Tent, Trailer, RTT Air conditioner.

[Honu]

I know in South America I have seen lots of pics of regular house conditioners like a few posts above ?

had thought make a nice protective box for it use the box to set it on just outside my tent and raise it up a bit ?
to get it into the tent without cutting things up I had thought just push it up against the screen area ? and then try to use some earth magnets on the inside to hold it tight against the screen material ? use a tube to get the drain water away
not sure how on a standard RTT you would mount a cheap home one ? but they are not that heavy

for $100 for a cheap small home one seems like when its needed ? like our 18 month old with us ? if it gets hot would rather keep him cool and run our honda geny which is very quiet and keep the kids cool in the day for nap time would be a nice way to extend the season and comfort for the wife and kids and myself

 

[COJeeper]

Constructed this weekend Total Cost $115 Bucks

Made this up this weekend. Super simple Works Great!
One cheap Air unit $90 bucks and $25.00 dollar in Misc parts and can of Great Stuff Foam!

 

[jasondavidmann]

I made something similar to the original post a few years ago.

I put a 12V bilge pump in my cooler,
I connect the bilge pump to an old auxiliary heater (sold for buses and construction equipment) and sent the return water back into the cooler.
I would freeze blocks of ice as large as I could fit in the cooler with the pump and added some water.
I wired it all on a cigarette lighter.

I originally designed this for use in my non-air conditioned 2dr Sunfire. It would bring the temperature down in the car pretty well but the ice does not last long. Maybe 2 1/2 hours tops. I was disappointed with the results and I've since stopped using it.

I have heard of similar contraptions that people put into the cold lake or stream beside their campsite with positive results. Alternatively you can run a loop through the fire if you want some heat.

My unit is in storage but I'll look for a picture to post up.

Jason

 

[Honu]

Made this up this weekend. Super simple Works Great!
One cheap Air unit $90 bucks and $25.00 dollar in Misc parts and can of Great Stuff Foam!

thats pretty cool did not think of that idea

going to have to look into that ? any more pics etc...

 

[Broncogearhead]

How much condensation is a window unit gonna be putting off on a hot humid night? Kinda like when you crank your ac in the truck with the windows open on a hot day, after a few minutes the dash gets all wet.

I'm speculating here, but I'd bet that the face of that window unit would be dripping with condensation at least in the humidity here in Florida.
The drain for the evaporator would be easy to lengthen away from the tent, but the face of the unit where the air comes out of would be cold, and dripping inside the tent.

Anybody have any real world experience with this?

 

[COJeeper]

I put a couple of handles on it tonight and painted it Black Camo.
Danby 5000 BTU unit. I took the face off it. Removed the louvers which directed the air. Filled in the extra space with great stuff foam. Trimmed the foam down so the Cold air forced from the squirrel cage fan hard a smaller space. I used a 3" floor louver installed upside down to create hose reverse hose connection diverting air to the tent. Cooled my RTT perfectly on Saturday in 98 degree sun. I also put a flange on my dog crate just mess with my buddies dogs!

 

[Sangster]

How much condensation is a window unit gonna be putting off on a hot humid night? Kinda like when you crank your ac in the truck with the windows open on a hot day, after a few minutes the dash gets all wet.

I'm speculating here, but I'd bet that the face of that window unit would be dripping with condensation at least in the humidity here in Florida.
The drain for the evaporator would be easy to lengthen away from the tent, but the face of the unit where the air comes out of would be cold, and dripping inside the tent.

Anybody have any real world experience with this?

I've never experienced a wet dash from the A/C being cranked in the 10 yrs I've been in FL. If the A/C is functioning properly, it should also be dehumidifying the air. With a window A/C unit, cool dry air blows out and the hot humid air goes out the exterior vent.

At least in theory, right!? I guess I'll know for sure in the next few days.

 

[jeeper92]

CoJeeper

Ya gotta post pics of what ya did!! Im doing this next year and wanna make sure I ve got it all down. Please post picture

 

[Broncogearhead]

I've never experienced a wet dash from the A/C being cranked in the 10 yrs I've been in FL. If the A/C is functioning properly, it should also be dehumidifying the air. With a window A/C unit, cool dry air blows out and the hot humid air goes out the exterior vent.

At least in theory, right!? I guess I'll know for sure in the next few days.

I guess I should have used a better example. Think of a cold glass pitcher of iced tea on a hot humid day. The more humid the air is, the wetter the outside of the pitcher is right?
The air in my truck blows out around 42 degrees. if the windows are open, the dash around the vents gets wet from condensation because the vents are cold.

You are exactly right, the ac unit should remove the humidity out of the air. At least it does in well insulated places, like your house or car were is it recirculating the air.

I would worry about a tent not having the insulation properties, and being sealed well enough to keep outside humid air out. Both my tents have lots of open mesh. I would be afraid that the ac unit(speaking of an 110v window unit here) would blow nice cold air, but would never be able to dehumidify the air because humid air would always be making its way into the conditioned space. High humidity against the cold vents of the unit will become wet, and drip in my tent.

Probably not a problem if in a very dry hot environment.

