PetCool vs "Plan b"

[Shadow Catcher]

Lessons learned. I was looking back through this thread, the PC that froze up, there are two possible causes, too low a freon level and not enough air flow.
I ran into this with ours, and cured it with the addition of a fan/bilge blower to help force additional air through the cooling coil of our 5000 BTU unit.
I agree the price for a Pet Cool can not be justified but I made a couple of missteps in the conversion of the Frigidaire and the prime one was trying to go for an advanced digital thermostat, the one removed from the unit works fine. The second misstep was not starting out with a PMW to control the bilge blower (they tend to be loud when on full speed).
The conversion, and yes we have a generator
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... ht=hacking [/list]

[Deryk the Pirate]

petcool does offer a larger model

http://www.climaterightair.com/cr7000-p ... eater.html

[eamarquardt]

I'm "not entirely convinced" that your Petcool is working properly. A unit working properly should not "freeze up". As Caseydog pointed out in another thread, freezing up can be an indication that the freon charge in the unit is low. When the charge is low, the pressure of the freon goes low in the evaporator, the evaporator temperature drops below freezing (the temperature of the freon depends upon its pressure), and the unit ices up. When properly charged the evaporator shouldn't go below freezing. I'd think about having the unit checked.

Cheers,

Gus

[bobhenry]

1
Set the air conditioner to "Fan Only" mode for about 30 minutes. Ice can build up on the cooling coils when the outside temperature falls too low. Using the fan will slowly melt the ice and allow you to use normal air conditioning mode after a short time. Try to use your air conditioning only when necessary.

2
Reduce the temperature setting of the air conditioner. Ice can start to build up inside the appliance if it has been running on high for long periods of time. Turning down the air conditioner will allow the ice to slowly reduce on the cooling coils while you continue to benefit from the cool air.

3
Move all furniture away from the front of the air conditioner. Cold air must be able to flow away from the appliance once it is blown out of the front grille otherwise the unit may start to ice up. Turn down the air conditioner temporarily to allow the ice build up to reduce.

4
Consider moving the air conditioner to a larger room in your home. The cooling coils may ice up if the British Thermal Unit (BTU) rating is too high for the size of the room. You should think about purchasing an air conditioner with a lower BTU rating as a replacement.



Read more: How to Troubleshoot an Air Conditioner Freezing Up | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7906724_trouble ... z1fDCIWRxv

So we have several contributing conditions that may cause freeze up.

Blocked discharge......... That little 4" hose might not offer enough flow

Blocked side vents,,,,,,,,, Perhaps we forgot to allow for enough air flow to cool the motor and fan areas creating overheating of this area.

One thing I did was to run a dedicated 12-3 gage drop cord direct to the AC unit Keeping it as short as possible to reduce the possibility of voltage drop at the unit.

Returning too cool of air to the make up air side will cause freeze up.

A 5000 BTU uit is recommended for 100 to 150 square foot room in a home. (That's 800 to 1200 cubic feet and we are only cooling 200 - 300 cubic feet of "Room")

Dirty and restricted inlet filters restricting air flow.... Bent rear cooling fins restricting exhaust air , both further reducing the effeciency of the unit.

When I designed the "SILO" for the barn. I chose to only draw off the cold air discharge. I allowed the make up air to be drawn from outside air, Although this is not as effecient and will not allow for as great a temperature drop in the sleeping area I have had zero freeze up and inside temps were mid 70's while outside was 103 - 107 and our site was in full sun.

[Shadow Catcher]

I had our PC checked for freon level but since our Frigidaire was brand spanking new I suspected air flow was the culprit and obtained the bilge blower, used and inexpensive in case it did not work. At 200 CFM it proved to work very well, testing on a hot humid day. But rather too noisy so I trotted down to Radio Shack and bought a couple of Heavy duty resistors, They worked well but the waste heat was a problem and I have since used a PMW which means I can vary speed.

[Moho]

Freezing up of the evaporator coil on any air conditioner is due to airflow resctriction (dirty air filter, blocked vents), low charge or clogged filter or expansion valve in the freon system itself.