High performance rear air conditioning package - is it necessary

Plan to order my sprinter.
My dealer is telling me to order this package. I live in southern california.
Dealer told me that without this package the air in the rear of the sprinter would be dependent on the air circulation from the front of the car air vents.

I don't think this is true.

Please help.

Pretty sure the passenger vans all come with the roof mount AC. I think that is the high performance AC.

CAsprinter4x4! said:

Plan to order my sprinter.
My dealer is telling me to order this package. I live in southern california.
Dealer told me that without this package the air in the rear of the sprinter would be dependent on the air circulation from the front of the car air vents.

I don't think this is true.

Please help.

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I depends on where you are going. I travel mostly to the mountains and desert - so it is cool at night, so my roof fan works great.

I recently took a trip to MO - and it was impossible to sleep at night - too hot. I wish I had the AC for that trip.

CAsprinter4x4! said:

Plan to order my sprinter.
My dealer is telling me to order this package. I live in southern california.
Dealer told me that without this package the air in the rear of the sprinter would be dependent on the air circulation from the front of the car air vents.

I don't think this is true.

Please help.

Click to expand...

Rear air is not necessary if just 2 or 3 people in the van, you put 8-10 people in the van and yes you need the second unit. Think about each person in the van is producing heat at the rate equal to a 100w light bulb.

Rear air requires engine operation as the compressor is engine driven... so the rear air is no help at night while camping.

My new 144 Sprinter Passenger came with rear air conditioning but it's not the high-performance rear air conditioning.

The difference is that the standard rear air conditioning uses a single compressor but has a second condenser on the roof. Personally, I'd go with the high-performance version with two compressors - when it's hot out, one can never have enough air conditioning.

My van also came with the programmable PSM which "should" allow me to set it for a higher idling speed, which "should" allow me to run the air condition while idling. I wouldn't plan on using it often, but if stuck in the desert with nighttime temperatures close to 100º it would be nice to have. (A more reasonable alternative would be a small generator and a free-standing air conditioner stuck in a window.)

cacaw said:

My new 144 Sprinter Passenger came with rear air conditioning but it's not the high-performance rear air conditioning.

The difference is that the standard rear air conditioning uses a single compressor but has a second condenser on the roof. Personally, I'd go with the high-performance version with two compressors - when it's hot out, one can never have enough air conditioning.

My van also came with the programmable PSM which "should" allow me to set it for a higher idling speed, which "should" allow me to run the air condition while idling. I wouldn't plan on using it often, but if stuck in the desert with nighttime temperatures close to 100º it would be nice to have. (A more reasonable alternative would be a small generator and a free-standing air conditioner stuck in a window.)

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thank you

I live in so cal a few miles from the beach. All 3 dealers have told me the high performance is unnecessary. I hoping others chime in with real world experience to further answer th OPs question.

Without starting a new thread, hopefully i can get a couple answers. Someone above mentioned AC while idling. Is this not standard? Secondly, does the standard AC have the ability to adjust the rear independent of the front? The dealers guide states that the upgraded can making me think the standard can't.

Thanks

Passenger van and the rear is operated in sync or independently. I'm in Alabama and I can say it is absolutely needed. Sever folks and dealers said the front was so strong and they were dead wrong. I prob would have been happy with an third party auxiliary rear if I didnt go with passenger. That would have allowed for it to run on aux power or generator bough doubt it would be as good as what I have. Love how it is more slimline on the roof now and pushed further back.

nomad12 said:

Passenger van and the rear is operated in sync or independently. I'm in Alabama and I can say it is absolutely needed. Sever folks and dealers said the front was so strong and they were dead wrong. I prob would have been happy with an third party auxiliary rear if I didnt go with passenger. That would have allowed for it to run on aux power or generator bough doubt it would be as good as what I have. Love how it is more slimline on the roof now and pushed further back.

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Just to confirm, the standard AC can be operated independently in the rear?

Thanks

430 hp 70 said:

Just to confirm, the standard AC can be operated independently in the rear? Thanks

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Below the MBUX control panel, there's a control for the air conditioning. I wasn't able to get the air conditioner with thermostat controls so I have to manually control the cooling temperature and the fan speed. The controls default to controlling the front but a button toggles between adjusting the front air conditioning and (temporarily) adjusting the rear.

When first coming into a hot van, the rear air conditioning is a bit underwhelming but it catches up in time and seems to be adequate. But, we still haven't had our van more than three miles from the coast on a warm day. This van really needs a big sunroof or vent to quickly air out the cabin.

The biggest problem with idling is that the DPF (diesel particulate filter) doesn't get hot enough to burn off the combustion residues. So, they say that after some prescribed amount of idling or slow speed driving, it's important to get on the highway for twenty minutes and burn everything off.

Increasing the idling speed is supposed to mitigate (but not solve) this problem.

430 hp 70 said:

Just to confirm, the standard AC can be operated independently in the rear?

Thanks

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Independent but no controls in rear.

Does anyone know if the Passenger van can be ordered without any rear AC at all? I'm considering one as the basis for a build and would prefer to install an aftermarket AC, like this one from ARV since it's so quiet: https://www.upfittersresource.com/c...et-air-conditioner-for-mercedes-benz-sprinter It's a Belaire from Autralia, I believe.

Lu10ntDn said:

Does anyone know if the Passenger van can be ordered without any rear AC at all? I'm considering one as the basis for a build and would prefer to install an aftermarket AC, like this one from ARV since it's so quiet: https://www.upfittersresource.com/c...et-air-conditioner-for-mercedes-benz-sprinter It's a Belaire from Autralia, I believe.

