Anyone know of a good air conditioner for tent camping

[thekamperman]

Originally Posted by SMOKEY2348

^ that's creative, are they using an inverter\converter? (I always get the two confused)

The inverters convert 12, 24, and/or 48V DC to 110V AC. Too much for the batteries for a full AC unit. This is also my case, if going to primitive camping I'm left with my Fan-Tastic Roof fan and one tent fan running on the camper batteries.

As promised follow the picts of my humble installation.

I created a base for the AC unit that attach to the window frame and secures to a screw installed in the camper body (inside). Nothing fancy, but all the setting can be installed in a minute.

[SMOKEY2348]

^ oh nice, well your camper should have deep cycle batteries and you can always expand your battery bank one battery at a time they're relatively cheap and easy to hook up. One battery a month or every other month and you could have an AC running for a few hours before you run outa juice.

[thekamperman]

Two deep cycle. For the fans they last more than enough.
The thing is the limited space and weight concerns for off-road travel. There is no much you can put over a pickup already over-loaded. : )

[SMOKEY2348]

haha yeah true... depending on the axle that you have under your bed you could possibly put a few helper leafs down there and up your carrying capacity .

[thekamperman]

Thanks for the advice!
I have already installed the "supersprings" leafs, but my vehicle also have front and back hitches for bikes and cargo plus the roof racks over the camper.
I'm already into the limits when adding the camping crowd... : )

[SMOKEY2348]

^ hollllyyyy CRAP. Wow sounds like your truck really gets used to the breaking point! Well its good to hear that you have such a big group to go camping with, not a lot of folks are doing that because kids are infatuated with the internet and staying connected to 'friends' who really don't give a damn about them. :P

[artmart]

inverter changes 12V to 110v
converter changes 110v to 12v

I don't know any mental trick to remembering this but I do remember it.

[happiestcamper]

Originally Posted by artmart

inverter changes 12V to 110v
converter changes 110v to 12v

I don't know any mental trick to remembering this but I do remember it.

How 'bout this - inverter has two letters before the V, and there are two digits before the V with the starting voltage. Converter has three letters before the V, and there are three digits before the V in starting voltage.

[thekamperman]

Clever happiestcamper!
Another would be:
CONVERTER= goes down. (110-12).
INVERTER = goes up (12-110).

[l2l]

Originally Posted by thekamperman

Clever happiestcamper!
Another would be:
CONVERTER= goes down. (110-12).
INVERTER = goes up (12-110).

I like that one

[imskipinout]

I had tried a portable air conditioner once when camping in the very very hot summer at the lake of the Ozarks. I bought it at Home depot for $400.00 and it had air ducts that you could direct into the tent. It was rated at 12,000 btu's and I was using a Eureka sunrise 11 tent it barely kept up with the heat as on the Eureka tent the top vents do not close so any cooling left the tent pretty fast. I came to a sad conclusion that I do not like to camp in extreme heat anymore. I thought that the air conditioner was going to be a perfect solution to that problem but using it in a tent just does not work. The picture of the little cooler thingy that was shown would not do a thing in very hot conditions as it does not have enough btu's to cool a family size tent.

[artmart]

imskipinout... you bring up an excellent point. Tents are not designed for insulation. In fact, quite the opposite, they are designed to breathe.

This means to use an A/C effectively you must completely seal the roof and sidewalls with plastic tarps to keep all the air inside and maybe some padding in between, too. All A/Cs are designed to recycle the interior air continuously in order the cool the air. As the A/C unit cools the air and it's expelled into the room (or in this case the tent), it is recycled back into the cooling unit and cooled further. This is why an exhaust vent is needed for the heat and something to collect any of the humidity drawn out by the Air Conditioning process. If this cooled air keeps escaping out the tent walls, then you are asking for frustration.

Maybe for those interested in sealing their tent to use this kind of setup should customize a tarp to fit over the tent the use hook and loop to fasten it and seal the seams as best as you can. It might still take some work to seal the heat exhaust, any water that needs to be expelled and a cord for the power source. Another hint for the tarp, if not white then use the lightest color possible so heat is reflected not absorbed.

Comparing this to an Trailer/RV, most of them have white roofs and siding AND insulation. An A/C can still have a difficult timing cooling a rig if the interior of the rig has too much air space to cool. For example, my 4 slide fifth wheel has a terrible time keeping things cool, but that's why there's a place to put a second one. In the meantime, don't camp when it's too hot. If I ever get that second one, I'll be need more juice too (like a 50 amp hookup).