[p2164]

Hello to all this is my first post, my wife and I just purchased a Transit 350 Diesel passenger van which will be transformed into a all purpose camper rv, we've owned a 84 vanagon for years which I installed a Subaru wrx motor in but still lacked some of the modern desires of the Ford Transit so here we go on the Transit camper build. First thing was to purchased golf cart batteries which would give us at least 400 amp hour feeding the 1500W pure signwave inverter which will power many of the 120v comforts of home, the biggest challenge was air conditioning and the heat, Ive researched MANY different systems but found this unit and its amazing! Total size is 9" high, 14" long by 7" deep. It comes in AC or AC/ DC versions and when running on DC draws a little over 20 amps. It does require an external water radiator in order to dissipate the heat from the condenser which I will run water line to the roof and install a small radiator or this may change as my build goes along but for now that is my thought. Also its rated at 4200 BTU but the owner of the company who designed it said it pumps over 5000 BTU but hes keeping the underrating..

Here is is site and he also has a couple youtube videos.
http://minihvac.com/

 

[Budsky]

I can tell you from experience a 5,000 BTU unit isn't gonna cut it in the sun, especially on a black van.
I have a 13,500 BTU Dometic on a white van and it doesn't cut it in the sun on a 90 deg day with the van uninsulated.
Planning to insulate and hope it does the job...

 

[p2164]

I will be removing all the panels in the van to explore what type of insulation the factory has provided and add to that where possible. I had a 5000 btu in my VW vanagon and it kept up with the heat pretty well, the cubic feet in the Transit is not much different with the VW camper roof up, I'm hoping for the best. One thing we did on the VW is use a thermo window treatment for the front and rear windows which helped a great deal. I will post results. The transit passenger van came with dual air so I hope they insulated for that.

 

[orton]

One way it may work very well is to limit the volume it needs to cool/heat. I am now putting up my front privacy curtain up just behind the back of the sliding door and in front of the rear wheel wells instead of behind the front seats. That cuts the interior sleeping area volume in half. I also do not have side wall windows in the back half of the van.

 

[p2164]

Thats a good idea also, that area isn't used when your parked anyway. I'm going to try lizard skin spray on insulation, seen a couple you tube videos and its pretty impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9z_XlP4dY

 

[GaryBIS]

Thats a good idea also, that area isn't used when your parked anyway. I'm going to try lizard skin spray on insulation, seen a couple you tube videos and its pretty impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9z_XlP4dY

Hi,
Not to be a wet blanket, but I think the spray on ceramic insulation products are a scam -- have a look at this story before you decide: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com...ting-paint-merchants-dupe-gullible-homeowners

There is a heat loss calculator for vans here:
http://www.buildagreenrv.com/design...t-loss-calculator-for-camper-van-conversions/

It might give you some idea whether the 5K BTU is enough and/or how much insulation you will need to provide.



One thing that can be a very large heat gain is direct solar gain through windows. 10 sqft of window with direct solar gain on a sunny day with a window that transmits 80% of the solar through the glass will give you a heat gain near 2500 BTU/hr just for the window.
Using highly reflective (eg Reflectex) panels inside the window will reflect a lot of the sun back out the window and reduce the gain -- or, better yet an opaque shade on the outside of the window will stop the solar gain -- or, park in the shade.

Van color makes a lot of difference. A dark colored van is going to require more insulation.

Gary

 

[Hein]

I can tell you from experience a 5,000 BTU unit isn't gonna cut it in the sun, especially on a black van.
I have a 13,500 BTU Dometic on a white van and it doesn't cut it in the sun on a 90 deg day with the van uninsulated.
Planning to insulate and hope it does the job...

Suggest 3M Thinsulate(TM). Please contact us below We have a 9000 BTU AC and feel we could have gone smaller. But our van is white and well insulated.



All the best,
Hein
Impact, Inc.
Hood River, OR
54l 49O 5O98
impactproducts | eBay

 

[p2164]

Well I was amazed that there was zero insulation in the van, after removing all the seats the panels started to come off only to find....nothing! I installed the Maxxair 6200 fan unit and waiting the the 3M thinsulate to show up today then the process will begin to insulate and fill in the small areas with spray foam. While waiting I did some experiments with the new mini heat pump and found its performance to be as very good till the water in the bucket got warm then its output of cool air decreases so there will have to be a good size radiator to transfer the heat which I hope to locate in front of the van in front of all the other heat transfer devices. I have purchased 4 T105 deep cycle batteries with a total of 440 amp hours @12 VDC which in tern feeds a 1500W (3000 watt peak) pure sign wave inverter. As you can see from the DC power supply the unit draws 26.1 amps with the fan on the high speed. Output air at 84 F outside temp was 65 F till the water in the bucket got to 90 F then it went up.

3M thinsulate supplied by Hein in Hood River Oregon!

Why can't I post pictures?

 

[nc rick]

That ac system looks a lot like the marine system I installed in our boat years ago. I had thought about taking it out when I sold the boat. I think it would need a pretty big radiator, water pump and exterior fan. All that stuff could be mounted under the van I suppose. With good insulation and something blocking the passenger compartment, 5000 but will get the job done.

 

[p2164]

It is a marine system, I'm thinking Honda Goldwing radiator and fan.

Why are not my pictures coming up?

 

[Roadtripper]

Has anyone tried one of these Coleman Heat Pumps? Sure looks like it might do the trick for both heating and cooling. Room mounted and self contained.

http://www.adventurerv.net/coleman-hp2-heat-pump-15000-btu-roof-air-conditioner-complete-p-1380.html

 

[p2164]

I'm certain that would do the job unfortunately its to large to operate on batteries. with that size I doubt you would need to insulate but your going to need AC external pwr for it.

 

[Jack Houpe]

New name, new password, let see if I can upload pictures.