New Dometic Harrier Inverter Air Conditioner

vantecho · Member

New Dometic Harrier Inverter Air Conditioner

mr glassies · Guru

Interesting to hear the out come of this as I'm getting one. It's not the van vibe rating is it.

mr glassies

vantecho · Member

No it is not anything to do with the van vibrating or how it is installed. It is definitely within the Air Conditioner unit.

macka17 · Guru

They conning you.
Caravan air cond.s, specially Dometic.
are three times dearer than split household and about 20 yrs behind the times.
Heavy Inefficient
and don't even try to use as a heater.

They ALL very noisy unless the compressor turned off.

Unless you have a new wonder model. It'll stay noisy. sorry.
I've NEVER heard a quiet caravan Air cond,
Which is why most that can. Fit household split units.

Unfortunately most newcomers don't know that.

T1 Terry · Guru

I'm willing to keep an open mind on them, they aren't as efficient as the household unit but they are a simple drop in replacement, so a trade off will always be part of the deal.
I will also be interested in the outcome of the noise issue, I know another motorhomer who recently fitted one so I will ask if he finds their unit noisy, they have to new one up front and one of the older style down in the bedroom so a noise comparison will be an apples with apples type test.

T1 Terry

vantecho · Member

I have just spent day with Dometic Australia's Service manager. They made some improvement as a temporary measure. He will now contact the factory in China to see whether they can come up with a retrofit to reduce the fan noise. He said that the more complaints they get the more likely it is that they will act.

vantecho · Member

I had a detailed look myself and found that the transition duct which connects the output from the blower above the roof to the output below the roof was a fraction too short and allowing an air leak. It is specified as suitable for up to 60 mm of roof thickness. My roof is exactly 60 mm. I contacted Dometic and they sent up the alternative connection. (No charge) When I fitted that, it got rid of a faint, but annoying, whistle sound. It is still reading 60 dB on the table directly below the unit which is too high. Dometic Australia are still waiting for a response from the factory.

aquavan · Newbie

vantecho wrote:
I had a detailed look myself and found that the transition duct which connects the output from the blower above the roof to the output below the roof was a fraction too short and allowing an air leak. It is specified as suitable for up to 60 mm of roof thickness. My roof is exactly 60 mm. I contacted Dometic and they sent up the alternative connection. (No charge) When I fitted that, it got rid of a faint, but annoying, whistle sound. It is still reading 60 dB on the table directly below the unit which is too high. Dometic Australia are still waiting for a response from the factory.

Any update on this?

Regal 2010 · Newbie

We had the Harrier fitted 5 weeks ago & have only used it at the most 7 days and only for a few hours per day. The noise is unbearable sounds like a jet engine ready for take off. We had it fitted in Brisbane and headed to NT - we are in Kakadu with 35c heat every day and unable to use our AC as a sensor is also faulty. We have had very little joy from Dometic who appear to be denying any fault with this AC. If I had of known of this problem I would of gone with the Ibis AC. Domestic should not be prompting & selling this product until the design & manufacturing is resolved. I am seriously considering reporting this matter to Consumer Affairs. I would not advise anyone to buy this product.

Regal 2010 · Newbie

Hi vantecho, could you please supply me with the name of the Dometic Australia Service Manager who you had dealings with last October and was this in Brisbane or Adelaide? I have had discussions with 3 Technical Support Representatives thus far and all have been very defensive and aggressive regarding my situation. I believe I have a lemon and have requested a replacement unit. These are the problems we have: 1.- Fan noise on all 3 settings sound like a jet engine ready for take off. 2.- Auto Setting fails to work ~ outside temp 33c and it goes to heat mode. Doesn't appear to be able to go to cool at all. 3.- Night Mode fails to reduce fan speed and noise level ~ no matter what fan speed you have it on. 4.- Squeaky noise in fan or compressor. 5-. Remote Control battery cover loose and falling off whenever handled. (Small problem in the scheme of things but non the less relates to poor quality of product). Today I spoke to Scott ??? their Melbourne Technical Support section - I once again explained my dissatisfaction with the faulty unit and listed the problems we where having with the unit and requested a replacement unit. I was told that these where only minor problems and probably all that it needs was the bolts to be loosened...... I am blonde and I am dumb but not that dumb..... I asked how does that relate to the Auto Setting not working & Night Mode failure...I quoted what you had written on the Forum and that obviously there was a known problem relating to the fan & noise levels. He told me I shouldn't believe what was on any Forums because it is all misinformation. I said "so you are saying this person is a liar and he didn't get this information from who he said he did?" He said "Ohh no ~ he is just not telling the truth" But what really floored me and left me speechless was as far as he is concerned and he stated "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". From what you have stated on the forum and from what I have garnered from other forums this fan noise is a design fault not a technical fault such as faulty installation? Would love some feed back from you as from what I have read you seem to have more of a handle on this than Dometics Technical Representatives.

hagar · Veteran Member

I have the same problem with mine 2 days old have left it at factory for them to resolve the problem I dont expect much from dometic but will persist with the complaint

Santa · Guru

Yep, similar story, we have a Dometic fitted to the Kea, it really is a noisy inefficient piece of crap.

Fortunately we do most of our traveling during the cooler months, it seldom gets used

biggles182 · Member

I have the same problem.

The air conditioner was installed early May 2019 and appeared to operate correctly, the caravan has not been used since the installation (stored in a shed).

We were intending to go away 2^nd November so I tried the air conditioner only to find that when the compressor started it sounded like an aeroplane revving up causing the caravan roof to vibrate and the noise was unbearable.

When the air conditioner was switched to night mode it stopped and a code P8 was displayed on the overhead console.

The power had to be switched off at the main before the air conditioner could be started again albeit with the same result.

Tony LEE · Guru

I've just sent an enquiry to dometic asking for assurances that this product is fit for purpose and that their staff are committed to customer satisfaction. Did get one useful bit of info from their site though "My toilet's slider is very difficult to open. How can I adjust this? Open the slider before sitting on the toilet. Regularly apply silicone grease to the slider's rubber parts you can buy this at a good DIY store." Doh! Given that this has only been a problem with the latest model toilet, it is a good indication that their products are getting flimsiest by the year.

Andrew Caird · Newbie

biggles182 did you have any success with the noise issue, keen to know what the outcome was.

Cheers

Andrew

biggles182 · Member

Hi Andrew

Wasted my time and money I guess; this was the reply from Dometic:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your message.

We have forwarded your email to the responsible department. The relevant person will contact you as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Your Dometic Team

and I have not been contacted to date

I also contacted the seller etime RV Centre

and I have not had a reply.

Regards

Bryan

aquavan · Newbie

Have discovered the hard way that the noise issue is most likely due to the fact that you have only a 360mm roof opening.

If you take out the air filters you will see that only half of the filter is actually doing anything. That's because the roof opening is to small.

You need a 400mm opening for the air conditioner to work as it's advertised.

Gundog · Guru

I have a Harrier its the Mk2 and its almost 3 years old, I'm very happy with it I never set the thermostat below 22 deg, I did have the P8 fault show up after using night mode once, simple solution dont use night mode never an issue again.

My Harrier came with a mounting tray is reversable and suits both 360 and 400mm openings , if you have a 400mm opening you use it one way, turn it upside down for the 360 opening.

If time had permitted when my old Coleman died, I wouldn't have fitted an AC built for a caravan, I would have fitted a inverter split system a Mitsubishi Cassette one.