AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby Socal Tom » Sun May 03, 2015 4:46 pm

Shadow Catcher wrote:Tom what are you doing for condensate or are you just going to keep it as a slinger. I am not a fan of the fan getting rid of condensate (noisy and drilled a hole to let it drain).

I'm just going to leave it alone. It's pretty dry out here, so a little condensate can help it work more efficieciently. I was at the desert once and we actually added water to help it work better.
Tom
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby Sparksalot » Sat Jun 27, 2015 8:45 pm

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Holy cow, Rose is a teenager now! Done? Surely you jest. A teardrop is never "done".

The Compass Rose build thread: viewtopic.php?t=23213

Inspiration: http://tnttt.com/Design_Library/Trailer%20for%20Two.htm

It's got a cop motor, a 5.3 LS plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. ~ Elwood Blues
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby OverTheTopCargoTrailer » Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:43 am

Just for a fun project Shadow Catcher, cost being no object. $> $> Give me 500 watts in flex solar, a few charge controllers, 200 ah lithium battery, a mini split inverter with heat pump & a 1,000 watt pure sine inverter and I could have you running 100% solar AC average under 100 watts per hour in 110 deg F.

But for a low cost solution ....your idea is still a grandslam. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby OverTheTopCargoTrailer » Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:54 pm

I checked my ac output today. 9,000 btu mini split.
740 hours run time over the last few 3-4 months.
total power use was 120 kwh. That comes out to 161 watts per hour when ever the AC is switched on.
pretty good keeping a 7 x 18' at 73 deg F.

Im planing to relocate the inverter & charge controller
I'm just guestimating I could drop to 130 watts per hour of run time.
right now those 2 units put out tons of Heat, which the AC must cool. :x :x

So far my system has produced about 900+ kwh in solar. :lol: :lol:
Based on the reading of the outback 80 cc

To run a gas generator costs min of $1 per kwh

cheers ottct
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby lrrowe » Fri Jul 24, 2015 10:01 pm

Shadow Catcher wrote:Ours are at the foot of the bed and the goes inta the trailer is a louvered RV inlet/outlet, (another reason to stick with 4"). I have the two ceiling fans running on medium to keep the coolth from just sitting on the bottom, this in conjunction with the louvers pointed up seem to do a very good job in distribution.
796567965580999



Shadow Catcher, when you build the sheetmetal housing, did you design it to work with the normally plastic AC front panel in place or removed?

I made my model unit from corrugated board to test things out and left the cover on for simplicity purposes.
But I am wondering if the air flow efficiency would not be improved by not having to have it flow through the plastic lourves.
134451

I finally found today, some 4" shop vacuum hoses and fittings today that should work for me. I will slept on that thought tonight and order them tomorrow if I feel the same about them.

You mention that you spent about $60 several years ago to have your sheet metal housing built. I will go that route also, but for now I had better build it out of plywood because my AC unit is making "bad bearing" noises. So it is very likely I will be replacing it soon. So much for buying used and I had better keep an eye out for sales. A new unit will most certainly have different dimensions, thus the reason for building a temporary box.
Bob

First Post on Purchase of Trailer: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=60722
Hot water infloor and radiator heating project:[url]http://www.tnttt.com/posting.php?mode=reply&f=54&t=62327[/

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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby Shadow Catcher » Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:19 am

Update
We took the AC with us to CRA this year remembering how hot and humid it was two years ago, and were glad we had it. HOWEVER!
The hoses to the side of the tear kept falling out. I had used some foam tape that over the years has collapsed enough to no longer make a tight enough fit. I had some strips of foam and I was able to keep them attached, more or less, most of the time. AND the PWM controlling the bilge blower fan speed failed. I carry a small digital PWM to reduce current going to the weather radio and managed to get the bilge blower slowed down using that. We slept cool.
When we got home I picked up a couple of varieties of foam insulating/sealing tape from Lowe's as were heading out Tuesday with our daughter son in-law and twin grand daughters (their first camping trip) to East Harbor State Park. HOT and Humid and I found the foam tape did not work well and I am getting failing bearing sounds occasionally from the bilge blower.
I have ordered a new PWM and two deck plates. I intend to drill out the deck plate covers and fasten the PVC hose ends permanently.
Since I wrote this I obtained the deck plates bought the hole saw and the PVC ends are now attached. I installed a new bilge fan and fixed up a housing for the PMW and its spare.
Last edited by Shadow Catcher on Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby Socal Tom » Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:23 am

On mine, I was able to add a couple of strips of duct tap to the ends of the hoses, and I can "thread" them into the deck plates. They will pull out if someone yanks on them, but they are otherwise ok. I'd be curious to see if changing the location if the ducting would improve the icing issue.
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby steve cowan » Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:00 pm

One.

