hello everyone,
I have a 97 dodge ram van b2500.
I live in florida (not a van dweller but love the idea) but I need to get some ac in my van.
I believe fixing the current ac system in the van (dual ac system) would be too expensive and vacuum tubes would need to be found and fixed to use the ac and why or what caused the electrical connections to melt the first time was it the wood wedged in it? why was the wood even there?
I just recently. had to purchase a new alternator and got rid of the one on that (worked just fine for what i needed until it went bad) was on it an 80 amp. the van calls for a 136amp alternator for the conversion van 80 for the base. Got the higher amp one when I replaced it think its actually 140amp but at the least its 136amp.
I'm thinking it would be cheaper, quicker, and easier to bypass the main vans ac system I can see it costing well over 500 to get this fixed just for parts alone and probably a good deal just to diagnose the issues to even be able to repair it.
what I want to do is get a window unit for the back window, i see vans all the time with them but never been able to ask anyone with one their setup. I have no solar or battery-back on the van(yet may in the future if i get all my crap together). So I am thinking I would have someone who knows what they are doing wire up directly to the battery to a power invert er. from there hook the ac system into it. I could be wrong but I think a 1500watt one would work but think i'd go for a 2000 watt one to be safe.
I also read a lot about a fantastic fan. Would it be a benefit to get one and have it installed as well? what kind of solar setup and battery would I need to be able to let it run (especially during the day) even when not using the van to keep it cooler before using it and have it shut off when i use the van and start the ac system.
perhaps in the future i could get more solar or better solar and panels to run things. for example say i have a 400watt solar system and 2 batteries (average size ones).
if this is hooked up to the inverter (can an inverter be wired for both solar and vehicle battery and be somehow not using the vehicle battery when the vehicle is not running?)
so if this was possible
how long rough estimate would the following run just assuming i am only using this one thing
5k btu window ac unit
the fantastic fan
normal house/shop fan
powering/charging a laptop
So the first thing I am looking at is just the hard wiring a inverter to the battery so I can use the window ac unit when the vehicle is running.
as time goes on possibly adding a bit of solar and battery if they would be of any benefit for short periods of use. I don't see myself needing to use them for more than 2-3 hours at a time.
Ryan
I have a 97 dodge ram van b2500.
I live in florida (not a van dweller but love the idea) but I need to get some ac in my van.
I believe fixing the current ac system in the van (dual ac system) would be too expensive and vacuum tubes would need to be found and fixed to use the ac and why or what caused the electrical connections to melt the first time was it the wood wedged in it? why was the wood even there?
I just recently. had to purchase a new alternator and got rid of the one on that (worked just fine for what i needed until it went bad) was on it an 80 amp. the van calls for a 136amp alternator for the conversion van 80 for the base. Got the higher amp one when I replaced it think its actually 140amp but at the least its 136amp.
I'm thinking it would be cheaper, quicker, and easier to bypass the main vans ac system I can see it costing well over 500 to get this fixed just for parts alone and probably a good deal just to diagnose the issues to even be able to repair it.
what I want to do is get a window unit for the back window, i see vans all the time with them but never been able to ask anyone with one their setup. I have no solar or battery-back on the van(yet may in the future if i get all my crap together). So I am thinking I would have someone who knows what they are doing wire up directly to the battery to a power invert er. from there hook the ac system into it. I could be wrong but I think a 1500watt one would work but think i'd go for a 2000 watt one to be safe.
I also read a lot about a fantastic fan. Would it be a benefit to get one and have it installed as well? what kind of solar setup and battery would I need to be able to let it run (especially during the day) even when not using the van to keep it cooler before using it and have it shut off when i use the van and start the ac system.
perhaps in the future i could get more solar or better solar and panels to run things. for example say i have a 400watt solar system and 2 batteries (average size ones).
if this is hooked up to the inverter (can an inverter be wired for both solar and vehicle battery and be somehow not using the vehicle battery when the vehicle is not running?)
so if this was possible
how long rough estimate would the following run just assuming i am only using this one thing
5k btu window ac unit
the fantastic fan
normal house/shop fan
powering/charging a laptop
So the first thing I am looking at is just the hard wiring a inverter to the battery so I can use the window ac unit when the vehicle is running.
as time goes on possibly adding a bit of solar and battery if they would be of any benefit for short periods of use. I don't see myself needing to use them for more than 2-3 hours at a time.
Ryan