Port A/C conversion

[Green lung]

Here are some pics of my 11kbtu single hose port A/C converted into a dual hose A/C.

This way you can actually have the A/c in the same room with plants with out exhausting dirty air outside.



In the pics you will see 3 6inch ports on the pack of the a/c.

The two boxes are intake and the exhaust is the same.


I had to make two intake ports because my A/c has two intake grills.



All I did was cut cardboard to fit around the intake grills and seal all the seams with foil tape, and the boxes are very strong.

I also had to tape some of the bottom up because it was intaking air from there a little bit.

After everything was sealed up I turned on the A/C to check for intake points I missed. It seems like it is only intaking from the 2 6inch holes I cut in the cardboard boxes. It seems good to go.

I haven't hooked up the ducting yet that will wait for install, but there will be 3 6inch duct coming out the back 2 for intake and 1 exhaust.


Some things I thought might cause problems were the intake holes, are they big enough ect for the amount of air the a/c needs to suck in. I turned it on without the ducting and it seems to run fine with the 2 6in holes, will see with the ducting.

Another thing was intaking all the humid air from outside it might make a bunch of water that I have to dump everyday, its going to make at least 5 gallons a every 12hrs.

Btw this is intaking from a window and exhausting into an attic.


Let me know what you guys think

 

[RedRain]

so is your ac only sucking in air from outside now? it will not work if that is the case. You must suck air into the AC from the room you are cooling in order for it to work.

a big problem with portables is that internally they are not sealed, so even though you went through all that trouble, you still will have a smell leak.

I have found the best thing to use is a window shaker, build a fake wall, scrub the stinky, dirty, hot air and exhaust it outside.

You need to be sucking in the hot air from your room into the AC inorder for it to work. You have to suck in air from your room.

even with a true-dual hose AC, you still have smell leakage. some people put carbon scrubbers inline the exhaust tubing, and do it that way.

 

[Green lung]

so is your ac only sucking in air from outside now? it will not work if that is the case. You must suck air into the AC from the room you are cooling in order for it to work.

a big problem with portables is that internally they are not sealed, so even though you went through all that trouble, you still will have a smell leak.

Yes it will be only using air from the outside and exhuasting hot air into the attic.


I don't see why it has to use air from inside the room to work? That doesn't make sense to me? A dual hose uses outside air? why can't this work?

 

[Skunk Kid]

no your right it will work. but keep in mined that your adding alot of positive air pressure, so if your not sucking out a greater volume of air though a scruber then your AC is putting in the stinky air from your room will leak out to the rest of the house though cracks and under door ways ect. you can ether compensate for this or you can just let your AC suck air from inside the room it self. the way you did it is fine if it works for you, but you will have a greater rate of air exchange in your room if you have your AC sucking air in from the room. also adding all that tubing/ducting to the back of that thing is restricting alot of air flow and makeing you AC work harder then it really has to.

if you did all that because your concerned about the exhaust air smelling dont be because if your exhausting in to an attic then you really dont have to worry about the smell all that much unless your growing like 75 good sized plants or something but i dont think thats the case

 

[Green lung]

no your right it will work fine. but keep in mined that your adding alot of positive air pressure, so if your not sucking out a greater volume of air though a scruber then your AC is putting in the stinky air from your room is going to leak out to the rest of the house though cracks and under door ways ect. you can ether compensate for this or you can just let your AC suck air from inside the room it self. the way you did it is fine if it works for you, but you will have a greater rate of air exchange in your room if you have your AC sucking air in from the room. also adding all that tubing/ducting to the back of that thing is restricting alot of air flow and makeing you AC work harder then it really has to.

Yeah I also have 450cfm blwer on top of a can fan scrubbing the room and also exhausting into the attic, so hopefully that will take care of the postive pressure.



I used to have this a/c in the room blowing into a tent and that would cause almost to much negative pressure, it would suck from that room which in turn would create negative pressure in the house and hot air was being sucked from outside coming through the front door ect, the outside air is so hot that my home a/c had to work overtime, and I felt that it was wasting alot of energy.

This way it will take care of the negative pressure and not exhausting smelly air either. Just hopefully it won't create postive pressure like you stated.


As far sa the efficency of the A/c now with the ducts and what not, I think it wiil fine, the intake ducts will be pretty short and a straight shot, and if I mean its not as efficent as new its not a big deal, but without the ducts attached it seemed to run fine so I' guess will see.

