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Has anyone tried a small rooftop AC on their teardrop? Was considering this one but concerned 70lbs might be too heavy. https://www.campingworld.com/dometic-brisk-ii-air-conditioner-630173.html?dwvar_630173_color=blck&cgid=air-conditioners-accessories
People put more than that weight on their roofs when they load their roof racks with 2 kayaks… Although the racks attach where there are three layers of FG, the rack mounts are only a few square inches each. So it should be OK, as long as your bezel is well glassed – it should distribute the load adequately. If your build isn’t completed I’d add another layer of FG on the bezel and 3-4″ onto the roof, and maybe another layer under the bezel. I’ve never had anything fail that I over-built!
Brian
That unit is quite large for what you would need for a camper this size – about 4-5x, maybe even more. It’s going to short cycle, which isn’t good for the compressor.
I haven’t found an A/C unit suitable for something as small as a teardrop; I wouldn’t want to spend $1k or more and install a unit only to find that it’s not sized properly. On the high end, you want something with about 2800 BTU based on 80 BTU/sf, and because a teardrop isn’t very tall inside, I expect you would want something closer to 2000 BTU.
I have been considering the Zero Breeze Mark 2 portable AC unit. To early in my build to give it much thought.
Paul B
After a couple hot days last summer I decided my winter project would be to add air conditioning to my teardrop. I found a small unit (1,580 btu) manufactured by Rigid HVAC Co. near Hong Kong. The model is DV1910E-AC and it runs great on my 12 volt electrical system. It is small enough to fit in one of the kitchen module compartments and has 1 1/2” pvc pipe supply and return “ductwork” into the cabin. A series of 12 small pipes extending to the bottom of the camper provide supply and exhaust ventilation to the kitchen along with supplemental fans. Temperature and fan speed are controlled by a thermostat and PWM in the cabin. While it does provide cooling, I haven’t been able to test it thoroughly due to our current cold weather. I’ll post a few photos separately.
Here is a link to the DV1910E-AC by Rigid HVAC.
https://www.rigidhvac.com/store/products/dv1910e-ac-12v-cool
Does not have the blue case as shown in Sandman’s pics.
@Sandman have you been able to test it out in the field and if so can you kindly post your results. Where does the hot air from the condenser vent in your setup?Regards, Bob H
Sorry…I haven’t been monitoring the website. I did a test a have to report that the cooling isn’t sufficient for my needs. I’m venting with a series of (5) 1” pipes that I added on the left and right sides of the galley venting down through the cabin an out the floor. I’ll try to post a photo or two. The blue is actually my inverter…the air con is on the lower right.
Thanks @ sandman. Seems the condenser part of the unit should be mounted outside the camper to work properly. After further research my understanding is that this unit works ok as a spot cooler but must not have a large enough blower to force enough air to keep the cabin cool. Keep us posted if you find a better solution.
Regards, Bob
Yes…I can’t seem to post photos but I’m pushing air past the condenser with a series of fans pulling air up the left side through (6) 1” pipes and down the right side with (6) 1” pipes.
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