Mount a small AC window unit into upper front trailer wall?

[HSandy]

I'm just about to pul the trigger on the Wal-Mart Haier 7,000 BTU HSandy's discovered. At $304 shipped it's several hundred dollars cheaper than the PetCool, and easy to remove from the trailer when not using it. It also seems *very* small. I like that I could use it in the house for emergencies.

The all-important question for me is, how big a hole in the wall should I cut for the heat exhaust, and what can I do to seal the hole when not in use? I'd really rather use some kind of RV-appropriate pre-manufactured hole cover, like the shoreline port covers. Would it work if the duct were directed down through the floor? And how much clearance between the back of the unit and the wall is needed for the exhaust hose?

I haven't found any more detailed pictures of this unit on the internet, but I expect that it will be a similar setup to this older portable Haier unit on Amazon:



The hose looks to be about 3 in. diameter. I have no expertise with HVAC or any type of engineering but I can't see why the exhaust venting wouldn't work ok ducted through the floor as opposed to the wall.

I plan to order one of these also after my trailer is ready to pick up in 3 to 4 weeks...

[digimark]

Madjack pointed out that the PetCool is too underpowered to properly cool a CT.

I actually had my credit card number typed into Wal-Mart's shopping cart system to buy the Haier portable; but it was rejected for some weird reason that American Express said that Wal-Mart's system did...

But it was a GOOD thing that my card was rejected, because now I'm reconsidering mounting a 5KBTU window unit. (Home Depot has a Zenith ZW5000 and a Gold-Star unit; both are exactly the same size at within 16"x13"x18" for $99.) Saving $200 on the AC unit can buy an awful lot of lumber and parts for making a faux screen door inside the CT's side door to hold the AC. And mounted that way, there's no cutting the CT itself! (I love this; cutting into the CT is my scariest terror.)

Need a plan, need a plan...

Thanks for posting that pic, HSandy. I can't see that hose bending too much without a kink in it, so even if I direct the output down, the portable AC unit's going to jut out from the wall by several feet. Ugh.

[edcasey]

Looks like fate was on your side with that credit card being rejected. Funny thing is I just got the new Consumer Reports and they have a section on air conditioners. Their bottom line is to choose a window unit over a portable, unless a portable is your only option. If you choose a portable, it should be a dual hose model that that has a second hose to take air from outdoors to cool the condenser. The single hose models take the cold air from inside the air conditioned space and blows it though the condenser and through the hose outdoors. Not only are you blowing cold air outdoors but your creating negative pressure that will pull hot air in through any openings. They also said even the dual hose models produce less cooling than advertised and didn't cool their test room to the required temperature.

I think you made the right choice.

[digimark]

OK, I've now got a small 5000 BTU AC in a cardboard box. It's itty bitty too -- 11.25x17.5x15.5 and 40 lbs.

I can see two ways to mount it -- at the top or bottom of a panel mounted screen-door like to the inside frame of my CT's side door, or on a panel hanging from eyelets at the top of the door. I kind of like the latter idea. It would be great if I could mount the AC on the upper 1/3rd to 1/2 of the door, and use those clear plastic strips to hang from the bottom of the AC panel to cover the rest of the door opening.

EDIT: Maybe the plastic strips aren't such a good idea. At night, the light from inside would show everyone what's going on inside. We'd still need something opaque to block the bottom of the door opening.
It would get complicated, but I could use a two-piece hinged panel that could swing open independently...

In either case I need to make a sturdy panel to mount the AC into. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to do this? The manual calls for a window mount, so theoretically the AC unit won't need a lot of support -- perhaps a 2-3" supporting ledger and then wood bracing screwed in all around the rest of the unit?

[digimark]

ronaldito has an interesting idea of mounting the AC under a seat that would be useful anyway. (CT's really need a seat or something you can sit on while getting dressed in the morning or while changing clothes. Usually the bed platform is at the correct height and would suffice, but in my layout I have an upper and a lower bed platform so the kids have a place to sleep.) But if I am reading his proposal correctly, it would still require several holes to be cut in the side of the trailer. (The Zenith AC unit I bought has the entire back surface be a radiator.)

Better still might be to make a seat box for the AC to fit into, that can be pushed into the side door opening. You'd still have to have an easy way to cover the rest of the door opening, but it would double the utility of the panel space by making a seat with it...

For now, I'm still sketching out a diagram of a high-mounted AC on an inside door panel with a piano hinge holding the panel to the left inside of the side door opening.

[digimark]

Thanks ofr the advice ronaldito. I'd love to put the AC through the front wall, but I'm planning a cabinet across the front wall that will hide the battery and electric panel, plus my tongue-mounted spare is mounted on a significantly strong welded beam mount from the factory. The spare mount is made up of the same box beams that the tongue is made of, so removing it would be highly undesirable and difficult. Still, I'm glad for the ideas -- I'm now thinking of making part of the inside door panel be a seat.

[digimark]

I could really use everyone's advice on the specifics of mounting this AC in the side door opening. My side door, including the heavy metal jamb around the left, right and top sides, is 34" wide by 51" high.

Here's what I'd like to do -- mount 1"x 2"s around the outside of the door frame. Then I'd hang a 35 1/2" x 24" panel from this frame, either by heavy duty eye bolts mounted above the door and similarly-heavy hooks in the top of the panel. OR by mounting hinges on the inside left side of the door and having it swing open into the trailer like a screen door.

