Heat and our upper cabinets

[Indy Bob]

Lots of electronics up front above. We are leaving some cabinet doors cracked to allow the heat out. Extra insulation is in and helps, but SUN beats down. Make sure medications are in a cooler area and not subjected to too warm of conditions.
Party ON.

[Jim_HiTek]

I put a small fan inside the one of mine that was getting too hot too often. With the door open of course.

[macnut]

Our 2017 Adventurer 35P has the head unit for the stereo system between the exterior and the upper cabinet. It overheated last year and had to be replaced! After installing the new one, I put the unit in the cabinet so it would not be right next to the exterior wall. I also got a cheap usb fan that is powered by the head unit itself and keeps it cooler. I also prop open the cabinet door a bit so air circulates better inside the cabinet. I plan to insulate the area behind the cabinets to better keep the heat out. This was definitively a design flaw, as there is plenty of room behind the dash for the head unit.

[creativepart]

I still see excessive heat up there. Just 2-days ago I measured 120 degrees in the cab above the passenger seat.

That’s nuts.

I want to paint or vinyl wrap the dark gray paint at the top of my cap white to keep heat down. I also want to insulate that area behind the mouse fur panels as some have done.

I did put this issue on my list of problems when I took my Adventurer to the factory this past May. They told me it was a design flaw and not a warranty item.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by macnut

After installing the new one, I put the unit in the cabinet so it would not be right next to the exterior wall.

That must have been a real chore... there are so many wires and connectors jammed in the area where the core unit sits it’s a tightly packed jumble.

I too replaced my Xite Core Unit due to heat issues last year.

[Joette]

Our upper cabinets over the front did the same, so we took out the carpeted, removable backboards and stuffed some pillows up in the area behind the roof and behind the windshield (the part behind the Black part) and then put back the panels we moved. Made a world of difference, heat is gone. The pillows were great insulation and were easily molded over the wiring and down into the lower part that didn’t open for access. It doesn’t stop the heat our satellite receiver generates, but we merely open the cabinet when we turn that on, but it stops the outside sun from making it so hot up there.

[BobC]

How about spray foam insulation instead of pillows?

[Joette]

We thought of the spray foam, but with all the wires up there, and simply no way to keep them out of the way, the pillows won out.

You can’t see them, but they’re doing the same job as house installation would , but without messing up the wires hidden inside the back of these cabinets.

I keep my computer stored up there and do t want to drain ththe battery from the heat, so it was the quickest and easiest thing we could think of.

[BobC]

I was concerned about moisture retention. If spray foam wasn't a good idea, I think I'd use flexible, closed cell foam pads.

[creativepart]

I need to do something about the heat up there. Here's a reading from Monday:

[GaHoosier]

Originally Posted by creativepart

I need to do something about the heat up there. Here's a reading from Monday:

I removed the cabinet backing then using adhesive spray, glued closed cell insulation sheets directly on the fiberglass shell and the upper portion of windshield. It was the duel-sided metallic type material. It's flexible enough to get around the structural steel and wiring in there. While I had the backing out, I mounted a USB powered home stereo equipment fan to draw the cool coach air across the A/V rack. This was a year ago and I have no more problems with the matrix. On the hottest days the temp will reach into the mid 80s but not 100+, as was typical. It is a pain pulling out that cabinet backing but or me, well worth the effort based on my results. All the best.

[Rossi6998]

I had the same issue. I actually installed a fan through the cabinet door. The fan was fairly inexpensive, looks like the cabinet door came that way, and helps keep my direcTV receiver cooler. The fan came with a template to help with the cutout on the cabinet door. A very easy and beneficial modification. I liked the modification so much, I installed a fan on the other cabinet door to the right of the TV.

[panthercity]

Different rig, but same problem. I replaced the glass in one of the cabinet doors with inexpensive stamped metal sheeting.

[creativepart]

I decided today to actually do something about this. I was going to have the upper cap (dark grey on my coach) wrapped in white vinyl. Glad I didn't do that.

First, my wife said, how much is wrapping the top of the cap going to help? I didn't know. So, I put a thermometer on the gray paint and on the white paint on the front of my RV. In Full sun the gray was 110 degrees and the white was 104 degrees. It's 100 here today.

