AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Anything electric, AC or DC

Postby Harold Butler » Sun Jun 26, 2011 3:34 pm

Justin, Thank you, this is just what I need to do to adapt mine. many thanks and also I had a great time at CCG, sorry I did not get to look at your Teardrop closer. However I do know it is a Beautiful Teardrop that you and Mike put many hours of Hard Work into!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: [/b]
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Postby Conestoga » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:44 pm

Shadow Catcher, thanks for posting this. I just picked one of these up today and I was not looking forward to searching for the old posts where I saw similar setups.

Do the hoses stay in the holes? I have vents in my doors already (see my album if interested). But they have screens in them so they're not as deep, I couldn't fit a longer hose/reducer like you have.

I'm wondering how this would work if I rolled the a/c unit under the trailer and hooked one hose to the port in each door. Getting in and out might be problematic ;)
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Postby Shadow Catcher » Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:01 pm

If you look at the fourth picture down you will see that one end has a PVC pipe reducer and around that is closed cell neoprene insulation that I found at the place where I obtained the reducer. The inside RV vent has a slightly small ID than the deck plate and the neoprene means a water/air tight fit.
All I have to do to switch to the Diesel heater is change to the 3" sewer pipe adapter.

Image

There is a lot of flexibility in the hose and I can see how you could have the AC under the trailer (ours will be in bad weather). One of my concerns was restricting flow of air to the point where the unit ices up and the plan is that if this happens I will put a 4" bilge blower in the air return line.

The deck plates are not expensive, I am looking at my spare and it was $7, the inside vent can direct the air with a turntable louver.
Last edited by Shadow Catcher on Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Conestoga » Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:19 pm

Have you had it hooked up under windy conditions? We were recently in Texas and experienced what they called a "breeze", lol, something easterners would call a gale. I would be afraid my hoses would blow loose if I didn't attach them firmly.

Those deck plates are a great idea, and you did a very nice job on installation. I reaally wanted to use the deck plates with the clear lens in my door vents so they would double as little windows but I went with redundant flaps so they could be closed/opened from the inside. Also because it would take all of two days before I lost the covers that weren't attached. :duh
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Postby Shadow Catcher » Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:35 pm

Not yet.
The ends are a tight fit. It has been cool enough that I have not really tried it out yet. The trailer is in getting its frame reinforced, the first Mega-Mini failed according to the owner at the tongue, and with our maiden voyage I felt there was way too much flex.
Oh and those winds, around here we average a 15 MPH and then there are the tornado and straight line at 60 MPH.
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Postby Conestoga » Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:35 pm

Shadow Catcher wrote:Oh and those winds, around here we average a 15 MPH and then there are the tornado and straight line at 60 MPH.


Holy Toledo! :lol:
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Postby PhotoGuy » Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:54 pm

I really like this idea. I regret giving away an old bar fridge hat I was not using.
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Postby Shadow Catcher » Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:09 pm

Holy Toledo
Collingwood Blvd Toledo, 23 miles east of us. Has a large number of churches :D
I don't think a refrigerator would have enough BTU's, remember this is a heat pump
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Postby Deryk the Pirate » Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:24 pm

Very interesting... wonder how weather tight it would be? Granted I probably could keep it under the trailer when in use.
Build Thread lil vardo 1: http://tinyurl.com/baqe6py
Build Thread lil vardo 2: http://tinyurl.com/b3rwffm
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Postby exminnesotaboy » Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:33 pm

fantastic, thanks for documenting this
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Postby exminnesotaboy » Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:35 pm

fantastic, thanks for documenting this
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Postby Shadow Catcher » Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:27 am

My feeling on weather tightness is that window units hang outside, well most of it does and if you look at how they are built, the fan motor and compressor are weather tight. This leaves only the two switches one of which is now inside (thermostat). The rotary selector switch seems fairly tight and can if necessary be eliminated entirely, or pulled into the control box but that would require more wires. At this point that switch controls fan speed only (and you have to reach inside the hose opening) as the on off function is now controlled by the switch inside. It is set for high and is because of the lack of physical connection with the trailer and the hoses very quiet.
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Postby PhotoGuy » Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:02 pm

Deryk the Pirate wrote:Very interesting... wonder how weather tight it would be? Granted I probably could keep it under the trailer when in use.



I was thinking the same thing. then seen photos of a tear that had something kinda the same built into the tong box.
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Postby iplay10us2 » Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:00 am

Again, this is such a wonderful write up, and so easy to understand.

Where did you find turnable louvered vents for the inside? That's a good idea, too.
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Postby Shadow Catcher » Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:25 pm

The inside vents are very standard RV http://www.dyersonline.com/brd-4-beige- ... ister.html They are very slightly smaller than the deck plates.
One of the reasons I went with the Anderson Power Poles for connectors is that they fit through the slats in the register (and I had them on hand).

I am doing the test that flunked the Pet Cool for us a couple of year back. The trailer is in full sun both roof vent fans are running with the vent closed to help keep the air from stratifying. It is over 90 degrees and high humidity and the AC unit is keeping the temp at 70 degrees with no problem. Judging by the amount of condensate it is doing a good job on dehumidifying.
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