A/C project finished (pic), Well, I finally finished installing the A/C in my ...

Well, I finally finished installing the A/C in my '90 Freedom. The original Emerson wasn't bad, but it kept overloading my 2KW generator. (Which is odd, since it's only rated to consume 600W.) The new GE AGN05 5200BTU A/C is smaller, lighter, more efficient, and the Honda runs it with ease. Not expensive, either, if you can ignore the three or four weekends it took to put in.

I was tired of imitation-woodgrain-vinyl-coated-pressboard-and-pop-rivets, so the trim (extra-wide, to fill in the gaps caused by the smaller unit) is solid oak finished with Danish wood oil and fastened with brass screws. Looks nice if I do say so myself.

Now on to the electrical system upgrade project!

Attached Image

It looks better than nice...

But doesn't it make you want to put in a real, wooden door?

Congrats on getting it finished. Mary F. (Jonestown TX)

http://www.paradigm-products.com/review.htm

If I replaced the door, I'd have to start replacing the entire interior. I'll probably do a real wooden dinette table first.

Eric, that really does look nice. Bring your tool to the CasitaFest, you may have some jobs awaiting you. Really, its a nice job.

Eric-

Boy that is real nice. I see you put your fire extinguisher on the out side too. I just did that this week end. Seems like a much better place.

Casita Resources - Links

My Casita came that way, not sure if it was the factory that did it or the dealer.

Older Casita came with the fire extinguisher on the outside of the closet, until someone decided to put them on the inside. First thing I do when I get a new Casita is move the extinguisher to the outside.

But, man, your a/c's lookin' good.

The way it was, if you opened the closet to get your Fire Extinguisher, you were trapped inside the trailer. If you needed to get it while out side, you had to go into the trailer, open the closet, get the extinguisher, and then close the closet to get back out side. No one but the owner knew were it was. A friend would not know were it was to help. All in all it needs to be were it is useful in an emergency.

Casita Resources - Links

Nice job on the A/C.

Since this turned into a fire extinguisher thread, here's what I did. A 2" square of heavy duty Velcro on the base holds it nicely in the corner out of the way. No problems with it unattaching yet.

Velcro, second only to duct tape.

Earl Mich

I have been looking at the 16' Casitas, and it looks like the choices for mounting the A/C are on the roof, or down at the base of the closet, in the door passageway.

If you get one of the roof mounted units, the smallest is 7000 BTU. The roof mount units give the best cool air circulation, but a small generator won't run it. (also adds to clearance, which migh keep you out of casino parking garage)

The alternative is to use a smaller window unit, with the lower location under the closet. (You probably need a fan to pull the cool air over to the back of the trailer.)

The GE model in the pix is a good cheap one, usually $119 at Sam's or Wal-Mart. I have one I was using in my present fold up trailer and it worked ok.

The GE A/C, when used with the Honda EU1000, kicks the o/l lite for 3 sec while the compressor grunts and finally comes up. If you wake up at 3 AM feeling too warm, and turn the thermostat down, and it bogs down because it just kicked off 2 minutes ago, it shuts down the generator, and you have to put your pants on, go outside, restart the generator, and try to resume sleeping.

I found a better A/C for using with a generator at Lowe's this week. It's the Sharp 5000 BTU that has the electronic controls that have a delay that keeps the compressor from coming back on before the pressure has bled down. (otherwise known as "short cycling") Also when the compressor comes on, it only kicks the overload light for a half a second, which isn't bad. This one works great with the Honda EU-1000i generator

..... friz

DF Electronics

Wish I'd known before I bought the GE, that sounds like a good unit. I tested the GE with a "room" made of slabs of expanded bead styrofoam, maybe 30 or 40 cubic feet, with the A/C set on its highest setting and running off of the generator. Even with the short cycles this setup produced, the overload on the EU2000i never tripped.

One important factor for Casitas is that the A/C exhaust be on the top or the left, otherwise the cold air runs into a wall. Looks like the Sharp would be OK in that regard. I'd report on circulation tests in the Casita, but we haven't had any really hot days this summer.