It allows you to switch out stale air for fresh and retain a high percentage of the ambient in trailer heat or cold. If you scroll down the linked pdf a bit to the Air-port it describes it better than I would. I'm sure it's not a must have but I was thinking how my super sealed up trailer would allow me to keep breathing and this was the first product my Googling came up with. Granted I will most likely have a bath vent fan and a cooktop fan but they would not always be open. Just thinking.
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1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
William, the Trumas look very nice, and exactly like what I am ultimately looking for. I saw 12V listed in addition to the 230V on the spec sheet, but I believe that is not related to the cooling power draw.
I'm a little weak on the subject, so here it goes.
The "Truma" looks like a really cool system that would work well in a bunch of trailers. But, it appears to be 240v. So the question becomes, it there a model like that in the USA, how does one convert to 120v, etc...
1979 23' Safari
Currently Looking...
Las Cruces
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 54
Split for an Argosy Minuet
Thanks to all that have contributed. I have a '78, 6.7 Argosy Minuet. The interesting thing is that it has never had AC in it. Cam that way from the factory and lived most of its life in Maine. In New Mexico and many of the places I travel, AC is a necessity. To date, the LG that has some history of use seemed the best choice with a balance of cost ant ease of installation.
The recent posts show the Truma and the Dometic split for a truck show great promise. I especially like the Dometic's compact external part.
Has anybody actually installed one of these or anything other than the LG and could they share their experience?
O-K....Am I missing something here? To get rid of the roof mounted A/C unit why can't a portable 8-10K BTU room air conditioner work? It could be vented thru the floor or side wall. Just a thought. edc
1966 24' Tradewind
1995 34' Excella
Lynchburg
, Virginia
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,226
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1966air
O-K....Am I missing something here? To get rid of the roof mounted A/C unit why can't a portable 8-10K BTU room air conditioner work? It could be vented thru the floor or side wall. Just a thought. edc
1966air
Sure you can, but one portable A/C will only work for a small trailer. I have done this for my Tradewind. I mount a portable A/C unit in the side window when I need it. The rest of the time it rides in the bottom of a closet.
Longer trailers would need multiple portable A/C units or a split system that would allow more than one location for the air handlers. Remember that new solutions have new problems. That is really what this thread is all about; identifying the new problems and how to solve them. It is not easy.
Thinking about the portable units I could install them much like a window unit in a fixed installation in the trailer vented through the floor or something. I guess they may work much like the product I'll mention next but if they are designed for stationary use in a house or apartment I'm assuming that they are put together differently. The cost for a couple of these free standing ones isn't so different that I'd be tempted especially if I have a blank slate for installation.
Next up I read the install sheets for the LG splits and there's a lot of warnings regarding vibration and that the unit must be installed on a level surface etc, which although I appreciate that it isn't going to destroy the unit immediately does make me less than encouraged. Still not ruling it out completely though, I could even start to like the big external unit if I had it chromed.
I'm hunting for more info on the Dometic ASCEQ14. It's listed in their file I mentioned earlier in this thread but I'd skipped past it thinking split was the way forward. It's one of their self contained units that vents through the floor, runs solely on 120 Volt power, provides up to 14,000 btu plus heat and runs off a 2.5K generator. I found a used one that sold for $375 and the Dometic site mentions that they are cheaper than their split systems so it sounds positive. It gets installed with ducting to take the cool air up to where it's needed but that's a given with all of the units except the splits. On the up side the install would leave no visual clues on the outside of the trailer and I could even consider two smaller 10k units instead, one fore and another aft to ease losses in the ducting and still run both of my Honda generator.
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1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
Just for completeness and to answer a question about running a 240 v unit I saw this in the UK, it's a Dometic HB2500 under couch AC unit and I saw an optional accessory that allows it to run off 12V… So not many btu's but it's another unit that's out there.
HB2500 Air Conditioning Unit
Experience the world′s first under-bench motorhome air conditioner with genuine heating function! Regardless of whether it is tropically hot or unpleasantly cold outside: the climate inside your vehicle is always just right. Based on efficient heat pump technology the Dometic HB2500 air conditioner provides high performance at low energy consumption. It purifies and dehumidifies the air, cools or warms it. The air is evenly distributed to the different areas of the vehicle via three outlets. The position of these outlets is variable and can be individually adapted to your vehicle. All functions, which include night-time control and time programming, can be comfortably set by remote control. The benefits of under-bench installation are obvious: roof window, outer dimensions and the physical properties of your vehicle remain unaffected. The Dometic HB2500 air conditioner has the following features: Energy-efficient heat pump system for cooling and heating, No extra roof load, roof window is retained, Three blower speeds, air distribution can be adjusted as required, Variable position of the air outlets, Low-noise air circulation, Low weight, High operating comfort with multi-functional remote control, Designed for stationary operation (230 volts), In combination with DC-Kit-3 also for mobile operation (12 volts), Circuit protection for campsites: 6 A delay fuse.
