Is your AC running hot?

[mikeschn]

That's a pretty nifty idea Frank, what you gonna do, hinge it so that we can open it to run the air conditioner?

Mike...

[Frank]

That's IT! And we can put stars on every state you have camped in The Carolina's?
Man, you could come down to "Little Talbot" and wipe out 1/4 of the US.

[Woody]

We'll set an extra place at the table for you guys at Little Talbot. You could even meet "Clem" The firewood guy That will be a story you could take back home with and share with friends

[Larwyn]

This thread has me second guessing my AC venting plans.

My AC will be on the galley area floor. I intend to cut rectangular holes in the floor on both sides of the AC unit, allowing intake air to be ducted to both sides but blocking off the small bit of intake on top of the unit. The hot exhaust will be vented out the back of the trailer below the hatch, which does not extend all the way to the floor. I know this would be uncomfortable for anyone actually using the galley if the AC was running at the time but my "galley" will actually be more for storage than cooking anyway.

Any suggestions on how large these intake holes should be is welcome, as well as thoughts on blocking off the intake air to the very top of the unit. The exhaust duct will be full sized and free flowing with the only restriction being whatever louver panel I end up using to cover it.

Let me know if you think I am building a "galley heater"........

[Chip]

Ok,, my a/c is mounte high in the galley in the center so I thought it would not matter if I blocked off a section of the vent holes with a cabinet on each side for the ac opening,, I had to slide the a/c back to uncover the vent holes and the a/c worked fine,, but the hatch lid would not close fully with the a/c moved back,
during the rework of the galley I held the cabnets back away from the a/c vents and it works just fine,, now the exhaust does blow out on the cook but I dont run the a/c unless we are gonna be inside,, so when we are cooking or tasting of the Pickle the a/c is off,, in the cool weather when I dont need cooling, the a/c comes out and a screen cover and or solid wood cover fits the opening and a heater and coffee pot takes the a/c place,, its not necessarly pretty but it works,,,
larwin, I would measure the whole area where the vents are in the side of the a/c and then divide it by 2,, this will probably give ya a good estimation of free area in sq in of air flow,,

chipper

[mikeschn]

I'm going to err on the conservative side in this message...

But I would say allows at least the cross sectional area of the side vents on each side, for the holes in the floor. So for example, if your vents on the side are 10x6", I would put a 60 sq in hole in the floor on each side of the ac.

Also give lots of room for the exhaust... if the exhaust on the rear of the ac is 10x16" for example, make your exhaust at least 160 sq in.

I would definitely build a box out of OSB and try it... I'd send you some of my OSB, but it's too darn heavy!!!

Mike...

P.S. Oh, are you concerned about blocking off the top? I wouldn't be. Perhaps you could leave an inch or so above the ac for that...

This thread has me second guessing my AC venting plans.

My AC will be on the galley area floor. I intend to cut rectangular holes in the floor on both sides of the AC unit, allowing intake air to be ducted to both sides but blocking off the small bit of intake on top of the unit. The hot exhaust will be vented out the back of the trailer below the hatch, which does not extend all the way to the floor. I know this would be uncomfortable for anyone actually using the galley if the AC was running at the time but my "galley" will actually be more for storage than cooking anyway.

Any suggestions on how large these intake holes should be is welcome, as well as thoughts on blocking off the intake air to the very top of the unit. The exhaust duct will be full sized and free flowing with the only restriction being whatever louver panel I end up using to cover it.

Let me know if you think I am building a "galley heater"........

[john]

Larwyn said:

"My AC will be on the galley area floor. I intend to cut rectangular holes in the floor on both sides of the AC unit, allowing intake air to be ducted to both sides but blocking off the small bit of intake on top of the unit. The hot exhaust will be vented out the back of the trailer below the hatch, which does not extend all the way to the floor. I know this would be uncomfortable for anyone actually using the galley if the AC was running at the time but my "galley" will actually be more for storage than cooking anyway."

