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View Full Version : Part one of part two, Cooling down that RV in the Desert:



Trailer Park Casanova
08-16-2007, 11:02 AM
Oh brother did I ever get E mails and PMs from boating folks over getting more cooling outta their RVs air conditioning at the River and Lake.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/3812july_4_2006_013-med.jpg
I've been using the voltage booster I told everyone about, it helps (though one overloaded and caught fire), but we NEED even more so:
Don't know if you know the difference between Air Conditioning and swamp coolers.
But A/C uses freon and a compressor, and the swamp cooler uses the evaporation of water to cool and draws a lot less power to operate.
When Wet bulb and dry bulb temps approach each other swamp coolers don't work so great.
But in most desert areas, they work pretty good most the time.
Also, several RV swamp coolers have been on the market since the 1960's.
Most of them worked really crummy or not at all.
Poor design. Gave a very bad reputation to RV swamp coolers.
But an old guy that lived in Las Vegas, had a brainstrom and built an RV swamp cooler that worked very well.
It wasnt the drip down the excellsior pad set-up, but a unique misting into a element system that was spectacular.
Damn it work'd and cooled great.
But:
He passed away,, his company folded and that was that.
So:
All the other RV swamp coolers on the marker were crap. They just don't work. I've checked them all out and they suck.
We were in Page Arizona at Lake Powell last month.
http://bbachman.bizland.com/TurbokoolUnit.jpg
I saw an old jasper with a camper with inviting graphics and a TURBOCOOL demo RV swamp cooler on the roof..
I check'd it out and it was cooling fantastic. I mean supurb. I opened the back door of his camper in the 113 deg. F heat and was hit by a blast of cool air.
He had eventually bought the rights and molds to the old, good working method swamp cooler after the original Las Vegas inventor passed away, and it's finally back in production.
Brother did it ever cool, and it worked quietly, and off the vehicles battery or optional solar panel.
Why we need it:
We camp all the time at Parker, Arizona.
It's only 30 AMPs to most campsites so we can only run one air conditioner in usually 105 to 112 deg F heat.
The RV parks Voltage drops to brown out conditions, the A/C in everyones RV's barely cool.
It's not enough. Our RV heats up too hot, and so do our neighbors.
So, we're going to install the TURBOCOOL to supplement the RV's A/C. It hardly draws any power, and with it's 12V DC system, doesn't effect the main park power.
It draws just a few amps off the 12v DC batteries and may perhaps be a welcome improvement.
So I'll snap some pix, and give a HB report of the results.
They ain't cheap, but their application is unique to our problem.
What the hell, I'll give anything that looks promising a shot.

DEL51
08-18-2007, 11:57 AM
Cool!

Trailer Park Casanova
08-20-2007, 11:52 AM
Heading out to Parker tomorrow.
The Turbocool unit arrived today.
I pulled it outta the box and I'm amazed how well built it is.
I've only seen it mounted on a camper, first time to really examine it inside and out.
Very clever design.
The stout fan motor stays dry, the air passage ways are very well thought out.
All electrical connections are on plugs, and the 12 volt "main" has an ample pigtail and fuse.
It seems all the hardware, tubing connections, plumbing pieces and seals I'll need are included.
Well thought out.
Routing the water to the unit, and fishing a 12v power supply are my only thoughts now.
And, how well it seals outside air when the Parker winds hit Biblical speeds.
So far so good. I'm gaining more confidence in it by the shear excellent construction, and the complete list of items included in the install package.
I may need nothing other than what is supplied.
If this unit can cool a reasonable amount of time over the summer, then we'll be able to consider moving to a bigger RV.
Limited to only 30 AMP on the Emerald Cove beach,, we'd have to rely on Swamp coolers for a bigger RV.

phebus
08-20-2007, 01:03 PM
It's still too humid out here for it to really perform. Too bad, I'm waiting on a review.