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139099
Last edited by steve cowan on Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby Shadow Catcher » Wed Nov 11, 2015 1:30 pm

Many paths to the same end, good job.
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby m.colley » Wed Mar 09, 2016 8:51 pm

OverTheTopCargoTrailer wrote:Im planing to relocate the inverter & charge controller
I'm just guestimating I could drop to 130 watts per hour of run time.
right now those 2 units put out tons of Heat, which the AC must cool. :x :x
cheers ottct


Hey OTTCT,
I've got a experiment you might want to try to remove that heat that your inverter and charge controller put off. Go to your local auto parts salvage yard and find a used heater core out of pretty much anything. Come up with a suitable reservoir that you can use as a sump for a glycol /antifreeze. Come up with a couple of decent CPU case fans and a small 12V recirculating pump. Being a experimenting kind of guy that you appear to be I think you can get a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this.

I built something similar a few years back using a old AC (HVAC) evap coil for a small distillery not far away and it worked great. They were trying pull off excess heat from their (worm)/ condensor coil and it worked great and cost them next to nothing to build and run..


Martin
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby lrrowe » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:09 pm

This concept of using a heat source to heat pumped water through a cooling/heater assy is being used now by at least three other posters including myself.
Bob

First Post on Purchase of Trailer: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=60722
Hot water infloor and radiator heating project:[url]http://www.tnttt.com/posting.php?mode=reply&f=54&t=62327[/

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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby m.colley » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:28 pm

Thanks Shadow Catcher for the ideas you've provide with your AC experiment/hack. I might just have to borrow a few of them. Being a former AC tech I've got a few suggestions for anyone trying this for themselves.
(1) on the plenum box attached to the front of the ac, make a funnel shaped insert on interior of the supply side/section of the box. This will help direct the air and cut down on the resistance/friction the air movement has to overcome to flow freely.
(2) Use the smoothest type of pipe possible for the biggest portion of the duct run, using only enough flexible duct to make your connections from the rigid pipe to the connections attached to the trailer itself. This too will help with friction/resistance and allow the air to flow more freely.
(3) Use the largest size duct you can reasonably use to carry the correct CFM's of air your unit produces, even if you have to get creative when it comes to running the duct and how to hide it.
(4) remember air is like water and electricity, it follows path of least resistance.
(5) remember since these units were never intended to have duct work attached to them the less friction/resistance you have the better off you'll be,friction/resistance will cause motors and bearings to wear out prematurely shortening their lifespan.

I hope this helps,
Martin
Last edited by m.colley on Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby m.colley » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:38 pm

lrrowe wrote:This concept of using a heat source to heat pumped water through a cooling/heater assy is being used now by at least three other posters including myself.


Thats good to hear. I'm all for anyone that can learn to harness any kind of energy, especially if it would have been wasted otherwise. Heat absorption & rejection with a few salvaged parts and a little bit of knowledge makes for a fun experiment.


Martin
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby Shadow Catcher » Sun Mar 13, 2016 4:08 pm

Thanks Martin good suggestions. As I indicated I had to use a bilge blower to help the process and one of my constraints was using the same ducts for heat with the Espar heater and cold. If the water heater heater idea works I may be able to sell the Espar heater.
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Re: AC Hacking a Figidaire 5000 BTU

Postby m.colley » Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:33 pm

Shadow Catcher wrote:Thanks Martin good suggestions. As I indicated I had to use a bilge blower to help the process and one of my constraints was using the same ducts for heat with the Espar heater and cold. If the water heater heater idea works I may be able to sell the Espar heater.


Shadow, I understand completely the constraints you were working with and your bilge blower idea made all the difference. The AC business has had to use something similar over the years I've been around, especially on long supply and return air runs, they use small 120v duct booster fans triggered by a relay on a call for air from the air handler/furnace.
Keep up the good work.


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