Hey,

I put mine on the floor and vented it through the bottom of the tear. I tried it out for the first time on a trip to the outer banks of NC. (the tear was still unfinshed) The only problem I ran into was that the unit was oversized for my tiny tear and was not reducing the humidity. Later, though, I woke up freezing due to ice cold dry air from the A/C and found that sometime during the night an extra pillow had made its' way down to the A/C and covered half of the inteior air intake. It had effectively lowered the efficentcy of the A/C to a point that the A/C was compatible with my tear. The rest of the trip I stuck with this solution all the while keeping an eye out for freeze up, but there was none, even though the unit ran for over 48 hours straight at one point. I plan on a more perminent solution to pillow.

The only floor mounting complaint I have is that I don't like the air blowing directly on me; my wife likes it, though. Problem number two solved. She gets that side of the trailer.

One thing I had worried about during construction was the recycling of exhaust air under the trailer. Turns out not to be a problem, even though I have yet to install "louvers" over the vent holes under the trailer so as to blow the hot air away from the fresh.

As for the size of the vent holes in the foor, each one measures 8" by 22".

See updated build pics here:
http://photos.yahoo.com/johngwalkerjr
I updated them a couple of weeks ago.


john

Off topic:
My wife and I took to calling my tear the dorky while in Buxton under the Cape Hatteris light house. "I think it's time to go back to the camp ground, get the dorky, and catch the ferry." That kind of thing. I hope to lose the dorky name with a couple of fenders I got off Ebay and a 4"drop axle.

[RAYVILLIAN]

Larwyn
I'd agree with Mike's system. What he said was what I was going to try with my AC when I mounted it inside next winter. Unforunately I don't have a galley in the warrior to put it in so it has to go under a seat. One thing you might try to cut down on the intake size/ hole in the floor is to use computer fans in the intake ducts to increase air flow. Or maybe use furnace duct work I think it comes in a 6 by 10 with 6 in pipe. put a fan in the pipe and see if it works.
Gary

[Frank]

Larwyn,

I did the same as what Mike said, measure all the intake vents and make the bottom hole the same square inch area. Then I came through the bottom and turned 2x4's on the edge and went 2" on each side and 1" over the top (for that top vent). sealed the front and back, my back is open to the rear of the tear, so you do not want to cook when the A/C is on. Mine is working great.

Frank

[Woody]

the 6 inch pipe idea does work, thats exactly how I did mine 6 inch round duct pipe with a 6 inch round 120 vac bathroom exhuast fan 80 cfm. works well and have no problem with overheating at all. I found the trick is making the fan pull the exhuast out insead of forcing cooling air in. The A/C fan for heat exchange can't push the air out on it's own fast enough it needs help

[nubwon]

I mounted mine in the lower wall between the bed compartment, and the galley. I cut a hole in the floor, then built another wall that seals off the hot air from the cold air intake. I use a small piece of plywood that i stand up to continue the divider from the warm air and cold air intake. These pics may show it better than me explaining it. We have tried it out and it seems to work fine. We can run the A/C with that set of doors open or closed without any problems.
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/nubwon/gslleywcooktopout2.jpg[/img]
[/img]
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/nubwon/aircond.jpg[/img][/img]

[oklahomajewel]

Okay, I was pointed to this thread when wondering about my a/c which will be mounted on the interior cabin shelf, on the passenger side. I was just going to put one vent to the outside , but now am going to try this . Still in building stages, but luckily thinking ahead (thanks Rayvillian!)

My helper and wiring guru , Phil, suggested we try this. We'll do that baffle idea, to separate the heat at the back from the intake. I'll still have an opening to the exterior wall on the side to pull in fresh air.
Then putting this In Line Duct Fan ($28 at HD) and cut an opening to the small upper galley shelf and make this fan pull that hot air out to the exterior. Or maybe up.

This is 250 CFM . I'll sorta set it in place to give you an idea and take pix tomorrow.

Says they make 4" too.

[Woody]

That is pretty similiar to the unit I put in line to exhuast the heat from my AC. Run it for almost three years and have had no problems with over heating at all

[Steve_Cox]

Julie,

I got my A/C ideas from Woody and used a 6" diameter, 600 cfm, bathroom exhaust fan from H/D. I also put in a switch for the exhaust fan and tied the outlet for the air conditioner to it. That way the A/C can't run unless the fan is on.

[Miriam C.]

Thanks for the picture
Just reminded me that somewhere in the garage or attic there is a match to that. Someone bought it because they thougth my heater vent didn't put out enough hot air. The duct was down.

Now if I can just find it.
Miriam