Bigfoot 17 AC - Fiberglass RV
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Old 10-02-2017, 03:30 PM   #1
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Name: Greg
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Bigfoot 17 AC

Input please....I am "slightly" considering the purchase of a 17 ft Bigfoot trailer..mid 90's. It all looks great except there is no AC. Living in the Southwest that would almost be a non starter.

However, in the past I have installed roof-mounted AC on an Argosy and an Airstream. The main concern is that they were pre-wired to accept an AC.

Does anybody know anything about Bigfoot or has anyone undertaken this?

Thanks
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Old 10-02-2017, 08:41 PM   #2
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It's getting serious!

Others will post with better info, but I definitely remember some people saying their Bigfoot was wired for AC. Might depend on the year. Mine appears not to be.
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Old 10-02-2017, 08:50 PM   #3
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seems I have tented in the Southwest never saw a need for a/c after say 9pm! I must be hardee!
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Old 10-03-2017, 08:57 PM   #4
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Adding a circuit for the ac might not be all that daunting. I'd check out how the Bigfoot provides support for the roof for the weight. Whether and where to place the weight of the unit and cut the hole will determine feasibility. If feasible, that placement will then determine where to send the wire. Running a wire is not that difficult, especially if you are willing to live with the look of a surface mounted conduit (search term "wiremold') in the event an internal route is not handy.
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Old 10-03-2017, 09:33 PM   #5
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My Bigfoot 17CB has factory AC and there does not appear that the roof has any extra support. If you have a CB model, you should be able to remove the trim around the bathroom roof vent and fish a wire between the shower surround and the outside wall of the trailer up into the ceiling. From there the wire can be routed thru the foam insulation. The RB model would be different so might be more complicated.
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Old 10-03-2017, 10:29 PM   #6
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Name: Daniel A.
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I added air to my 1991 17 Foot a few years ago.
I put a PolarCub 9200 BTU in it sits where the vent use to be, there have been no issues with the support in the roof, the only thing that I had to do was upgrade my electrical as the air conditioner needed its own 20 amp breaker.
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Old 10-04-2017, 04:40 AM   #7
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Get this picture someone added a 13,500 a/c to our 13f Scamp is this past silly? Plus we will never turn it on too late now and all that extra weight to haul around!
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Old 10-05-2017, 07:55 AM   #8
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Bigfoot trailers seem to have better roof support than other fiberglass trailers. At least the 90s+ ones. I’ve spent a good amount of time on the roof of mine.

I think appletrees has experience working on trailers, and is just feeling out how easy a Bigfoot will be to modify to fit his needs.
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Old 10-05-2017, 10:46 AM   #9
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mid nineties....

I have no knowledge about BF "pre-wiring" for AC...or not.

What I do know is that in the mid nineties BF used a 20A (red) breaker for their AC installs (mine had AC...removed by a PO)....so if you find an unused red breaker in yours chances are it is "pre-wired" and would have included a run of wire to the roof buried in the wall/insulation (that last bit is a pure guess on my part)

G or CB model ? Year is good info too

good luck
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Old 10-05-2017, 11:55 AM   #10
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it is a '94, CB

This is seeming like a not so great idea the more I think about it. If there were a vent fan in the center of the roof and if it went to at least a 20Amp breaker and if the wire were heavy enough, it might work. In the Airstream and the Argosy that I installed roof mount ACs in the wire was easily heavy enough and the opening for a vent fan and an AC is the same,,maybe a little trimming Then you need to block between interior shell and exterior shell because roof mount ACs require that you "clamp" them in place in the hole.

That seems like a whole lot of if's and I can't imagine that if the Bigfoot is preset for a roof AC, that there isn't someone out there who would say "Oh yeah, I did that!!!"

I think I am going to look at a portable, roll around 110 unit like they sell at the Big Box Store that uses an exhaust vent hose and draws/recycles/ recirculates air from the interior much like a car AC does.

Not a perfect solution but one I may research.

If anyone has done this I would lover to hear about it......don't need AC often but when you need it..........!

Greg
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Old 10-05-2017, 02:18 PM   #11
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I used a roll around AC unit in my long long trailer So it would be plenty for one of these little eggs.

In that rig I kept it under one of the dinette seats and just whipped it out as needed. In Ohio, That was not often. If a good rain storm came through in a brutally hot day though, causing us to lower the jealousy windows, the humidity would be oppressive and boy was I glad to have it.

Two notes:

One. There is an exhaust tube for hot air, like a clothes dryer, and that needs to pointed out a window. I cut a blue foam camping mat to fit the window space (with a hole for the tube) and I kept a roll of wide, non-stick painters tape in the box with it to temporarily hold it to the window without leaving sticky residue.

Two. They use the condensed water to help cool so there is no draining needed. However, there is a drip pan in the bottom of the unit that collects the water for recirculation.. if the unit is not level, that will drain out the side at the bottom instead of into the drip pan. I kept some rubber furniture leg cups in the box with it so I could stack those under as needed to level it.

They are very convenient, not terribly heavy, and work great in small areas like one of these eggs.

Plus, no wiring, no cutting, and just leave it in the garage unless you need it for a trip. You might even just throw it in the tow vehicle to bring with if there is more space there.

I still have mine and may use it now and again in the egg. We'll see.
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Old 10-05-2017, 03:10 PM   #12
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Buggeee
Thanks for the reply. What you say is exactly what my gut instinct was sayin.

