I'm adding air conditioning to my Scamp.

[Bryan L.]

I'm finally adding air to my Scamp this summer. Now that I can get it in the garage at the new place we might actually use it as guest quarters when the house gets crowded. We need the air here in Kansas anyway. I had originally planned to have an AC unit that slides in and out of a hatch at the bottom of the closet. I had installed an access hatch on the outside that the back end of the AC unit would have hung out and then I was going to leave the lower door off to get the air in to the Scamp. Although neat, I was worried that the airflow wouldn't be as great as if the head of the AC unit was actually "inside" the living area more.

When mounting in the closet there seem to be two things that people are concerned about - dripping and proper air flow. I think I took care of both of those problems with one solution. I created an album that you can view with captions as that's easier than loading the pictures on to here. I still have a few things left to do but you'll get the idea.

Here's the link to the album.
http://picasaweb.google.com/brystheguy/Sca...feat=directlink

[Orlen Wolf]

Good mod Bryan. Looks like a factory install.

73
Orlen

[Joe Z]

That is a really good job.... I like it a lot
Joe

[Vickie B.]

Bryan---did you see there's a fiberglass meet up this weekend at Perry, Ks???? Would love to have you there (or are you coming?) We'd love to see as many people/campers as possible. Click on the Rally Thread for details.

I'm coming from Omaha but I'm from LAWRENCE, KANSAS. Just wanted all you to know I'm not a born and bred Husker!

[Bryan L.]

I did see that there's a rally and I'd love to come but my wife's sister is coming in from England along with the rest of her family so I feel pretty obligated to stay home. I may try and sneak away for one night though with the Scamp to try out the new AC set up. I'll have to see what I can muster up as far as getting away. It would be a super easy drive for me!

Thanks for the compliments Orlen and Joe. Orlen, still have that box of Allstate moped parts laying around?

[Vickie B.]

Hope you can sneak away for a bit!!!!

[Robin G]

Very Nice! And I have to say it again, You did a great job laminating your doors! Love it! It's just so cute and retro.......

[Matt in SV]

Would it be possible to duct the cool air in from the bottom, and the hot air out through a vent mounted in the access hatch? It seems like the trick is to get the coolest possible air to the condenser coils, and exhaust the hot stuff.
Regards,

Matt

[Bryan L.]

DONE!!!! Well, I finally finished this project up. I added more pictures to the original album in the first post for those that would like to see it. I ended up using Reflectix to make an exhaust chute to direct the hot air to the outside and the cool air will get sucked in from the bottom (Matt, we think alike!) I also added a shelf to act as a divider between the AC unit air and the interior camper air. I let it run for about 15 minutes and it cooled things off nicely. We'll see how it does in the real world though. This was all in my garage so it'll be interesting to see what happens when it's 90 out. I hate how noisy these window units are though. Is there such a thing as a quiet compressor? This didn't end up quite as "polished" as I would have liked but I had to balance that with my want for accessibility and this is the end result.

Here's the link to the album with the added pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/brystheguy/Sca...feat=directlink

[peterh]

Bryan,

That's a nice job . . . thanks for sharing.

Lynne and I will eventually be adding air to our Surfside, and plan to do something similar to what you've done. It's good to see and hear other people's ideas, so, once again, thanks for sharing.

--Peter

[Gigi]

Thanks so much for the great tutorial! I have a handy young carpenter who is interested in using my camper for three weeks in Hot Dakota! I hope, if I buy the AC, he'll be game to do exactly this set up. It's very innovative and nice looking and very practical!

Bravo! Well done!

[Margaret R-J]

actually i'm margaret-r's husband, we share the site. i installed air to our 13' scamp earlier in the spring. i put it in the closet and cut off the top air intake louvers for more air flow, as the factory did, and built ducts to separate the exhaust from the condenser intake vent. i was not satisfied with the performance, as it seemed to not "breath" properly. i decided to switch to a slide-out installation. i put stops so when pulled out, it didn't need any brackets, etc. for support and in this way, all the vents are outside like a house A/C and it drains outside, also. when ready, just push it back it and secure the lock. it takes no time at all. i lost my digital camera with pics, etc. so i will take some pics when i replace the camera if anyone is interested.
the only down side of this installation is that when the air is running, the face of the unit is several inches back from the closet face, but that is easily fixed with a slide-in channel for the cold air output. works great.

[Bryan L.]

Well, I went camping this weekend and it survived its first test run. The unit is a 5000 btu unit which I have read can be too small for the 16 foot units. Temps were in the 90's and the AC kept the camper in the low 80's during the day and just about froze us out when the sun went down. My wife was really pleased and we now realized how much more we can camp now that we have AC! We were worried that the AC unit might stick out in to the living area too much but it was no problem at all. My only regret is that the hatch door sticks out when the air is on and this does make entering the camper a bit more cumbersome. Not a huge concern, but I did notice it. Just wanted to report as to how it worked for future searchers.

