Window A/C Units: Other install methods

lornaschinske · 06-12-2011, 11:38 AM

So David has won the Air Conditioning "debate" so we will be getting one (and the generator that would be needed to operate it). We have decided to install ductwork down the center of the bus under the floor (it would run approximately down the center of the bus). The bus' original fan-forced hydronic heat exchanger that sits in the rear of the bus will be centered under the bus just behind the rear wheels. Along with a large 120v window air unit. They will share a plenum and all the duct work will be run under the floor with vents tucked up in the fronts of cabinets/walls. The Generator (looking at a 6000W genny from Home Depot) will be installed under the bus, hung off the "rails" that run the length of the bus between the rear bumper and the heat/air units. We will most likely have to remove the fuel tank (gravity feed fuel system) and set it next to the rear bumper and add a fuel filler. This generator seems to have an electric start panel that does not appear in the webpage description. We looked at this one in the Home Depot in Los Lunas but need to go back and study it a bit more before we buy. BTW, its rated at 79 DB. Loud but not horrible.

(the Handle folds down and we would remove it)
http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...atalogId=10053
And then there is this one that is available online only.. same price more watts....

http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...atalogId=10053

This was some great info on installing a window AC unit but one is thru the roof and the other is in the "basement". Makes you think...

Converting a Window AC unit into a Rooftop unit:
http://forums.woodalls.com/Index.cfm...d/21943313.cfm more details with PICTURES http://forums.woodalls.com/Index.cfm...2.cfm#21965852
http://forums.woodalls.com/Index.cfm...1.cfm#21980941

somewhereinusa · 06-13-2011, 02:19 PM

I looked at an old Avion trailer many years ago, it had what appeared to be a factory installed AC unit. It looked like it was a window unit mounted low (bad idea) in a wall near the center of the unit. Basically under a storage closet. The only thing visible from the outside was a nice looking grill.

somewhereinusa · 06-17-2011, 09:34 PM

I think the duct will work, although I would do some planning for maybe a muffin fan at the outlet if needed just to help things along.

GreyEagle · 06-18-2011, 11:03 AM

Has anyone tried the indoor AC Units in their bus???????? My son is stationed at McCord AFB in Washington state......
This past summer it got really hot there. about 10 - 20 degrees above the norm of 70 - 80....No AC unit in government quarters (his anyway) I understand as they remodel they are adding AC units ...
The moral of the story is he purchased an indoor AC unit to cool his house. worked well but not great, he really needed two of the units . one not enough for the house.
Anyway they only need to but vented outside like the dryer vent. and of course dumping the water tank as it fills. Just wondering if these might work well in a bus?

lornaschinske · 06-18-2011, 12:31 PM

I've heard that they don't cool very well. No practical experience though.

Stuff · 06-19-2011, 01:04 PM

just make the ducts large enough. thats half the problem with conentional RV's is that the ducting is too small mostly due to the roof not having proper room.

somewhereinusa · 06-20-2011, 07:50 AM

I have an indoor unit in my semi does ok up to about 85 deg after that if the sun's shining it doesn't do very well. Big problem there is no regulation concerning what they can advertise about the unit.

Bullwhacker007 · 08-03-2011, 07:59 PM

I am considering installing a unit in my bus.
I looked at the closed article mentioned in a post here where the guy converted a window unit to a roof top unit.
I looked at his pictures and one thing I didn't see was the vent for the room air to be sucked into and then blown through the evaporator back into the room?
If this intake is in the same box shown in his picture wouldn't the evaporator just ice up on you?
I have also seen other posts where people have put the unit into a cabinet on top of the refer and vented the condenser through the window; BUT again I see where you would be pulling cool room air into the side vent and blowing it out through the condenser? Am I wrong?
I would think the vent to the outside would need to be in two parts; one for exhaust and one to pull outside air to blow back out through the condenser and not using your cool air inside to do that?

lornaschinske · 08-04-2011, 11:18 AM

Window A/C units ("Room Air conditioners) recycle interior air. They do not pull it in from outside. That big huge section under the part that is pushing out cold air is sucking the same air back into it. You need it to get air, whether is is sucking the in the immediate vicinity or pulling it, thru ducts and a plenum, from another part of the "house". Most folks will simply use the air in the immediate vicinity rather than building a duct systems to pull the air from another part of the "house". The window units are made for that... it's why they are called "room " air conditioners. The motor, etc, needs ambient air flow to dump the heat from all the cold air making components. Once you understand how an air conditioner works and how a window A/C unit works and that it only recycles the air, it becomes much easier to figure out how to adapt an A/C unit to fit your specific application. I'm not going thru this again, use the link. We had to explain to one of my daughters how an A/C unit works last night and why she couldn't just plug the window unit (we just bought it up in Albuquerque) in her bedroom with it sitting on a table in the middle of the room. And had to deal with the idiot boyfriend who thinks he knows everything (yet knows nothing) in the process..... heavy blunt object... shallow grave out in the desert... wishful thinking.

lornaschinske · 08-05-2011, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceni John

Anyone here know, or have tipped a window AC up on its end?

Thanks, John

Don't! If you tip an AC unit on it's side (or upside down) you have to wait 24 hours before you can run it after righting it. It's like a refrigerator. There is an UP on them. You can burn up the compressor. Just build a plenum and mount the front of the AC unit to it (section for cold air out and also a return air section). Plenums are easy. They are just junction boxes for routing the ductwork. We built the one for our Class C furnace from lightweight flashing (we just cut it with a pair of kitchen shears... the kind you use to cut up chicken). Just a metal box. Make sure you get the metal tape and tape up any place that air can seep out. Also keeps the bugs out.

