Window A/C Possible? - Fiberglass RV
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Old 05-21-2003, 10:35 PM   #1
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Window A/C Possible?

Hello All,

Hey has anyone tried putting a window A/C :winter unit in thier egg? I saw one at SAM'S that is only 17" wide, 13" deep And 13" tall for $135.00. The prices I've seen for the roof top ones run arounf $700.00 and up. Also dont know if my roof would hold one up. My Scamp has only the closet to the left of the door on the inside. I have heard that the closets and cabinet structures support the roof so mine has only the support of one closet. It does have the 3 speed vent on the roof and when viewed from the top I can see that the roof sags about 1 - 2 inches just from the weight of the fan. Thought maybe I could mount the A/C in the bottom half of the closet in my Scamp 16. Would have to mount some kind of pan at the bottom to catch and drain the condensation, then mount the a/c unit above that and then box in above it too. I could then put a vent to the outside in the back of the closet behind it. Do you think that would work? I am in the process of installing 3 Slider windows (2 in 1 to go - will post pics and story later) Anyway I can't actually mount it in a window like it is supposed to be mounted and I don't want to cut a hole and leave half of it sticking out. Thought if I sealed it into the closet with a vent behind it that it might work. The unit is 5,000 BTU's. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks,

Dan



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Old 05-22-2003, 06:37 AM   #2
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A/C

Dan, you have several possibilities with a window style A/C. Casita now installs all of there 13 and 16 models under the front closet. Years before, they were put in the back window (where mine still is hanging on after 14 years).


Here's one that was just put into a Scamp:
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ec8426eaa3cd100-0003_IMG.jpg/>
His comments: Incidentally, the air conditioner is installed with a louvered vent in the side of the camper for fresh air intake, and with a lockable compartment door in the front for exhaust. The door will be open when running the A/C. The door allows me access to the wiring cluster that is in there. I put a baffle around the air conditioner itself, to keep fresh and exhaust air separate.

I think you are wise to assume that the roof will not carry the weight.



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Old 05-22-2003, 04:23 PM   #3
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Thanks Suz

Hi Suz,:wave

Thanks for the info. Do you by any chance remember who it was that put one into the Scamp. I would like to email them for more details. Like what did he use for the access door and what not. Would really like to be able to put one into my egg without spending $700.00 to $800.00. Mine was bare bones when I got it. No windows and only the closet on the inside. I have since built in a full size bed for my wife and I and bunk beds for the kids. Will use it like a permanent tent that holds all of our camping stuff when we're home. Have also installed two slider windows (one in each side) and have a third for the back which I will put in if it ever stops raining here in Atlanta. Will post pics of all the improvements as I finish them. Anyway let me know if you remember who it was that installed the A/C unit. Thanks again, Dan



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Old 05-22-2003, 04:41 PM   #4
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DUH!

Sorry about that. I meant to put the link here for that thread and I got interupted.

Paul's Scamp Redo

There a couple of pages here of before and after. Be prepared to be inspired!



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Old 05-22-2003, 07:49 PM   #5
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I like window units as nearly every ceiling model I've experienced is terribly noisy. You might consider a window model with several fan speeds. You don't need to blow cool air 30 feet into the back bedroom and the low noise of a very low speed fan is nice. Sometimes the really cheap ones are noisy and an extra thirty dollars will make a big difference since you need to sleep 5 feet away from the machine. I saw one at home depot today for $97.00. I don't know how quiet it is.

I have a 3 speed unit in one bedroom of my home and it is very quiet on low fan speed.

Also mounting the ac low in the trailer might lessen the drumming vibration of it hanging high on the fiberglass wall. Perhap someone with a window installation will chip in here.

good luck

john



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Old 05-22-2003, 07:56 PM   #6
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Hi John
On the bolerama site I have seen picturies of an a/c built into the closet on the floor.It seemed to be ok.I know it can be done in the 13ft units.I am going to try Fantastic Fan first,before going a/c route.



