16' Series Aircon

[stuartcarr2002]

Hi Guys

Just come back from a 5 day trip to the central coast.

Question, It was a little warm , but not to hot. I love aircon so i cranked it up. I have had it running out the front of our house on a hot day and it worked well, and the fan noise under the van was constantly on so the compressor was running.

This time as it wasnt as hot, i put it on and all it did was blow fan and no cold air. It didnt seem to cut in.

I am a mechanic by trade so i though i would oull the control panel off the front where the knobs are. There is a themostate sensor there. I touched it with my hands and i think the heat from my hand must have told it something. The air starts to work. :shocked:.
My question is, does the air only work when it is really warm or is something wrong. The heater seems to be ok and does cycle in and out when I use the temp switch.

It is the heron 2.2. the standard one with the 2011 Expanda.

Other than that, this was its first trip for more than a weekend and was awesome. It was in a couple of big storms and rain, but no leaks

 

[cancan]

Just slightly off topic but how did you find the air con. Trying to work out if the standard aircon works well or if the roof mount is worth the extra dollars

 

[stuartcarr2002]

When it worked it was good, the air is really cold coming out of it. Maybe if it was 40 plus degres it may struggle, but i would put that down to the canvas letting heat in rather than a full type van.

 

[Gaz70]

i have the roof top and believe the xtra dollars are worth it, 1. i am told it is quieter, 2. you can put the mirocwave where the a/c was on the 16.49-3 so the m/w is off the floor, 3. this then adds another pot drawer, 4. the air blows to the front and rear of the van not the side....on the down side the heater is a heat element not reverse cycle a/c, thus only heating up the air to 8 degress above room temp, needs a portable heater in really cold conditions..hope that helps cancan!!!

 

[mfexpanda]

Yep your right
I will only work when the temp is hotter than the set temp so by warming the senser you tricked it into thinking it was warmer inside and so the compressor came on and not just the fan

 

[stuartcarr2002]

The van was still a little warm, this was the worry. It seems the van must be hot for it to work. Thoughts.

 

[boots33]

The van was still a little warm, this was the worry. It seems the van must be hot for it to work. Thoughts.

It might be that the ambient temp wasn't high enough. below is some text from the manual

COOLING:
N.B. The unit will not run on cooling if the inside temperature is much below
20°C.
1. Turn fan speed selector to (Hi speed cooling)
2. Turn mode to (Cooling)
3. Adjust the thermostat counter clockwise until the Con/set is heard to start.
Ensure that cold air is being discharged, and there are no pipe rattles etc. After
about 15 mins. of running, and providing the inside temperature is above 23°C,
then the discharge air should be 12°C or cooler than the return air.

the full document can be viewed here

http://www.aircommand.com.au/docs/Im_Heron2S1.pdf

Edit: Just noticed that info above is for the series 1. Heron also list a series 2 and 3 for their 2.2 aircons so it might pay to have a look at the documentation that came with the van.

 

[stuartcarr2002]

That would explain it, I went on the real men dont need instructions It might have been under 20 degrees. Silly set up. 20 degrees I would still like a bit off cooling

Thanks for your help, much appreciate it. Puts my mind to ease that it is in its normal operating range and not a fault...

 

[achjimmy]

i have the roof top and believe the xtra dollars are worth it, 1. i am told it is quieter, 2. you can put the mirocwave where the a/c was on the 16.49-3 so the m/w is off the floor, 3. this then adds another pot drawer, 4. the air blows to the front and rear of the van not the side....on the down side the heater is a heat element not reverse cycle a/c, thus only heating up the air to 8 degress above room temp, needs a portable heater in really cold conditions..hope that helps cancan!!!

These were pretty much the reasons we went for the roof air over the Heron 2200. The earlier roof air was troublesome but you see a lot more expandas with roof air now.

Btw both the heron split and the domestic B2200 use a electric element for heating, neither are reverse cycle

 

[stuartcarr2002]

These were pretty much the reasons we went for the roof air over the Heron 2200. The earlier roof air was troublesome but you see a lot more expandas with roof air now.

Btw both the heron split and the domestic B2200 use a electric element for heating, neither are reverse cycle

The heater accually works well. It is better than the fan heater we used in the Eagle. We have had the van in really cold weather and still keeps the van toasty. I dont mind that it isnt reverse cycle in that respect. The little fan heater was a pain as the cord would be running and the mrs had a "thing" about leaving it on where as the in built one has a wierd sense of not burning down the van

 

[stuartcarr2002]

Well, aftert last weekend we where at Camden... The Saturday was a really warm day. We had the air on, the compressor cut in and it cooled the van down. It is working well... :tea:

 

[achjimmy]

The heater accually works well.

Not at Blaney or Bathurst during winter it dont, but its better than reverse cycle because whens it cold enough that doesnt work. I am going to go a gas heater when i get the van.

The little fan heater was a pain as the cord would be running and the mrs had a "thing" about leaving it on where as the in built one has a wierd sense of not burning down the van.

Yeah when at Blaney I had the Heron and fan heater going and the missues switches on the jug......bang total darkness. i really dont like the portable fan heaters you just know your going to have a disaster.

 

[Are We There Yet?]

We upgraded to the Ibis roof top a/con and the air con works a treat, it is thermostat controlled too. The heater is not as good and noisy but personally I prefer to use a little fan heater as it's quieter, switches on/off (rather than running constantly) and I only really use it at night just to take the chill off.