Click on the thumbnail to see a bigger picture. If you look at the bottom of the picture, you can see the simple plenum that we built for the furnace. The air just blows down into the opening (see where the red electrical wire is) in the top of the box and the out to the ducts on the sides of the box. You can also see the shiny metal ductwork tape we used. This stuff sticks very well ... to anything it touches... including me.

Very simple to make.

lornaschinske · 08-06-2011, 02:45 PM

Time to get the hip boots out.. it's getting deep!

Bullwhacker007 · 08-21-2011, 07:09 PM

It is clear one poster completely misunderstood or wasn't able to understand my questions and a sarcastic response is not needed.
If they talked to their daughter and "boyfriend" who knows everything like they did in their post; well I get what happened in that discussion...
Then rambled on about blunt objects and shallow grave in the desert..

The question was one poster modified a windows AC unit to use in a roof AC enclosure; yet I didn't see any intake for the EVAPORATOR NOT THE CONDENSER?
No air or slow air room intake and the EVAPORATOR turns into a block of ice..
The question was where and how was the room intake placed?

The other question was about another poster placing a window AC unit on top of their refer inside of a cabinet and just have the CONDENSER GRILL blow outside. My question was if done that way would not the intake vents for the CONDENSER pull cool air from the ROOM and blow it OUTSIDE?
Would you not have to make Pentiums for the CONDENSER VENTS and hook duck tubing to it to PULL AIR FROM the OUTSIDE..

I actually tried it the way first post and the AC was sucking cool air out of the bus from the CONDENSER intake vents on the side; yet I had sealed the CONDENSER around the window to blow hot air outside. I figured I was wasting power that way and needed an AC unit almost twice the size needed using it this way. The AC had to run at full blast to cool the bus..

So I then bent up some sheet metal plenums and pop riveted them to the CONDENSER vents on both sides of the AC case and ran duck tubing to a port to suck outside air in and then blow the hot air out through the CONDENSER to the outside...

What happened after that was amazing; the bedroom turned into a meat locker and I didn't have to run the AC at full blast...

I am in no way trying or being sarcastic; mean or nasty. I am a new bus converter and asked a simple question(s).. Many of you have been there and done that already and I am as well as others trying to learn from you all. BUT to state I am not going to explain it again chills out these questions from people interested and curious.. Why even respond if you feel that way about questions being asked?

P.S. I know how an AC works. My questions were due to the modifications being made or used...

lornaschinske · 08-21-2011, 10:00 PM

The link I posted to how an AC works explains why and which parts get air for where. So if you know how an A/C unit works then you already knew that the rear fins need an air source. Why should I repeat something that was already online and written much clearer than I could put it. But I can try to pull all this info off this post if that will make you happy. If I can't do that myself, I can ask a moderator to do so for me.

crazycal · 07-16-2012, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bullwhacker007

It is clear one poster completely misunderstood or wasn't able to understand my questions and a sarcastic response is not needed.
If they talked to their daughter and "boyfriend" who knows everything like they did in their post; well I get what happened in that discussion...
Then rambled on about blunt objects and shallow grave in the desert..

The question was one poster modified a windows AC unit to use in a roof AC enclosure; yet I didn't see any intake for the EVAPORATOR NOT THE CONDENSER?
No air or slow air room intake and the EVAPORATOR turns into a block of ice..
The question was where and how was the room intake placed?

The other question was about another poster placing a window AC unit on top of their refer inside of a cabinet and just have the CONDENSER GRILL blow outside. My question was if done that way would not the intake vents for the CONDENSER pull cool air from the ROOM and blow it OUTSIDE?
Would you not have to make Pentiums for the CONDENSER VENTS and hook duck tubing to it to PULL AIR FROM the OUTSIDE..

I actually tried it the way first post and the AC was sucking cool air out of the bus from the CONDENSER intake vents on the side; yet I had sealed the CONDENSER around the window to blow hot air outside. I figured I was wasting power that way and needed an AC unit almost twice the size needed using it this way. The AC had to run at full blast to cool the bus..

So I then bent up some sheet metal plenums and pop riveted them to the CONDENSER vents on both sides of the AC case and ran duck tubing to a port to suck outside air in and then blow the hot air out through the CONDENSER to the outside...

What happened after that was amazing; the bedroom turned into a meat locker and I didn't have to run the AC at full blast...

I am in no way trying or being sarcastic; mean or nasty. I am a new bus converter and asked a simple question(s).. Many of you have been there and done that already and I am as well as others trying to learn from you all. BUT to state I am not going to explain it again chills out these questions from people interested and curious.. Why even respond if you feel that way about questions being asked?

P.S. I know how an AC works. My questions were due to the modifications being made or used...

Do you have pictures of what you did?

chev49 · 07-16-2012, 06:16 PM

yeah. pics would be great..

im a moron cause i didnt think of that...

well, and for a zillion other reasons...

NilesSkoolie · 05-04-2013, 08:37 PM

I installed a 10,000 BTU portable in my bus. Air circulation is defiantly a must to keep the hole bus cool. I vented it out the floor so the hot air it generates wasn't blowing on us outside the bus where we sit and have drinks so through the floor was ideal. Both my wife and i are 6'1 so saving the headroom was the reasoning behind not using a roof mount units. Not to mention it was a few hundred cheaper so i can use that money i saved to put into a new fridge

. Its not as cold as my house A/C but it is more than acceptable.

Chris

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