 

[Agent-Smith]

It depends on whether or not you are using the intake where the air conditioner "conditions" the rooms air and sends it back into the room. A dual port A/C has the different chambers already, a dedicated in and out for the compressor only, and a seperate in and out for the room air. I don't think your's is going to work the way you hoped although I give an A for effort. You might have it work better by taking off one of the two boxes you made if you find out which of the two do which job. Hope that helped

 

[Skunk Kid]

agentsmith is right!

just out of curiosity why if you already have the AC in the room don't you just suck air in from the room ? is it because of your worried about some one smelling the exhaust ? it just seems to me your making it harder on your self then you really have to.

and i think your underestimating really how much extra work your putting on that AC, theres a reason that the back of those AC's suck air in from such a large area and by adding that ducting you will be cutting that air flow down more then in half. basically your AC is going to run allot hotter then it has to and is going to require more power to cool itself and the out coming air down. plus heat and electronics don't mix

 

[Green lung]

agentsmith is right!

just out of curiosity why if you already have the AC in the room don't you just suck air in from the room ? is it because of your worried about some one smelling the exhaust ? it just seems to me your making it harder on your self then you really have to.

The smell and the huge amounts of negative pressure if I just let it sit in the room regular.

I guess I could fit some kind of carbon filter to the exhaust but I would still have to deal with the huge amounts of negative pressure if I intaked from the room instead of outside.

 

[Green lung]

It depends on whether or not you are using the intake where the air conditioner "conditions" the rooms air and sends it back into the room. A dual port A/C has the different chambers already, a dedicated in and out for the compressor only, and a seperate in and out for the room air. I don't think your's is going to work the way you hoped although I give an A for effort. You might have it work better by taking off one of the two boxes you made if you find out which of the two do which job. Hope that helped

Hmmm so your saying 1 of those 2 grills has to intake from the room air? thats interesting I hadn't thought of that possibilty.


So those two intake points actually do different jobs?

What does exactly each one do?

 

[RedRain]

wow you guys obviously have no idea how an AC system works!

i already clearly laid out to you why this wont work.

Even with a dual chamber system do you really think its a sealed unit? HAHAHAHAHA


The top grill that normally will intake air from the room (normally where the washable filter is) must be able to take in air from the room you are trying to cool. The heat from the room is absorbed into the refrigerant and when the refrigerant reaches the condenser and condenses back into a liquid, the heat is released into the air. If you are drawing air inside and not from the room, the heat will not be eliminated from your room.


Why do people think they can build some little box and add a few hoses and it will work just like they want it to. You have to understand how something works before you can improve upon it!!


skunk kid- you obviously dont know what you are talking about..read some more and comment on things you know

 

[Green lung]

so is your ac only sucking in air from outside now? it will not work if that is the case. You must suck air into the AC from the room you are cooling in order for it to work.

a big problem with portables is that internally they are not sealed, so even though you went through all that trouble, you still will have a smell leak.

.

This really isn't that clear IMO.


You never said why it won't work?

 

[Agent-Smith]

wow you guys obviously have no idea how an AC system works!

i already clearly laid out to you why this wont work.

Even with a dual chamber system do you really think its a sealed unit? HAHAHAHAHA

He is right, those units are still very leaky and horribly inefficient. I never said it wouldn't smell with a dual chambered unit, I just laid out how it was designed to work.

 

[RedRain]

This really isn't that clear IMO.


You never said why it won't work?

did u not read my post in the beginning of the thread?

so is your ac only sucking in air from outside now? it will not work if that is the case. You must suck air into the AC from the room you are cooling in order for it to work.

You need to be sucking in the hot air from your room into the AC inorder for it to work. You have to suck in air from your room.

The top grill that normally will intake air from the room (normally where the washable filter is) must be able to take in air from the room you are trying to cool. The heat from the room is absorbed into the refrigerant and when the refrigerant reaches the condenser and condenses back into a liquid, the heat is released into the air. If you are drawing air inside and not from the room, the heat will not be eliminated from your room.

how much more explaining do u need?

people are so lazy these days. in the time it took for u to craft your boxes, you could of read a book or educated yourself on refrigeration and ac. once you understand how an ac system works, maybe you can attempt something like that.

I also gave u a cheap alternative using a window shaker and building a wall, and scrubbing and venting the hot stinky air.

you need to learn to read more. you post asking for help, and once u get it u are too lazy to read it?

 

[Green lung]

did u not read my post in the beginning of the thread?

so is your ac only sucking in air from outside now? it will not work if that is the case. You must suck air into the AC from the room you are cooling in order for it to work.

You need to be sucking in the hot air from your room into the AC inorder for it to work. You have to suck in air from your room.

The top grill that normally will intake air from the room (normally where the washable filter is) must be able to take in air from the room you are trying to cool. The heat from the room is absorbed into the refrigerant and when the refrigerant reaches the condenser and condenses back into a liquid, the heat is released into the air. If you are drawing air inside and not from the room, the heat will not be eliminated from your room.

?

