Our air conditioning solution Options

[CindyL]

Well, after weeks of loathing the need to cut into the curved lines of our 13' Burro for air conditioning, we have a solution underway. (Portable self-standing room air conditioners are just too big and expensive!) I am still chuckling !

The closet solution that so many on this forum use is not possible for our Burro. The closet is too small. But we wanted something that looked factory done and/or normal. Kevin was going to make a painted pine box, but I was afraid it would look like a painted pine box, just added on. So, I threw out the suggestion last night that he hide the portable window air conditioner in a cooler, cut out to fit the back of the window air conditioner that must extend outside, and resting on the platform he had planned to build, so that it would be a normal-appearing cooler riding on a platform behind the Burro, just like many people do with their coolers. I just checked, and darned if he did not take my idea and is doing it. The back of the air conditioner is resting in a cut-away, plastic drink cooler, riding right beside the spare tire, on a frame affixed to the bumper and looking like a perfectly normal cooler on the back of the trailer.

I took pix (It is not done yet.), but I can't upload them yet The camera cables are not in the camera case.

Cindy

This post has been edited by CindyL: Jul 9 2006, 11:19 AM

[jaye580]

what an interesting and innovative idea! I love it- can't wait to see the pics!

Jaye

[Lauren]

Cindy, Somehow I missed your initial post introducing yourself. Another Burro! Welcome to FGRV!

[CindyL]

Thanks. Married to Kevin A on this forum.

Cindy

[Patricia Baxter]

OK, so when you're camping and someone reaches for a "cold one" it's gonna be a REAL surprise!

Wonder why no one thought of that before? It sounds like a great idea
Hope you find the cables soon- we wanna see the pictures!

Gramma Pat

[CindyL]

OK, hubby just had cables in computer case. We just got back from a conference on technology.

Here are pix. Hope the last one is not turned. I tried to fix it, but it seemed to have a mind of its own.

Of course, we cannot run the air with the cooler on. It is for protection as we drive and for looks.

Cindy

 cooler_1_thum.jpg ( 16.24K ) Number of downloads: 625
 cooler_2_thum.jpg ( 22.14K ) Number of downloads: 641
 cooler_3.jpg ( 65.14K ) Number of downloads: 595

 

[BOBSMITH]

Very cool!!

[CindyL]

Thanks. We kinda think it is cool too (and hopefully literally too.). We painted a red cooler blue to match the decor of the Burro but will likely need to replace it with a real blue one in the future.

Our Burro goes out for the first time tomorrow to see how it acts before we take it to Pine Ridge and Yellowstone next week for two weeks. We are pulling it with our Eurovan and entering both into a VW car show. The colors we chose for the inside of our Burro match our '68 Volkswagen pickup, but the pickup is another project before it can pull the Burro.


Cindy

[CindyL]

We took our first trip out with the Burro this weekend. Very neat! Air conditioning worked fine. We entered our Eurovan in a VW contest. We didn't win anything (think we were out-of-staters and couldn't win with the Burro in this one), but the Burro got LOTS of lookers. Wives loved it; thought it was cute. Had its picture taken a few times. Husbands looked too. A couple were heard to say, "There's an air conditioner inside. Where is it outside?" So then we told them.

We redid the cooler though. We had painted the other one to match the light blue color scheme of our Burro (Our VW pickup is light blue and white.), but the bungie cords that hold it on peeled even the "Fusion" paint. So we got a different one that already was blue and redid it.

On the trip, we lost our temporary license plate (We have had the Burro for two months, but our state is way behind in issuing plates.) So Kevin mounted a new plate holder on the two legs that he made for air conditioner. This will keep it out of the wind and secure.

Cindy

[steveh]

Very nice mod! I spent the better part of the weekend replacing the A/C mod in the Amerigo. Got the old unit out and found the plywood rotted. Of course the 80/20 rule applies here - 80% of the plywood came right out and 20% took forever. Fortunately, the Amerigo has a "trunk", so not a big deal once I replaced the wood - and more importantly, the DPO (Dreaded Previous Owner) hadn't done anything too crazy...

Here are a couple of pics.
Steve
 amerigo_AC_003.jpg ( 146.22K ) Number of downloads: 303
 amerigo_AC_004.jpg ( 152.52K ) Number of downloads: 372

[CindyL]

Hey, cool!
Boy, the air conditioning made all the difference in camping this weekend. Kinda fun figuring out how to do it, isn't it?

Cindy

[Loren G. Hedahl]

Very nice mod! I spent the better part of the weekend replacing the A/C mod in the Amerigo. Got the old unit out and found the plywood rotted. Of course the 80/20 rule applies here - 80% of the plywood came right out and 20% took forever. Fortunately, the Amerigo has a "trunk", so not a big deal once I replaced the wood - and more importantly, the DPO (Dreaded Previous Owner) hadn't done anything too crazy...

Here are a couple of pics.
Steve
 amerigo_AC_003.jpg ( 146.22K ) Number of downloads: 303
 amerigo_AC_004.jpg ( 152.52K ) Number of downloads: 372

Apparently you need to open the trunk when using the AC? Or am I missing something in viewing your photos?

[steveh]

Apparently you need to open the trunk when using the AC? Or am I missing something in viewing your photos?

Yes, that's correct - you do need to open the trunk. I'm thinking about cutting part of the trunk door and replacing it with a grill of some type, but I need to look at mass air, etc. to figure out what size/type of grill. The door angles in so rain shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks for not asking about the blue and brown wires coming out of the battery case...
Steve

[Tirah]

OK, hubby just had cables in computer case. We just got back from a conference on technology.

Here are pix. Hope the last one is not turned. I tried to fix it, but it seemed to have a mind of its own.

Of course, we cannot run the air with the cooler on. It is for protection as we drive and for looks.

Cindy

What a creative solution! It looks really clean. You'd never know there was an air conditioner in there.

[CindyL]

Thanks. It was fun to watch the guys reactions at the VW show we took the Burro to when they looked inside and could see it inside but not outside. Now I am trying to think of ways to install the microwave. It doesn't fit in the closet either.

Our Burro is on its way to Pine Ridge Reservation for a week followed by a week at Yellowstone. We have seen lots of campers but no fiberglass ones yet. Tows like a dream, even full of supplies for the Lakota.

Cindy