Fitting a roof top air conditioner to a 2010 Tvan Canning

[Chris J]

I'm posting this as a few may be interested in this project, the project moved so fast that I hardly had time to think about it and only thought about photos after the job was done.

I picked up a Dometic b1900 roof air conditioner second hand (was fitted new to a caravan before installers found out they had installed the wrong units, their loss my gain)

Install was very straight forward, the rear hatch was removed and a 550mm x 550mm x 3mm aluminium plate was sikaflexed and through bolted into existing hatch holes, two coast of heat resistant paint applied, the 50 watt roof mounted solar panel was removed and a 400mm x 400mm hole cut into the roof where the old solar panel sat. A 25 mm flange spacer was cut from HDPE board and fitted to the underside of the roof cut-out, the roof top AC was lifted into place the space flange and lower AC flange were fitted and the 4 retaining screws were tensioned. All up install time was about 4 hour to this stage.

After the installation I noticed a fair bit of flex in the Tvan roof so the AC was removed( about ten minutes work) and a piece of 5mm plate was cut 1138mm long x  900mm wide the plate was folded at each end to stiffen it up and small crease pressed to follow the Tvan shape, two 100mm x 50mm x 4mm angles were welded in place (mount for 2 roll out awnings later project) plate  corners were rounded and sanded with 80 grit paper then sent to the powder coater. Panel returned the following day. The panel was prepped, sikaflexed then clamped in place, the following day clamps were removed and 8 mounting holes drilled through the roof, 4 of the mounting holes were spaced to allow for two handles to be fitted internally  (helps oneself in and out of bed).

With the AC now in place and the mounting flange and lower AC flange were installed and the fasteners re tensioned, The electrical wiring was installed and run up the rear drivers side switch board and into the cover tray that link the sides together, the cable is hidden from view with two aluminium cover plates one that covers the old hatch area and one that is basically a folded channel that is screwed into the HDPE spacer block, the channel still needs to be removed and roof liner installed to make it all blend in.

Most of the work was carried out by me with the exception of the powder coating.

Interesting notes on start-up and run current:

If the unit remains off for a period of time i.e. several days the start-up current is around 4.5 amps. If the unit is restarted after a night being shut down the start-up current is only around 2.8 amps. Capacitors must still hold charge.

Run current sits around 3.2 to 3.5 amps, after 5 min current was 3.5 amps on max cold temp.

Still need to test it on 1 and  2kva Honda I'll do this during the week.

Regards, Chris.

[luke]

Fantastic job, and looks like it all came together quite well.

With the added support to the roof, how do you think it will go long term with corrugations etc ? And did you consider hiding it anywhere else ? (I've been pondering a small removable unit in the side hatch so it can be left or taken depending on the trip)

[Chris J]

Hi Luke,

I will wait and see with the corrugations, I would probably remove the unit if I was travelling over continuous corrugations. The Tvan will spend 90% of its time on black top and mostly staying in van parks and national parks close to home.

The unit is 980mm x 650mm x 235mm there was basically nowhere else to put it

The Tvan was basically written off in an accident, I have spent considerable time on the rebuild the walls and roof are connected together by an internal frame made from 50m x 50m x 4 mm Aluminium angle. the roof was also repaired and extra glass added. In its current configuration I can jump up and down on the roof without any problems.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Did anyone get video of you jumping on the Tvan.
Be good for your next major Life event.  I'm sure your other half would enjoy it.

[Chris J]

Did anyone get video of you jumping on the Tvan.

What happens in the Tvan stays in the Tvan.

[Doji desi]

What happens in the Tvan stays in the Tvan.

...but surely this is on the Tvan and therefore must be posted?