Disclaimer: In general, this forum is intended to be a place for Grand Design owners to gather and exchange ideas regarding their use of and experiences with Grand Design products. Any information contained in the forum should be independently verified by checking with Grand Design, one of its authorized dealers, or reviewing your owner’s manual.
If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You will need to to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Thanks for visiting and your interest in Grand Design!
The attached PDF is my original documentation (with format changes) that was originally posted elsewhere in thread form. I'll be posting an update on the ARP immediately following this post.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Issue: The fans controlled by the ARP (six total) do not seem to work as intended and the two defrost fans in the refrigerator definitely are not on as intended.
As documented in the PDF attached to post #1 in this thread, I wired all six fans (two in bottom exterior vent area, two in the top exterior vent area, and two defrost fans in the top of the refrigerator itself) to the ARP controller as designed. Since I want the defrost fans to run when the refrigerator is on, I moved the +12V from the ARP's output to pin 87 on the Dometic's power relay. (I was pleasantly surprised that there was a second attachment point on the relay!) Now when the refrigerator is powered on the defrost fans turn on.
In addition, I lowered the trigger point (a setting in the ARP itself) of the four exterior fans from the default 125/110 (on/off) to 100/85 so they turn on earlier and stay on longer.
I'll be documenting temperatures and conditions over the next several weeks and will add to this thread at a later date with the results.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
The ARP records the maximum boiler temperature it has "seen". The highest recorded is 210. (The ARP will turn off the refrigerator at 217.) Thus it follows that the ARP has not recorded an event where it turned off the refrigerator. (I've been on multiple trips and have towed my trailer thousands of miles since the original install in Dec '18.)
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Howard - If the ARP shuts it down at 217, will it turn back on again when it drops below that temperature?
Jim
The short answer is "yes".
The long answer is the ARP goes into a "Protection Period" by starting a "countdown period". I've searched all the documentation and cannot find a definitive answer on how long the countdown period lasts.
Note from the info below that the ARP will attempt 5 restarts (unless it encountered an excessive overheat condition).
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
I like the boiler temp control and the fan control temp. I feel managing the absorption temp helps to increase the efficiency of the refer (less watts/energy). Managing the absorption temperature just enough for the absorption cycle to work, means the less the boiler needs to work to raise the temperature again for the next cycle. Anyway that is the way I understand it from all the white papers and research I have read/done.
So looking at page 4 of the install pdf it looks like there is a wood panel blocking the vent so all heated air from the absorption coils would be directed over the condenser coil at the top of that vent. Is that correct? Something you added? Never seen that before.
I like the boiler temp control and the fan control temp. I feel managing the absorption temp helps to increase the efficiency of the refer (less watts/energy). Managing the absorption temperature just enough for the absorption cycle to work, means the less the boiler needs to work to raise the temperature again for the next cycle. Anyway that is the way I understand it from all the white papers and research I have read/done.
So looking at page 4 of the install pdf it looks like there is a wood panel blocking the vent so all heated air from the absorption coils would be directed over the condenser coil at the top of that vent. Is that correct? Something you added? Never seen that before.
What I DO understand from skimming the installation instructions is that a roof vent is the preferred installation method. I wonder why GD doesn't install a roof vent instead of the side vent?
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
I wonder why GD doesn't install a roof vent instead of the side vent?
Yes, roof vent would create a much better natural draft and the ability to extract heat above the refer. But in your case refer in slider = no roof vent.
Tweet
Comment