Another @*%! Air Conditioner Question

[asianflava]

What is the diameter of the pipe that you are using? I measured my vents and they are about 151/2"X2" for a total area of 31". You'd need a 6" pipe to get that kind of area.

My A/C blows out the top and sucks in from the galley. It has worked fine so far. The only problem I have is that the bottom of the unit collects some condensation. The drain tube barb isn't all the way at the bottom. When we leave the site, the water sloshes out onto the bed. That is just a minor inconvenience though.

[Podunkfla]

Well, what if I force the air through the small vent with a vent fan? That should have a similar effect to a largervent, wouldn't it?

The way a Little Guy is made, the bottom vent idea wouldn't be practical.

I don't want a huge vent on my galley hatch, if I can help it.

leaving the galley open a bit, or all the way, is okay in some circumstances, but not in others.

I'm hoping a small vent with a fan will work. What do you think?

CD

I'm not an HVAC guy by any means... But I have done quite a bit of AC work and attic ventilation installs over the years. My guess is that even a little 5000 btu AC would need to move quite a bit of air through the coils to work right. My guess is that most little units prolly blow around of 500 cfm through the condensor coils. Obviously, a smaller vent would have to have a higher velosity fan (or fans) to do the job.

A few 5" computer fans may be a cheap simple idea:
These move about 80 cfm each for about 5 bucks each...
http://www.svc.com/fan-12025-s-l.html
There are fans that move up to 120 cfm, but they are kinda noisy and cost more.

[Dooner]

I worked for an HVAC company from 1984-1995 and worked on some window ACs with my Dad before that.
Window units are not that effecient to start out with, so not getting the airflow that it needs will drop that rating considerably. The unit was designed with a certain size condensing coil to desepate the heat, so it would be better to stick with that size.
Now since the TD is a lot less space than what the unit is designed to handle, it might just work OK with less vent. But I don't think I would go down any more than maybe 20-30 % of the area. You don't want the compressor to overheat.
These are my opinions and should be taken as so. If you want to you can experiment with a small vent and work your way up till you find a good medium.

Asianflava, I still want to get down to see yours. If you are getting it to work with the estimated 144 sq in area cut down to 31 sq in, you are lucky. The heat buidup is causing the condensation. And if you can get another drain in it to stop water from settling at the bottom, that might help too.

Good luck with all the installs.

[asianflava]

Asianflava, I still want to get down to see yours. If you are getting it to work with the estimated 144 sq in area cut down to 31 sq in, you are lucky. The heat buidup is causing the condensation. And if you can get another drain in it to stop water from settling at the bottom, that might help too.

Yeah, the ducting is smaller than I would have liked, but I didn't want to put a bigger hole in the roof than I already did. I have yet to make a rain deflector for it. Instead of just having a hole on the side, the exhaust is actually ducted thru the hole. I figured that it would derate the unit, (as you mentioned) which isn't a bad thing since it is too big to begin with. I had it running for 4 days straight in upper 90's and 100's without a problem.

The best way to fix the condensation problem is to drill a hole in the bottom of the unit. The bottom is basically a pan to collect the condensate. Since the drain barb is on the side of the pan, it has to collect a little bit in order to get high enough to reach the drain. I installed the unit in a tray so that drilling a hole in the bottom wouldn't be a problem. I was going to do that this winter but never got around to it.

[caseydog]

I'm going to try a fan on my exhaust vent. My intake (side) vent is plenty big.

I hadn't thought about the water collecting below the drain spout. Mine is on the back side, so at the end of a campout, if I tilt the trailer backward a bit before I hook up to the car, I should get most of the water out.

CD

[DaveandDebbie]

Hey Caseydoy
I didn't get a chance to show you my AC at BB camp out I never hooked it up didn't need it. But if you are interested I'll try to get some photos uploaded of the finished product. I went with the sit it on the ground method I guess I should have hooked it up for show.Sorry . I just could not see giving up that much space for a perminent mount in my Little Guy
Just let me know Dave

[s4son]

Hey Caseydoy
I didn't get a chance to show you my AC at BB camp out I never hooked it up didn't need it. But if you are interested I'll try to get some photos uploaded of the finished product. I went with the sit it on the ground method I guess I should have hooked it up for show.Sorry . I just could not see giving up that much space for a perminent mount in my Little Guy
Just let me know Dave

Dave,
Please post your pictures. I don't have a Little Guy but I am fretting over how to best install the AC in my trailer.

Scott F.

[caseydog]

Man, I am still messing around with do-dads to try to get airflow through my galley for the AC. Just tried one tonight, and it got in the way of my door strut on one side. Dayum, nothing is ever easy.

CD

[Podunkfla]

Man, I am still messing around with do-dads to try to get airflow through my galley for the AC. Just tried one tonight, and it got in the way of my door strut on one side. Dayum, nothing is ever easy.

CD

Caseydog... Here's a simple way to do it. Just add a nice aluminum grill on the outside to finish it off.





http://tinyurl.com/2wt4rm

[Podunkfla]

Oops...

[caseydog]

Not sure what the ooops was for, Brick, but the idea looks good. I already have vent holes in the side, so I'd have to do it a little different, or fill some holes.

I'll figure something out, eventually. Hopefully I wont hack up my TD too much in the process.

CD

[Podunkfla]

Not sure what the ooops was for, Brick, but the idea looks good. I already have vent holes in the side, so I'd have to do it a little different, or fill some holes.

I'll figure something out, eventually. Hopefully I wont hack up my TD too much in the process.

CD

The Oops was something I meant to post to another thread...

[caseydog]

Okay, I finally got it.

Now, if I had an unlimited budget, I would have done this much differently, but my goal was to make a $99 Sear AC unit work in a Little Guy TD, and I did accomplish that.



It works fine, even if it does eat up some galley area. Plenty of ventilation for the AC unit, and the hot air goes right out the dryer vent -- even with the galley closed, it works just fine -- knock on wood.

CD

[Podunkfla]

Casey... Sure looks like that will work fine to me. Ya got air intakes on boths sides and a good exaust stack... Good deal!

[Miriam C.]

Wow--Good job! and so neat too.