Most ridiculous workaround ever, or a COOL idea? (Air conditioning)

[A/C Cages]

Im not trying to make a freezing unit, just a unit that will being down the temp to a reasonable cool. You will have to insulate the cab which is common sense.
Economical cooling unit that is versitle to take the edge off and keep you from sweating your butt off in parades, general driving, ect.....
We know the requirements to cool it down. Same as a Reddot, Renkool, and Bosh makes for heavy equipment.

 

[jamesfrom180]

Here in Florida just the humidity reduction would be key. I'm sure for the tin foil crowd you could market it as a way to make drinking water from thin air, of course local conditions apply. lol

 

[stumps]

6000-8000btus,( a small windowshaker AC), Would be more then ample to keep a rig the size of a CUCV cool.

...

PS - I am an HVAC technician.

And yet, GM puts a 1-3/4 ton ac unit in the Blazer. That's about 22,000 BTU for those of that stroke. They must not understand cooling cars.

Buildings and boxes have advantages that a car doesn't: Minimal air infiltration, minimal air passage over the walls (60MPH winds are rare), and minimal solar gain through the windows.

Even a poorly insulated building is better insulated than a well insulated car.

Cars and truck cabs are the worst of all worlds. The only thing they have going for them is they tend to be small.

-Chuck

PS - The HVAC technicians I have met fix or install HVAC units, not specify or design them.

 

[quickfarms]

I was researching truck sleepers and was shocked to lear that they ony put R 1.5 insulation in them from the factory.

Houses are required to have at least R 11 in the walls.

Also vehiclues circulate the outside air into the passenger compatment.

The duece does no have any insultaion from the factory and there is a big heat generator under the hood that is blowing hot air over the firewall and floor.

One question that nobody has asked is how do these home ac units survive the vibration of a truck?

 

[A/C Cages]

The duece does no have any insultaion from the factory and there is a big heat generator under the hood that is blowing hot air over the firewall and floor.

One question that nobody has asked is how do these home ac units survive the vibration of a truck?[/QUOTE]

Home units dont take vibrations as well, some not at all even though they shake the crap out of the windows they are in.

Im already insulating my cab inside out, ceramic lizard skin outside, dual foil and heat and noise mat inside. All cracks sealed, spray rubber on flooring and then thick matting on top of it. Hard top is also being insulated. Once done I will take pics and show you all.

 

[goldneagle]

Don't let the nay sayers win. Keep up the good work. I have used a 6500 BTU window A/C unit in the cab of my M820A2 with marginal results. That is due to NO INSULATION at all in the cab. If you let the cool air blow at you directly it helps a lot! I live in Louisiana with high humidity just like FL.

I was thinking of using a split A/C system to cool the cab. It has a small condenser unit outside and has freon lines going to a (baseboard radiator size) unit on the inside. i was going to install it on the top corner of the soft top above the seat-backs.

Ductless Mini Split Wall Mounted Single Zone

 

[A/C Cages]

They are not making me hesitate at all, See my name on here? A/C Cages??? I work side by side with some of the leading manufactures in making cages that protect their a/c units. I work with their R&D units all the time. They not only make household units but all units for any occasion. In fact one of the techs is the lead designer in the original MitSuBichy mini splits. Pun intended if you have ever had to work on one. lol

 

[quickfarms]

For the duece have you considered the ac units that the hot rodders use?

Now for my project. Is there any window style ac units that would survive the vibration of the truck. I need to use a window or wall mounted ac unit in the box on my truck. the box wil either be a 10 or 20 foot iso shelter or insulated container. I currentally have a 10 foot refrigitated container, minus the refrigritation unit, The voltage can be 110, 220, 12 or 24. the truck is 12 volt but I have a 10kw apu mounted on it that uses 24 volt to start and produces 120/240. It would also be nice if the unit had heat. Any suggestions and the approximate cost.

 

[frodobaggins]

8k btu will be pissing in the wind.

As for you AC cages, I am very skeptical, however I wish you luck. I'm sure we will all learn something one way or another along the way.

 

[Matt1031]

8k btu will be pissing in the wind..

As long it's not 105 degree wind, I'm happy.

