Any A/C professionals here?

[montaillou]

So, I'm putting a Red Dot system in my truck for a/c and heat, specifically their 2300 model which is designed for off-road applications. The manual states that the unit is supposed to be mounted "flat" somewhere, on the ceiling, floor, whatever. Thing is, space is getting a little tight in my cab and ideally the best configuration would be to mount it sideways. Flat is still an option, just not the best one.

My mechanic who's got some a/c certification says it'll be ok, but my thing is that if it was ok to install sideways Red Dot would say that because it would lead to more versatility. Mechanic suggested that maybe they're trying to upsell me on another product, but I'm already buying their top of the line model that has a/c & heat. If I move to another model, then I move out of the off-road equipment. I called Red Dot and they pretty much just quoted the manual.

As far as I can tell, I think it all comes down to the evaporator assembly. And here all I can do is speculate about something I don't know enough about. Can anyone tell me, who knows these things why it can't be mounted sideways, what would happen?

We're considering experimenting, but this part costs a lot of money and I don't want to risk ruining it.

 

[NDT]

Evaporator has a drain pan to catch condensate. If you reorient the unit, water will go everywhere.

 

[montaillou]

Evaporator has a drain pan to catch condensate.

The drain is in the corner of the pan. And there is a side to the pan. Another hole could be drilled for drainage, couldn't it, if necessary? Water still flows downhill, doesn't it?

 

[glcaines]

I would call Red Dot back and try to talk with one of their engineers instead of customer service who I'm assuming you already talked to the first time. I personally don't think there would be a problem if the side of the drain pay would catch the condensate and you can drain it, but who knows. The unit would have refrigerant oil in it and perhaps that could pose a problem due to orientation.

 

[rustystud]

You have to consider the placement of the valves in orientation to the evaporator . If you mess that up you could have a valve freezing or worse, letting liquid Freon (dichloro-difloro methane) get to the compressor.
I used to install new A/C systems in vehicles and if you messed up your positioning of the evaporator or "expansion" valve or the "receiver dryer" you would have crappy cooling or worse. Since this is a "self-contained" unit they already figured all this positioning out.
As a side note, think about gases and liquids. Gases tend to rise, and liquids tend to fall. In the evaporator and condenser, halfway through each, vapor is changed into a gas and then back to a vapor again. You always have a vapor coming into and out of the compressor. If the position of the condenser and evaporator causes the vapor to start to mix with the gas or vice/versa, you will have problems. There needs to be a specific area where the change takes place.