Heavy Fuel - Page 12

M1031A1 · 06-07-2016, 03:44 AM

Went to Blumenthal's yesterday to get her fitted for the steel blanks I'm ordering up for her. I'll go back next Monday or so for the final fit and get the skin in two weeks. Can't wait to get the windows out and start with BUILDING!!!!!! MUHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I still have to relocate the coolant lines to below the floorboards first though.......... Dang details........

Tango · 06-07-2016, 09:13 AM

Hey M --- you were right across the road! They have done nearly all of the sheetmetal work on my rig. Good guys and great work so far. And because of that, they do occasionally get swamped with big scale projects.

M1031A1 · 06-07-2016, 08:05 PM

Tang,

I had my son with me, let loose with my air horn to see if you were there, no one came out.......

Will be going over on Monday, I believe. Maybe you'll be there then. I'll call ahead of time then.....

M1031A1 · 06-14-2016, 03:56 AM

Well, yesterday we got our 15K A/C unit for $430! Yes, I noticed in another thread people have knocked the window rattlers. However, we're using this one with a modification to make it a central air unit under the floorboards. But at this point in time I'm fabbing a makeshift mount just so we can have some cool air to work in this summer. Next step is to get new 3/4 inch coolant lines to re-route the plumbing from above floor to below floor for my heaters. The steel blanks from Blumenthal's is running almost $1K, which I expected. Going there Friday for a final measurement and put a deposit on the work.

Here's to trying to keep Heavy on track for a four year (or sooner) build completion!

M1031

Tango · 06-14-2016, 08:47 AM

Personally...I'll take a window unit over any rooftop "RV A/C" made. The ones I have owned over the years were crap, expensive to maintain & repair and the shrouds were so UV sensitive that they either came apart or flew off with regularity.

You can buy/replace a high efficiency window unit for less than it costs to pull and service an RV unit.

And when converted to a basement style, even better. Go for it!

cadillackid · 06-14-2016, 08:57 AM

lots of heat loss when converting a window unit but then i make custom Air units all the time so go for it if you know the thermodynamics and how to get it to work right...

I agree most RV units are Junk!! my neighbor had a camper and I swear every year i had to go work on his Junk dometic rooftop air units....

and of course im sure everyone taking road trips has seen the shrouds laying along side the freeway that have blown off of rooftop units...

to build my own A/C I would sooner start with a PTAC than I would a window shaker... just because most of the mare 2 shaft 2 motor and some are even ductable...

Minisplits are great other than the massive outdoor unit size... hard to basement mount.. the indoor units on those are easy to take apart and modify.. (thats what I built my house A/C based on.. before VRV was even thought of for residential)..

-Christopher

EastCoastCB · 06-14-2016, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

lots of heat loss when converting a window unit but then i make custom Air units all the time so go for it if you know the thermodynamics and how to get it to work right...

I agree most RV units are Junk!! my neighbor had a camper and I swear every year i had to go work on his Junk dometic rooftop air units....

and of course im sure everyone taking road trips has seen the shrouds laying along side the freeway that have blown off of rooftop units...

to build my own A/C I would sooner start with a PTAC than I would a window shaker... just because most of the mare 2 shaft 2 motor and some are even ductable...

Minisplits are great other than the massive outdoor unit size... hard to basement mount.. the indoor units on those are easy to take apart and modify.. (thats what I built my house A/C based on.. before VRV was even thought of for residential)..

-Christopher

Even with the 5 storage bays under my bus, there is an amazing amount of room to mount stuff. Mini split will be my method of cooling.

cadillackid · 06-14-2016, 09:53 AM

I dont have as much room in a shortie.. between air tanks, air ride suspension pieces.. then on the right side is the exhaust taking up a lot of room... im thinking of height... I just dont have much skirt height.. so stuff hanging down would just look ugly and hanging down if I tried to use a mini split..
-Christopher

M1031A1 · 06-14-2016, 04:55 PM

Ok, here's a few shots of the "little monster" we bought yesterday. It's a 15,100 btu unit from Frigidare. We've researched these units now for over two years. This one seems to have the least problems for the money. The design of the central air unit this thing attaches to will make swapping out this thing easy (in theory). This unit is 100 pounds. Oh, and we put it on our chest freezer that will go into the galley. Space is getting crowded in our apartment at this time. Gotta get building soon..........

cadillackid · 06-14-2016, 05:24 PM

how do you plan on attaching it to a duct system and maintaining seal between the return and supply as well as the proper airflow CFM across its coils.. those units dont have the capabilities of building up static pressure.. to properly distribute the air you will need a secondary blower (but not too big)...

im interested to see how it comes together... the frigidaire units in general are pretty good units... they typically also can take a bit of tilt angle so running it while driving shouldnt blow the compressor apart like some of the window units will (centrifigal force on a compressor designed to be stationary can destroy it..{ie turning corners.. bouncing over bumps}) but the frigidaires seem to be pretty rugged.. (I used to work for the company years ago and we beat our window shakers up pretty hard in test and expected them to last)..

-Christopher

Jolly Roger · 06-14-2016, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

lots of heat loss when converting a window unit but then i make custom Air units all the time so go for it if you know the thermodynamics and how to get it to work right...