 

[WARWAG]

Im working with a company to custom make a smaller self contained a/c unit for deuces. We noticed that other companies have simular units like reddot. but $3 grand is ridiculas. So we are looking at complete systems for about $500 to $600. That is if a required amount of sales can be done with this deal.
We are trying to make the venting system small enough to fit into the already cramped deuce cab too.
This unit will run off of a 24 volt low amp compressor instead of a pully design which will decrease the deuces already low HP. So no loss in the HP is a good thing. The bigest problem is the evaporator placement and size. Rooftop is the easiest but not when you have a softtop. So we are trying to make a multi layered coil system.
Granted these wont drop the temp like a real rv sized unit, but 30 degree drop is better then none.
Best part, it falls under the laws in CA and other PITA states with the no idle laws. This can also be run by a solar or generator system.
So I will let you all know when we get it set up.

Count me in for two units!

 

[hunderliggur]

What ever happened to A/C Cages? I would still like a 24V Air Conditioner!

 

[73m819]

What ever happened to A/C Cages? I would still like a 24V Air Conditioner!

There was ISSUES

 

[hunderliggur]

Oh well. Still looking at the Nostalgic Air solution - not available until June 2012 was the latest email.

 

[Mike929]

I was planning to set up something in my deuce this summer. Mainly trying to decide best location of the Red dot components.

Plan on mounting the AC between the seats on the back wall of cab, and the heat exchanger over the cam at present. My heat exchanger has different mounting supports then the one pictured, it is designed to mount over a cab. I have also seen them mounted where the spare tire is located. Just gets fairly tight at that location and concerned about FOD.

 

[richingalveston]

ac tonage

for those considering tonage/btu size. In building. One ton of AC is good for 500 sqare feet with 8 foot ceilings (4000 cu ft) with normal insulation. One ton = 12,500 btu. (= to 3.125 btu per cu. ft.)

vehicles are different. newer ones are better due to High efficency glass and better sound insulation which also acts as insulation for heat and cold. but cars have much higher solar gain.

solar gain is the absorbtion of solar energy which heats the exterior and then penetrates to the interior. The all metal vehicle exterior along with high gloss paints and even clear coats cause more heat to be absorbed in the metal thus transmitted to the interior. tonnage in a car is normally 3x a house

being that a deuce cab is probably not more than 250 cu. ft.

Under these assumptions a new car: 250 X 3.125 X 3 = 2343.75 btu.
a deuce cab with soft top and no insulation you would probalby double the btu and thus a 5000 btu unit should freeze you out of a deuce cab.

I spent 10 years building data centers where we had to evaluate btu requirements for each customer (base on power usage) we installed and adjust HVAC Distribuiton or add HVAC for the area in where we installed their equipment.

I am not an automotive AC designer but the above assumptoins should be sufficient to make up the difference.

I hope this helps people in determining their BTU requirements.

 

[SFC Deal]

Hi to All, Wouldn't a roof mounted RV style A/C unit that's all electric AND using a 24 volt power inverter work? Mount it to the top of the M1009's camper shell.

 

[ke5eua]

Problem with inverters is the power draw. While yes you have the reserve capacity in your batteries but does your alternator provide the amount needed to run the inverter and the vehicle at the same time.

I ran into this issue with my f250. I have a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter in the camper shell to power various electronics.

I also have two 6v batteries in series and the inverter will draw a max of 250 amps at full load.

Now, my stock alternator can not charge the truck battery and the battery in the back while supplying enough reserve to power the vehicle. I had to upgrade to a 300 amp alternator to ensure it would handle every everything.

Now on a 24v system it will draw aprox half of what is required on a 12v system.

 

[Keith_J]

Yes, in my home made 24 volt air conditioning system (Sanden SD7B10 automotive compressor driven by 70 amp 24 volt motor direct drive), the stock alternators are barely able to keep up combined battery voltage above 24.5 volts. Why? The alternators have temperature compensation, the high draw causes the diode bridges to get very hot, heating the compensated voltage regulator causing it to drop voltage, simulating high heat charge condition.

Now the AC works fine, it is just not for use after dark as the headlights are quite dim at 12.25 volts. And I have to shut the AC off long before I stop to make sure the batteries are charged.

If the voltage regulator on the alternators is moved to somewhere near the batteries, the temperature compensated voltage output would be more in line with battery temperature but then the output would be limited by diode bridge heating, diodes increase forward resistance with temperature (reverse resistance is always high until they fail short).

The other issue with drawing 70+ amps constantly from Delco 27SI alternators is short belt life. Standard V belts are at their limit at 2 Hp, alternators are not all that efficient, these draw over 3 Hp at full current. You will have to replace belts much sooner.

 

[Skinny]

Could replace the 24v motor with a small gas engine from say a lawn mower. That way you could pre cool the cab and run it without having the truck idling. Plus you gain all the benefits of a standalone AC system. I do like your setup though.