Should I keep factory A/C or not......

DaRealGuru · 09-21-2013, 03:56 PM

I have a 91 thomas that has factory a/c, vents run down inside of bus all the way to front. It works but, it takes up alot of head room down each side of the bus, of course engine must be running to work. My question, is it feasible to keeps this entact or should i just remove it and just run off another type a/c heat combined unit. Also my heater runs along the floor of bus on drivers side, from front to back, i plan on removing this. My question here is do i need to keep this for my defrost or does the other unit i install take care of this also. My plan is a split ductless a/c and heat unit mount midway on the bus. Please give me any insight you have to this. Thanks....

roach711 · 09-23-2013, 08:59 PM

Having the engine powered AC is nice when you're on the road, otherwise you need to run a genset to power the roof unit.

Maybe you could salvage part of the system for on-the-road use.

cschlessman · 09-24-2013, 08:38 AM

I would keep it. It gets expensive running a gen going down the road to stay cool. I would then develope a sit still ac system to so as not to hve to run the engine while camped.

Chuck

DaRealGuru · 09-24-2013, 09:45 AM

Thanks a lot for your input, this is along the lines I was thinking, still just trying to figure out best way to do it without taking up all my head room. Thanks again, like more input from others if possible.

roach711 · 09-24-2013, 12:42 PM

Another bus I saw had a cooling coil and fan mounted up high on each side of the aisle with ducting down both sides. If yours is similar, I would think it would be possible to keep just one of the coils and remove most of the upper ducting. It would require you to drain and recharge the AC refrigerant but it's certainly do-able.

I don't have a "real" bus so someone else may well chime in, but the floor heater coolant hoses should have shutoff valves near the engine. Most buses do. Just shut them off and remove your heaters. If you want to be cautious just shut them off then try the defroster before disconnecting the heaters.

DaRealGuru · 09-24-2013, 09:05 PM

Thanks for everyones input, will take all the advise i can get, several heads usually better than one. I had a chance today before going to work tonight, to sit on bus and just ponder, that works best for me sometime. After looking over the situation I have and the equipment in place, I've come up with a new idea. I have decided to look into mounting another compressor that will run and ac/dc, another words, kill engine switch over to ac, electrical hookups, or generator with a different compressor, then when going down road, switch back over to engine driven compressor. May take some ingenuity, but I believe this can be done, and one I get this figured out, I'm going to try and make heating unit use same ducting system, with some switching of valves. I think I can figure this out with some help from friends, so any input you have about this system let me know. I see no need in not using what i have in place with just some modifications. Thanks

wmkbailey · 09-25-2013, 08:54 AM

I'm not too sure you can run two compressors in the same loop. We had a thread about running a DC compressor that could be run off the engine and the house battery, like the Hybrid cars have, but they are 400 VDC.

cschlessman · 09-25-2013, 10:31 AM

It could be done , but it will be dificult. You will need some either/or valves, at least thats what I call them, one for the low side and one for the high side of the ac system. May need 2 sets of pressure switches for safety and cycling of the compressor, and possibly 2 sets of controls(insert evil madn scient5ist laugh here)

. But with some thoughth it could be done.
Chuck

DaRealGuru · 09-25-2013, 06:50 PM

Yeah, I am going to have to rig this like 2 seperate units, in a sense, I will have to have switches for the electical compontents, and valves for the freon side. I haven't worked in HVAC in years, the technology has changed a lot, but do believe this is possible. I have a bro in law that is really good in commercial and residential HVAC, with his help and thoughts, and some of you "out of the box" thinkers on here I think it can be pulled off. Thanks for input.

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