Installing a Mini Split on a Travel Trailer Camper
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- Опубликовано: 25 янв 2023
- This video shows the basics of how we installed a Mini Split on a Travel Trailer Camper. This unit can provide heat and air conditioning even when off-grid, using less power than a traditional electric heater or camper air conditioner unit
for more info see our post here :
senormisterioso.wordpress.com...
and our orignal install here :
senormisterioso.wordpress.com...
😄👍Good Stuff, Great Tips. Using a front Generator high mounting bracket is also a good choice and i like the rear high mount bracket It's a great fit and you have space for a Basket hitch accessories.
Well done man!
One time in band camp...
Great job!
Nice clean install
Thanks 👍
Clean
Nice! I would highly recommend putting tail light on the frame of your mini split
Hi there, thanks for watching! Appreciate the comment. I actually added a directional light above the original after the install. take a look at the end of this post : senormisterioso.wordpress.com/2023/01/26/installing-a-ductless-mini-split-on-an-outdoors-rv-travel-trailer/ , the picture is here : senormisterioso.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/img_7412.jpeg?w=2048
Damn myne the rv manufacturers should just install those if they work so great
Thanks for sharing! It's nice to see a higher end (Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, etc) residential unit installed in an RV. We have a Mitsubishi HyperHeat unit installed in our home. We love it. I did notice that your outdoor unit is blocking the access to your refrigerator. Hopefully that doesn't become an issue for you.
hi there, thanks for watching! Good observation about the refrigerator being blocked. I should have mentioned this in the video that we no longer have a propane (absorption) fridge freezer on our camper. Due to that, we don't really need to access that panel (for maintenance or cleaning). Also, that panel is no longer used to vent the propane fridge (since its gone) Worst case if we needed to access the fridge compressor, we could just pull the fridge out from inside the Trailer. That modification is detailed in this video : ruclips.net/video/lxCUPHYBwk8/видео.html
@@senormisterioso7466 Great choice on the compressor refrigerator. When our adsorption refrigerator gives up the ghost, we will probably go the same route.
@@deepsea5107 So far, our DC fridge has been great.
I would love to do that and use my roof unit power to power mini split
Nice installation, especially the part of using PVC conduit to protect the refrigerant lines. Just one observation. I did not see the rubber mounts for the condenser to protect the unit against vibration and bumps on the road. Nice choice on the a/c brand. Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Carrier, York and Daikin are the best mini split units.
H Roberto, thanks for your comment and thanks for watching. There actually are rubber feet on this unit where it attaches to the frame, on top of that we have a rubber wedge where the frame is screwed to the vertical wall of the trailer. Naturally, these units weren't made to go bouncing down the road, but so far we have had good luck. This is actually the second trailer we have had this mini split installed on.
im going to make one out of zinc plated punch angle also known as slotted angle iron with bolts instead of welding and with possibly bolts that go through a piece of angle on the inside rv wall.
thanks for watching, hope your install goes well.
So here’s my question . I was going to do this on my toy hualer they are telling me you won’t be able to use long line set hoses because it won’t be effective and will not cool . But I see you have extended line set hoses . Does it still cool effectively in summer months with the lines being that long ?
Great installation. What do you cool the main living area with or do you use this for both?
Hi, thanks for watching! this minisplit really only cools the bedroom, for one... our RV has a wall / bathroom between the bedroom and the main room/dinette. On a really hot day, the cool air isnt really enough to cool the entire rig. That said, our 9000 btu unit keeps the bedroom comfy enough to get some good rest. We still have our factory ceiling unit, but it takes tons more power to run offgrid compared to the mini split. Let me know if you need more clarification
Does the mini split unit have to be fully outside of the trailer? Can it be set in one of the outside compartments just having the fans sticking out? There is a rig called AEONRV that has this unit hanging on the top of the back of it's off roading rv and it doesn't look contusive to off-roading hanging off the way it does. There is a pass through storage that I was wondering if it could be inserted into rather than have it fully hanging like it does now. Just wondering, thanks.
hi there. I have seen lots of school bus modifications where they have put the outside unit in a lower compartment. You could have it in an enclosed compartment, but you'd have to open it as much as possible when heating/cooling. The outside unit needs lots of airflow, as much as possible.
How did you attach the outside metal cage to your wall? Does the wall itself have structural strength, or is it just laminate sheets and foam? I'm worried bolting through the back wall won't be enough if the wall itself has no rigidity.
sorry for the delay, check this post out for answers to the actual install
senormisterioso.wordpress.com/2023/01/26/installing-a-ductless-mini-split-on-an-outdoors-rv-travel-trailer/
Did you run the main power directly to your circuit panel, or did you use a subpanel/disconnect?
Yes, we ran the mail power into the Trailer Power Center / Circuit Panel. There was space for another breaker so we just added a new breaker for dedicated use for the Mini Split. Thanks for watching!
