I got the rear unit operational yesterday and couldn't be happier. Still have some final dressing up to do. It wasn't really all that hot yesterday, but I did get the bedroom down to 65 in a couple of hours. It was cool enough this morning to test the heat, made it toasty in the back.
This thing is QUIET, if nothing else is making any noise, when I first start it up, I get a sense of the outside unit more than being able to hear it. When it's running the only thing I can hear is the inside fan, which is very quiet. It blows very cold or hot depending on the setting.
I hooked up my Kil-a-watt, on start up it VERY slowly climbs to 7.3 amps, then falls to 2 to 3. I just checked and while on high heat it was at 10 for a few seconds then fell again.
Condenser unit mounted in original condenser space. I will put the original screen and trim back on. The frame is the original, that never seemed to have been damaged, I also mounted a second rock guard in front. (the white one)
There was no way I could get the larger line routed around all of the corners, I tried, without kinking. The smaller of the rubber refrigerant lines from the original factory air was the right size, so I had new flair ends put on it and it worked perfectly, I'm hoping this will also alleviate the problems some have had with line breakage, the 1/4 inch line is much more forgiving. I then insulated the rubber line. When I pulled a vacuum, I was a bit surprised to find that it stayed exactly all night, I figured it would change some because of the temperature change. The sun was shining on it when I did it and it was cool the next morning.
The condensate tray on the evaporator had provisions for a drain at either end so I put a T in and used them both. I painted the inside unit so it wasn't that ugly white, I may do some sort of enclosure to hide it later.
I'm a little concerned about how the feet are fastened to the body, just two spot welds. I also made an upper mount to help control movement at the top, hoping to reduce stress on the bottom feet. I made the bottom rubber mounts more to keep from crushing the feet when I bolted it down than anything else.
Only time will tell if this was really a good installation, but right now I am extremely pleased.
Dick
it's not really all that hot today, but they cool things down nicely.
How well does it cool to the back of the bus..?
Linear Mode
