My 12V RV Air Conditioner Install (Part 1) - Removing Failed Basement A/C | RV With Tito DIY 

Your first airflow was measured at low fan speed. The test blower only had half the flow at its full speed. I think you should have checked flow with the original unit at full speed too. Seems like you would need a much larger blower to keep cool. You must never visit the desert Southwest in the summer. I wish you well in finding a replacement unit. There are many new, low power HVAC options available nowadays. Hopefully you will find a solution that fits without too much modification (cobbling). However, cobbling is pleasurable. Cheers.

How about an external/outside 120v outlet for one of the spare circuits? That might be generally useful.

Great project. Invite me over next time and I can hold the door open while you lift that thing out of there. Looking forward to the next episode, really enjoy your stuff.

I recently watched a video of a van conversion Co. using off the shelf A/C units from a big box store. Just your average widow A/C unit, cheap, very efficient and readily available.

Glad to see access doors giving out the same irritation as I have experienced.

The test tools you create for your projects and your planning and engineering solutions are top notch. Thank you for your terrific content. BTW, after two years of full timing with our RecPro powered recliners they are shedding their skin. The mechanics are still great, but the pleather could not hold up to normal daily wear.

Can not wait for the next video,sure you have a plan in your head!!!!!!

We have the same ser up as well. Just returned from a beach trip. It struggled to keep it cool for a couple of 90 degree days. I pulled the slide outs in during the day to reduce the amount of cubic feet it had to cool. It helped, but not livable if we had a good week of that weather. Going to experiment also. We'll see what you come up with in the future.

Very cool Brian looking forward to the system you’re working on thanks

neat and looks like a fun gig

Can't wait to see what you are going to come up with!!!

I believe the air flow measurement to which you referred is in cfm (cubic feet per minute). Looking forward to seeing the completed project.

Looking forward to seeing your project through completion. Looks like you might be shedding some weight taking that big AC unit out and putting in something new.

Looking forward to the project. My 2004 Itasca with the original basement air is still running fine but I know I am on borrowed time.

If you don't already have a 120v plug at the back of your rig it might be useful to use one of those circuits for that. When in camp I usually put my ebikes out of sight at the back of the rig and it would be nice to have a 120v plug there for the chargers.

I love you attitude and willingness to take on, what can be, large projects. I also appreciate you sharing your thought process, it can be really helpful.

Man, you're fearless!... and an inspiration for DIYers! Can't wait for the next video!

I enjoy the content. I have the same rv . A 2001. My air is working great . Looking forward to seeing your solution. Love my basement air .

The basement air on the 2003 Winnebago I bought was completely dead. I bought a new board, relays, caps and motor bearings. All total about $900. Built cribbing with wheels and slid the unit out without issue. Rebuilt in 2 days and reinstalled. Comp #1 drawing 5.27A and #2 drawing 5.16A. Heats and cools like a champ.Did I mention that I had no experience in this area.

Hello Brain, Those two circuits will definitely come in handy. Maybe you can turn them into outlets and use them for portable electric heaters or something like that. Just a thought. I am looking forward to seeing what cooling system You plan on using! A 12 volt system sounds really awesome! Looks like You will have plenty of room to work with. Looking forward to the next phase of this project. Keep up the great work and stay safe out there! God Bless.🙏🏻👍

Excite about seeing part #2, soon I hope. Happy trails.

Have you considered a mini split

I just hope you check your roof often. I hear a lot of videos about Winnebago Roof not too good thank you for the video.

I’m excited to watch how this turns out. I have a 2000 Winnebago Suncruiser with the similar basement AC w/dual compressors. I just replace the evap blower motor, processor board and all the capacitors, too. Each one pulls about 9 amps so I did not connect to my solar system. Thank you for these videos, this will be very helpful.

I always likes the Itasca's with the Basement air.. The Duct work goes up thru the endcap...

Suggestion use milk crates or short crappy table as a stand when you pull heavy stuff like this out

Another very interesting project. I would look at the 24 or 48 volt marine heat and AC units. You'll get a higher CFM out of them and you can use a smaller gauge wire with 24 and 48 volt, probably 6 or 8 gauge. I think with the marine units you'll be at or under 1KW.

Love your channel, Brain. What creativity and the fact that you are revitalizing an old rig makes it even more meaningful. We have a 2002 type C. I've loved your Lectric bike reviews - maybe the 120 outlets could be used as quick outdoor outlets for recharging the bikes or who knows maybe more EV cars will need your help. Enjoyed that episode also. Al

Looks interesting I will definitely be looking for your next video

I appreciate you pulling the A/C out of its hole and showing us what it looks like. It’s a box…😂🤣, that’s all it is, I thought it would be more complicated than that (more attachments) but I am wrong. I do really want to take mine out, take off the cover and clean all the inside condensers and stuff because I know it’s probably dirty as hell. I’ve cleaned and straightened out the coils on the outside of the RV and on the intake end(under the bed). Just not on the inside of the system. I am REALLY interested to see what type/kind of AC you install now. Will it be the same or much colder with less power? Also, you’ve freed up sooo much more space by taking that box out!! LOL!!! Take care brudah!!!