One question, I wonder if I was satisfied with the system and the performance, if I could install a permanent PVC vent through the floor in a hidden spot to connect the hot air vent hose through?
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Old 10-05-2017, 04:08 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Apltrez View Post
Buggeee
Thanks for the reply. What you say is exactly what my gut instinct was sayin.

One question, I wonder if I was satisfied with the system and the performance, if I could install a permanent PVC vent through the floor in a hidden spot to connect the hot air vent hose through?

Oooooo what a great idea. Where's my hole saw? I'm going to map that out in mine but we should do a little research before we blow holes in our floors. We could fit the hole with a PVC cap... Or glass in a PVC threaded end to take a threaded plug. Now you've got the hamster wheels running up there. Excellent!!! Let me know what you find out and I'll do the same.
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Old 10-05-2017, 05:10 PM   #14
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Buggeee,
Yep that's what I was thinking, the other possibility was to adapt a sewer outlet that has those nice bayonet caps for the outside and size the inside for the exhaust hose and find a rubber cap that would snap on.

will keep you in the loop
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Old 10-05-2017, 06:32 PM   #15
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If you're like me you want to go stare at your egg to imagine where things will go. To arm you with some material for that exercise I am attaching pictures of my AC unit, it's specifications sticker, the hose end and a hose adapter that comes with it to attach to a rectangle window insert.

My unit is approximately 30 inches tall, 12 inches wide, and 13 inches deep. The hose is approximately 5 and 1/2 inches in diameter. The oblong end of the hose adapter is approximately 2 and 1/2 inches wide and 7 inches long.

The exhaust hose is fan driven so it I suspect it will have no more problem pushing out a hole in the floor than it would a screened window.

I'll have to be plugged into shore power when I run it. The amp draw on household current is 7.6, which through an inverter would be 83.6 amp draw (conversion factor of 11) from my batteries so I won't be able to boondock it. My inverter is protected by an 80 amp 12v breaker and trips internal low voltage shutdown when I hit I with a request for more than 70 amps or so. (See my thread on Boondocking an Electric Heater in the solar and electrical section if you want a ride on the mathmagical bus - http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ter-82317.html ).
Attached Thumbnails
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IMG_20171005_184315.jpg   IMG_20171005_184520.jpg  

IMG_20171005_184556.jpg   IMG_20171005_184611_1.jpg  

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Old 10-05-2017, 06:58 PM   #16
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a/c

I have seen these pretty neat idea I am still thinking a very small compressor unit that could me hung up somewhere but then you get to venting the heat out.

bob
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Old 10-20-2017, 04:27 PM   #17
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Negative Pressure

I'm ready to cut a hole in mine for the exhaust hose and it occurred to me it what goes out must come in. In other words if it's blowing air out the exhaust hose where is that air coming from?

It turns out that air is coming from the room that the air conditioner is in.

The unit pulls air from the room and use a some of it to cool the unit and blows that out the exhaust hose. The other air is returned to the room as cool air. But what that means is that it creates negative pressure in the room, the air that's getting blown out the exhaust hose has to come in from somewhere.

So I'm thinking I'll have to crack a window when I run this thing so air can get in to replace the air that is getting blown out. Either that or it's going to be pulling all the fumes from my toilet tank for sure.

And it seems like a fair amount of air that is blowing out so I have a feeling there's going to be a fair amount of air coming in as well, through the crack in the window. I'm wondering in a super small space like this if that trade-off will allow the thing to function for me or not.

So I set down the hole saw and did a quick search. Here's a link to some description of how it works. The only thing is that in this article it says that a small amount is exhausted, but when I turn mine on there's a whole lot of air blowing out that hose.

https://www.sylvane.com/portable-ac-faq.html

What do you think?
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Old 10-20-2017, 07:51 PM   #18
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window units

I put a small window unit in 5k they have these things engineered to blow that hot air out while sending cool in. They now operate so well there is no condensation.

how do I know this I went crazy trying to find out why then studied up on them. It really is weird!

bob
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Old 10-21-2017, 08:34 PM   #19
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Info on your AC

Hi Buggeee, just thought I’d let you know, I have AC exactly like yours that I got from Home Depot...has a recall on it for getting hot and catching on fire. Check LG Portable AC recall, and check your ModelSerial no’s to see if yours is one of them. Thought you would want to check this before cutting holes. They “fixed” mine by putting in fused wire, so it just blows fuse if it overheats. Let me know if you need additional info...TERRIBLE customer service on these... you can try it out taped into a window before you cut the hole. Mine actually worked fairly well, but I’m also in the mountains where it’s cooler... have decided to hold off on mine for a bit because of recall... good luck!
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Old 10-22-2017, 05:48 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by Sharon W View Post
Hi Buggeee, just thought I’d let you know, I have AC exactly like yours that I got from Home Depot...has a recall on it for getting hot and catching on fire. Check LG Portable AC recall, and check your ModelSerial no’s to see if yours is one of them. Thought you would want to check this before cutting holes. They “fixed” mine by putting in fused wire, so it just blows fuse if it overheats. Let me know if you need additional info...TERRIBLE customer service on these... you can try it out taped into a window before you cut the hole. Mine actually worked fairly well, but I’m also in the mountains where it’s cooler... have decided to hold off on mine for a bit because of recall... good luck!
Holy Impatience on My Part Batman!!!!

I just blew holes in all over the place for it! Lmao. Right out the side of the shell and all. My unit is probably about 6 years old, I'll look it up. Thank you so much for the heads-up!!!

If you all want to see how I've made provision for the exhaust, and for relieving the negative pressure (vents in the floor below it), you can stop by my build thread below.

I'll go run the check on this fuse issue.. never a dull moment is there?
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