Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am not very familiar with air conditioners, but I had a couple of ideas that I thought I would throw out there for people to chew on.

My first thought is to use a combination of a small window AC unit with a drop down window like those used in horse trailers. If I had a folding shelf under the window on the inside, I could put the Ac unit on there when I wanted and just slide it's back out the window. I would have a plywood or plexiglass frame on the back of the AC to close off any extra window area.

Here is a really small AC
http://www.amazon.com/Frigidaire-FRA052 ... d_sim_hg_2

And here is an example of a drop down window. http://www.statetrailer.com/products/Do ... /11079502/ They do make them in a wider width also.

My other really wild idea was to make a trap door in the floor. When cooling was needed pull up the trap door and drop in the back of a window AC unit. Will they run correctly in that position? I imagine I would need to allow for the drainage to get out.

Just brainstorming thoughts.....

Either would entail moving the unit around to be mounted when needed.

Window ac units have to sit flat to work so the hole in the floor won't work. The drop down window sounds like an interesting idea.

Thanks. As I said I don't know much about AC units!

I like the versatility of using the drop down window. I could put an AC on a slider in front of the window, but I think I would rather deal with the hassle of moving it around. I will use an ac unit very few times unless I tote a generator also. I will be boondocking almost exclusively. So... I would like a semi-unencumbered window for the majority of the time, and set the AC in place when I can use it.

Anyone else mount an AC out a side window? Any problems?

Another alternative is covered in my experience adding AC to our tear viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44561&hilit=hacking

Where did you find the hookups on the side of the camper to hook the hoses to? I have a climate Air one and I cannot find those hookups for the side to make it a clean look of twist on and off.

The write up has all the details, but basically they are 4" marine deck plates and conventional PVC fittings that press fit the opening.

Bkcreation34 wrote:Where did you find the hookups on the side of the camper to hook the hoses to? I have a climate Air one and I cannot find those hookups for the side to make it a clean look of twist on and off.

Shadow Catcher turned me onto the 5 inch deck plates that I mounted in the side of my trailer. They are just the perfect size for 4 inch PVC elbows to twist into.
This is what the plate looks like (I was checking the a/c modification).

Others have used the bayonet connectors and hoses usually reserved for sewer hook-ups.

If you look around on the site, you will find lots of other ideas. Just search on A/C or air conditioner.

Here is my solution. The hole is level with the floor, so I attached a piece of marine plywood like a 'diving board' bolted through the floor inside. It's very strong and low profile. In addition, the little window unit only draws 500 watts, and can run on the smallest generators. It's pretty much identical to the unit suggested by the OP. I needed the roof space for solar panels.

Good ideas all. I like the deck plates. I didn't realize what a wealth of goodies the marine stores have.

Subterran, how do you like having the AC down low? I like that it is in the same slip stream with the wheel well.

How about the rest of you that use the tubes or mount the AC down low? Would you change it if you were doing it again? I thought about a low mounting, but wasn't sure if it would cool the upper air effectively. Good to know that others have done it with success.

My trailer is so small (6 x 10) that so long as the airflow is not obstructed (such as when the folding bed is down) it does fine. Would I like to have it higher? Sure, but the elegance of the overall solution, strength and durabilty combined with a small fan makes the compromise worth it.

I can say that I was very tempted to go with a 'petcool' 2500 btu so that I could maybe run on solar, but I'm glad I didn't. It does need all of the 5000 btu's that the little window unit puts out to keep up in these Georgia summers.

If you look at my picture, I have one plate at the top and one down low. While I only show the one line in place, I will be using two, the cold air entering at the top, and the return being pulled from near the floor. Hopefully, that will set up some circulation in the trailer. I took ideas from several people on tnttt and have combined them, returning them to the forum. This topic seems to crop up all of the time.

Hi all,

I'm a longtime lurker. Rather than start another air conditioner thread, I'll revive an old thread with a similar theme.

I've started a new CT to camper conversion project. One day I'll get around to posting a build thread, but right now I'm not motivated to do that so I apologize. I'm building up a 7x16 Charmac Stealth cargo trailer that I purchased brand new in March. The time has come to install an A/C unit.

I want your input on my install. Here's the plan: I want to mount a household window A/C unit on the side of my trailer. BUT, I don't want the window unit to protrude from the side of the trailer. So I'm planning to keep the unit inside the trailer, except for the hot air vent. The hot air from the condenser coils will be vented to the outside through a hole in the exterior wall. In other words, the vent in the rear of the A/C for the condenser with be flush with the exterior wall of the trailer. The side vents of the A/C (the vents for the mechanical parts) will be kept within the trailer and vent upwards through a small compartment, and through a vent on the roof of the trailer. This is similar to the way I've seen some R/V refrigerators vented. Possibly I'll put a small 12V fan in the compartment to assist with venting. However, when I've tested my window unit, the mechanical parts don't seem to produce a lot of heat.

I haven't seen anyone do it this way, so I want to get some input in advance. Maybe it wont work. What problems to do you foresee with this method?

Thanks for the input.

Mike
Spokane Washington

I started out with the portable AC and found out that type does not work in a trailer, I had no choice but to but in a false wall but I needed it to open so I put wheels on it and it works great, it also gives me a screen door and screened in wall.
Knowing what I know now I would have had the factory make the cut out in the front V and design the trailer around it.
The only down side to what I have is I have to have the rear door down for the AC to work so if it rains I have to put up a rear canopy,

This is what works for me. I didn't want to cut into roof or pay that much for a roof mount.

This is the AC on drawer glide on folding shelf.


This shows the AC inserted through an access door opening. Just retract AC and close door and you are ready to go.

Hope this is another idea although I saw others here that have a version of it.

jwhite wrote:I started out with the portable AC and found out that type does not work in a trailer, I had no choice but to but in a false wall but I needed it to open so I put wheels on it and it works great, it also gives me a screen door and screened in wall.
Knowing what I know now I would have had the factory make the cut out in the front V and design the trailer around it.
The only down side to what I have is I have to have the rear door down for the AC to work so if it rains I have to put up a rear canopy,

Thanks for the description and pictures jwhite. That helps me out. I guess instead of a false wall, I will have a duct to the exterior. We'll see if I get enough cooling for the mechanical components.