Build thread for "Lost in the Woods" Cargo Conversion

[hankaye]

kaloogle, Howdy;

You could look to some of the RV Parts houses. I've had good luck using PPL.
https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv- ... onditioner
You can always call them up and talk with them about questions you might have.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER ... only been a customer not shilling for anyone!

hank

[McDave]

I have a Coleman Mach with the heat strip and I love it. I was really blessed and had a member of this forum give it to me for the cost of shipping only. You will need to build a metal support frame that is welded to the roof supports in the place of the current roof vent. Same size 14 x 14" but you want to spread the load to the two roof supports. It is nice to have that thing up where it belongs and it is most efficient at treating the air. The heater is good down to about 25f depending on insulation etc. but if you are using the trailer a lot in winter I would plug the AC intake and use a propane or electric heater. Otherwise it will be hard to keep up with the amount of heat loss from the AC. It is a better cooler than heater but for cold mountain mornings and nights it works fine. It sure is nice to have both just in case.
You may want to spend some time on CL or Ebay etc. and find a used one, and do the install yourself. Should be able to save 500.00 or more.
Here's some stuff.
Support frame



Outside view


Install manual
http://www.1willwander.com/2013/07/cole ... ation.html

McDave

[kaloogle]

This weekend we installed a Maxx Air fan the one we can leave open in the rain and has a thermostat. It took a lot of time to get the roof vent putty off that the factory put on there. Other than taking longer than expected, the install was pretty strait forward. I was using a plastic putty knife for the most part and a metal one to pry up the actual vent. The butal tape really had it stuck on.

Is there an easier way to get that old stuff off of the roof?

We ordered the trailer wired and had the factory do the supports for a roof mount ac. We have decided on a Coleman Mach 3 ac but have not odered it yet. I wanted to see how the vent fan install went before deciding if I would install the ac myself. I’ve decided to bribe a friend with a cookout to help get the ac on the roof.

Hankaye, from what I’m seeing pplmotorhomes.com has some good prices. I think we are going to order from them. Thanks for the link.

I have a question about rv ac. Most of the ceiling units for non-ducted don’t have thermostats that we can set a temp on. They have a knob that goes from hot to cold. I’ve read that they run the fan all of the time to keep the air circulating. Is this really needed? I would rather have a wall thermostat that will turn the fan off when it isn’t running the compressor. Pplmotorhimes.com has the parts listed for a non-ducted install with thermostat. This will be my first rv ac. So, what did you do for controls on your roof mount ac?

Thanks for everyone’s help!

I’ll get some pictures posted in a couple days.

[kaloogle]

We ordered the air conditioner this afternoon, should be here in a week or so. Thanks for everyone's help.

Here are some pictures of what we've been doing lately.

The folding bunkbeds didn't work out so well, so we built a triple bunk bed.







Here are a couple pictures of the Maxx Air vent/fan




We installed a flat panel tv on a wall mount in the front V and ran some 110volt outlets. We are starting to get there.