Started first mini-split in 45xle today. very impressive. With the help of Mci8-tintent. The 12,000btu unit dropped the coach from 95 to low 70's in less than 90 minutes. I have two more units 9,000 btu each to use as zone support. I have had them for some time but have not had time to do final pump down and fire up until today. Pleasant surprise and reinforcement of decision I made to go this course. The way they start and ramp up to speed is a little differant. Thanks to all who helped with personal experience and info.
I was doing some work on the bus today and fired up the mini splits. I though about how nice and quiet they were and how no condensattion had to. Run down from the roof. It was hot and humid today but a nice 70 degrees on board.
I'm going to sneek a pillow up to coach just in case I need nap ::)
Quote from: robertglines1 on July 09, 2011, 08:09:26 PM
I'm going to sneek a pillow up to coach just in case I need nap ::)
At least I'll know where to find ya if I sneek by next weekend! (I'm supposed to help Shawn out with at least 1 bus the 16th maybe more!)
;D BK ;D
Mci8 tin tent Duwayne ask how you were today I told him Wild as usual! ;D Needed Ac Judy doing tile work in shower and counters.
Cool! Well I am gonna try and be the driver that comes up Friday night and hauls a semi-pro football team for Shawn to O'Fallon on Saturday and maybe come by Sunday about 11-1 before deadheading to S. MS for a Monday AM rte back to Batesville, MS Job Corp.
SO if nothing changes I may be by.
Of course I was supposed to be leaving for PCB, FL in the AM for a week too, but dad talked me into letting another driver do it so I could be around here "just in case" since he and mom are off for an 8 day tour with a youth group they've been carrying for 7 yrs now called the CIA ~ Christians In Action. They travel to different towns and put on musical performances @ churches, hospitals, nursing homes etc in exchange for meals or boarding. (it's a pretty cool deal I think and mom & dad enjoy taking them every year!)
;D BK ;D
Semi pro football team? Would that be Ohio State? ;)
Quote from: Chopper Scott on July 10, 2011, 06:49:59 AM
Semi pro football team? Would that be Ohio State? ;)
Naw they just a bunch of Buckeyes! And although I will for enough $, I usually don't haul useless nuts! ;)
;D BK ;D
Bob, where did you install the evaporators my friend bought 2 Sanyo's and they are telling him he cannnot install those in the cabinet work and he doesn't want the evaporators on the wall's ( got any photos)
good luck
Bob, where did you mount these? In bays? My 01 Prevost has the Cruiseairs (3) under drivers feet behind bumper. If they wont take a charge, I might have to go after other options.
Thanks,
Glen
I am just finishing my wiring up on my bus and also went with mini splits.I'm going to use the art cool " mirror looking ones as a conversation piece. 35' footer with 18,000 btu and lots of insulation.
Its been awhile Robert but thanks for all the help in the planing stages.Glad to here ur on the home stretch. ;D
I put one in cabinet above driver. front cabinet across bus.. They must have air intake and room for outlet- they are basic cabinet themselves. The other mid ship will disguised as part of cabinet. and other same in bedroom. Mounted about 60 inches off floor. Duwayne( Mci8 tintent) has had his built in for four or 5 years. Pictures soon. One of the 9,000 is maintaining today in the 90's at 70 degrees inside. After thought they are probably concerned about condensation about installing in cabinet. I'm building cabinets around mine. with units being lowest point
Bob,
Way to go........Glad to hear about your successes...
"If you don't lead every now and then, the views always the same" ;D ;)
Cliff
I would also LOVE to see some pictures of both the install in the cargo bay or wherever, and the inside part.
Thanks in advance!
Robert as they say "inquiring mines want to know". All of us in the design stage want to know how to make these systems work and look good.
Brice
Bob, congratulations on your mini-split success. Hope to see pics if you can post some for all of us. Good to talk to you the other day and I appreciate you help on the fuel prime issue.
Quote from: robertglines1 on July 09, 2011, 07:57:11 PM
Started first mini-split in 45xle today. very impressive. With the help of Mci8-tintent. The 12,000btu unit dropped the coach from 95 to low 70's in less than 90 minutes. I have two more units 9,000 btu each to use as zone support. I have had them for some time but have not had time to do final pump down and fire up until today. Pleasant surprise and reinforcement of decision I made to go this course. The way they start and ramp up to speed is a little differant. Thanks to all who helped with personal experience and info.