Cooling Capacity 2500 watts / 8500 Btu/h
Heating Capacity 3000 watts
Power Consumption 900 / 1100 watts
Input Voltage 230 volts AC / 50Hz
Current Consumption 3.9 / 4.8 A
Necessary Circuit Protection 6 A delay fuse
Number of Blower Speeds 3
Thermostat Temperature Control Yes
Refrigerant R410a
Dimensions (WxHxD) 400 x 280 x 710mm
Weight Approx 24.9kg
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1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
Another one; but this bad boy gets installed outside the trailer…. I haven't bothered reading the install stuff but I guess it's built up a bit more for life on the road.
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1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
Another option although the website looks a bit military. Nice to see you can have it made all aluminum or stainless though :-) I don't think I want to know how much these would "retail" for.
1971 21' Globetrotter
Currently Looking...
Currently Looking...
Currently Looking...
Arvada
, Colorado
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 3,530
Never used R 407C don't know anything about that coolant.
I finally was able to talk to Danford and was told that they DO NOT do RV installs and the sales person was rather rude, anyway the biggest system they have with a 115VAC compressor was 10k btu.
My current fave, the Dometic self-contained sleeper cab model ASCDQ14 uses R 22, no idea if that's good or bad? I just realized that even when I don't have 120 and can't run the genny that I can run it on fan only mode drawing cool air from under the trailer in and vent warm air out through a ceiling vent at the other end of the trailer which would be better than nothing (or FF's) in a state park on a hot night.
William, I need to ask at least for my own edification. Again, I am sure that I will demonstrate my ignorance, but looking at a couple of these options:
- For any ordinary window type unit, would I have sufficient ventilation if I attached the rear of the unit to the large vent coming up from the fridge? I would like to put it above the fridge.
- For the UK/Oz 220/230V models, is it possible to use a voltage converter safely to change it from 220 to 110V? It doesn't seem like real viable solution, but, why not if one could find a robust converter? Used the plenty while overseas for long term if static use.
Anyone have sufficient HVAC or electrical expertise?
I wish I had some more experience with the AC kit but I'll have a stab at question part 1. On the window AC unit I bought and tried it wasn't just the rear panel per se that needed to be vented it was pretty much everything except the front face! The base was not too tricky to modify for drainage but venting the sides, top and rear required just too much surface area. I'd say pick a model of window unit (mine was a Haier) and download the manual and take a boo at the vent requirements. There's also lots of installs on this site with extra fans and what not and indeed I had a go with that but in the end for me it was kind of spoiled the OEM/ factory feel and security that I'd like. Also I have a sneaking suspicion that after all the modifying and bodging that the thing would give out when I want it the most and I'd be left to sort of start again, at least with a stock RV or truck product I can get it serviced or replaced a bit more easily, (I hope). Plan B, buy one build a quick box to sit it in and cut the hole size you can work with and let it run outside for a few hours and see if it gets warm, hot or China syndrome hot.
Now I've found the Dometic self contained floor models and that they are native 120 V I'd skip all the export models, but that being said I have little experience with transformers. (I did buy a biggish one when I first moved from a 240V country to Canada just to power a rather high end European hifi and it worked well, I installed it in my basement and ran a dedicated 240V line to my hifi room). It was heavy, and noisy, I wouldn't do it again.
I don't know if that helps or hinders but there's got to be an AC expert tech somewhere here with real knowledge not the armchair variety….
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1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
Yeah, still feel a bit like virgins talking about sex here.
I emailed about nine different vendors, and only have one real response so far. I will be surprised if I get more than one more response. One vendor is offering me a 14k Dometic split unit for $1200. Says he's got eight at the moment. I've got to do some checking tonight. The big questions are the venting requirements, and how much I can seperate the condenser and the exchanger/blower unit, or if it can do a vertical run with the return exchange of about 5-6 feet.
I am right with you on the concerns over the serviceability and ability to make it appear as an OEM finish. I don't want a ghetto looking mass of duct tape in the cabinet that cannot be fixed or operated without looking like a hot mess.
Just had a talk yesterday with the folks at Climate Right. Very helpful, and they are supposed to get back to me with some information from their HVAC tech to see if what I had in mind might be able to provide the necessary venting. This unit is smaller than I thought, and lighter, just a matter of suitability inside the trailer. CR-8000-AC - ClimateRight Their installation instruction recommend against interior installs, but the concern appears to be mitigated with proper venting.
Of note, they are coming out with a split 12K BTU heating and cooling system in two months for about $1000 and perhaps less, so that may be just the ticket for you William. I have asked for any information they might have available on that. To their credit they seem very interested in finding a workable solution, and one of their techs claims to be a former Airstream factory employee.
For a data point I'll speak up for my experience of the LG Art Cool mini split. I installed one on my '54 cruiser which we full time in. The Art cool has been running great for 3 years now running 75% of the time. I have hooked up to wall outlets before and ran the whole things, label says it takes ten amps max while running ( besides startup obviously).
My only complaint is really just due to my airstream setup, and we had to place the inside unit in the back bedroom of the trailer. This is not ideal obviously and without a fan circulating the air there can be quite the temp difference, but evven still the heating and cooling power of this thing is impressive. It alone kept us warm at 3 degrees this winter...
I recently got a vornado fan to push the conditioned air to the front and by doing this, the front and rear temperatures equaled out in the trailer. If you could find a good place for two inside air handlers this thing could cool and heat your trailer nicely. Mine cost $1200 and I love it.
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