[PVFunches]

Well, I went camping this weekend and it survived its first test run. The unit is a 5000 btu unit which I have read can be too small for the 16 foot units. Temps were in the 90's and the AC kept the camper in the low 80's during the day and just about froze us out when the sun went down. My wife was really pleased and we now realized how much more we can camp now that we have AC! We were worried that the AC unit might stick out in to the living area too much but it was no problem at all. My only regret is that the hatch door sticks out when the air is on and this does make entering the camper a bit more cumbersome. Not a huge concern, but I did notice it. Just wanted to report as to how it worked for future searchers.

I did something similar but I put mine where the old 3 way, take three days to cool down, fridge was. I had room for a dorm room fridge on the floor so the old a/c had to go. I had the same problem you do with the compressor staying cool enough to run. What solved the problem for me was installing a fan in the floor that blows air from outside into the cavity around the unit. It then forces the hot air out the vent. I put a roof vent over the fan motor under the trailer, screwed it to the floor, so water and stuff doesn't get to the motor. All that and I'm a girl!!!!! Don't have pic's of the a/c but I do have a pic of the trailer, she's called Trixie and we love her! Me and my girls are pictured here at White Sands New Mexico.

[Don Duncan]

<div align="left"> [b]DONE!!!! Well, I finally finished this project up. I added more pictures to the original album in the first post for those that would like to see it. I ended up using Reflectix to make an exhaust chute to direct the hot air to the outside and the cool air will get sucked in from the bottom (Matt, we think alike!) I also added a shelf to act as a divider between the AC unit air and the interior camper air. I let it run for about 15 minutes and it cooled things off nicely. We'll see how it does in the real world though. This was all in my garage so it'll be interesting to see what happens when it's 90 out. I hate how noisy these window units are though. Is there such a thing as a quiet compressor? This didn't end up quite as "polished" as I would have liked but I had to balance that with my want for accessibility and this is the end result.

Here's the link to the album with the added pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/brystheguy/Sca...feat=directlink[/quote]
I was reading your post and thought you may be able answer couple questions . I have a 13 foot 2000 scamp . I have removed the old factory installed air conditioning unit, and that was quite a job removing rivets and removing it from the closet area itself without tearing up the fiberglass. Anyway, my opening was 19"x12.5"x15" or so on the depth. I thought I may just place the unit in the original opening, so it would exhaust through the louvered access on the exterior of the trailer I did not reinstall the wooden shelf above the unit. I returned an hour later to find the unit was extremely hot. I'm not sure if I needed to reinstall the shelf so the unit would breathe correctly even though the clearance between the bottom of the shelf in the top of the unit is only approximately an inch and a half? I do not understand if the factory had installed it this way. Why the unit I would replace the factory unit with would overheat so severely. Maybe if I install a smaller unit such as a 5000 BTU that would give additional room around the side vents to breathe more freely. I'm sorry I forgot to mention the unit that I installed was a 6500 BTU unit, because I wanted to fit as close to the original opening as possible. Where the unit now sets, directly on the wheel well, I cannot cut a hole in the bottom of the unit like you demonstrated. Maybe if I install a chute to divert all of the hot air through the factory installed louvers? I am a newbie and I really appreciate the time and effort that you took to place your post. Thanks, Don

[Bob H]

Bryan, that's a fantastic install, and you documented it well. What a great way for others to see how you did it.

There is two things I did notice, one you have further alluded to about the outside door being a bit awkward. I thought about making a hanging table too, but the heat blowing out of the AC is just too much to make its use confortable.

I've regreted installing my outside access door so that it hinges up, instead of down, it would of made things so much easier.

The second is the vent in the floor. I was wondering if when towing, rainwater from the road could get blown up and into the trailer? I wonder if you can fashion a cover of some sort to keep the vent from becoming a water-scoop if & when you pass through a puddle on the road. It's probably not a concern, but it's just a thought.

Otherwise, thats a great mod...much better done & documented than mine.
ConwayBob

[Puddle]

Any chance this link still works some place else ?
I would love to see how you installed the a/c in the closet....

[tucker scamp]

Cant access the links on the air conditioner mod , can someone help me with ideals on how to install a 6000 btu window unit in a scamp closet ? Any help would be great .

[Bryan L.]

I thought this album was lost forever but I managed to find it again under a different user name after Picasa was bought by Google. Here's the link for those that might be interested in this. (I couldn't edit my other posts?)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q2LGsMj2WjnQvUT56

[Amy Bowen]

Originally Posted by Bryan L.

I'm finally adding air to my Scamp this summer. Now that I can get it in the garage at the new place we might actually use it as guest quarters when the house gets crowded. We need the air here in Kansas anyway. I had originally planned to have an AC unit that slides in and out of a hatch at the bottom of the closet. I had installed an access hatch on the outside that the back end of the AC unit would have hung out and then I was going to leave the lower door off to get the air in to the Scamp. Although neat, I was worried that the airflow wouldn't be as great as if the head of the AC unit was actually "inside" the living area more.

When mounting in the closet there seem to be two things that people are concerned about - dripping and proper air flow. I think I took care of both of those problems with one solution. I created an album that you can view with captions as that's easier than loading the pictures on to here. I still have a few things left to do but you'll get the idea.

Here's the link to the album.
http://picasaweb.google.com/brystheguy/Sca...feat=directlink

The ac in my Trillium I think was installed using your guide. Time to redo the ac and I can't access your diagrams. Would you be able to Repost? Thanks!