I want to share some experiences I have had specifying these types of units in buildings. Please note that these units, whether Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Carrier....do NOT tolerate voltage fluctuations very well. We use these in health care facilities. When the city power go's out, the gensets kick in. Then when the power comes back on, the genset goes offline. Then, when the power go's out again....so does the mini. It will take itself offline until the power situation "makes up it's mind".
My understanding is these Sanyo, Mitsu, etc., minsplits use 12 volt DC compressors off inverters?? Would there be a way to by-pass the inverter and run them directly off a battery bank??
Larry, can you clarify what "takes itself off-line" means? 5 minute wait to auto reset, hard reset by a technician, buy a new control board...
thanks, Brian
Bob, I need to know what brand you are using we have sent PM's to Sanyo and other as we were thinking using the ceiling mount evaporators all are telling us neither evaporator or the unit can be used in anything mobile but they won't tell us why except warranty issues ? he gave to much money for these units to forget about it and they won't let him return the units
good luck
You need to talk to Nick. It's one of those legal deals. I can only tell you I'm not qualified to give a expert opinion on anything. You can't walk and chew gum at same time because you might trip and break your arm.Whose liable?? Any thing I do should only be laugh at and is only for entertainment purpose ;D. How hard does your bus ride down the road? Do you Baja Race it? It is 4-wheel drive(off road)? lots of variable here. My home made units from window units from lowes are on their 9th year. and about 100,000 miles. Sorry for the smart answer but I didn't really expect a warranty or actually expect to need one once they were up and running. Now if they never Started up in first place I would have expected them made good. These thing are so simple. In My Uneducated opinion they are including our coaches in a class with Sticks and staples and semi trucks and cars who do not have the stable ride that we enjoy. More twisting and viberating. If I'm wrong I just have a $1,500. minus scrap oops ! Sure hope this Prevost rides better than that!! My Mci and 89 Prevost didn't destroy the home window air conditioners I used to make my own units out of before I found out about the mini-split. Again sorry for the long post. Just seems like someone is always trying to find away to not stand behind their workmanship.
Does this mean you are not going to tell me the brand name LOl
good luck
Soleus Didn't mean to omit. I got a lot deal on 2 ea 9 and a 12 heat and cool for 1450 with shipping last year. so didn't shop brand they were 13 seer Not the best but this was a experiment and looked better than any other alternative. After the experience with building my own and the reward with efficiency; this is much better. this morning was 84 at 7 am and hum was out of site, went up with one 9 running was 70 in bus . Heat index today 110 with temp only 95.
I did get a reply from Friedrich Bob per the customer relations " Due to the high operating pressure of the unit we do sell or recommend our units in a mobile environment and a bunch more garbage along with it which thought was a pretty lame excuse also
good luck
Quote from: robertglines1 on July 11, 2011, 09:37:01 AM
My home made units from window units from Lowes are on their 9th year. and about 100,000 miles.
Robert:
How about some pictures of your install with these house window units?
Here in Mexico, I can get (new, with warranties):
--Window units from $120 up to $300 U.S.
--Mini-Splits from $350 to $550 U.S., plus about $180 parts/labor for install
--Camper rooftop units (13,500 btu) for $895 U.S.
First two options would leave my roof line clean.
Could I install the compressor side of a mini-split in the rear engine compartment section (shielded from engine) where the OTR air compressor used to be? This compartment also contains the engine fan.
How come none of you mini-split installers are willing to post pictures? I promise cross my heart that I won't sue you!!
I am looking at all options, and am not loaded with money just yet.
;D :o :P
Here is some info from one of Bobs past posts on his window units....HTH...Tim
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=15933.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=15933.0)
I suspect one of the reasons manufacturers won't warranty these in mobile applications is vibration with all the copper lines. A car uses mostly flexible hoses. Rooftops do have copper lines, but they are designed for mobile use.
If I had room for the condenser I would probably install a mini split.
ok.... whats a mini split? perhaps the heat has melted my brain today and Im not seeing the obvious...
And I am curious what was done with the window units in your previous conversion Bob?
...........wow its stupid hot out btw.....
Mini- split is much like a home unit with condensor mounted outside ans evaporator inside. heat and ac in one unit. I used window units years ago and ducted them into bus from bay had built cold air return etc. yes it is stupid hot ! Go to E-bay and type in Mini-split ac. Bob
^^^thanks
Hi Guy's,
Most ductless split mfg's won't recommend mobile installations for 2 reasons.
1) as stated above, the copper lines and connections are not designed to resist the stress of movement.
2) The evaporators are built with very shallow condensate pans which could spill and damage furniture and walls.