I'd cut an AC-sized 11 1/2" high by 17 1/2" wide rectangular hole in the upper middle of this panel (5" down and centered), build a mounting platform (the equivalent of a window frame opening and jamb) and secure the AC unit to the panel.

Then I'd hang a 3' x 3' black PVC vinyl strip door to the bottom of the panel, to cover the remaining dor opening, keep the cold inside, the bugs out, and a way to pass through the door by crawling under the AC.

If hinged, the AC panel would swing inside and be locked against the inside wall for travel, and swing close, secured by either Velcro or a latch. If hung from eye bolts, I'd secure it to the door frame with Velcro. and lift it on/off the eye hooks when not using it.

What am I missing here? What about my plan won't work? Will hinges cleated into 1" x 2" stock be strong enough to support a 40 lbs A/C? Thanks in advance. -Gary

[digimark]

UPDATE: I spent some time talking with a trailer tech at my dealer. He confirmed:

1. That you can't mount even a small AC unit into the back doors or the side door; there is no support for it in the door, and the weight of it will make the door sag. You could tear the door down and rebuild it with support, but that is so much work, it's probably not worth it.

2. If the AC unit is wider that the space between the 16" on-center studs, you'd need to cut a stud and then build a header box around it to support the weight of the AC unit and retain the wall/ceiling integrity. Unfortunately, the smallest unit I could find is 17 1/2" across. Which is OK, because (again) I really didn't want to cut a hole in the trailer.

3. He said hanging an inside door with the AC in it, or even a top-panel across the top of the door with hinges, won't work for the same reason putting it in the exterior doors won't work -- they'd sag.

BUT -- he suggested putting carriage bolts through the door frame where they won't interfere with the door... two on each side, and then bolting a 3/4" hardwood ply panel across the top of the door frame, securing it with wing nuts on the carriage bolts. I thought it was brilliant, because the carriage bolts are set-and-forget, and won't change the look, operation or capabilities of the trailer in any way. AND I can STILL remove the AC whenever I don't need it.

I'll still have to built a smaller door on hinges for under the AC unit. I'm thinking I can put foam tape around the AC on the panel to seal any gap between the panel and door frame. And I still have to build the AC support ledge into the panel. But needless to say, I'm thrilled by the solution. I'm going to drop the trailer by the dealer next Monday, he said it should take about an hour's work to install the carriage bolts properly.

More info and pictures when it comes back. Meanwhile I should start building a smaller door.

[HSandy]

I am sticking with my original plan and I ordered one of the Haier 7000 btu units from Walmart.com "site-to-store" w/free shipping. We have a room at home where we can use this when not in the trailer. I will report back on how it does and post some pictures. Of course, if the performance is dismal, the thing will go back to WalMart...

[mike505]

Here is how ours is mounted in our 6x10. We didn't mount it as we bought it used and it was already there. It was originally used as an RC Oval Racing pit trailer.





About time to clean it out and go camping. Been working too much.

[digimark]

OK -- progress!!

I've added some pictures to my album, but there are now four strong bolts installed on the trailer, two on each side of the side door. And the AC is mounted in the 3/4" plywood panel. I need to take a picture with the AC mounted, but the panel/AC covers about 1/3 of the side door opening, leaving a reasonable amount of space to climb in and out underneath the AC unit.

I have to stain/varnish the plywood and framing, and I still need to build a door underneath it to seal the rest of the opening when we are inside, but we have AC now!

I'm thinking of making the small door underneath in 3-4 pieces with piano hinges so that I can accordion-fold the door to save room when inside. Need to find out how to do that though...

[digimark]

Here's the A/C mounted as it looks from the inside:



Still working on the side door filler panel -- making a three panel door connected with piano hinges.

Off topic, but I installed a front shelf and a TV. It's getting comfy!

[devigata]

That's looking great!

Can you give me some information on that television? The old (OLD) one we're using is huge for a 13", very deep.

I'm thinking of a surprise present for John.

[digimark]

The flat panel is a Vizio 19" I bought from Dell on a coupon for under $180. What's cool is that it's mounted on a flat panel mount that uses two screws and the TV can be lifted off of it. So I bought two mounts, and when I'm not using the trailer I can take the TV out and put it in the house. That's the remote control velcroed to the side of the screen. I've ordered a cheap antenna that will mount behind it to pick up ATSC signals, and I plan to watch shows running off my iPod. Thanks for asking.

[digimark]

Last piece is in place -- I built this three-piece filler panel from the leftover wood I had from making the bed platform. It's 1/2" hardwood ply -- each of the three pieces is 13" wide, and I used piano hinges to join the pieces and lift-off hinges to join the panel to the trailer wall. Oops -- except I put the hinges on upside down, so the pins pull out down to remove. Stained and secured to the left side of the door frame. I put a utility pull handle on each side of the door to make it easier to open/close, and I'm using Velcro to secure the door closed.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I cut the length too long, and it drags on the carpet, so it's a bit difficult to open and close. Not sure how to fix that without removing the door again.

2ND EDIT: I took the door off, reversed the hinges, and cut an 1/8" off the bottom. So now it swings relatively freely. I'm using rubber strip insulation to fill any gaps.



Thanks for everyone's help. I've learned a lot.