Air Conditioning ... again

[Casey]

I will leave it to one of the new forum moderators to put this in the "proper" forum.

Over the months/years there has been a fair amount of discussion about an air conditioner for a C-Dory that would run on one of the small Honda 2000 watt generators. Maybe the following will be of help.

We are currently "dry camped" beside some folks in Key West. Our neighbor is a retired USN engineer, and can (and does...) run his camper a/c with a Honda EU 2000 generator. Even with the refrigerator on automatic, the little generator can still carry it, start-up and all (but I think it might be a better idea to turn the refer to "gas only..." and reduce the load a tad.

His a/c unit is a Coleman Polar Cub (7700 btu):
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-air-conditioners/low-profile-rv-air-conditioner.htm

Comments?

Casey
C-Dory Naknek

[JamesTXSD]

Can you tell us more about being on the hook in Key West? Heading to the Dry Tortugas? How's the trip going?

The Keys will be at the top of our list next winter. TIA.

Jim & Joan (aka James TX/SD)

[Sneaks]

Casey, that subject has been beaten to death in the RV forums and somewhat civilly discussed here, if memory serves me. My EU2000 ran the 13,500btu Dometic A/C on my RV just fine as long as everything else was turned off, so I expect both the 7kbtu A/C and the reefer your neigbor has doesn't really strain things at all. You can't run it in "Economy" mode, but that's really not a big deal.

The consensus is that it will work "most of the time" at or near sea level but begins to labor as altitude increases. Most of the time meaning that it's a crapshoot with 13.5kbtu A/C units but the odds are very much in favor of working.

Even the Kipor generator (a cheap Chinese clone of the EU2000) has been reported to hold up under the same load.

Another reason the 6500btu marine A/C unit is on my radar for future installation when we start doing the same thing you're doing, Casey. I ain't too fond of high humidity/temperatures.

So how is that FamCamp out there?

Don

[MichaelOnTheClaraMae]

Do you think this roof unit will hold up to the salt water environment for very long? Also 90 plus pounds on the thin part of the CD roof may become a problem if you are pounding through heavy seas.

[Casey]

Jim/Joan - we're not at anchor, we're in the camper at the military FamCamp. I crewed out to Fort Jefferson (interesting place) on the Nat'l Park Service supply boat (110 footer) last week. It was an uncomfortable four hour trip but fun overall. Dry Tortuga's National Park (Fort Jefferson) is 70 miles west of Key West, an easy trip (if it's calm), with a good anchorage at the Fort. There are NO supplies (ie. water, fuel, food) at the fort, which is a factor; out and back would really stretch our range. There are a couple fast-cats that make the run daily, in about 2.5 hours, and Seaplanes of Key West ( http://www.seaplanesofkeywest.com/ ) does trips as well (in about 40 minutes!).

Don - the FamCamp at Key West Naval air Station is very comfortable, but in winter (understandably) it's filled to overflowing with snowbirds; us included. Price is excellent considering commercial campground now start at about $85/night(!). The FamCamp is $16/night with hookups and $9/night without (overflow).

Michael - You might have a point about roof strength and the 90# a/c. If installed, a person may want to fabricate some sort of bearing surface to spread the load. I've been atop Naknek and haven't noticed any flexing with my 198# (well ok...200#) but I didn't try jumping on the cabin top!

As to the a/c in a saltwater environment, I suspect it might be a good idea to have a cover (ie. Sunbrella) made for it to protect against saltwater when it's not in use.

[JamesTXSD]

We've done the trip to Ft Jefferson several times, including the seaplane once (what fun flying at 500' - a whole different perspective from being on the water). Just wondering how the C-Dory would handle that 70 mile treck, given the usual conditions. Most sailors go to the Marquesas for a "look see" before heading west. No water or other facilities at Ft Jefferson, but a great place to snorkle and kick back. Sure would be nice to not have to be concerned about a favorable wind for that trip.

Are you towing your C-Dory on this trip? Other places in the Keys you've poked around with it?

I love to hear/read all these tales. Having an inside steering station and adequate power is going to open LOTS more places comfortably.

Best wishes,
Jim & Joan (aka James TX/SD, 25 on order)

The FamCamp sounds great

[Casey]

Yesterday I asked our neighbor here in the "FamCamp" if he'd fire-up his a/c using the Honda 2000. He did, and it worked without a hitch. Later, we checked his paperwork and found that his a/c is the Coleman Mach 9000BTU, not the 7700BTU. Presumably the 7700BTU unit would be even easier to run on the Honda 2000.

That prompted me to try running my 13500BTU a/c on my Honda. Surprisingly, it seemed to work just fine. The overload light flicker "on" for about .5 - 1 second then the generator just settled down and ran fine. After several minutes I switched it to the "ECO" mode and it seemed to run fine there as well. (Am I correct in assuming that if the generator was too overloaded it wouldn't run well in the ECO mode?)

Even though it ran the 13500 unit fine, my guess is that doing this as SOP might overtax the generator in the long run... but my sense is running the smaller 7700BTU unit might just be A-ok.

For the test runs we (1) warmed up the generator to good operating temp, (2) shut down other electrical stuff, (3) turned-on the a/c fan by itself for a while, then (4) kicked-in the a/c compressor. Naturally you could hear the generator working, but I didn't get the feeling it was being overtaxed. Heck, with the 7700 I don't think it would even hiccup.

I think Don (Sneaks) comment on altitude factor affecting the generator capability is valid - doing the same thing at 3,4,5 thousand feet may not work, but at sea level it seems to work fine.

It'll be interesting to see if/when someone actually goes with the C-Dory a/c idea.

Casey
C-Dory Naknek
"field testing in Key West"

[Sneaks]

Somewhere along the way, I saw a thread about using a home A/C unit in a C-Dory. I guess if Joe can put one in his car, we can all put one in a C-Dory.




Heh heh


Don

[Sea Wolf]

Don-

Nice photo! Bet it came from one of those self-depricating Redneck web sites where they make fun of themselves!!!

Here's an excellent example. Look at all the archieved pictures of the week!

http://www.dlhill.com/units.html

Seriously, I have recently ordered an Endless Breeze 3 speed fan to help with the dry heat here in Redding. I already have three smaller fans on board, and we just need circulated air to reasonably tolerate the heat of summer. Not having the humidity to contend with is a big factor in passing over the AC issue. I'm going to place the 14 x 14 x 4 inch fan on some kind of remountable base for deployment around the cabin for different uses.

Thanks for the photo!!!

[dogon dory]

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author

[Sea Wolf]

Does anybody know if the guy who did the custom AC install on the limo does boats, too? Not sure if I could afford such fancy, detailed work, though!


Joe.

[Byrdman]

See there guys.... My AC stand proto-type is starting to look better each day... I think I saw that car in Talladega...or was it the late race in Daytona.... or.... wait, is that my little brother JB coming back to his car from the beer store in the back ground?

Yep, I like the tail lights too... and they can use it at the private airport at Talladega for the runway lights.

[Y-NOT]

Speaking air, I ran across this 12 or 24 volt job. It's made for trucks and RV's but looks like it could be used on a C-Dory.
http://www.dcairco.com/ Hope the link works, it maybe something to consider if you really want air.