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Old 05-22-2003, 08:56 PM   #7
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Dan - It sounds like your closet is in the standard place on the side to the left of the door as you walk in? If so, the thread that might be handiest for you is this one from Steve Tonneson: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/read.php?TID=1495 . He did exactly that. In my install, where the closet is in the front closet, the situation is somewhat different.

To answer your questions, The air intake louvered vent I bought is about 6" x 8". I got it through Gold Coast RV Supply. Their catalog is a bit difficult to come by in my neck of the woods (Indiana). I got my catalog from Hilltop Travel Trailers in Red Oak, TX (972) 617-8311. They might be willing to mail you a catalog, since they get a cut of any sales. Or, call Gold Coast at (800) 876-2627 to find out if there is a closer dealer to you that you could pick a catalog up. They have everything you could wish for in RV parts, excepting windows. I also bought the access door through them, but have since found that I could have gotten the exact same thing for half the price through eBay.

Anyway, I started by drilling a hole in the bottom of the air conditioner to release condensate. I drilled a corresponding hole in the floor of the camper, and once the unit was in place, I epoxied a small piece of PVC pipe on over the hole to make a drain. I cut the hole in the side of the camper and put in the louvered grill for air intake. The very front corner of the camper has the wiring harness, so I put the access door there. When the a/c is running, the door will need to be open. I'm not sure yet if I'll like this -- I might still add an exhaust grill later. The advantage of a door is that it keeps road spray out when towing. A grill would need to be covered with something, as are Casita's front a/c units. The disadvantage is that presumably, a critter could get in when the door is open. I also considered venting the exhaust through the floor, using louvered vents. This would have addressed the road spray and critter issue, but I decided that I needed access to the wiring harness anyway.

I built a baffle that goes around the a/c condenser, to direct the air to the access door and to keep the intake and exhaust air separate. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this part.

That's really about it. The major difference I see between my a/c unit and Steve's is that he had to cut a vent into the top. Mine is already vented on both sides and the top. But, either could be made to work. Mine really doesn't move a lot of air through the condensor, either, so I didn't have to make the grill really big. I could have used a larger one, I suppose, but I don't think it was necessary in this case.

I hope this helps a bit. Feel free to ask more questions if you need.



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Old 06-27-2003, 09:58 PM   #8
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considering putting a window air conditioner

I am considering putting a window air conditioner in my Scamp 13 ft. where the ice box was located. When I bought the trailer it had a 110V AC unit in the slot. I have since removed it and the slot is empty. I use a 40 qt thermoelectric to keep my food cool so I thought this would be an ideal location to put an AC. I am interested in how others have vented the condenser and accomodated the water condensate from the evaporator.



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Old 06-28-2003, 09:53 AM   #9
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12 volts AC

Hi!

I just don't believe it!!! :snowman

Look at this one:

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3efdba5c03580KoolerAire_Unit.jpg/>

http://www.kooleraire.com/KoolerAire25.htm

I wonder if putting a computer fan in front of an ice bag would do about the same effect?

Alain



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Old 06-28-2003, 01:47 PM   #10
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Do you think this would be dry cold air or wet. wet wouldn't help a lot around here. but if it was dry. that would be great. :)



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Old 06-28-2003, 03:39 PM   #11
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I suppose that if you fill the cooler with ice it would give moist air. But if you keep the ice in the bag or use frozen soda bottles or water, it would be dry air.

Here is what they say about that:

Kool Tip: For best results KoolerAire recommends using Ice
Packs or Frozen Soda Bottles combined with ice. The air
will be very cold, reduce moisture & extend cooling time!

This thing, if it works, would be nice to have for somebody like me who never use shore power, except in my driveway.

Alain



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Old 06-28-2003, 04:24 PM   #12
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ice consumtion

Some how i think this would only work if you where parked next to an ice machine
A 25 pound (11.34Kg) solid block of ice would absorb 3,600 BTU's of heat while melting.



