Replacing the Kamp Air Air Conditioning Unit

So here is my post for replacing the air conditioner in my 90D190V. It is the Kamp Air model, and the space in the roadtrek models are much different than the later models with the Fedders air conditioners. So here goes. First, I want to thank Harold Way, whose pictures were a big help in getting the job done so far. A lot of the pictures will probably look similar to his, but hopefully I can add some info as I go along.

So when we got our Roadtrek, it was pretty much all original equipment, including the Kamp Air Air conditioner. While it worked, it would freeze up very frequently. We asked a repairman if he could do anything with it, but they pretty much pronounced it dead. Here is my adventure in performing the removal and replacement of the Kamp Air. People who are familiar with older Roadtreks will probably have either the Kamp Air or the Fedders units in their units. The Fedders units have different dimensions and different procedures in swapping out the a/c. The Kamp Air unit was a very unique size and presented a lot of challenges, including just finding a unit small enough to fit in the hole left after removal of the Kamp Air unit. So here goes.

This is the Kamp Air unit. 

If this is the unit you have in your Roadtrek, and yours is broken, maybe this can help you out. 

1. Once I determined that it was time for the Kamp Air to go, it had to be removed. The only way for the unit to come out is to be slid out from the front. That meant the first order of business was to take off the cabinet doors that were in front of the unit to make sure I would have clearance and working room. With all the work that would occur during this process, I would say removing those doors are a must. Also, make sure the unit is unplugged. It is plugged into an outlet in the drivers side upper cabinet. The cord is also held by a stress relief strap that is screwed into the cabinetry. Make sure to unscrew this. The last thing I wanted was to have this big thing loose and not be able to get it out because the power cord was still attached to something.

The doors are held on by hinges with 4 screws in each of them.

2. There are no obviously visible screws that can be removed to help take the unit out. This is where I had to do some investigation. Since I didn't see any screws in the front, it was time to go to the back of the van. From there, I proceeded to take out the grill so I could get rear access.

To take the grill out, there is a black piece of rubber trim underneath the grill that is hiding screws that help hold the grill in place. Just peel back the black rubber and it will expose the screws. As long as the rubber is in good shape, it will pop back in when done. Next, I removed the screws that were holding a piece of trim and the grills in place.

Here is the rubber trim hanging from where is pulled it out of its channel. 

Here is a close up of the metal channel that was exposed when I pulled back the black rubber trim I removed the screws and pulled back the metal channel enough so that I could remove the two piece grill and gain back access. 

Once I had gained access to the back, I was able to look inside and see the back of the unit. It is important to have this back access because there is a pretty thick bead of silicone that secured the bottom of the unit to the van. I used a sharp utility knife to cut the silicone away from the unit.

2. Now that the silicone was cut, I could go back inside for more exploration to find how the unit was attached to the van. When I got back into the van, I stuck my head into the overhead storage compartments that were to the side of the unit. This is what I saw.

This is the view from inside the cabinet on the drivers side looking towards the back of the van. On the left side, there is a wooden panel that had to be removed with a few screws. 

3. Once the wooden panel was removed, I discovered a wall of insulation that had to be removed. This view is from the passengers side. Keep in mind, the pics may differ depending on which side I was on when I took the pics. 

4. Once the insulation was removed, I could then see the side of the Kamp Air unit. This is a very important picture because it finally reveals how the unit is attached to the van. Do you see the long block of wood in the center of the picture in the corner where the unit and the wall meet? That is how it is attached. There are three screws that you can see that screw into the wall. On the side of that block of wood, there are three more screws that go through the wood and into the side of the Kamp Air. The only ones I needed to remove for the moment are the screws that are directly visible that are screwed though the block and into the wall. That is enough to release the unit. The other screws that attach the wood block to the unit will be removed later when it is more convenient. 

5. Now is the fun part. Once the silicone in the back is loose and the wood panels, insulation and screws are removed on both sides of the air conditioner, it's time to pull it out! Here is where it was helpful to have a wife with super powers and crowbar! I tried to muscle out the unit from inside the van, but it wasn't budging. So my wife went to the back and just starting hammering on the unit until it started to move forward a little bit. This part wasn't for the faint of heart because there was no turning back at this point because the back of the Kamp Air suffered some significant damage to its fins when she laid the smack down on it. But once it finally became dislodged, I was able to pull it forward and ALMOST out. 

6. Now, remember the long block of wood that still was attached to the side of the unit with three screws? That attached block was preventing the unit from clearing the cabinet and being able to be completely removed. Once the unit was loose, I was able to pull it forward to the front. Once I got it forward, I was able to easily reach the block of wood and remove the screws from the side of the wood that were going into the air conditioner. 

 7. Once the the side wood piece is removed from the unit, it should slide freely out of its former home and i finally saw daylight! The unit is very heavy, so be careful when lifting it out. Also, be conscious of the angle at which it comes out because it has sharp corners and it could damage the ceiling.

