7x16 Conversion from Georgia

[flboy]

Thanks Martin. That is what I have also and will rip down to 2". I can't seem to find anything thinner than that anyhow.

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[m.colley]

Spent a little time making a few mods to my AC. I had decided I didn't like the very apparent "white" color sticking out the hole so I painted the exterior cabinet. I used a charcoal grey color that was as close as I could get to my CTC color and available in a rattle can.

While I had the sheet metal casing/shell off the unit I took some 2" aluminum angle I had and cut it and attached it to the top and sides of the cabinet. I added some thin AC insulation tape along the inside surface. The angle will act as a stop and a seal as well, keeping outside air from finding its way in the trailer.
While I had the AC casing off I added some 3/8 hardware cloth/screen to protect the cool fins from getting bent yet still allowing plenty of airflow.


Friday while I was at work I called one of the sheet-metal shops I sell to and ask them if they happened to have a 24"x 24" piece of aluminum plate laying around. Low and behold when my delivery driver came back to the store he handed me this and told me "Merry Christmas, Jamie said to give ya this, ya owe him $5 bucks".

Its a piece of 16 gauge,.063 diamond tread plate. Now I can build the door/flap to cover the hole for my AC unit. Life is good


Martin

[flboy]

Great idea to paint the AC to blend in. I really like the way you built the mount and etc. for your AC.

[m.colley]

Great idea to paint the AC to blend in. I really like the way you built the mount and etc. for your AC.

Thanks Don. I did realize one short coming to my mount, but it'll be a easy fix. The perforated angle I used is tall enough that it interferes with the bar lock for the ramp door. I need to notch the angle where the bar lock crosses the angle. It won't take but a couple of minutes to fix. I hope to have the flap/door done in a day or so. Then I'm planning on doing a plumbing/water leak check, then cleaning/moving everything (tools etc) out and cleaning up the interior. The wife decided she wants the little mini fridge that we found at home depot so I still have a small cabinet to build to house it but I can do that without all the tools being inside the trailer.

We've (she)decided we need to camp a couple of times before I build the bed.


Martin

[flboy]

For some reason, I was thinking you already had a Fridge installed? Will that be for when you are plugged in somewhere, or are you going to get an inverter to run off the battery? If you do that, then you can hook your truck up to keep it charged while driving... and then top off the battery at the end of the day with the generator until you get your solar panels installed later. Those mini fridges do not draw much current. My 4.3 CU Ft. draws <60 Watts when running and it does not run continuous.

[m.colley]

For some reason, I was thinking you already had a Fridge installed? Will that be for when you are plugged in somewhere, or are you going to get an inverter to run off the battery? If you do that, then you can hook your truck up to keep it charged while driving... and then top off the battery at the end of the day with the generator until you get your solar panels installed later. Those mini fridges do not draw much current. My 4.3 CU Ft. draws <60 Watts when running and it does not run continuous.

I had thought about the fridge and had discussed it when trying to decide where to put my AC, but never fully committed to it. Now the better half wants one. For now it'll be mainly be when we're plugged in somewhere or running off the generator but that could change at any minute once the wife finds out I can buy an inverter and keep stuff (mainly food) cool on the trip out (I haven't shared that with her yet). I need to double check but if I remember right the fridge I was looking at pulls around the same running amp draw as the window AC does, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.5A or about 66 watts.
Thinking about it as I type this I'll probably go ahead and just do it and not even tell her, .
Solar is definitely in the future.


Martin

[flboy]

I need to double check but if I remember right the fridge I was looking at pulls around the same running amp draw as the window AC does, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.5A or about 66 watts.
Thinking about it as I type this I'll probably go ahead and just do it and not even tell her, .
Solar is definitely in the future.

Martin

5.5 amps at 12VDC would be 66Watts or ~ 0.6A @ 110VAC. That is about right for the Minifridge... Your AC is probably running 5.5A @110VAC or 605 watts.. Yours is 8000 BTU so this is about right.. The AC will run about 10X of that Minifridge in power. That is roughly what my system does after monitoring it.

[m.colley]

I need to double check but if I remember right the fridge I was looking at pulls around the same running amp draw as the window AC does, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.5A or about 66 watts.
Thinking about it as I type this I'll probably go ahead and just do it and not even tell her, .
Solar is definitely in the future.

Martin

5.5 amps at 12VDC would be 66Watts or ~ 0.6A @ 110VAC. That is about right for the Minifridge... Your AC is probably running 5.5A @110VAC or 605 watts.. Yours is 8000 BTU so this is about right.. The AC will run about 10X of that Minifridge in power. That is roughly what my system does after monitoring it.

