Monday, July 30, 2012

Ultimate Hacking Guide for portable AC Part 2

        Okay now here we go with my grand experiment. Since I'm only bata testing the concept and pushing the envelope a little bit further from Shadow catchers design, so please don't give me any comments about how ugly this looks.  I am using a small 5,000 BTU air conditioner. The weight of the whole unit is about 40 pounds approximately. Since I'm not into pulling the unit in and out - then in and out again all the time while camping I decided it would be much better to be mounted on the roof. In addition it's a well-known fact that air conditioning works much better if it's sucking hot air from the top and also blowing back the cold air from the top so it can settle down to the lower areas. The AC in my case is being installed directly above my raised queen size bed. I could also hang a curtain and close off the area above the bed for supper extra cooling, as you will see you later with the thermostat below. I  now have a choice of cooling off a 2' x 5' x 6' square area, or the entire 7' x 16' cargo trailer. If it gets above 90 Deg on the exterior I can now hide out in my own private little cooling cocoon.







Here is the first look - not my favorite, but its just for testing :-)


I made a metal and foam wrapped box - 3" vents


The inside of the box


This is the blower to improve the air flow & performance
it really makes a difference, so don't leave this part out


Remember the times I was scared to cut holes in the trailer roof 


This is a 4" deck plate cost about $13 - 1 have 2 of them so the 
ac can be removed in the winter time


All sealed and water tight for the winter season


Waiting for this part to arrive in 2- 3 weeks to reduce the fan noise and speed,
this was not available from local electronic stores :-(



Here is the final result, the exterior temp was up to 92 deg F
its now 6:24 pm 
Temperature directly above my bed was 58 deg F
The 28 is temp inside the cooler

Can you say cold as in a Meat Locker :-)



Stay tuned for part 3 - the 7,000 Btu LG



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