8. This a picture of the underside of the location where the unit used to be. Before I took this picture, I had to take off the light that was above the bed and then remove a wooden panel to give me complete access to the area and the metal bars. 

9. Now that the unit is removed, I was left with this hole. Now it was time for a little cleanup. On the back there was still a lot of remaining silicone and just generalized nastiness from 25 years of exposure. I cleaned that up as best I could. 

10. Next came the relocation of the wires that supplied power to the overhead bed light. The wires originally came out of the front metal bar on top. Since most all air conditioner units that are available barely fit in the space,

 I wanted to get the wires out of the way. I took a 3/8 Inch drill bit and drilled a hole on the inside side of the bar and used a small curved pick to grab the wires and pull them out. Be careful here. The wires coating is a little fragile and I stripped the coating when pulling them out. Once I had them relocated, I wrapped them in electrical tape and added some extra wire to be able to extend it to wherever I want to locate the bed light when done. 

11. Once I relocated the wires, I then focused back to the cabinetry. The Kamp Air Unit was unique in that it didn't need to draw in air from the sides. New Air conditioners have vents on the sides that have to have access to airflow in order to work. My speakers are exposed in this picture, you may notice. There are little boxes that normally cover them, but the adhesive had come loose, so I removed them for the pics.

This is why I cut holes in the back of the cabinets. This gives the unit a way to draw in fresh air. 

At first, I tried to used a hole saw bit, just like Harold Way used in his posts when he did this job. I was able to cut through the wood. I drilled 4 holes and connected the holes with a mini hacksaw. Once I got through the wood, I found a layer of insulation that had to be removed. Once that was removed, however, the fun for me began. There was a metal plate that was still remaining between me and the outside. No matter how hard I tried, I could not cut through the metal with my hole saw bit. I ended up squeezing my angle grinder in there and cutting the holes out of the metal. Definitely use some safety glasses here. The grinder threw off some pretty heavy sparks, so make sure that you have yourself, as well as your speakers covered if you attempt cutting the holes in this manner. 

12. Next I used some 3M cold weather foil tape to wrap the area, since it was more open to the elements now. 

I went about halfway to the front of the cabinet with the tape, because we are going to have to build another wall later on in order to make the airflow work correctly. More on that later. 

13. Now it was time to make some mods so that the air conditioner would sit in the hole properly. The unit that I found to fit measures 12 inches tall, about 15.2 inches deep, and about 16 inches wide. The depth of the unit does not give it enough body to sit on the bars with confidence. Plus, window air conditioners need a little tilt for drainage work correctly. 

I took 14 gauge perforated angle iron and cut 2 pieces at 20 inches long and placed one on each side on the insides of the bars as shown. I drilled two holes for each bar to be hung. I used a 3/8 bit again and drilled all the way through. I then used 3/8 grade 8 bolts 2 inches long to secure the angle iron. Use extra care if possible when drilling through the front bar on the drivers side. The wires for the bed light run through that bar. The wires generally lay on the bottom inside the bar, but it is possible that you can damage them when drilling. Proceed with caution. 

The back bar was a little more difficult because there is a wooden panel that blocks access to the back of the bar. One might be able to figure out how to remove this wood trim piece, but I didn't. I used a dremel to notch a big enough hole in the wood so as to he able to slide a nut in there to attach the bolts to the bar.

14. Once I had the angle iron secure, I took a look at the new unit. I wanted to make sure I positioned two flat iron pieces of metal in the correct spot so that the unit would sit on the metal and be centered. Note that I cut all the angle iron and flat iron with a chop saw and a metal grinding blade. The flat iron pieces ended up being just shy of 15 inches, as the bars themselves are about 15 inches apart. Once I cut the flat iron, I placed them on the perfed angle iron and marked where I needed to drill holes into them so that I could attach them. I used 3/8 inch grade 8 3/4 inch bolts to attach the flat iron to the angle iron. This made my shelf. Next I was time for a dry fit with the new arctic king unit I got from Wal-Mart. 

15. This is the unit in place. As previously noted, the height is 12 inches in places, which just fits into the provided space. The back of the unit is a little less than 12, the middle of the unit is closer to 11.5, and then towards the front has feet that are back to about 12 inches. Once I got the feet to the front bar, I used my shoulder to give it a little nudge to get it in.

The unit has a remote and a thermostat. One caviat to this unit is that the filter slides out the side in the front. This would be a problem because there is no access once it is in place. The solution to this is a follows. There are two screws that secure the face of the unit to the body. Before placing the unit in place for good, remove the screws. The face stays in place without the screws. The key is that the face can now be popped off and the filter can be accessed from the front and not the side. 

This is a view from underneath. 

As you can see, once it is in, it has tilt. The back is sitting on my fabricated shelf and the front is sitting on the front bar. I will probably add some wood shims to secure it. 

Keep in mind, this is still a work in progress. I still have to build more baffles for airflow, another back wall in the middle of the cabinets, secure the unit to the van, and trim out the front. Still a lot to get to, but when completed, this will be a helpful guide for someone attempting to do this in the future.