Caravan rooftop A/Cond

Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 14:01
ThreadID: 134725 Views:6135 Replies:3 FollowUps:2
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Hi all,
I currently have a ten year old Dometic B3200 series rooftop unit on my van (Kedron).
It has served me well (and still is) albeit making a LOT of fan/air noise and cooling reasonably well on the hottest of days.
I have been doing an exercise on the possibility of upgrading to a new replacement unit. I have narrowed my possible choice down to two units.
1. Dometic Harrier
2. Air Command Ibis 3
I have been assured that either unit will 'slot' straight in after removal of the old unit.
My question,.... can I please ask for feedback on either of these units good OR bad from people who actually have one of these units fitted to their van.

Regards & thanks in anticipation.
Insanity doesnt run in my family.... it gallops!

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Reply By: Member - Sue & Joe L (QLD) - Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 at 05:12

Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 at 05:12
Hi Tony,
We have the Air Command Ibis 3 in our van, very happy with it ,its quiet and cools our van (18'6) Lotus very efficiently , up in Townsville at the moment and has been running every day for the last 2 weeks with no problems. The remote is good but has a limited distance , had a few others brands in previous vans and this has been the quietest.
Hope this helps.
Regards Sue.
AnswerID: 610564

Reply By: Cherese H - Sunday, May 07, 2017 at 21:01

Sunday, May 07, 2017 at 21:01
DO NOT under any circumstances get the Dometic Harriet AC ~ this not fit for purpose and Dometic have a very laxed response to complaints. I quote "these things happen" Not good enough as far as I am concerned. We replaced our Ibis with the highly prompted Super quite Harrier AC. It was installed 4 weeks ago, in that time we have used it only 7 days and only a few hours/day. The noise is unbearable, it sounds like a Jet engine preparing for take off and that's on low fan speed. We arrived in Kakadu (average daily temp 33c) we setup turn on AC and 10 minutes later it shuts down with error message. I phoned Dometic Technical Support and was told 'we have a faulty sensor'.
I am as told to take my van to Darwin to have it replaced. Said I wasn't happy as we only had the unit for 4 weeks a very little usage in that time. Dometic's representative response was 'these things happen!'
My response was 'Not good enough, these things are not suppose to happen with a new product and with the noise this unit is making I would say we have a faulty unit. Will Dometic replace the whole unit if this is the case.'
Representative 's response 'No! We will just keep repairing it!'
I have researched a few forums and their are other complaints about the unbearable noise of this particular AC. Which indicates to me that they have a major problem with the Harrier AC and doing very little to rectify the situation. My worry is after we leave Darwin we are travelling to Broome and down the coast of WA. If we continue to have problems we will have no air conditioner for the hottest part of our travels. If I don't get any satisfaction from Dometic I will be taking it further. I really regret not sticking with the Ibis AC. But unfortunately I believed all the hype about the Harrier AC being super quite & these wonderful features.
AnswerID: 610896

Follow Up By: Member - Tony H (touring oz) - Monday, May 08, 2017 at 14:48

Monday, May 08, 2017 at 14:48
Hi Cherese H,
Thanks for the reply,
I should have hung off for another week or so......YEP I bought a Harrier, had it professionally installed by the local caravan mob.
I was seriously looking at the Air Command Ibis 3 unit, but they are out of stock country wide and no idea when they will be available again.
DO YOU KNOW,??? Dometic bought out Air Command late last year......so even if I did get an 'Air Command' it would still have been a Dometic.....lol
For 10 years we had put up with the very noisy Dometic B3200 series unit.
Initial impressions for me at least ......the Harrier is MUCH quieter than the unit it replaced, performance seems to be also better, but cant really confirm until we get some more hot weather and we like the features of having a remote control, the swing louvers and the lights.... we like those plus's.
Yes it really is a pain that you are having troubles so soon after purchasing your new unit, & it is a real pain in the butt that you have to go to Darwin to get it fixed. Hopefully the agent can get on top of the problem quickly and possibly find out why it is so noisy.
Fingers crossed I don't have any dramas like you!
Enjoy your trip your in a stunning beautiful part of Oz.
Travel safe
Insanity doesnt run in my family.... it gallops!

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Reply By: Cherese H - Tuesday, May 09, 2017 at 21:54

Tuesday, May 09, 2017 at 21:54
Hi Tony, thanks for your reply. Yes, I did know that Dometic had bought out the Ibis Company last year. Did not known all Ibis units where out of stock. Our last AC was an Ibis, unfortunately after 6 years the compressor died. We went with the Harrier as we believed all the hype about being super quite etc. ours sounds like a jet engine preparing for take off & thats on low fan speed. We had the noise measured yesterday & it is rating at 65 DB which is loud. This is a known problem & Dometic will only act when they get enough complaints, in the mean time they will just keep trying to repair the unit. By the way ours was professionally fitted by one of their agents in Brisbane
It's not only the noise that's a problem ~ it doesn't work on Auto ~ it was hotter in the van than outside, the one time we used it on Auto. Hope you have more success with yours. Travel safe & hope to meet down the track.
Cherese
AnswerID: 610982

Follow Up By: Cherese H - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 21:16

Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 21:16
It's me again Tony, did you get your Harrier AC for the same price as the Ibis? Found out today that they are offering the Harrier for the same price as Ibis due to the lack of stock.
I also spoke to Scott their Technical Representative in Melbourne and once again no joy there. In all I have had communications with 3 of their Tech people and all 3 where quite hostile and defensive of the Harriet AC. In actual fact one quite discerning statement made by Scott today "that these where only minor problems and that I could not expect to get a fault free product when they are massed produced in China, of course there are going to be problems from time to time". This left me somewhat speechless ~ so does this mean 'tough luck you have a dud, what where you expecting stupid lady ~ us to apologise for supplying you with a product not fit for purpose. I am so weary & disillusioned with this company. I thought they where a reputable company with high standards. I am in the process of lodging a complaint with ACCC. Good luck with yours. Cheers Cherese
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