aft air this morning and put a meter on the flat connector. It gets 12V from the far right wire in the photo (old harness). Not sure where the power comes from in the old cable. Could be up through the wall from the basement. Have not looked at the diagram to see if the under cabinet lights may have constant 12V and the switch just grounds them. I just used the air itself as the ground in checking. Hope this helps. Do you have wires coming across from the thermostat in the old installation? I should have put a meter on it when I originally took the photos.
Mission finally accomplished. I just finished installation of the original Duotherm Air Distribution Box that utilizes the Duotherm Comfort
Control Center digital thermostat. To recap, I replaced the original 1993 Duotherm Penguin bedroom air conditioner in early July. The old one sprung a leak and all of the Freon and oil escaped.
I originally called Duotherm/Dometic customer service to see if they made a model that was a direct, plug and play replacement. One that would utilize my old Air Distribution Box and and analog thermostat. The customer service rep said no problem and gave me the model number for the roof unit I needed, 640315.301CO. I purchased that model from a local RV dealer and was going to let them install it. They spent four hours trying to get it to work but it would not work with my old equipment. This was on July 3rd. I then purchased a manual control air distribution box to get me by over the July 4th holiday weekend. This is the ADB carried by most RV suppliers. I contacted Dometic after the holiday and they apologized for the confusion and sent the components I actually needed and gave me credit for the extra $120 I spent for the manual ADB.
To replace my old air conditioner to a current Penguin Low Profile, I needed a new digital Comfort Control Center (thermostat), an electric control box and a wire adapter kit so I could use my original wiring. Total cost, including a new Old Style Air Distribution Box was $982. A 15,000 BTU would have been about $100 more.
When I went to install the new thermostat I found that it required 12V power which I did not need or have for the old analog thermostat. There was no constant source of 12V DC close to the thermostat location so I finally took a wall plug type 12V DC charger and installed it in the Air Distribution Box next to the Electronic Control Box. I disassembled the charger and removed the plug prongs and soldered in new wiring which I connected directly to the 110V with the wiring for the A/C unit. This now supplies the 12V needed for the digital thermostat. I am still unsure whether the old digital thermostat should have worked with the new Electronic Control Box but I could not get make it work. The installation instructions indicate an analog thermostat should work.
The bottom line is that the old original cream colored air distribution box (still available from Duotherm) is much quieter than the "New Improved" white oval shaped air distribution box with "Quick Cool" feature and the new Duotherm Penguin puts out colder air than the old one. Overall, I feel I was treated fairly by Duotherm under the circumstances and I am happy with the replacement unit.
The following are the parts an price required to replace the rear (bedroom) air conditioner for my 1993 U300.
13,500 BTU Roof Top A/C only Exterior Unit
PN - 3107656.38
$645.00
Penguin Air Distribution Box (ADB) Interior Unit - This Unit is Optional if the original is in good shape
PN - 3107561.015
$82.49
Electronic Control Box - Required
PN 3109226.005
$121.00
Cable Adapter Kit (to use original analog thermostat cable)
PN 3106986.007
$34.99
Comfort Control Center (Digital Thermostat)
PN 3109228.001
$99.00
I hope this helps others from the frustration I experienced trying to replace my old Duotherm.
I'll keep this in my hip pocket. The rear one is getting noisier every year...
Don't you just love those "easy conversion kits" that everyone wants to sell us.
Innovative Coach completed the installation of a new Penguin for me an hour ago. Man its nice to be cool again Installation was easy with three guys and their experience.
I have some parts available from the old unit if any one needs them.
A near new outside cover
Heat strip
Control box and Thermostat. ( Thermostat needs repair )
Capacitors
Drop Me a note if you need any of these.
Gary B
How do you like the digital control, and how is the sound level? Did you stay with the old distribution box?
Dave, I am very pleased with the sound level and with the cooling of my new unit. I anticipated more noise based on some previous posts but I can't tell that there is any more noise than our old unit and it cools better. Keep in mind that I did use the Old Style ADB. It is still available for $82.
I like the digital thermostat OK but mine isn't working quite right. When it is turned off, sometimes it won't return to the cooling mode. I then have to reset it by holding down the top and bottom button. I will call Duotherm when I get time and see if there is a way to fix that or whether I need another thermostat.
The bad thing about the four button in my coach is that it is mounted on the cabinet end over the step and with my bifocals its very hard to see. It is working well and at 9pm its 98 and ac IS Cycling on and off to maintain 78 so I can't complain.
Gary B
Gary, my new digital seems to cycle a lot more than the old analog thermostat. Does your do the same thing?
Kent, Yes, BUT its maintaining a steady temp where the old one would let coach get real warm before cycling.
Headed east into MO t'morrow so we will see how it operates. Hope you resolve your problems.
Gary B
We have a five button digital thermostat. The rear cooler cycles very briefly. The front cooler runs longer cycles. Both keep temperature steady. The propane furnaces both cycle fairly long and we notice some temperature variations.