Wondering about using DC instead of AC? Yes, you save Inverter conversion O/H, but that will not be that great an amount, and IF you want to use the A/C when on shore, a large amount of the Multiplus Charger output will go to running the A/C rather than charging your Lithium bank, but if you have an AC A/C, that gets bypassed when on shore. Just thinking AC will be the more flexible option (as well as saving running some hefty cables as well). Having said all that, just installed a DC 600W Electric Heater (we don't need A/C cooling in the UK :( ) in my RV so I can bypass my Multiplus if I want :) Looking forward to the next stage on this install. It will be a top job as always :)

Hi . This is what i am doing . Put the two together to give you 240 volt . This will then supply a Domestic Dryer . We are fitting the Swedish ASKO. Washer and Dryer . As fitted to Showhauler. They are small European size machines . TOP quality. The 240 volt 30 amp supply runs the Dryer , the washing M/C plugs into the Dryer.

Ducted mini split runs on 1500 max watts, i am thinking about doing the exact same thing to my 2006 itasca 38j...perfect space for mini split.

have you looked into cruse N comfort USA? they have a line of DC 12V up to 48V air-conditioned systems. Just purchased 18K BTU system for my 2009 Newmar Ventana.

GOOD JOB.

This going to be fun to watch 🦅😎🇺🇸👍

I will have to watch and see what the final design will be. I’m in the same boat with my my 20+ year old basement unit. The manufacturer is out of business and it’s hard to source ac parts for R-22 systems.

I'm curious about this because I have the same basement in my 2008 sunrise

Mini split is the way to go

We have the same rig, A 2003 Adventure 33 but with the 8.1L GM Vortec and Allison trans so really getting a lot out of your content. I just started adding Lithium and Victron charge controller and some ground panels for now,,,, been following since you had the class C..... We have the same Colman Mach basement unit.. it blow like a hurricane but yes with 2 compressors it's sucs up power. big time ... our Onan 5,500 feels it when it kicks in... That's going to be a tough retrofit I bet.. Looking forward to your engineering concept on a replacement. BTW.. your Alaska vids are just AWESOME.. on my bucket list...

Hello Brian, great video.. I'm thinking that you will not have enough air moving so you may have to do a larger blower or add a second stage to that blower.. also, it's going to be a tall order to do the compressor and the blower for only 1000 watts. BUT I really hope it works.

It would be nice to have an on board compressor with a small tank. Maybe you could use one circuit for that and find a basement space to mount it.

Mini Spits are a great option. I haven’t had much exposure using them but in my research it seems you run Freon lines to evaporators in your environment. So rather than using the existing duck work to move air maybe you could run the Freon lines in them to evaporators in the coach. I have watched all your installation videos and your skills are wonderful and I think you could easily retrofit the evaporators. The cooling efficiency would be far better and lots quieter. Just a thought.

I’ve rv’d in Texas in the summer. Had two ac’s 15 & 13.5 and it was hard to get to 80 degrees. I’ll have to see what you come up with but I would hate to cut my blower output by half. I do realize you may not have an alternative.

Tito, Have you thought about abandoning The ceiling vents or retrofitting the vent fan/fans up top to blow air thru them, just for ventilation.. / THEN, use the floor vents for the heating and cooling?? Might be a lot simpler to do ducting and return air? I am waiting to see what you come up with for 12 the volt cooling/ heating system..

I am very interested to see what you do here. I have an '04 38R and I was planning what to do for when my heat pump goes out. My first thought is still just putting in a 240v minisplit with 2 zones, as that would still be more efficient than the built in heat pump, but I'm interested to see your solution. Options are never bad.

That old ac heat pump was a massive pig.

Hi Brian, I see you’ve let go of the Easystart plan :-) This looks pretty daring! I’ve thought about replacing the basement A/C a few times myself so I am very curious about what you can come up with. This basement unit we have is advertised as “efficient”, which makes me of course question the integrity of the advertisement department, but not entirely. Perhaps the unit itself is reasonably efficient with it’s more efficient R410A. (does your old unit perhaps still have R22?) but I believe the ducting of our RV is the weak point when it comes to efficiency. In modern high efficiency systems you can see that low flow rates are an important factor in reaching that high efficiency. Low flow rates compensated with big wide ducts that need little pressure to move air. What we have in the roof of our Journey is exactly the opposite of that. We have tiny ducts that need a strong high pressure fan to push enough air through. To make matters worse those ducts are insulated by an inch, perhaps 2 inches of styrofoam from the sun beating down on top of them. Worst scenario. Oh, a note on the furnace/floor ducts: I believe they are intentionally leaky so they also heat the basement. Something to keep in mind. I have thought about adding a layer of insulation on the roof but the simplest/easiest idea I have had so far is to see whether I could replace the existing inefficient PSC fan motors by more efficient ECM motors. Then perhaps if I were to get really fancy I could do the same thing with the compressors. That might make the whole thing perhaps 20% more efficient, but I fear I would be dreaming. I have also thought about switching to a 12V system but there too I have to admit that I have second thoughts about the energy loss in those high amp cables. Very short lengths sure, but there is a reason why we get our residential energy over electrical masts carrying many thousands of volts. Converting battery power to 120V using an inverter that is standing right next to the battery bank might just outweigh the losses generated by 50-100 amps running through a thick cable. Now my latest idea is to maybe get a modern efficient inverter type roof A/C. Yes with all solar panels on the roof I need to find out how to fit it but such an inverter type roof A/C might be a game changer for boondocking. It has no long ducting to push air through and the variable speed compressor and fan motors are again 20% more efficient than the conventionally used PSC motors. I even saw that our Journey is prepared for a roof A/C with an unused 120V wire hidden in one of the roof vents. I hope I have not discouraged you too much because I am very interested to see what alternative idea you are able to come up with.