Hey Don,
I checked the spec's on the mini fridge the wife wants. It pulls 100 Watts at 115/120V AC running. The one thing I just read in the owners manual is that it "isn't designed to run on an inverter", for whatever reason, so I'll have to make a decision on that one. Either way I'm seriously thinking about the inverter regardless. What brand of inverter are you using?


Martin

[flboy]

Martin, most will say they won't run on an inverter. Most inverters are modified sine wave type. Get a pure sine wave inverter and it won't matter. That makes a big difference.

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[m.colley]

Martin, most will say they won't run on an inverter. Most inverters are modified sine wave type. Get a pure sine wave inverter and it won't matter. That makes a big difference.

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Gotcha, a CYA kind of thing. Any certain brand of inverter you can reccomend?


Martin

[McDave]

Hey Martin,
From what I have been able to gather, Pure Sine is for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from line A/C. The problem with modified sine is that the wave is "clipped" at top and bottom, probably not an issue for most electrical motors, lights and other not so picky items. However, the electronics, control boards, etc. don't like that kind of "dirty" power. The more capable these devices have become, the more sensitive to noise and voltage spikes and drops they are. Now truthfully, I haven't done any serious 'tronics tech work in decades. I'm not even in the same ball park with what they are doin' today, but the fundamentals don't change, I hope. Anyways, my guess is that you and Don are probably more current than I am, so I think I'll just end it here. Must be beerthirty..

McDave

[m.colley]

Thanks for the input Dave. So when you gonna share pictures of your build out? I for one would love to see what you've done.

Martin

[flboy]

Hey Martin,
From what I have been able to gather, Pure Sine is for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from line A/C. The problem with modified sine is that the wave is "clipped" at top and bottom, probably not an issue for most electrical motors, lights and other not so picky items. However, the electronics, control boards, etc. don't like that kind of "dirty" power. The more capable these devices have become, the more sensitive to noise and voltage spikes and drops they are. Now truthfully, I haven't done any serious 'tronics tech work in decades. I'm not even in the same ball park with what they are doin' today, but the fundamentals don't change, I hope. Anyways, my guess is that you and Don are probably more current than I am, so I think I'll just end it here. Must be beerthirty..

McDave

Right on McDave. The bottom line is that a pure sine wave inverter is probably better than some utilities.. The modified are a "stairstep" type waveform and inductive motors don't like that. Some power supplies can compensate for them... it just depends.. But that is why a lot of manufacturers of these Fridges will make the caveat.. because they know people will use them like that. You can hear the difference on the motor whine if you compare both inverters ( I have).

Martin, I bought a generic brand of inverter because it was about half the price with the same specs as a Cobra or other recognized name brand. Prices vary so you will have to do some research. The one I have works great and is very clean, runs everything and puts out the full load... the jury is out on the longevity... time will tell if I saved any money. :-)

[Padilen]

[quote=" Solar is definitely in the future.


Martin[/quote]
About 2 weeks ago I thought solar was in my immediate future ! A former church family member saw me pulling my CTC and stopped to chat. He said "hey you need solar, and I can hook you up!"
I was like oh that's so cool thank you !
He got a funny look on his face.
"I mean if you buy it I can "hook" it up to work for you."
So the difference is hook "you" and "it"- which makes "it" not finically possible -yet!



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[m.colley]

Hey Martin,
From what I have been able to gather, Pure Sine is for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from line A/C. The problem with modified sine is that the wave is "clipped" at top and bottom, probably not an issue for most electrical motors, lights and other not so picky items. However, the electronics, control boards, etc. don't like that kind of "dirty" power. The more capable these devices have become, the more sensitive to noise and voltage spikes and drops they are. Now truthfully, I haven't done any serious 'tronics tech work in decades. I'm not even in the same ball park with what they are doin' today, but the fundamentals don't change, I hope. Anyways, my guess is that you and Don are probably more current than I am, so I think I'll just end it here. Must be beerthirty..

McDave

Right on McDave. The bottom line is that a pure sine wave inverter is probably better than some utilities.. The modified are a "stairstep" type waveform and inductive motors don't like that. Some power supplies can compensate for them... it just depends.. But that is why a lot of manufacturers of these Fridges will make the caveat.. because they know people will use them like that. You can hear the difference on the motor whine if you compare both inverters ( I have).

Martin, I bought a generic brand of inverter because it was about half the price with the same specs as a Cobra or other recognized name brand. Prices vary so you will have to do some research. The one I have works great and is very clean, runs everything and puts out the full load... the jury is out on the longevity... time will tell if I saved any money. :-)

Thanks Don for the reply. I may have to go the same route just to see how it works out. Yes I intend to go solar eventually but for now I've got bills to pay that are more important. I'll do my research and ease into solar in the future.


Martin