Installing an Air Conditioner
I'm about to attempt installing and Air Conditioner on my Palomino PUP. It's been pre-framed at the factory and I have a drawing of the roof layout as well as a screw that marks the center of the 14...
Forum Discussion
Well, the install is finished on my PUP (by the way, what does the last "P" stand for?)
My roof is actually a bit stronger than I thought as it is composed of top to bottom:
1. a 1/4" Fiberglass composite sheet
2. a 1/4" plywood? sheet (or composite board)
3. a 3/4" frame for the A/C
4. a 1/4" inside panel
Giving me a total depth of 1 1/4". Along the outside edges of the roof is a
3 1/2" wide by 3/4" thick support board, then inside that are two (2) 1/8"
steel braces running along the outside edge of the trailer roof and and
additional two (2) 1/8" steel braces running at aprox. 14" inside that for
roof strength. The frame for the A/C is also 3 1/2" wide with cross pieces at
each edge. There are also pieces at 28" intervals running crosswise on the
width of the trailer, the length of the trailer.
All of this is glued to each other for strength and support.
I don't think there is going to be too much flexing with this setup.
The A/C had a built in compression gasket built into the unit as well as
front and rear support pieces for keeping the motion fore and aft and side
to side under control. When you installed the mounting frame and bolts
there was compression tabs to indicate how far to draw the unit down to
form a seal with the roof. I had also bought the optional heat strip to
"take off the chill" in the mornings and after installing and mounting all
this it was time for installing the power to the unit. In my case wiremold
was the obvious way to go, so I installed it so that I could drill up into the
roof cavity and hit my previously gouged and drilled out channel. I ran the
flexible SJTO cord (gas & oil resistant) through the wire mold, (I had to strip
the outer covering and then tape wrap it in order to do this) into the A/C
cutout and wired up to the control unit. Plugged in the A/C and the Heat Strip,
mounted the Control and Air plenum on the ceiling and then applied power
to the trailer. By the way, my A/C was pre-wired to down below the cabinets
with 120 V AC to a junction box and on it's own circuit breaker in the AC
distribution panel.
Everything worked as advertised and the unit put out a nice stream of either
heated or air conditioned air into the Pop Up. The controls work perfectly, so
I broke everything down and put the trailer away for a few days.
The next project is the electric brakes for the trailer and wiring the tow
vehicle for the brakes.
Frank
My roof is actually a bit stronger than I thought as it is composed of top to bottom:
1. a 1/4" Fiberglass composite sheet
2. a 1/4" plywood? sheet (or composite board)
3. a 3/4" frame for the A/C
4. a 1/4" inside panel
Giving me a total depth of 1 1/4". Along the outside edges of the roof is a
3 1/2" wide by 3/4" thick support board, then inside that are two (2) 1/8"
steel braces running along the outside edge of the trailer roof and and
additional two (2) 1/8" steel braces running at aprox. 14" inside that for
roof strength. The frame for the A/C is also 3 1/2" wide with cross pieces at
each edge. There are also pieces at 28" intervals running crosswise on the
width of the trailer, the length of the trailer.
All of this is glued to each other for strength and support.
I don't think there is going to be too much flexing with this setup.
The A/C had a built in compression gasket built into the unit as well as
front and rear support pieces for keeping the motion fore and aft and side
to side under control. When you installed the mounting frame and bolts
there was compression tabs to indicate how far to draw the unit down to
form a seal with the roof. I had also bought the optional heat strip to
"take off the chill" in the mornings and after installing and mounting all
this it was time for installing the power to the unit. In my case wiremold
was the obvious way to go, so I installed it so that I could drill up into the
roof cavity and hit my previously gouged and drilled out channel. I ran the
flexible SJTO cord (gas & oil resistant) through the wire mold, (I had to strip
the outer covering and then tape wrap it in order to do this) into the A/C
cutout and wired up to the control unit. Plugged in the A/C and the Heat Strip,
mounted the Control and Air plenum on the ceiling and then applied power
to the trailer. By the way, my A/C was pre-wired to down below the cabinets
with 120 V AC to a junction box and on it's own circuit breaker in the AC
distribution panel.
Everything worked as advertised and the unit put out a nice stream of either
heated or air conditioned air into the Pop Up. The controls work perfectly, so
I broke everything down and put the trailer away for a few days.
The next project is the electric brakes for the trailer and wiring the tow
vehicle for the brakes.
Frank