That wasn't your first post buddy I quoted your first post. And Imo you didn't really explain it.


Let me ask you this what happens if I do hook it like I have whats going to happen? is it not going to blow cold air? it will just blow hot air?

 

[RedRain]

no it will blow cold air, but you are not eliminating heat from the room you are trying to cool!!! Just adding cold air will not eliminate heat.

Read my posts again...all of them!!!

An AC system ABSORBS HEAT FROM THE AIR!!!

SO IF YOU ARE NOT DRAWING AIR FROM THE ROOM INTO THE AC, YOU ARE NOT ELIMINATING THE HEAT FROM THE ROOM YOU ARE TRYING TO COOL.
YOU ARE JUST ADDING COLD AIR, WHICH WILL GIVE YOU A HUGE HUMIDITY SPIKE AND WILL NOT WORK AT ALL.

ALL THAT HEAT HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE. WHEN YOU INTAKE HOT AIR INTO THE AC, THE REFRIGERANT ABSORBS THE HEAT AS A VAPOR AND WHEN IT IS CONDENSED BACK INTO A LIQUID, DURING THAT PROCESS OF CONDENSING BY HAVING AIR BLOWN ACROSS THE CONDENSER COIL, THE HEAT IS TRANSFERED INTO THE AIR AND RELEASED.

THE COLD AIR COMING FROM YOUR AC IS AIR THAT HAS HAD ALL THE HEAT SUCKED FROM IT. SO ITS NO LONGER HOT, ITS COLD. ALSO THIS PROCESS REMOVES WATER FROM THE AIR, JUST LIKE A COLD CAN OF BEER MAKES THE WATER IN THE AIR FORM DEW ON THE CAN. WHEN THE WARM AIR HITS THE COLD CAN, THE WATER IN THE AIR CONDENSES INTO A LIQUID. I HOPE THIS DOES NOT CONFUSE YOU.

you get it?

 

[Green lung]

did


The top grill that normally will intake air from the room (normally where the washable filter is) must be able to take in air from the room you are trying to cool. .[/I][/B]

Now if that true How was I able use the a/c and cool a 4x8 tent and the A/c was not in the tent.

The same principle would apply? would it not?

 

[RedRain]

well it was probably terribly inefficient,

and i am gonna bet that you had an air intake sucking air into the tent. air is like water, if you have too much in a room it will spill out. so your were sucking in cold air from the room outside, and warm air was spilling out of the tent into the room where the ac was. quite simple actually.

you cant argue with the truth, i know what I am talking about, you dont. I dont care what you think you know, you cant argue with cold hard facts. do a little educating and you will see what I am talking about.

you like to do things the hard way, the wrong, the inefficient way.

 

[Green lung]

no it will blow cold air, but you are not eliminating heat from the room you are trying to cool!!! Just adding cold air will not eliminate heat.

Read my posts again...all of them!!!

An AC system ABSORBS HEAT FROM THE AIR!!!

SO IF YOU ARE NOT DRAWING AIR FROM THE ROOM INTO THE AC, YOU ARE NOT ELIMINATING THE HEAT FROM THE ROOM YOU ARE TRYING TO COOL.
YOU ARE JUST ADDING COLD AIR, WHICH WILL GIVE YOU A HUGE HUMIDITY SPIKE AND WILL NOT WORK AT ALL.

ALL THAT HEAT HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE. WHEN YOU INTAKE HOT AIR INTO THE AC, THE REFRIGERANT ABSORBS THE HEAT AS A VAPOR AND WHEN IT IS CONDENSED BACK INTO A LIQUID, DURING THAT PROCESS OF CONDENSING BY HAVING AIR BLOWN ACROSS THE CONDENSER COIL, THE HEAT IS TRANSFERED INTO THE AIR AND RELEASED.

?

Isn't the heat the A/c intakes and makes exhausted out the exhaust?

 

[Green lung]

well it was probably terribly inefficient,

and i am gonna bet that you had an air intake sucking air into the tent. air is like water, if you have too much in a room it will spill out. so your were sucking in cold air from the room outside, and warm air was spilling out of the tent into the room where the ac was. quite simple actually.

you cant argue with the truth, i know what I am talking about, you dont. I dont care what you think you know, you cant argue with cold hard facts. do a little educating and you will see what I am talking about.

you like to do things the hard way, the wrong, the inefficient way.

There is no warm tent air the tent was cold as I wanted. I was exhuasting the air out of the tent too with a carbon filter via the light so it wasn't just continous blowing in air like a baloon.

 

[Agent-Smith]

Green Lung...stop now bro. You're trying to argue with this guy who is telling you the truth all because you want to be right. That's ignorant. Appreciate that he's trying to help you and go fix the problem. Your way is wrong, PERIOD.