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Topic: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade (Read 827 times) previous topic - next topic

Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Well I pulled the trigger on an Atmos 4.4 AC unit with Softstart for the front of my coach because I'd heard great things. I ordered directly from the company and they were great to deal with over the phone when I was confirming fitment. Bunch of good dudes in Elkhart. One even gave me his cell #.

The big motivator for me was their new inverter technology that allows these units to pull about half the wattage as a conventional roof-top AC unit. After I rented a material lift from Home Depot the rest of the install was a breeze. It only took a couple hours front to back to get it in and I like it so much that I ordered a second one for the back of the coach.

I've included photos to back up some of these numbers but at a glance:
    • The unit does indeed pull about 70 amps @ 12v when running at full tilt
    • With only 5 of my 7 panels connected I was still net positive ~17-30amps with it running
    • I think with one extra battery I'll be able to comfortably run the bedroom unit overnight!

Another cool thing about these units is that they're much quieter. With the fans on low, it registered 53db while I was sitting right under it (57db with fans on high). With the center vent open it creeped up to 62db. For perspective, the old unit came in a little over 70db on high.

The only knock I would give these are the installation instructions. They're written in very broken English that was hard to understand and unreadable at times. I found this surprising given how easy and pleasant it was to deal with the guys in Elkhart.

In my opinion, these provide almost all the same goodness as a mini-split without the tremendous hassle of installing one and I would highly recommend them based on my experience so far.

Here's the link to the unit: Dreiha Atmos 4.4 | SDG
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #1 –
I wonder if they make one for vented ceilings on the u320?
James and Suzi
1999 U320  36, Cummins M11
Build 5544  Motorcade #17268
Ronan, Montana
2020 Jeep gladiator

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #2 –
Thanks Elliot for sharing your project. Our old Colman Mach a/c units keep turning and blowing cold air but they are noisy for sure. I've been keeping my eyes open for their replacement for the moment one of them gives up the ghost.
Michael & Ginny
Frankfort, KY
1992 U240 GV Build #4116
2007 Mini Cooper

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Gold Nugget finder –
I wonder if they make one for vented ceilings on the u320?
I don't see one on the website but having had a ducted U320 and now the GV, I can say I don't miss the vented ceilings. The value they added by being able to run one at the other end of the coach so you don't hear it is negated by the overall quietness of these units.
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #4 –
 Did you run new power leads for the 70 amp 12V  ?  That gets hot quick  . ?

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #5 –
Now this is Interesting !!!  Looking at your pictures and Unit specifications, They are Identical to the Two "TOSOT" units made by "GREE". I installed two of these about two months ago, They are great, Mine did come with a detailed installation guide.  TOSOT 15,000 BTU RV Air Conditioner | Heating & Cooling | 8.5 EER – TOSOT Direct
The selected media item is not currently available.
Gerry & Brenda
CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FL
1994 Grand Villa - # 4466
U300 Unihome - 6V92 Detroit
4 speed Allison - Jake Brake

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Protech Racing –
Did you run new power leads for the 70 amp 12V  ?  That gets hot quick  . ?
Sorry, I wasn't clear. It runs on 115v, so it's just a direct replacement and I reused the existing wiring. The amperage I quoted is the discharge from the 12v batteries before being converted to AC. It's basically what most battery monitors read out as so you have an idea of how much is being consumed
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Gerry Vicha –
Now this is Interesting !!!  Looking at your pictures and Unit specifications, They are Identical to the Two "TOSOT" units made by "GREER". I installed two of these about two months ago, They are great, Mine did come with a detailed installation guide.
Based on the VERY poorly written instructions, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out these are just rebranded Chinesium
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Elliott –
Based on the VERY poorly written instructions, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out these are just rebranded Chinesium
"Gree", is a major manufacturer. They have been making mini splits for over five years, as I installed one of their residential systems in a rental property over 5 years ago.  I think if you go to the above web site you could get a very good download of the operation manual.  TOSOT 15,000 BTU RV Air Conditioner | Heating & Cooling | 8.5 EER – TOSOT Direct
The selected media item is not currently available.
Gerry & Brenda
CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FL
1994 Grand Villa - # 4466
U300 Unihome - 6V92 Detroit
4 speed Allison - Jake Brake

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #9 –
Are the controls on the inside unit?

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #10 –
Quote from: erniee –
Are the controls on the inside unit?
Yes, it also comes with a wireless remote and wall-mount cradle for it
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #11 –
When I had a 5th wheel that I bought to keep at the lake, The AC's were ducked together and one AC unit had the thermostat in the AC unit. It would get hot in the trailer and the AC with the thermostat in the unit would not start since the running AC would keep the thermostat in the unit cold so it thought It did not have to run. I would have to leave the fan running so it would pull in the hot air to realize it needed to run.  For those with a non duct system you will not have to worry about that problem.
2014 ih45  (4th Foretravel owned)
 1997 36' U295 Sold in 2020, owned for 19 years
  U240 36' Sold to insurance company after melting in garage fire
    33' Foretravel on Dodge Chassis  Sold very long time ago

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #12 –
I got the rear AC unit installed as well yesterday and boy was that an absolute nightmare. I snapped off one of the mounting bolts and a two hour job turned into a 10 hour ordeal, but I finally got it in. I bought a huge tap and die set a couple years ago and that thing has saved the day a few times now.

With that ordeal now behind me, I have to say I am absolutely smitten with these units. I can confirm that I am able to successfully run both on full speed off of my 3000 W Victron inverter. it's a cloudy/rainy day here so I am not getting great sun, but I think once I am, I'll be close to breaking even on the electrical drawdown and should be able to run both units off of the solar almost indefinitely. The attached picture is the coach running both AC units and the Big air duct fan I put in the electrical closet all at the same time.

Furthermore, having both AC units will allow me to run each of them on low fan speeds and they're almost inaudible at that point  ^.^d
1987 Grand Villa ORED
2001 U320 4010

Not all that wander are lost... but I often am.
 

Re: Elliott's Grand Villa Atmos 4.4 AC Upgrade

Reply #13 –
That's nuts for 30k of cooling. Those Atmos units must be really efficient.
1991 U300 Side Aisle 6V92 Silver #3897
2004 U320 40' #6246