I agree most RV units are Junk!! my neighbor had a camper and I swear every year i had to go work on his Junk dometic rooftop air units....

and of course im sure everyone taking road trips has seen the shrouds laying along side the freeway that have blown off of rooftop units...

to build my own A/C I would sooner start with a PTAC than I would a window shaker... just because most of the mare 2 shaft 2 motor and some are even ductable...

Minisplits are great other than the massive outdoor unit size... hard to basement mount.. the indoor units on those are easy to take apart and modify.. (thats what I built my house A/C based on.. before VRV was even thought of for residential)..

-Christopher

Alright caddie
Give me your thoughts on this one? I have been told that these units are screwed and can't be sold.
I still have access to 7 PTAC's that were special ordered from TRANE and yes I have talked to some of them and get the same answer cause I want to change them.
They were built for a job that spec'd 418? Not 408 or 460v
Ended up the corp of engineers couldn't provide that voltage either so all of the equipment for mechanical and elec. changed to 460 so my old company stored everything because TRANE didn't want them back.
I wanted a PTAC for my build?
Is it worth the money to convert one or two? Is it cheaper to find the correct voltage?
What would need to change? I know step down/up transformers are high dollar but what about changing compressors and capacitors for the proper voltage?
I can get 7 of them for almost nothing but don't know if/how to make them usable for us.?
Thanks for any ideas.
Or just tell me it ain't worth it?

cadillackid · 06-14-2016, 05:44 PM

wow ive never heard of 418 volts.. Ive heard of 480 3 phase.. but wow thats really unusual for PTACs to be made that way.. most of the ones ive seen even in major hotels that we work on are standard 240.. OCCASIONALLY ive seen a 277 go in..

im assuming the compressor and fan motors are all SPEC's for this voltage? (if you look at individual parts they may have voltages listed on them.. sometimes motors can be rewired for different voltages).. the circuit boards undoubtedlty run on a power supply transformer that most likely either provides standard 24 VAC to the input of the board or may have jumpers which set the voltage for the board itself...

are these single shaft or dual shaft units? (one motor or two running the indoor and outdoor fans?)..

-Christopher

Jolly Roger · 06-14-2016, 06:04 PM

They are two motor with single shaft each and everything that i can remember was wired/compatabile with the crazy voltage to save room?
If you had a 460 unit? Could/would you spend the money to change it?

cadillackid · 06-14-2016, 06:30 PM

the problem is the compressor... at a minimum that PTAC likely was designed to run on 240 so your generator would have to output 240 to run even a standard PTAC.. (disconect the heater because 5kw heat would crack up most gennies).. 240 volt fan motors are everywhere and easy to change but if the compressor is designed on that wierd voltage and is not alterable that makes things worse.. like I say some motors have different combintions of wires to use for different voltages... id take the covers off of one and look up the numbrs on the motors and see if they are universals or not as a start..

-Christopher

M1031A1 · 07-06-2016, 02:09 PM

JUST got word, wife's retirement check will be here via FedEx on Friday!!!! WoHOO!!!!!!!

Serious building will commence directly thereafter!!!!!!

M

FlyboyHPD · 07-06-2016, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M1031A1

JUST got word, wife's retirement check will be here via FedEx on Friday!!!! WoHOO!!!!!!!

Serious building will commence directly thereafter!!!!!!

M

Congrats. It's a good feeling to get back money that we've worked so hard for in our lives. I'll get my first SS check in November, and looking forward to it.

M1031A1 · 07-09-2016, 09:31 AM

WE HAVE IT!!!!! Now to start ordering up parts!!! WoHOO!!!!!!

milkmania · 07-09-2016, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M1031A1

WE HAVE IT!!!!! Now to start ordering up parts!!! WoHOO!!!!!!

M1031A1 · 07-10-2016, 04:46 PM

Ok, one *perhaps* stupid question, anyone know what the height of an 11R22.5 tire and a 12R22.5 tire should be and what the differences in height are?

I'm trying to see if I can bump up the top end while keeping the engine turning @ 2K rpm. Preferably getting Heavy to get up to 65 mph by changing tire size. So far with the help of Tango's calculator I have figured going from 11R22.5 to 12R22.5 gets me close to 60 mph from 48 mph. Yes, a big jump, but not quite big enough. The question is am I using the right calculations such as tire height and (I believe) the 643 tranny having a 1:1 final ratio going to the drive shaft. I do know I have a 5.29 gear ratio in the rear axle, but the rest I can use a little bit of help on to be sure I can get 65 mph @ 2K rpm with 12R22.5 tires. Just trying to save some $$$$ before spending any........

Thanks all!!!!

M1031

dan-fox · 07-10-2016, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M1031A1

Ok, one *perhaps* stupid question, anyone know what the height of an 11R22.5 tire and a 12R22.5 tire should be and what the differences in height are?

I just looked that stuff up the other day when I found out that the prison bus I'm looking at had 12's on it. I hadn't heard of 12R22.5 up until that time.

I can't find my way back to the original chart; the Internet is not good with bread crumbs like that. But my memory is that the difference is not much; 11R's were 41.5" diameter vs 12R's at 42.5 or numbers close to that.

At least, I can tell you that the info is out there and you can Google it up, even if I can't.

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