12K Btu 120V Mini Splits

[ccbmster]

Speaking of putting in a second mini split   

I understand there is probably a valve I need to close before taking the radiator in the picture out....but can not seem to find it.  Where is it located?

[jap42]

Any brand with inverter, honestly I would go cheap because you wont have any warranty with any of them.

ccbmster: That is not a radiator, its a condenser. It looks like one of the lines is already broken off, so its empty. If not its possibly under quite a bit of pressure. And probably with R22 refrigerant. So be careful. Take it to an A/C shop and have them evac it for you. If it is clean R22 some guys may do it for free if you let them keep the refrigerant. R22 is getting expensive as it gets phased out.

[windtrader]

Thanks for the details. I'm starting the hunt now that the lithium conversion is done and the panels are in (nearly, still need to mount on roof). The rooftop units are miserable energy hogs, got to go asap! Lot better option than amping up more panels to feed to hog, much less two of them.

[dtcerrato]

The amperage draw between the 16.5 seer & the 21 seer mini splits is substantial but any mini split is a world better than conventional roof tops. We have the skinniest amp draw of any of the roof tops. It is the Dometic HE Brisk Air II @ 12500 btu @ 9 amp draw. We will be powering it with a Magnum MS 2812 with power to spare. A high efficiency 12500 btu mini split draws approx. 780 watts. FWIW

[apr67]

I am reading you guys saying heat pumps are not as good at cooling in the desert areas as conventional AC's.

Why is that?  I thought the only difference was the reversing valve, and a cycle where it uses a heatstrip when heating to defrost the outside coils.

[ccbmster]

Any brand with inverter, honestly I would go cheap because you wont have any warranty with any of them.

ccbmster: That is not a radiator, its a condenser. It looks like one of the lines is already broken off, so its empty. If not its possibly under quite a bit of pressure. And probably with R22 refrigerant. So be careful. Take it to an A/C shop and have them evac it for you. If it is clean R22 some guys may do it for free if you let them keep the refrigerant. R22 is getting expensive as it gets phased out.

I cut off those two hoses in order to remove the AC dryer.  There was extremely little freon  in it (yes, R22).  Someone said that they did this and they did not shut off a coolant valve in the back of the bus, which resulted in coolant being pumped into that bay when he started the bus up.....I can not find where there is any suck coolant valve that is connected in any way with the AC system.

[jap42]

When you cut the evaporator out (In the middle) you will also be removing the heater core. No collant in that door. One of the shut off valves is in the passenger side engine compartment door right along the engine frame. (102A3) not sure where the other one is but should be in a similar area. Probably above the motor.

[jap42]

In the desert they can use swamp coolers. They use very little power to cool very well. A properly sized A/C can cool as well as a swamp cooler but will use a lot more power and cost more up front. They have this idea that they dont work as well, but in reality they are just not cost effective with the alternatives they have available.

Swamp coolers only work with the humidity is below a specific level (Around 15% I think) and they require about 3-4 times the space outside as a mini split condenser. But they only have a fan and maybe a small water pump, so they only use a few hundred watts. A similar sized mini split will pull a few thousand.

Heat pumps useally will do better in hotter climates then A/C only. The outdoor condenser is larger to keep up with the larger tempature swing when trying to heat to 65 when its 15 outside. (50 degree swing) Where an A/C is only cooling from 100 to 65 (40 Degree Swing). Hyper Heat Models will do even better.

[apr67]

I thought you could use a swamp cooler and a AC at the same time, the swamp cooler cools and gets the humidity up, and the AC removes the humidity and ergo cools better because of it.  Or is that not how they do it?

[ccbmster]

When you cut the evaporator out (In the middle) you will also be removing the heater core. No collant in that door. One of the shut off valves is in the passenger side engine compartment door right along the engine frame. (102A3) not sure where the other one is but should be in a similar area. Probably above the motor.

Do either of those need to be shut off?

[jap42]

Evaporator will be empty, but the core will need to be shut off. What model do you have?

[windtrader]

swamp coolers may be a viable option where fresh water is plentiful; although not based on actual gph figures, just assuming they will gobble more than one would want to offer up from the fresh water tank onboard.

[ccbmster]

Evaporator will be empty, but the core will need to be shut off. What model do you have?

1986 MCI 102A3

[buswarrior]

Re: pulling the condenser...

There's nothing to turn off, you already have cut the line to it, drag it out of there. There's scrap money in that heavy unit, don't just toss it...

If you are removing the rest of the hvac, the big evaporator and the heater core, then you have to terminate the heater core properly, and be sure not to screw up the feed to the driver's defroster.

That's a whole different post, this one has enough side channels already.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Dave5Cs]

I think Mitsubishi makes an inverter mini split that uses real low power because the inverter handles a lot of it.