Portable A/C Unit....Gauging Interest

[BritKLR]

Great setup! I did something similar with a small AC, but I used sewn ducting. Similiar to a sleeve, that fit over the vent and then traveled into the tent and suspended from the interior tent poles. Since the cool air vented from the top of the tent and cool air falls, it seemed to fill the tent efficently. Plus, since the ducting was 100-200d nylon it simply folded up with the tent. Again, great project!

 

[Shwane]

Great setup! I did something similar with a small AC, but I used sewn ducting. Similiar to a sleeve, that fit over the vent and then traveled into the tent and suspended from the interior tent poles. Since the cool air vented from the top of the tent and cool air falls, it seemed to fill the tent efficently. Plus, since the ducting was 100-200d nylon it simply folded up with the tent. Again, great project!

Yea agreed. I have the same tent and plan on doing it just like this if I can get ahold of Scotia. The alternative (Climateright) has some hit and miss reviews on its system and perhaps some sub-par customer service. You really can't go wrong with this set up being the cost for the ac is less than 200 bucks.

 

[Tkhawk]

Great setup! I did something similar with a small AC, but I used sewn ducting. Similiar to a sleeve, that fit over the vent and then traveled into the tent and suspended from the interior tent poles. Since the cool air vented from the top of the tent and cool air falls, it seemed to fill the tent efficently. Plus, since the ducting was 100-200d nylon it simply folded up with the tent. Again, great project!

I hadn't thought of sewn ducting. Do you have any pictures?

 

[DetroitDarin]

Been playing around by adding a boat engine compartment blower on the intake side and air flow increased dramatically. 4” Atwood blower tightly fits on the damper tube. Showed a 1 degree drop in temp but way more air flow. Fan gets pretty quiet once you hook the hose up.

www.yellowskeeter.com

good call. The fan-flow/air flow cooling wont show up on a thermometer because its essentially wind-chill, right?

 

[BritKLR]

I hadn't thought of sewn ducting. Do you have any pictures?

Sorry, I don't. I built it for my RTT maybe 8-9 years ago. The plenum was similiar to yours but with a single outlet. The sewn ducting slipped over the outlet and ran up to the tent door. The ducting was 4-5 inches in diameter and about every foot or so I had 550 cord sewn into the seams to tie to the side of the ladder and to the interior tent frame. The ducting inside the tent had 2-3 inch holes every couple of feet to vent the air into the tent. Of course the end of the ducting was closed off and any sharp turns in the ducting were sewn into the shape of the ducting (transitioning from the wall to the ceiling or from the a/c unit to up the ladder). Was it the most efficient way to route air, probably not. Could I have added some stifferners into the fabric to reduce the chance of the fabric collapsing from time to time. Yep. But, it was fun experience and keep us cool while others were suffering. Good luck!

 

[Tkhawk]

Sorry, I don't. I built it for my RTT maybe 8-9 years ago. The plenum was similiar to yours but with a single outlet. The sewn ducting slipped over the outlet and ran up to the tent door. The ducting was 4-5 inches in diameter and about every foot or so I had 550 cord sewn into the seams to tie to the side of the ladder and to the interior tent frame. The ducting inside the tent had 2-3 inch holes every couple of feet to vent the air into the tent. Of course the end of the ducting was closed off and any sharp turns in the ducting were sewn into the shape of the ducting (transitioning from the wall to the ceiling or from the a/c unit to up the ladder). Was it the most efficient way to route air, probably not. Could I have added some stifferners into the fabric to reduce the chance of the fabric collapsing from time to time. Yep. But, it was fun experience and keep us cool while others were suffering. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll have to give it a shot!