This doesn't mean that you can't.... Just don't ever tell them what you installed it in! Lol
Also to answer the DC compressor question, the inverter boards within the units are very elabrate. They control
a very wide range of compressor speeds as well as fan speeds to optomize efficency. It would be very hard to mimmic
this range with straight DC current within your coach.
This year has been a record breaker for us with Ductless Split installs! 98% of them in homes and and 2 so far in an
Ice Cream truck.. Next Monday we start a quad Sanyo install for a home owner in Cape May. A 9,000 btu and 3- 7,000 btu's.
utilizing one 30,000 btu quad condencer. Each zone is self controlable and all the evaporators have UV air cleaners within.
So far this year all the Sanyo's we installed were 19 SEER+ too.
Bobby, Glad to hear your happy with your Ductless Split!
Good Luck
Nick-
Quote from: bevans6 on July 11, 2011, 04:58:37 AM
Larry, can you clarify what "takes itself off-line" means? 5 minute wait to auto reset, hard reset by a technician, buy a new control board...
thanks, Brian
sorry, been travelin'
I believe the last of these mini's we specified were Carrier. They went into a auto reset that was more like 45 minute. I will have to go into the manual. My point was that these do like a steady voltage with no surges. In the instance I mentioned, city power, then generator power, then city power again, then city power again. All with a large commercial genset (250 KW) but in the middle of an ice storm. Everything was automatic.
Holy S*** I open one of the Sanyo's man the electronics on those are out of this world why would anyone even consider installing one in a bus, are all the inverter type made that way it blew me away all the circuitry on it I'll pass I don't care how much cool air they make that looks like a fortune to have one fixed
good luck
You don't fix them you replace them
Kind of like the light bulb in your tail light
They really are pretty cheap and when properly installed they pretty much don't need any thing to keep running
We are after all a disposable society
HTH
Melbo
last report. Hottest day of year yesterday. weather man said was and hopefully will be one or twice a year occurrence. Got up to 76 in coach with one unit (9000 ); 0n kicked 2ND on and minutes later down to 70. parked in steel building no ac or heat for that matter ; building in the sun. 97 degrees and humidity in 80's.Heat index 117 Time will tell on durability.. I still like mags and spark plugs or basic diesel non electronic but that's not here anymore. so let's go for the ride with new technology: probably disposable. Bob
Great job Bob!! Sounds like this will be in my future.
Fred
Still see no pictures from anyone on their installations. What's up with that?
I'll go first. I was digging to see if I had some good pics. I'll post a few tonight as I find them. I will also make an effort to get some better shots for your critique. This one is a Sanyo 12K BTU mounted over the table which is built over the wheel well. It is not in the way at all and has been in operation for 3 years.
I would be quite interested in seeing pictures of where folks have installed the condenser units to get proper airflow.
Another of the chase for the lines
The outdoor unit for the Sanyo is located behind the grille in the lower right of the pic.
Outdoor unit for the rear mini-split. It is covered in the pic since I was painting.
Darrel found some evaporators you can conceal for the Sanyo's has anyone here used those ? he is not going with the evaporator that go on the wall for some reason and the ceiling units take up to much room on the top
good luck
Well I'm a week away from Pre installing my condensation and refrigeration lines,and I'm using high pressure hose not copper.What have u technologically advanced users use ? 8)
Bob from the back woods; soft ref grade copper with attention paid to any place it might rub through insulation with a little extra rubber padding to prevent damage to copper. Anchor well to prevent movement;spray foam tight inaccessible areas. Just my way. Bob
Good to hear that there appears to be sucess in using Mimi-splits.
What brand of unit have each of you been using?
Are any of them heat pumps that would provide both heating and cooling?
Nick, looks as if you've been installing a lot of residential units. If you were to do and install in a bus, what unit would you use? Would it be a heat pump?
Looking forward to some feedback.
Kenny
Hate to say but I went for the deal $ bought all three of mine in a package delivered for 1450. 2ea 9,000 and a 12,000 heat and cool. Soleus Brand. After talking to others there is just not enough difference in occasional use in my case to make a difference. Just selected the features I wanted and went from there. bought direct from distrib. Talked to many members and professional installers and their main concern if any was condensate spillage and 2 suggested mount a little off level and make sure bus is level when parked. really only concern expressed. Bob minnisplits@evergreenproducts.com
Mine are both heat pumps. One Sanyo 12K BTU with an inverter compressor (variable speed compressor, no power spike when coming on). The other is a Kilimaire 12K BTU, half the price of the Sanyo. (I kind of wish I'd gotten another Sanyo) Both work just fine. As far as the condensate issue I used both drains (one at each end of the tray) and have had no issue.