Looking for a good closet AC install walk-through

[Stacy Crotser]

I've searched and found some threads, but pictures and info were no longer there. Anyone know of some good "how-to's" for a closet AC install? Think we are going to attempt one very soon!

Many thanks!

[Ken C]

another idea might be a coleman polar cub roof a/c...... it fits any standard crank roof vent opening. specs for your roof weight considerations are HERE

[Stacy Crotser]

another idea might be a coleman polar cub roof a/c...... it fits any standard crank roof vent opening. specs for your roof weight considerations are HERE

Yeah, I would love to be able to do a roof mount, but I have an old Boler, and according to Scamp, they add extra support on the roof for a roof mount AC unit, which of course my boler is lacking. But thanks!

[April Wilcox]

I don't know if this will help you, but I think this is a youtube video of a guy replacing his closet AC and the basic steps he took, I can't get the video to work on my laptop, but I remember watching this one a couple weeks ago... if this isn't the right video, look at the other ones that are in the list to the right, it should be there somewhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W638vr-6tN8...feature=related

good luck, we may be installing an ac pretty soon ourselves.

[Joe Z]

Stacy.....
this may or may not help you but i replaced the front A/C on my 1994 casita sd and gave everyone a good explanation on how to do it along with quite a few pictures. Hope this helps.
Joe

http://www.casitaclub.com/forums/index.php...amp;#entry94785

[Donna D.]

This is my absolute favorite "through-the-wall" install. Check out Lance's Blue Boler A/C install. Click on the Bolerweb pic to start: Lance's A/C Install

Once it starts and you get past the advertisement... at the top left-hand corner you will have an option of clicking the "album" if you would prefer to look at specific photos rather than viewing all the photos through the slide show. I prefer to view the album. The A/C pictures are in the second row (on my monitor).

[Bob H]

I've searched and found some threads, but pictures and info were no longer there. Anyone know of some good "how-to's" for a closet AC install? Think we are going to attempt one very soon!

Many thanks!

Hi Stacy,
I posted a video on Youtube, it'd already been mentioned in this thread, that shows some of the work I did putting in a 5000 BTU unit in the closet. If you wish to view it I have a link to it in my signature. Or, as it has been linked earlier in this thread,

it's right here.

In the comments of the video I had replied to a query just like yours that had a pretty good list of guidelines...
"Have a 5/8ths" decline for condensation to run to the back of the unit, a good catch basin, and a drain out of the trailer. Have a airtight seal separating the front of the unit and the inside of the trailer, from the back of the unit and the outside air. Allow plenty of outside air to get to the condenser intakes along the top and sides. It helps to add a small deflector to send hot exhaust air blown out the condensor up and out to keep it from mixing back around the intakes along the sides."

My installation is different than others in that I have only one hole in the outside of my Scamp and it serves double duty as intake & exhaust for the AC. Some would think that it wouldn't work, but it does, real well. The big trick is making sure the outside air curcuit has plenty of access to the heat exchanger coil to allow the unit to work. My unit gets it's outside air along the sides and top of the rear of the unit and vents it out through the exchanger and out the back. As long as I have plenty of room along the sides and top to get air in, the AC will do it's job.

The physical width of the AC is critical, you must use one that'll let you get air into it's intakes otherwise you'll just burn up the unit. And finally, you must be sure to keep the cabin air separate from the outside. How you mount the unit to the wheel well is up to you. But of anyplace else you would put a window AC, mounting it on the wheelwell, lowest to the floor will give you the best loadbearing results.

In installing mine, I used metal air duct sheeting to fabricate the airways ect. you can use other materal, but to me air duct materal was a no-brainer.

Good Luck
ConwayBob

[Stacy Crotser]

Thank you everyone!! You have all given me some wonderful ideas! Just what I was looking for.

[Donna D.]

