# My Experience Converting From Carrier To Coleman A/c



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

I recently had the adventure of packing up from a very hot camping trip due to our Carrier A/C failing. Kept tripping breakers and wouldn't run more than 12 seconds. I relayed the story here earlier, so I won't go into great detail here. Bottom line, I got the Coleman Mach III Power Saving unit at 13.5K BTUs and the Carrier to Coleman conversion kit. Some notes I "learned" are below:

1. Use a reputable vendor. My vendor (who shall remain nameless) did send me both the unit and the conversion kit in a timely manner. However, their customer service people could use a lesson in customer service. The unit came poorly packed on a pallet and was basically strapped to the pallet with plastic shipping straps the length and width of the unit. The appeared to have been a single screw that held the drain pan to the shipping pallet---I figured this out later after finding a screw pulled out and an obvious hole in the drain pan where it had been. The single screw didn't work... On a whim, I gave the fan a spin and found that the fan was dragging on the fan shroud. After calling up the vendor, I got a "you're dumber than dirt" response, telling me to just bend the drain pan a bit. Yeah...right. Rather than dealing with a return, I just bent the fan shroud down to where the fan didn't stick. I found out later that when the unit is installed on the roof, the drain pan flexes which makes the fan more aligned with the center of the fan shroud. So...in a way, they were right, but not exactly. Regardless, they didn't have to talk to me like I was an idiot.

2. Use a reputable vendor. There's a common theme here... After I got the unit up on the roof (ugh), I went inside the camper to attach it to the roof and found that the installation bracket was missing. Should have come with the conversion kit... So, I contacted the vendor and let them know I didn't get the installation bracket. The response..."you only ordered the top unit". Well, no, I also ordered the conversion kit that comes with the installation bracket. After they confirmed I had ordered the conversion kit, they told me they would get Coleman to send me a replacement bracket. I asked when I could expect a replacement. The response..."Well, we don't know. Coleman doesn't send us tracking numbers, but they usually get things out pretty quick". I thought I would wait a few days...with a hole in my camper roof...and see what happened. True to form, after a week passed and no part, I contacted the vendor again and they said they would check on my part. The response..."We checked with Coleman and they had to order the part. You should have it in a few days." Um..yeah. They may have been telling the truth, but I'm more inclined to believe they just didn't order the part. I got the installation bracket a few days after.

3. Have a buddy...and a winch if possible. The "light-weight" A/C's weigh just under 100 pounds. That's a lot to tote 8 feet up a ladder. I used a winch on my tractor and a pulley tied to my shelter roof to winch the thing up. My buddy basically followed the unit up a ladder to keep it off the side of the trailer.

4. Tape your ducting before installing the unit. My ducting was TERRIBLE! I had open holes the size of my fist in the ducting. I taped everything up, and the results were impressive. Much better airflow through the vents...and much less going to cool the roof of the camper.

5. The fit and finish of the conversion kit leaves something to be desired. It looks decent, but not quite like the original. Be prepared to use shorter screws on the front of the Carrier face plate due to proximity to the A/C installation bracket. The original screws just don't fit.

6. There seems to be a 10 degree temperature differential between what I set on the remote and what the unit is really set too. More research is warranted here...

That's all for now. Hope my experience can help someone out!


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