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I haven't seen an option to delete it in the ordering guide, but your dealer might be able to work something out.

Lu10ntDn said:

... I'm considering one as the basis for a build and would prefer to install an aftermarket AC...

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Okay, so we have the non-high-performance air conditioning in our new passenger van. Looking at some of the split units, I'm wondering if there might be some way to tap into the coolant lines and connect them to a 12/24 volt compressor.

I've heard of people discarding their factory rear AC and replacing it with a new RV air conditioner, but that seems wasteful, since there's a perfectly good condenser, fan, and ducting system already in place and nicely trimmed out.

Just thinking out loud here, would be possible to have two compressors on the same AC system? Cooling would be provided by the factory-installed compressor when the engine is running but then a 12/24 volt compressor could take over when the engine is turned off.

Like this one https://www.cruisencomfortusa.com/hd-series

What would happen if this compressor was installed inline on the existing AC plumbing?

Front air must be activated to run rear OEM roof air. Not vice versa.

I have seen OEM roof air units on cargo unit (w/o windows). It's shown in MY19 DOG equipment book H08 $2,721 as available for cargo and crew models. Notes indicate van must must have D93+ED4+V36; only available for CHS production.


My 2015 170ext with mobility package had windows all-around. Windows all-around makes rear air almost a necessity in extreme summer heat in 170 and 170ext. Not so much in 144 low roof vans.

I have a 144 low roof cargo and I'm in SoCal. If its 70 degrees or less out the rear AC isn't needed. If the temp goes over 80 the rear AC unit is needed as the back half of the van never gets to a cool temperature. I recently did a trip up the inland parts of CA and I was in areas with an exterior temp over 90. The front AC was on full blast. the front of the van never really got cool (perhaps 75?) the back of the van was in the mid to high 80s. I had no passengers so it was OK for me. If I had passengers, they would have been complaining. I found myself not wanting to turn the van off at the gas station as just a few minutes without the front AC unit going full blast made it hard to recover. So, If you are in Canada, no need for rear AC. South of Canada, yes.

kinjachris said:

If its 70 degrees or less out the rear AC isn't needed. If the temp goes over 80 the rear AC unit is needed as the back half of the van never gets to a cool temperature. ...

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We took our 144 passenger van up to Santa Barbara yesterday and it showed how the sun's radiant energy can be more important than air temperature, particularly with all the dark windows on the passenger van.

The van had been sitting in the sun (air temperature 75-80º) until 11:30 and it was uncomfortably hot inside (I'd guess 90º+). Even after opening all the doors for a while, it took over half an hour of running the air conditioner to lower the temperature of the interior components.

The van stayed cool all day, but I left it running at our first stop. Even in 80º coastal weather, it seemed it would have been possible for the sun to heat the van up to the point where the air conditioner wouldn't have been able to keep up with the thermal demand. (This will probably change significantly when I install window coverings and get the roof insulated.)

When stopped, the best defense would be reflective screens (or an awning) keeping the sun from hitting the windows and side of the van. When driving, the windows are going to get hot from the sun so insulated window coverings are probably the best option. (Reflective window coverings can actually make the window hotter as they reflect radiant energy back through the windows.)

Putting solar panels on the roof (with an air gap) will probably decrease radiant heating of the roof. And, it would be most helpful to keep the van from getting hot in the first place, at least no warmer than the outside air temperature. I'm still trying to figure out what to do but the best ventilation system (when parked) would be one that brings cool air in from below the van and expels it through the highest point in the van.

All in all, I'm glad we have the rear air conditioning. In our 144, the high performance (second compressor) upgrade might have been overkill but I'd be happy to have it in a 170. I just wish there were some way to add a 12V compressor to the existing condenser system, so that we could have battery-powered air conditioning while camping.

I have a 2019 144 with High Performance AC. I wanted to put a sky box on top was was discouraged with the lack of room for it. Then I was at the dealer and saw a passenger with a standard rear AC. It was about a foot shorter in length. I'm in WA and would have been happy with the Standard for the extra roof top space.

Vader170 said:

I have a 2019 144 with High Performance AC. I wanted to put a sky box on top was was discouraged with the lack of room for it. Then I was at the dealer and saw a passenger with a standard rear AC. It was about a foot shorter in length. I'm in WA and would have been happy with the Standard for the extra roof top space.

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Exactly the same for me. The high performance AC unit is friggin huge! i want to put a rack on top, but there will be so little actual rack space. aluminess makes riser cross bars for their racks so it SHOULD clear the AC unit and allow you to put a box up there, but it will be WAY up there and that's a pricey upgrade.

Just going through this post I wanted to let everybody know I have a high performance air conditioner with the FlatlineVanco roof rack and seems to work well for my application. I built a riser to be able to house three 100 W solar panels that can be mounted directly above the rear air-conditioning unit since it does not need to omit any air from the unit itself so unless I need to service the unit from the outside the panels can be mounted directly above it. Panels will be easily removed.

One thing of note that I’m not certain anyone is even aware of with the high-performance air conditioner there is a flapper valve that remains open when the unit is not on. What this means is that regardless of what you were doing inside the van air from the outside will have the ability to come into your van. This is troublesome if you got the van to temperature where you’re comfortable and would like to sleep. The outside air now has an easy way to get into your van regardless of how much insulation you’ve put in. I’m trying to figure out a way to bypass the flapper valve so that when I run my 12 V DC air conditioner from Nomadic Cooling that the valve will know to close so that I have a sealed interior compartment for the closed ac system.