Trailer Park Casanova
08-20-2007, 07:22 PM
It's still too humid out here for it to really perform. Too bad, I'm waiting on a review.
Remember one thing all swamp coolers have in common; some days they all don't work.
But one thing they don't have in common is some work much better than others on days they do work.
-----------------------------------------
During our early August swampy monsoons this boating season, the Parker Strip Del Rio Bar and grill (now called the Diahhareeoh since Jim Boatnams "incident") was running on only swamp coolers.
They gave some relief, better than nothin'.
All along the Parker Strip and the South end Havasu Campgrounds we barely have electricity enough to run a small A/C.
Perhaps this can help a bit.
Be back with installation pix, tips for installing, and a legit test.
Now,, it's off to Parker for the rest of summer,,,,,

JB in so cal
08-21-2007, 07:09 PM
TPC, set yourself up as a dealer if you can. I can think of at LEAST 3-4 units you can sell from day one. Black Meadow is in the same boat!!!

Trailer Park Casanova
08-22-2007, 07:02 PM
Day one:
I'm camped next to a group of retired firefighters, and they wanted in on this project as soon as they saw what I was up too.
So it's a beer drinking, public watering trough group project.
I ran the water from a tee fitting under the sink along the outside of the Grey water vent then out the roof.
The 12v electrical came from a close-by light fixture.
The only part I needed was some all thread from the hardware store in Parker. A few securing bolts were a few inches too short.
It is a steamy day. Not anyway near North Carolina or Florida steamy, but still steamy.
The unit cools just OK in this humidity, but the only relief it'll give us is a bit more cooling to the kids back bunks, and the bathroom/changing area that fills up with my daughter and her GF's all getting ready at the same time will be a bit cooler too.
It'll knock some of the heat outta the trailer when we first arrive in Parker and the trailer is a oven. That'll be nice. And it'll probably help at Dumont dunes when we dry camp.
As far as supplimenting the A/C in rest of the trailer, I can only give that take on a dry day.
So,, put the checkbook away.
MacBook here at the river loads like an old Comodore 64 with stone-age dial up Compuserve, so Pix will have to wait.
Nothing exciting.
It will help us, but it ain't the silver bullet relief we're all looking for.
I melted the voltage booster. It looked like those helicopter pix of Chernoble.
I was running the A/C and the microwave and it's circuit brkr didn't trip, it caught fire and burned deluxe.
The Emerald cove park electrican would'nt answer me when I asked if 50 AMP will be pulled to the beachfront spots,, so I take it as a no.
Bigger transformers have been hung, but they will give more reliable service, not more amps or less severe voltage drops.
So I'll be back when we return home with pix and more takes of the install.
Another impression is the Turbocool unit is too expensive. Way over-priced.
But, I can see it can have unique applications, but maybe not for us campers at the river.

phebus
08-23-2007, 07:33 AM
I thought the humidity would really kill it's effectiveness. The gauge I use here on wether to turn on the swamper in the garage, is that if there is water dripping from the condensate line on the houses A/C, don't turn it on. If the A/C is running dry, the swamper in the garage works great. I figure in about three weeks or so, the humidity should be moving on, but the heat will still be on.

Trailer Park Casanova
08-23-2007, 09:18 AM
Where it will really help is when we put the trailer in storage.
We're rarely gone for more than a week.
With solar power & our batteries and the water hook-up, it'll keep the trailer relatively cool until we return.

Trailer Park Casanova
08-23-2007, 09:21 AM
I thought the humidity would really kill it's effectiveness. The gauge I use here on wether to turn on the swamper in the garage, is that if there is water dripping from the condensate line on the houses A/C, don't turn it on. If the A/C is running dry, the swamper in the garage works great. I figure in about three weeks or so, the humidity should be moving on, but the heat will still be on.
Good take.
We have water pouring off the four corners of the trailer from the A/C.
We'll put it through another test when the weather drys out.
Like JB mentioned, if anyone wants them I'll get us a group rate.
These might be teriffic for a toy hauler that is just 12v.
We saw a turbocool unit on a animal reg truck keeping the inmates cool.
If it blows some cool air in this humidity, it'll be pretty good in the dry weather.

socalmoney
09-10-2007, 03:44 PM
This unit sounds sweet. Looking forward to further reviews.
http://www.turbokool.com/movie/At_Your_Leisure_Review_340kbps.wmv
http://www.turbokool.com

Trailer Park Casanova
09-11-2007, 05:34 AM
Our two Olympus cameras have quit on us, and the Panasonic is mis firing.
I'll get some pix up as soon as that is straightened out.
In the dryer weather it blows very cool.