Caution when buying an older RV- hoping to help bargain hunters.
EDIT: I live here year round and own a house. I use the van for work mornings. I like to go to the coast weekends where it works fine. This was more about telling those who need it about the limitations and to be careful with the batteries.
When I bought my 1994 Coachmen RV, I was more worried about the engine, suspension, tires, etc. All have been fine. The roof AC pushes out 58 degree air and the front AC is new. All good, right?
Wrong. The rooftop AC an't keep up with desert heat at all. Best it can do is cool to 99 degrees when it's 110 out. Why? The insulation in the old rigs is woefully inadequate and let's not even discuss how hot the doors are on the sunny side.
I've got the windows protected with Reflectix and no obvious issues with the sidewalls. The real problem is the roof. It was radiating 105 yesterday and very warm to the touch.
My intent for buying this rig was use to for work during then week then go to the coast on the weekends.
I may try to re-insulate the roof this fall or winter and see what I can do about the door panels.
FYI, the rooftop unit is 13.5k Btu's and operates normally. No AC unit can cool that heat load. I have to remove my Aefiry P280 every day around noon when I'm done with work because right now, with AC off, the van climbs to 122 or so with vents open. My location is Palm Springs.