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Buddy Tennison (Buddyten)
Registered Member
Username: Buddyten
Post Number: 28
Registered: 7-2005
Posted From: 207.68.235.83
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 6:44 pm: | |
I know that I'm bothering you folks, but have another question. We have 2 roof tops (13,500 ea) powered off our Onan 7 KW Marquis. Generally, it keeps it fairly cool inside, except for those 95+ degree days when we have to leave it parked in the hot sun. By the way, I have KoolSealed the roof good.
We have taken out our Coach AC because we were having trouble keeping it going good. We have also noted that if we put a fan in the coach to keep the air moving, it helps a lot.
Of course, the main area of the problem is the very front (driver area and part of front lounge). We were thinking of taking a small window type AC and mounting under the dash. Since we have disconnected the bus AC, we don't need all that stuff under the dash. Maybe a 5000 BTU unit (we saw one at Home Depot the other day for $100). Have any of you done anything like this? I am assuming that you would have to have a sheet metal shop build a plenum situation in order to vent it, etc.
Any thoughts or suggestions? |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Registered Member
Username: Drivingmisslazy
Post Number: 1924
Registered: 1-2001
Posted From: 75.108.76.30
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 7:33 pm: | |
Believe me the under dash defroster is very convenient even if it is not very cold outside. I found it necessary many times for defrosting the windshield even in 40-50 degree weather.
Richard |
Nick Badame Refrigeration Co. (Dnick85)
Registered Member
Username: Dnick85
Post Number: 121
Registered: 2-2006
Posted From: 75.198.181.169
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 8:40 pm: | |
Hi Buddy,
Sorry to say a 5,000 btu window shaker won't do you any justice while rolling down the road.
Your best money spent would be adding a smaller compressor on your enging and piping it to your dash evaporator coil.
Just to give you an idea, a standard car A/C is close to 5 tons of capacity. Your original bus compressor was a little over 11 tons capacity.
So even adding 5000 btu's to your 13.500 still only gives you 18.500. Heck you loose about a ton out your door seals and another ton on heat gain from your windows. that alone is 24,000 btu's.
There are alot of members that have done this allready and can reassure you that it is the 2nd best way besides the OTR original setup.
Good Luck
Nick- |
john w. roan (Chessie4905)
Registered Member
Username: Chessie4905
Post Number: 599
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 71.58.117.21
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 9:06 pm: | |
Unless you couldn't mount a third unit on roof at front because of spacing, it would work out the easiest, even if you relocated the normal front unit back some. Run the front two when necessary and when stopped, go to middle and rear unit. Some time back someone talked about a switching system that would allow only two compressors out of the three to run at one time since the generator wouldn't run all three at the same time. |
Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member
Username: Sean
Post Number: 562
Registered: 1-2003
Posted From: 67.142.130.40
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 12:59 am: | |
[Content deleted due to duplicate post, below.]
(Message edited by sean on June 19, 2007) |
Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member
Username: Sean
Post Number: 563
Registered: 1-2003
Posted From: 67.142.130.40
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 12:59 am: | |
We scrapped our engine-driven driver AC and started fresh. We used a Red Dot unit with heater and evaporator coils and 24 VDC fans, and coupled the AC evaporator to a 120VAC refrigeration compressor. The condenser is a standard Red Dot unit mounted under the front grill, with another 24VDC fan attached to draw air through it whenever vehicle speed itself is insufficient. I had to make some minor modifications to the Red Dot harness and add a relay to make the compressor work, and we had to have hoses made up with automotive fittings on one end and refrigeration fittings on the other.
I would estimate the whole shebang at 10-12kBTU/h, and it just barely keeps up with the enormous heat load through the cockpit windows in the summer. That being said, I'm glad I did it -- I don't have the volume of refrigerant needed for 43' lines, nor the losses associated with pumping everything that far. Plus, the system works while parked.
Of course, a roof unit was not an option for me.
If your evaporator, blower(s), and controls are in good shape, you can probably just add a compressor and condenser/fan arrangement and spend less than I did, but you'll need a refrigeration expert (Nick?) to help you size the components correctly to match up with your existing evaporator.
FWIW.
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com |
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