I went inside and measured the heat in the upper cab - it was 113.

So, I went through the hugely scary task of removing all the electronics from up there. So many wires and connections. Yikes. But I opened it all up so that I had access to the inside of the cap - behind the mouse fur coated cardboard walls.

Once I got inside the cap behind the cabinets I was surprised by what I found.

1. There was a base of black metal making a floor behind the cabinets and then a tray of black metal about half way up between the "floor" base and the ceiling. It was very hot to the touch. These have to be there for strength.

2. There is spray foam insulation on the inside of the cap. It's quite effective. It was 103 degrees on the backside of the spray foam. So, the fiberglass cap and paint is NOT the problem.

3. The CULPRIT is the windshield! Look at the top of your windshield - it's black. My RV is my avatar to the left of this post. See that 8" black strip behind the class at the top just below the cap. That is what is making your upper cabinet hot. I tested the temp on the back of the windshield and it was 135 degrees. Yep. That's the problem.

So, I just went to HD and bought some R30 Fiberglass insulation to stuff up in there on both the base and the middle tray pushed up against the back of the windshield. Before seeing it I thought maybe loose blown-type insulation would work, but it won't. There is an open strip about 1" to 2" wide between the windshield and the metal base of the cabinets.

I'll post photos and the results as soon as I am done. I'm looking forward to this problem being crossed off of the list!!

PS. I think the previous poster that said he put a bunch of fiberfill pillows up there has a pretty good solution too.

[creativepart]

All finished. And it appears to work perfectly. The Sun is more overhead and slightly behind the RV so, tomorrow morning when the sun is directly on the windshield will be the true test.

Here are some photos

First Photo: is the area behind the cabinets. Lots of wires.

Second Photo: is a close up inside the area. You can see the bottom metal "floor" and the upper metal "tray. That bright spot at the back is the windshield. You can also see the hard foam insulation on the back of the fiberglass cap in that photo

Third Photo: is the insulation stuffed across the length of both metal pieces.

Fourth Photo: The temp inside the cabinet AFTER the insulation was installed. It was 113 when I began this project.

Took about 6 hours but I will no longer worry about heat destroying the Riverpark Core Unit and the other electronics up there (Blu-Ray Home Theater and HDMI Matrix).

PS. If you ever have your windshield replaced I think when the glass is removed you could pack the insulation in from the front, not positive, but it sure looks like it.

[powercat_ras]

In addition to adding unfaced fiberglass insulation around the Vista cabinets above the driver and passenger positions as per prior posts, I also used white vinyl to cover the solid black portion of the winshield on the outside surface. So I have a white band instead of a black band across the top now. That reduced the top temp behind the glass when front is in direct sun by well over 20 F.

I used solid white contact paper for the white vinyl. Inexpensive. Chances are you won't be satisfied with the appearance the first time you do it as you learn how to strech and apply the vinyl to minimize wrinkles and air bubbles. It turned out good the second time for me. I also seamed it down the middle so I was not working with as quite as large a piece at a time

[BobC]

Originally Posted by creativepart

But I opened it all up so that I had access to the inside of the cap - behind the mouse fur coated cardboard walls.

Mouse fur, what a great name for it!

[creativepart]

Randy, I wondered about doing that. Or putting a metallic silver strip over that black band on the outside of the windshield. Maybe even having the Winnebago name printed on it so it looked stock.

After all this work was done I wondered if doing something like that could really have been all that needed to be done. I guess I'll never know.

This has been an issue since the day I purchased the coach one year and 3-days ago. It has ruined one Riverpark Core Unity and it keeps effecting this replacement I installed 11 months ago.

It always feels good when something this problematic gets crossed off the list. I have to really wait 'til tomorrow. My RV in my driveway gets direct sun on the upper part of the windshield around 10 am.

[creativepart]

Final post in this saga for me. Here's a before and after photo. The pre-insulation photo was with the upper cabinets all open and a fan blowing to ease the temp. The post insulation was with no fans at all and with ALL the cabinet doors closed (opened just for the photo).

This one is solved.

[macnut]

Ok, I’m sold! That is my next project! I also fried a core unit last July on a trip to Oregon. Thanks for the photos!