I know you said 12V but what about the 120V mini splits like from Mr. Cool. Run the tubes through the ducts and the main unit in the bay. I've seen several you tuber put the in their rigs.

How old is the Winnibago? I am sure that in these past 20 some years they have developed a much much more efficient unit that you can replace your system without doing a lot of modifications. I would throw that old unit into a truck bed, drive it down to your local RV service and sales center, and ask what new better options are available to replace it? Now a days they have inverter soft start air conditioners which draw way less amps than a traditional capacitor start and run system. The inverter driven compressor will use less amps, and slow down in speed as space gets cooled down thus using less amps. The blower moter is also an ecm motor variable speed. Ecm stands for electronically communicated motor. They draw less amps than a traditional blower motor. You may be able to get a 12 volt inverter system. I would check into this. I know they make 12 or 24 volt systems for the cabs of 18 wheelers. But its a split system. You need an all in one 12 volt system. I call it a ptac. Package terminal ac. I cant believe that the manufacture does not make a good high efficient 12 volt inverter package system. Hope you get it going.

Did you try installing a Softstart box on the basement AC? I cannot find anyone that has but suppose to lower the amp draw on other home HVAC and RV havac

48v system with a small 12v for your lights/pump. Run everything large off 110ac. 12v, 1000w? No.

I said use spring clamps and you broke them out 2 seconds later 😂😂😂

There is a guy on IRV2 with similar setup who installed 2x 12k BTU 120V mini split. It worked great for him, except it did damaged the look of inside, because he needed to remove some cabinets and ran some lines. I am curious what system you would choose to use. Great video! I am looking to upgrade to mini split my self as well. But for me, I had to put the outside unit on the hitch, which would affect the look. I am also exploring some options. One thing for sure, no one likes those roof top or in your case, basement RV A/Cs.

Thanks for the video. You mentioned running you existing unit on just one compressor. How do you get your unit to only run one compressor? Thanks

Use Bungie cord to hold the door up too or gorilla tape

OK. We need part 2 it’s getting hot.

My basement unit is still alive, so I hate to rip it out. But I would like to improve its performance and have space under the bed for something like a 5000 BTU EcoFlow Wave 2, which doesn’t use a lot of additional power. It’s output could be drawn into and dispersed through the existing blower and ducts. Have you heard of anyone precooling the air drawn into a second unit in such a daisy chained fashion? Would it help? Could it help with your low power plans?

1000 Watts at 12V draws 83 amps, correct? That’s some serious power.

I have a 2004 Itasca Suncruiser and the AC until finally died for us yesterday 6/23/2023. It was starting to have problems and I have limped it along but now I’m at a crossroad. Do I get it fixed or do I replace? Please post your follow up as I am really curious what you are going to do.

I would have ran 2 ga POS cable and use chassis as neg

CFM, Cubic Feet Per Minute. I would see if they can do a 120VAC blower with a 12VDC compressor. The compressor is the power hog anyway.

I am in a similar situation. I run 50 amp on two AC to cool our fifth wheel. Our main AC went out and I have to replace it, but I wanted to be able to run one of the AC on battery and shore power. Is that possible? Am I basically just pulling the wires from one of my AC’s off the breaker and wiring it into my transfer switch to use battery or shore??

My opinion is that your CFM airflow is too low using 12 volts. Why don't you want to use 120 volts which should be more efficient and cheaper to purchase?

Put in window ac. I cool my 5th wheel with a 500 wat ac

Where is part 2

I'm really curious to see how this works out. With only 1000 watts of cooling, you're not going to get very much in the way of heat dissipation and I doubt you could get any more than 10 degrees of differential in an RV with their notorious windows and side wall inefficiencies. You're certainly not going to spend any warmer months in the south and stay cool.

Probably too late to suggest just retrofitting the old AC tray with a new compressor and blower motors that are efficient. Maybe even go heat pump.

Don’t use the chassis for the groundv

minisplit?

CFM cubic feet per minute

24 or 40 V would be more efficient

you system is worthless in south texas. Im laughing