Replacement duct vent for improved air mixing

John_Canfield · 07-04-2007, 10:32 AM

As mentioned a few days ago, here are the details of the AC vent replacement I recently did after inspiration by Pat & Diane Tribbey.

I don't know where Pat came up with the idea, but I am glad he did and I want him to have the creative credit for the modification

You might ask what problem we are trying to solve here. The problem was hot or cold "spots" or areas in the coach (depending on if we were in heat or AC mode of course.) When the coach was new, I spent quite a bit of time aiming the directional vents the coach came with - I remember freezing in the driver's seat when running down the road with the genny running and the house AC on. It was also a problem in the bedroom trying to avoid being hot or cold when the system was running due to a direct shot of air.

Here is a picture of the vent as installed in my coach.

The vents are inexpensive at $2.75 each and are easily and quickly replaced. Ordering info here.

FYI: I have absolutely no connection with D&W other than being a happy customer.

John_Canfield · 07-04-2007, 10:32 AM

As mentioned a few days ago, here are the details of the AC vent replacement I recently did after inspiration by Pat & Diane Tribbey.

I don't know where Pat came up with the idea, but I am glad he did and I want him to have the creative credit for the modification

You might ask what problem we are trying to solve here. The problem was hot or cold "spots" or areas in the coach (depending on if we were in heat or AC mode of course.) When the coach was new, I spent quite a bit of time aiming the directional vents the coach came with - I remember freezing in the driver's seat when running down the road with the genny running and the house AC on. It was also a problem in the bedroom trying to avoid being hot or cold when the system was running due to a direct shot of air.

Here is a picture of the vent as installed in my coach.

The vents are inexpensive at $2.75 each and are easily and quickly replaced. Ordering info here.

FYI: I have absolutely no connection with D&W other than being a happy customer.

FrankO · 07-04-2007, 10:59 AM

Were they a direct replacement or did you have to enlarge the original hole where the previous vent was?
Thanks -- Frank O.

John_Canfield · 07-04-2007, 11:08 AM

Good question Frank - forgot to mention that. They are a direct replacement for my vents. The opening is the same for both vents; only the screw holes don't match up but that doesn't matter.

C Zimm · 07-04-2007, 01:25 PM

John: Those look like the exact vents I had in my '92 Pinnacle. They screw in and out to control the flow. I really liked them so maybe it's time for me to make the change as well. Thanks for doing the home work.

arkaussie · 07-04-2007, 04:40 PM

I hadn't given those any thought. We have them in all our leased Springdale travel trailers. I guess they are very common so must be available almost everywhere and by the sound of it the price is good!!

fulltimer01 · 07-05-2007, 06:31 AM

Thanks a lot John for the info. I too am going to order them.

Dick

ISLAPP · 07-05-2007, 07:25 AM

John,
Have you had them in long enough to give ample testing for both hot and cold temp problems you used to have? Are the problems now gone?
Mike

Keith Anderson · 07-05-2007, 10:00 AM

Thanks for the write up on the vents.
I also have an '05 Horizon and was wondering if you got the white or bright white vents?
Were you able to use the ring cover so that you don't see the screws?
Also, do these vents close completely?
Some of the directional vents are nice on a hot day.
Thanks

John_Canfield · 07-05-2007, 10:58 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ISLAPP:
John,
Have you had them in long enough to give ample testing for both hot and cold temp problems you used to have? Are the problems now gone?
Mike </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes - tested in both AC mode and with the heat pump and the air is significantly more mixed and diffused and I'll say has almost eliminated hot (or cold spots.)

I have discovered the air exiting the duct opening has a bias to blow in more of one direction, but the force seems to be in about a 45-50 degree arc with the new vents instead of a more limited arc and more velocity with the stock vents.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I also have an '05 Horizon and was wondering if you got the white or bright white vents?
Were you able to use the ring cover so that you don't see the screws?
Also, do these vents close completely?
Some of the directional vents - are nice on a hot day. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Keith - pretty sure these are the white and not bright white. They blend in nicely with the color of the headliner. The screws are exposed, but the heads on mine were painted white (or off-white) and the exposed heads isn't very noticeable or objectionable to us.

The vents don't close off the air flow completely, but there isn't much air escaping when they are screwed in all the way. The bathroom vent is screwed in almost all of the way and that seems to be just about correct for that small space.

I will keep some of the original vents just in case I want to revert one of more of the vents to the original directional vents. So far, I haven't found that necessary.

Maybe the original vent-master, Pat Tribbey, will chime in with his experiences. He is a longer-term user than I am.

Ptribbey · 07-05-2007, 11:52 AM

Off-white is the color that Winnebago uses. We have had the difusers for about three years. The only issue we have is that because the way the air is directed they tend to get the headliner dirty (I think the original difusers do also). For the people with other than cloth it may not be an issue, but I have had to clean my headliner because the liner gets black around the difuser. Carpet cleaner seems to clean the liner okay though.

I used the original painted screws that came with the original difusers, and they match perfectly.

Our main complaint with the A/C is there isn't enough of it. I don't think there is enough capacity, and we added a third A/C on the roof and we tend to use it any time the temps gets 90 or above, BUT we like to keep the coach at 72 regardless of outside temps and the third A/C will do it.

When I was at Forest City last year I asked that Service check out my A/C unit. They consider checking it by measuring the discharge temp of the A/C's and comparing it to outside temps. They told me my unit was working fine, but this doesn't measure the "amount" of airflow the unit is providing inside the coach. I had the old "rerap" the A/C duct behind the rear cap fix that Winnebago provides but as others have posted on the forum the A/C unit probably needs the evaporator coil cleaned every couple of years to keep the unit working properly. I have never had my unit out, but would like to hear from other members of the forum as to "how" step by step to pull and clean the unit. What do you use to slide it out onto?

cbeierl · 07-06-2007, 03:51 AM

Thanks, John. That sounds like a very good idea. I think I'll order a set of those myself.

FrontRangeRVer · 07-06-2007, 04:29 AM

We used to have these type vent registers on our old Holiday Rambler Vacationer. I liked that you could close these off, but I definately didn't like that you couldn't aim the air where you wanted to like you can on the new type like we have now....

vicsryd · 07-07-2007, 04:45 AM

If your worried about color match the Krylon Fusion spray paints really do work very well on plastic and are durable. The almond color is a very close match for the Winnebago headliner.

cbeierl · 08-19-2007, 04:41 PM

Hi John,

Is there any special trick to removing the original ceiling vents?

cbeierl · 08-21-2007, 02:43 AM

Just fyi, John told me "No - nothing special or unusual about the changeout. You pop off the trim ring on the old vents exposing the screws and unscrew. Use a driver drill!"