Again, I'm just thinking out loud here. I'd love to hear feedback on someone who has tried this successfully in a hot and humid area. I'm tempted to go set the tent up in the back yard and give this a go.

 

[Sangster]

ah....good points! I'll let you know what happens with mine after I get it installed tonight.

 

[COJeeper]

Some added Pics

Ya gotta post pics of what ya did!! Im doing this next year and wanna make sure I ve got it all down. Please post picture

I will try to take it apart and snap a few more pictures for you. I never thought of it while I was putting it together on Saturday. All you need to do really is block off the front vents even duck tape would work, and drill a hole in the top over the blower fan. I went overboard sealing everything with great stuff foam and silicone. Just to make it air tight. I am using drier Hose to pipe into the tent. But I have some extra 3" insulated flex hose I think I will switch to.
I thought about the AC Boot but cutting a hole in my ARB RTT Just did not seem like a good idea to me.
I also put a couple of handles on it for ease of carrying it around. (Its not really that heavy) I am also going to screw on some expanded mesh over the back Radiator to keep it from having the fins crushed when moving it about.
Basically the same concept as one I saw used for Pet kennels.
Find a unit with a thin front and a full metal top portion. (I used a Danby 5000 BTU) 3" hole saw and a 3" floor louver reversed so I could connect the Hose to it. Hey for what I got into this thing you can't go wrong putting one together. Only took me about an hour. It keeps the unit away from the tent so no condensation\Fire issues. Its portable, Cheap and Easy. When I ran it for a test it was 98 degrees in Wisconsin with 70 degree dewpoint last Saturday! Humid, Muggy and Miserable! I also have a couple of folding solar panels, running a 12Volt fan to circulate the air in the tent during the day. I run the fan from a portable battery box during the night. While the Solar panels charge my battery. It will also kick over with my Generator I tested it with that also. With the fan circulating the the cool air from the AC in the tent it went from 98 + in the tent to 75 with no humidity. And my girlfriend now thinks I am some sort of Crazy Genius.

 

[Lynn]

The window air conditioners I have used have an 'inside air' or 'outside air' option.

Venting the cold air from the AC into your tent without a return would be like using one on the 'outside air' setting.

It seems to me if you incorporated a return duct back to the AC unit (like the 'inside air' setting) you would reduce condensation since you are re-drying the air.

It would also improve the efficiency of the AC because after the tent starts to cool down, you are feeding cooler air back to the AC, rather than constantly cooling outside air. Think feedback loop, or recirculation.

Does that make sense?

 

[Broncogearhead]

I will try to take it apart and snap a few more pictures for you. I never thought of it while I was putting it together on Saturday. All you need to do really is block off the front vents even duck tape would work, and drill a hole in the top over the blower fan. I went overboard sealing everything with great stuff foam and silicone. Just to make it air tight. I am using drier Hose to pipe into the tent. But I have some extra 3" insulated flex hose I think I will switch to.
I thought about the AC Boot but cutting a hole in my ARB RTT Just did not seem like a good idea to me.
I also put a couple of handles on it for ease of carrying it around. (Its not really that heavy) I am also going to screw on some expanded mesh over the back Radiator to keep it from having the fins crushed when moving it about.
Basically the same concept as one I saw used for Pet kennels.
Find a unit with a thin front and a full metal top portion. (I used a Danby 5000 BTU) 3" hole saw and a 3" floor louver reversed so I could connect the Hose to it. Hey for what I got into this thing you can't go wrong putting one together. Only took me about an hour. It keeps the unit away from the tent so no condensation\Fire issues. Its portable, Cheap and Easy. When I ran it for a test it was 98 degrees in Wisconsin with 70 degree dewpoint last Saturday! Humid, Muggy and Miserable! I also have a couple of folding solar panels, running a 12Volt fan to circulate the air in the tent during the day. I run the fan from a portable battery box during the night. While the Solar panels charge my battery. It will also kick over with my Generator I tested it with that also. With the fan circulating the the cool air from the AC in the tent it went from 98 + in the tent to 75 with no humidity. And my girlfriend now thinks I am some sort of Crazy Genius.

The window air conditioners I have used have an 'inside air' or 'outside air' option.

Venting the cold air from the AC into your tent without a return would be like using one on the 'outside air' setting.

It seems to me if you incorporated a return duct back to the AC unit (like the 'inside air' setting) you would reduce condensation since you are re-drying the air.

It would also improve the efficiency of the AC because after the tent starts to cool down, you are feeding cooler air back to the AC, rather than constantly cooling outside air. Think feedback loop, or recirculation.

Does that make sense?

Good info!!!
I like the idea of "ducting" the unit for use. I'll keep an eye out for one cheap at garage sales and craigslist for this.

 

[jeeper92]

My daughter (who is 8) is very interested in this, hahahah shes more high matinence then her mom! Cutting a hole in the side of my new rtt is not an option
How are you feeding the air back into the tent?
Where is it sitting on your trailer? i think i may fab up a ledge for it to sit on

 

[cybercat]

There's always this:
http://www.americas-pet-store.com/dog-house-air-conditioner-heater-climate-control-unit.html
Jason @ http://www.wheelersforthewounded.com/sponsors.htm use's on his trailer/RTT.