Replacement AC for Old Dometic Duo-Therm

Updated 07/01/2025 | Published 10/26/2024

Products Featured in This Question

Furrion Chill HE Replacement RV Air Conditioner Unit for Furrion Setup - 13,500 Btu - White

(72)

$809.92

Furrion Chill HE Replacement RV Air Conditioner for Coleman Setup - 13,500 Btu - White

(110)

$1057.68

Question:

Looking at the Advent 13,500 and 15,000 btu low profile ac units. I currently have a pair of Dometic units that are 18 yrs old and not keeping up with summer / fall heat. They are controlled by a single duo-therm thermostat with separate zone settings. Secondly, the Dometic units also have a heat pump setting, but we’ve never used the heat pump, so I’m not sure I need to incorporate that into the consideration for replacement. Correct me if I’m wrong. Will the Advent units still plug and play with the duo-therm? Sounds like the install will be fairly simple and straightforward. Thanks, Jerry Paine

asked by: Jerry

Expert Reply:

Hi Jerry; until recently I would have said yes, the ASA86YR or ASA99YR will plug right into your Dometic setup making for a simple installation. We have started to run into compatibility issues with certain Dometic models and Advent Air doesn't seem to know what is compatible anymore. They have also stated their AC unit may burn up your air distribution box which would leave you replacing the entire system.

It is for that reason that I recommend replacing your Dometic AC with Furrion. I have a Furrion on my trailer and it has proven to be reliable with great performance. The Furrion AC will also give you the simple plug and play installation you're looking for. You'll want to check to see if your current setup uses a 6-pin or 9-pin connector (both are possible) and choose one of the following:

6-pin:

-Furrion Chill HE Replacement RV Air Conditioner - 13,500btu # FR26PR

-Furrion Chill HE Replacement RV Air Conditioner - 15,000btu # FR58PR

9-pin:

-Furrion Chill HE Replacement RV Air Conditioner - 13,500btu # FR82PV

-Furrion Chill HE Replacement RV Air Conditioner - 15,000btu # FR42PV

expert reply by: Robin H

Jerry

10/27/2024

Robin, First off, thank you for the reply, I appreciate it. I have some additional questions. Regarding the Advent units, what percentage of the units cause problems? 1-2% or is it 5 or even 10%. When you say they state that their unit may burn up the air distribution box, is that the same as the control box where the 6 pin connector plugs in? I googled Advent reviews and other than a couple of comments about noise, I didn’t find anything negative regarding the units or issues about them causing damage, other then them being a cheap Chinese knock off of the Dometic brand. Even your own people give the units good reviews as late as this past august. So I’m a little confused. If you have something that shows the issues you pointed out, I’d like to see it so I can continue my research. If there isn’t a strong possibility that they will create an issue, then it’s tough to spend an additional $600 for comparable Furrion units. The information on the Furrion units doesn’t say that they are a direct replacement for Dometic. As I mentioned I have the 6 pin connector on both units and both are non-ducted / ducted. 15k btu front and 13,500 btu back. Both are controlled by a single thermostat with separate zones. Is that compatible with Furrion? It looks like the black units are $60 and $100 cheaper than white. How come? For a $10 can of spray paint I can make the covers white, so that doesn’t make sense. Sorry for the questions and my sarcasm but I want to make sure there is a solid case for spending so much more if the Advent will work. Thanks, Jerry

Robin H.

10/27/2024

@Jerry I don't have a percentage or a lot of information on this. We started getting pushback from Advent Air for saying they were compatible with Dometic units and they were getting calls with compatibility issues. They originally said compatible with Dometic setups and that is how we recommended them. They have changed which Dometic units can be replaced multiple times in the last few months. It seems like there are several people with different answers over there so it is really hard to say what's going on. Realistically, I would say it is a small chance it won't work but I don't like to recommend products that are going to cause someone problems or fail. I guess worst case scenario you will end up having to buy the ADB # ACRG15 or # ACDB for a complete setup which would still have a lower cost. You could also choose to replace it all from the start and avoid any potential issues. I also understand the price difference of the Furrion, but we know it will work with Dometic for sure. It is simply a matter of matching up the right connector. You can at least see Dometic listed under the ones for the 9-pin connector, probably because we know one way or another the one with the 9-pin Coleman adapter will work. Either you need the included 9-pin adapter or you don't. Since you know you have the 6-pin connector you won't need the 9-pin adapter so you can choose accordingly. I don't have the information on the price difference since that isn't my department and I have no control over it. I'm not sure how that works with our pricing models or if we have a different cost coming from the manufacturer or whatever else may factor into that.

Jerry

10/27/2024

@RobinH thanks for the honesty. I appreciate it. Like you said, probably a small chance the Advent units would fail, but why chance it if the Furrion will just sit in the spot and plug in to the control box. 4 bolts, install the freeze sensor and hook up the thermostat sounds pretty easy. Again just to clarify, the dual zone thermostat will still work? And the existing interior cover with the ducted & non-ducted grill will still control airflow? Correct? I’ll just save a few extra shekels and buy the blacks ones when we’re back in Arizona.

Robin H.

10/28/2024

@Jerry the rest of your existing system will continue to function in the same way. All you're doing is plugging in a new AC unit so when your system sends out a signal to turn on the AC the Furrion will turn on instead of the old Dometic because that is what you have replaced it with.