Portable Air Conditioners

[NuGuy]

What were the guys using that you talked to as far as the cooler units go?? Dont know what they've got or how they're using it, but I've got the Kooleraire unit, and have been using it every day out on my pipeline patrol routes for about a month now. I freeze my ice in small blocks, and it lasts all day. The air is not "marginally" cooler, it is MUCH cooler. It does state in the instructions, however, that block ice, or water or milk jugs filled with water and frozen will work better and cool better than just bagged ice dumped in the cooler.

Heyas Ag,

Yup. I think that's a case of RTFI, because they were using bagged iced, and they told me it would be all gone in a matter of an hour.

I think another concern was weight. If you have what is basically a big Coleman cooler filled with solid ice, it's going to be a weight hit. It might not be a problem solo, but if you are going to pack people in, it becomes more of an issue.


What kind of plane are you using for your run?

Nu

 

[NuGuy]

Would putting a portable A/C in a plane not be considered hazmat? Maybe I am being a little over the edge here, and you would probably be okay unless something happened. I could be wrong, or you might not care but either way its a honest question. I personally think most feds would be impressed.

Are you talking about using it in flight?

 

[agpilot34]

Heyas Ag,

Yup. I think that's a case of RTFI, because they were using bagged iced, and they told me it would be all gone in a matter of an hour.

I think another concern was weight. If you have what is basically a big Coleman cooler filled with solid ice, it's going to be a weight hit. It might not be a problem solo, but if you are going to pack people in, it becomes more of an issue.


What kind of plane are you using for your run?

Nu

Yeah, that's where I get lucky... all my runs are solo. My current pipeline bird is a Skylane. The only time I have someone with me is if I have to fly pipeline personel over their lines, and one day a week when I have an observer with me on one of the lines I fly in TX. The cooler I have fits in the top of a 25 qt. chest, which isnt the smallest one, but isnt the largest one, either. I havent weighed it to see what it weighs full and ready to go... I'll have to do that.

 

[AngelKing]

Are you talking about using it in flight?

We need ours for the ground to keep the specialized electronics n the back cooled down. We have freon air units that we added for in-flight.

AK

 

[Way2Broke]

Are you talking about using it in flight?

My thought was that simply carrying a a/c aboard the aircraft would consitute hazmat.

 

[Gorilla]

AK, if you want to do it on the cheap, here's what you do.

Buy a used window AC unit. Set it on the hangar floor, and turn it on. The output (blowing air) will come out of a horizontal strip on the top perhaps 98% of the time. The INPUT (what the unit sucks) is 98% of the time directly below the output area. Pull the grill off the front, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

The trick is to engineer a plywood box which completely seals and isolates that output duct area. Try using a rubber door seal from Home Depot. You simply want that icy air to be collected in the box, and from there I'd go with a 6" flexible fabric style duct. The end of the duct goes in the airplane.

Water and heat will be dumped out the rear of the unit, hence a roll-around cart with maybe a collection bin at the bottom, like a 20 gallon rubbermade tote.

It'll work fine as-is, but to get really fancy, you can add another duct-box for the AC INPUT grill area, and then you'd have both the input and output hoses in the airplane, as far away from each other as possible. That way the AC will be drawing air it has itself already cooled, making it even colder.

Watch out for voltage. Many window AC's are 120V, some are 240V. Be sure you have the voltage available, and if you need an extension cord, make it a very heavy one.

Keep the ducting as short as practical so as to avoid losses.

 

[icefr8dawg]

I've done this before. I welded a steel duct to fit the output on a window unit and attached a dryer exhaust hose to the fabricated duct. It worked really well for working on the plane in a hot hanger or cooling the plane on the ramp. It rusted however, wish I knew how to weld aluminum...
I don't think it would be that hard to make a 12/24 volt model out of automotive components if you really wanted to. They have one on display at Oshkosh for various aircraft. It weighs a lot but it's small. You'd need an STC to make it permanant installation unfortunately. Portable however...

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Dead on Gorilla! I've seen mechanics fabricate this with a throwaway
wall unit and stuff lying around. They'd put the duct in the cocpit
window for when they were working on the avionics. It made South
Florida summers bareable.

It seems like it'd be simple. Buy a $250 window AC unit and a cheap roll-about wheeled cart. Build a plywood box for the front of the AC unit so it isolates the OUTPUT side of the AC unit, leaving the input side open, or you can use a second duct for that from the airplane. From the output side, run a 6" or 8" flex duct that goes to the airplane.

I'd leave the AC controls on FULL COLD and HIGH, and wire a separate switch on a handy box outside the plywood. Attach the duct to the airplane and turn on your switch. Should work OK. Don't forget the AC unit will drip water, so be sure it doesn't accumulate anywhere that might cause damage.

 

[AngelKing]

Thanks for the info guys, just what I needed. It is very warm down here in Key West.


AK