Now that you had this for a while, id be interested in knowing the effect the condenser has on refrigerator due to its location. Does it draw enough air ? That condenser will cause air to be drawn from top down instead of natural draw from bottom up.
hi Jerry, thanks for watching! great question, we have moved from the traditional absorption fridge/freezer to a DC fridge/freezer. This means our new unit doesnt rely on the "chimney" effect needed for cooling. Check out this vid about the fridge and let me know if you have any questions. ruclips.net/video/lxCUPHYBwk8/видео.html
How does it cool the trailer in the summer months? Have you been to the south with it?
havent used it much in the south, but plenty in the western states. The key is to size the unit appropriately to the size of camper/trailer/bus you are trying to cool. This unit is quite small at 9k BTU. It easily cools the bedroom of our 29' travel trailer.
I'm thinking about replacing my 13,500.rv ac with a mini split. Question though. How do you force heated air into your underbelly in 32° Temps?
hi, we still have our propane furnace for heat. this is what we use to force air for cold temps. our trailer is a "4 season" model, so we can keep plumbing from freezing. Although the mini split is a heater and a cooling device (heat pump), I'd highly recommend using this as a supplemental system to what you already have. Unless your current AC unit is non-functional, I would recommend keeping it for times when you have shore power (grid) so you can still use it in a very hot environment. The unit in this video is only 9000k BTU (we had previously installed it on a much smaller travel trailer), and this unit definitely does NOT cool down the entire trailer in temps over 90F. That said, the factory installed AC unit on the roof is also undersized for our trailer, so really having both units is ideal.
the bottom line is... the mini split is much more efficient in heating/cooling especially when offgrid, using considerably less AC (electric) power (amps/watts). We have our inside unit installed in our "bedroom" so that on very hot nights we can get some sleep when offgrid.
Awesome install but is it blocking the tail light?
Hey there, thanks for checking out my vid. Yes, as shown, its blocking the passenger side but I added more lights to solve this (not shown in vid) , see here : senormisterioso.wordpress.com/2023/01/26/installing-a-ductless-mini-split-on-an-outdoors-rv-travel-trailer/
specifically this pic :
senormisterioso.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/img_7412.jpeg
We are in Florida and I’d love to install solar and a mini split that can run off of the inverter. What solar system are you using?
hi there, we have just over 1100 watts on our trailer. Here is a video showing all the mods we did including the solar : ruclips.net/video/xifs-D_HqBc/видео.html
depending on the size of your mini split, you will need a considerable amount of solar to run your mini split fully off of solar. Also, naturally, to run it when the sun is not producing power, you'll need a large amount of battery to run your inverter to keep the mini split going when solar isnt available . the unit in this video is a 9k BTU, which is pretty small. Even on full power cooling it uses only half of the power of our rooftop RV air conditioner.
the Fujitsu is 110v or 230v?
110v
Does the ac on camper not work that good
the AC on the camper works fine. The reason for doing this modification is to have an AC unit that works with much much less power consumption than the normal rooftop unit. As described in the video, this 9000 btu unit draws about 800-1000 watts on full cool / heat, whereas our 12000 btu rooftop unit needs over 2000 watts to even start. None of this really matters if you are connected to the grid. We frequently camp with no services, which includes no electricity.
So any problems with your fridge since you installed this?
Hi there, no issues with our fridge thus far. Im guessing you are asking because the air vent is blocked? If so, our fridge doesn't really need the "chimney" that a propane fridge needs, because we installed a DC fridge. see this vid (ruclips.net/video/lxCUPHYBwk8/видео.htmlsi=Rn0NynugjYsMWA3_). If that wasnt your question, please clarify and I'd be happy to be more specific about our install as it regards to the fridge.
@@senormisterioso7466 Yes, I was wondering if you had replaced the fridge with either a 12V or residential. I'm not sure which way the fans blow the air on the minisplits, so I didn't know if that would have caused issues, or helped, with the function of the fridge.
gotcha, yeah so in my install, the air blows away from the trailer. the outside unit has a fan that has a direction away from the tail of the trailer. With an absorption fridge (propane) you'd want to consider anything that interferes with the "chimney" effect that keeps the column of hot air moving up and out the top vent. A simple fix could be adding 12v computer fans with a thermostat (or a commercial version) which moves air up and out the top column vent. Let me know if you have further questions. In the case of our trailer, the mini split outside unit does not affect the DC / 12v fridge.
how far is it from the trailer?!?! no one includes this info....
4 inches is the minimum i believe.
You camper 30 or 50v?
30amp
Wats the price on that ?
there are cheaper units out there, thats for sure, here is our unit : hvacdirect.com/fujitsu-9-000-btu-16-seer-ductless-mini-split-heat-pump-system-9rl2.html
Please come and help me install mine
Yeah yeah show us the outside what the fan doing
Hi there, thanks for watching. Not really sure what your comment means. Are you wondering what the outside fan does in this setup?
So here’s my question . I was going to do this on my toy hualer they are telling me you won’t be able to use long line set hoses because it won’t be effective and will not cool . But I see you have extended line set hoses . Does it still cool effectively in summer months with the lines being that long ?
HI there. I'd check with the manufacturer of your unit. Our lineset is probably less than 30 feet. I did a quick google search that suggests the lineset can be up to 100 feet or more and still be functional. Our 9000btu mini split works just fine for cooling and heating the bedroom in our camper. For a bigger camper you might need a bigger unit