Just be sure to post pictures of what worked best for you... others may find it helpful too

[Stacy Crotser]

Just be sure to post pictures of what worked best for you... others may find it helpful too

Will do!! It's kind of odd... right now we have the AC out the back of the boler, on the floor and I never really liked it there because it ruins the clean lines of the boler that I like so much. My husband is thinking we might make the AC unit a "slide out" unit (similar to the closet install I saw here) but in the back, since the hole is already there. We could cover the hole in the back with a hatch when traveling. I'm still not sure if I want to do that, or move it to the closet. It would be EASIER since the hole is already there, however, I'm not thrilled with the AC right under the bed. It just doesn't seem to blow out from under the bed very well. Perhaps we can come up with a fan solution to move the cold air. LOL So much to think about! Anyway, I'll happily post pics when we figure out what we are going to do!!

[April Wilcox]

This thread caught my attention because the scamp we are trying to get doesn't have an AC installed. We have been combing the web for a low watt/btu solution to cool the camper. So far we have found as low as 3000btu ac units that are not bad, but wouldn't be good for battery use. Kirk had an idea about making a frankenstine ac out of a dorm fridge that only pulls about 120watts, but I worry that this will just over work the dorm fridge motor/compressor, but might be worth investigating since one is being given to us, and they are relatively inexpensive to replace. It probably would not chill out the camper, but it might work enough to make it comfortable. I also liked the portable ac with the hose attached to the back for venting, you could move it around the rv, or mount it in one place, but the the lowest btu I found on those was 5000-7000. Propane power is also an option, we have found some things in the boating supply websites that I couldn't find in the rv websites. I will post more as we find solutions to our AC needs... hopefully where we plan to move to, we won't need to use ac much, but it would still be nice to have it on a hot day.

[Stacy Crotser]

This thread caught my attention because the scamp we are trying to get doesn't have an AC installed. We have been combing the web for a low watt/btu solution to cool the camper. So far we have found as low as 3000btu ac units that are not bad, but wouldn't be good for battery use. Kirk had an idea about making a frankenstine ac out of a dorm fridge that only pulls about 120watts, but I worry that this will just over work the dorm fridge motor/compressor, but might be worth investigating since one is being given to us, and they are relatively inexpensive to replace. It probably would not chill out the camper, but it might work enough to make it comfortable. I also liked the portable ac with the hose attached to the back for venting, you could move it around the rv, or mount it in one place, but the the lowest btu I found on those was 5000-7000. Propane power is also an option, we have found some things in the boating supply websites that I couldn't find in the rv websites. I will post more as we find solutions to our AC needs... hopefully where we plan to move to, we won't need to use ac much, but it would still be nice to have it on a hot day.

From what I have heard April, anything less than 5000btu won't help much. That seems to be the minimum recommendation. If it doesn't get real hot where you camp, you might think about just getting a Fantastic Fan. It is a small roof mount fan unit that is supposed to be very good at cooling the eggs, short of an AC unit.

Here is more info: http://www.fantasticvent.com/products/products.html

[April Wilcox]

Houston will be a good place to test our AC ideas out, it's swampy and warm a lot of the time. We might just end up getting a 5000-7000 btu ac, we really can't decide without the camper being here. I was given the advice to spend a couple of weeks camping in it in our driveway before we make any major changes. This should help us figure out exactly how we use it, and where things should go. Kirk likes to tinker, sometimes we get good results, so who knows, maybe we can stumble onto something useful.

[Barbe]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

This is my absolute favorite "through-the-wall" install. Check out Lance's Blue Boler A/C install. Click on the Bolerweb pic to start: Lance's A/C Install

Once it starts and you get past the advertisement... at the top left-hand corner you will have an option of clicking the "album" if you would prefer to look at specific photos rather than viewing all the photos through the slide show. I prefer to view the album. The A/C pictures are in the second row (on my monitor).

Donna, I tried to find your favorite ''through-the-wall'' install by clicking on the link and is said page not found. Would you please give me further directions on how to find Lance's install? Thanks