anyone interested in cheap a/c

http://www.pinellaspowerproducts.com/view/HEUFUELKIT3/ is the kit for a EU3000is...... and I wasn't talking about warranty...

"Larger ASME tanks up 50 gallons can be used without DOT restriction under the Materials of the Trade rules." so yes you can have bigger than 8 gl. without hasmat

my friend like me if we are going to be down for more than 24hr we're in the motel anyway so after that it's a mute point...

yes after 24 hr's yes he must run the truck to recharge the batt's that would be when he's driving.....

his a/c keeps his PETE 387 comfortable in leardo in the summer.... and btw they make them up to 12k btu

true and you can't get much easier than just pushing a button and not needing to pack fuel to the truck "like you do" and his system requires no maintenance.

he's had his in the truck for 20 months so far with no problums

 

Guys before we start pissing. This has been one of the most productive AC threads yet. I am thinking batteries For me Since I have to 48 inch battery boxes On mywestern star. The generator ideas are awesome also. The wall unit with heat is really interesting. I will have plenty of room to mount that in my Western Star sleeper. It's over 7 foot high on the inside. The external fan with compressor seems to be a really good idea to keep it quiet. I just have to find inverters double give out a thousand wats constantly And see how much battery they require

 

Weight of a 1000CCA battery came from Optima website.
The 8 gallons of gas came from DOT.
Horses for courses IMHO.
I absolutely love my EU generator etc, and with no time restrictions, I can run it forever if the need arises.
Not everybody, well probably not the vast majority here, get a motel room if sitting for more than 10hrs. So my point stands.
At the end of the day, so long as you do SOMETHING to not idle, you are $$$$ ahead. I just did it to where I can sit for a weekend, in hot or cold, and have my batteries not go dead, have heat and a/c, and so on.
Just my .02

Martin

 

Yes good ideas, but I would have the auxiliary battery's wired separate from the starter battery's, IE separate box, and wiring.

The batterys have everything to do with the inverter. If you dont have enough reserve in them the inverter wont keep producing power. This is why you need to know how much "power" you need in the batterys.

And to leftlane, your idea is great, just I wont ever need to sit in my truck for more than 10 hours. I dont go that far. Thats why I am looking at the batt. and inverter.

 

I had an EU3000 running my rooftop A/C for more than 2 years and they are amazing! Mine probably had 5 or 6,000 hrs on it when I sold it and it still worked perfectly. I had a 9000btu rooftop and it quit after 10 months because it was not made to deal with the vibration and so the piping cracked. The 9000 barely kept up with the heat in my 63 inch mid roof Pete sleeper. I replaced it with the proper Coleman Roughneck 13,500 btu unit and that worked perfectly for 2 more years before I sold the truck. I think if the sleeper insulation is upgraded a 9000 btu unit would work on my 70 inch Pete sleeper. I've been thinking about the split unit with 4 batteries to make it last 10 hours. More efficient insulation will also make it run much less and therefore batteries last much longer. I'd wire the A/C unit for shore power also and use it when available. A battery charger and an EU2000 would make the batteries last much, much longer if you charged them while diss charging them. An EU2000 or equivalent is light and easy to store. The 9000btu unit MAY be run on 2000 watts if you put a soft start upgrade into it? A 13,500btu will not run on less than 2700 watts. I know this from experience but I'm no engineer or mathematician. At $678 the split unit is less than the Coleman Roughneck 13,500btu unit but the split unit doesn't stick up in the air on top of your sleeper. I did find it to be a PITA to have to gas the generator every day because the 4 gallon tank would not last 2 full nights. But with a low pressure fuel pump I'm sure it could be rigged to work with a larger capacity tank.

So, to use the 9000btu w/batteries and box and backup generator plus shore power and batt charger plus insulation upgrade the cost might run up to as much as $5000 - pretty pricey but very low operating cost. Use the rooftop 13500btu and EU3000 plus mounting and shorepower plus Espar adds up to about $5000 also... and I still gotta haul gas... sigh...

Here's another idea. Look for the head unit from a Rigmaster that has a good generator and engine but no A/C components and use it to run the rooftop unit. I see them sell for $2,000 - $2,500 on Ebay. Install, plus rooftop unit and shore power = $4,000 more or less...

 

I have a 5,000 btu unit. It will not cool your whole truck. It's just meant for sleeping (I have an upper and lower bunk, and hang a blanket from the top bunk to hold the air in). You can't use the space listed for a unit because that's for a house. Made of wood, with insulation, etc. Our trucks are thin walled and are basically little ez-bake ovens. They heat up much faster than the outside air. So, the AC is fighting double-duty.

 

And that window unit will not usually last more than 6 months before the lines crack and the freon leaks out. I know 2 drivers who used this type of unit and they replaced them at least yearly. They are not made to take the vibration like the Coleman Roughneck rooftop unit is. Even a normal RV unit wouldn't last on a commercial truck. They're cheap and so you can afford to replace them, but why use a setup like that when the right stuff is available and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.