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Old 06-28-2003, 07:30 PM   #13
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Maybe I read it wrong. The website also suggests freezing the water in the cooler:conf

So I guess you open the cooler, fill it with water, put the whole thing in a deep freeze and take it out when you have one solid block of ice.:shg

Maybe you could make a single cooler sized jumbo ice cube with an appropriately sized plastic storage container and access to a deep freezer? Since the thing seems to work with the cooler open, you'd have to have redundant sealed coolers of slower melting ice to backfill as each cooling source dissolves in turn.



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Old 06-29-2003, 07:26 AM   #14
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But !!

Where are you going to refreeze the ice block.
Do a simple at home test .
place a frozen plastic pop bottle out on you counter.
Then take a non frozen plastic pop bottle and put it in the freezer.
see which one freezes or thaws the faster.



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Old 06-29-2003, 02:02 PM   #15
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I filled up a bucket with bottles of frozen water, maybe 15 pounds of ice total, then put a 6" computer fan at half power, that blow inside the bucket.

Does it work? Well, it is working a little bit. The air comming out of the bucket is colder than the one entering in it. If you put your hand or your face near, you will feel a refreshing dry wind. But that's it. Not enough to cool the trailer, or maybe for just one or 2 degrees.

It took 2 1/2 hours to melt almost all the ice. My fan was using 0.25 amp. It was 80 degree F. outside this morning when I made the test.

To bad!

I would have loved this idea.

Alain



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Old 06-29-2003, 02:41 PM   #16
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Saw a 12 volt fan about 4 to 5 inches across with an add on frozen section. says it last 2 hrs. for wet air soak the section. will last 3 hrs. cute for a short cool down. It was in Sportsmansguide.com Camping and Outdoor living catalog. $15 US. page 50. wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't for this dicussion. :lol.



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Old 06-29-2003, 03:08 PM   #17
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thanks Alain B

Tomorrow i plan on trying a test myself just waiting on water to freeze iam usein 20 1 liter bottles a pet cage and a small 110 fan .
dieing to see what happens inside the trailer. glad i have a remote reading thermometer to measuse progress or lack of with out opening the door



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Old 06-29-2003, 08:51 PM   #18
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Al,

I suggest you put a pan or something under the pet cage, if it is not waterproof. The frozen bottles will also act as a dehumidifier. The moisture from the air will condense on the bottles and will drop on the floor if you don't take care.


Alain:thumb



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Old 06-30-2003, 12:18 PM   #19
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here are the results

pet cage has a solid floor lol
52 lbs of ice in 20 liter plastic bottles small 110 ac fan on trillium 1300 in the shade of a maple tree.
time--------inside temp----outside temp
610 pm-------88.3------------84.0
625-----------87.3
640-----------85.3
655-----------83.8
710-----------82.8------------84.0
725-----------82.3
740-----------81.7
755-----------81.3
810-----------81.1------------83.5
825-----------80.8------------82.4
840-----------80.4------------81.1
855-----------80.1------------80.1
910-----------80.4------------74.0 sunset and ice completly melted

opened trill up and was greated to nice dry air even if it was 80 .
it took a regular gym bath towel to soak up the water in the bottom of the cage . Nice experiment but where are you going to get 50 lbs of ice every 3 hours?

i tryed the experiment with 10 bottles this morning . it could not keep up with the sun load and temp kept climbing untill i i opened the windows and let the breeze do its work so 26 pounds of ice is not enough .
Al



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Old 07-01-2003, 08:24 AM   #20
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Window air

Hello,

Our 1982 Scamp 16' we just bought came with a window air installed in the door side rear window. It's a smaller GE Carry Cool that doesn't look too bad. It sticks out the side of the camper about 4 inches and likewise on the inside. I've seen some mounted so the entire unit is sticking out the side of the unit about a foot. Looks tacky in my opinion. While I would prefer a nice roof top unit, this is what our trailer came with. Heck, I'd like a brand new trailer. Our window unit makes it like a fridge in there! No pics right now...sorry.



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