# 12 volt Airconditionning



## 88757 (May 9, 2005)

Help! We're new to campervanning and find your site fantastic. We're going to France/Italy in June and reckon we'll definitely need Air conditioning. Thanks to a link in your forum we visited the Narbonne Accessoires site. They have a 12V system (own brand) which seems perfect at a little over thousand euro. Here's the question - we know this can be used en-route, but can it be used while wild camping? Would it cause leisure battery to go flat, also when on mains, would it continue to operate on 12v (it's not dual system) and if so would the mains hook-up re-charge the battery? My head is bursting trying to understand the technical date, especially when it's in Frence, with a little help from Alta Vista pigeon English translation. As you can see, I'm not techie-minded.
I think we've just about got our heads around Invertors, wattage, voltage, amps etc.
Looking forward to learning lots through your brilliant forums
8O :


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## 88724 (May 9, 2005)

Hi 

Can you post a link to the technical page of the air conditioner?

Depending on the ampage used and how long you want to stay on one spot it may be feasible.

I went for a swamp cooler rather than an air conditioner because they can be run while wild camping and in Belguim last year in 30 degree heat it was fantastic, if you intend to stay in areas with a high humidity these do not work as well. 

Air conditioning usually requires 240v which again usually means you need to be on hook up site, unfortunately a lot of sites do not have the power to run Air con and when wild the Genny needs to be running all of this tends to conspire against Full air con for mobile use.

George


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Welcome to MHF, metromary.

I'm not sure to which product you refer. Narbonne has the Trav-l-cool, however this is not a Narbonne own make:
http://www.narbonneaccessoires.fr/boutique/product_info.php?products_id=7189

See:
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/posts3234-0.html
if you haven't already in your MHF reading.

Generally these products polarise into two classes.

At one end are true air-conditioners, which cool the air AND dry it, but consume a lot of power. You would need a mains hookup, generator or engine running to keep them going.

At the other end are products such as the Trav-l-Cool which consume relatively little battery power, so they are easy to use when wildcamping, can provide a welcome cooling effect, but work by evaporating water into the incoming airstream. This not only fails to dry the air, but actually makes it more moist. A more sophisticated evaporation unit is the Oxycom referred to in the referenced thread. This still doesn't dry the air, but at least it doesn't moisten it further.

Note the effectiveness of the evaporation units depend on the humidity and personal preference. In dry heat, they are the perfect compromise. In very humid heat they are ineffective, as the air is already laden with moisture and cannot take up much more, so cannot cool. In the region in the middle, some swear by them while others swear at them, depending on a preference for being cooler or dryer respectively.

Dave


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## 88724 (May 9, 2005)

Hi 

6 amps means that a normal 110 ah battery which had been fully charged could run it for 9 Hours, it would run it for longer but then you would be damaging the battery.

If the method of Charging was Normal split charge from the alternator then it could be run for about 2.75 hours.

If charged with a Zig for about 2-3 weeks about 8 hours

so the question is really can you carry (and properly charge) enough batteries for the length of TIME you require to run it?

George


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## 88757 (May 9, 2005)

*12 volt air conditioner*

Thanks for all the helpful facts. I now see that the unit in question is vaporisation rather than air conditioner. But the fact that we could use it in transit would be important. It's at:
htttp//www.narbonneaccessoires.fr/boutique/product_info.php_id=7583. Sorry but my computer knowledge is as bad as my electronics knowledge, I don't know how to post a link! If anyone has the time and interest to have a look at the web page and has further views I'd appreciate it.
Many Thanks
Mary :roll: 
[/url]


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## 88724 (May 9, 2005)

Hi

That run on low could be used for 3 X as long as the unit mentioned above, its far more economical ampage wise.

One battery, properly chatged and 27 hours running time, looks very good.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

metromary,

That one in English is:
http://www.dirna.com/camper.php?ln=ING
It mentions variable consumption up to 8 amps there.

But just to say you can run full aircon when travelling, too. I can - see my reference to "engine running". But don't think roof aircon is a good substitute for dash aircon when motoring; for JUST that requirement, I'd have dash aircon every time. Unfortunately it is vice versa when parked up.

Personally I think you need first to decide according to cooling(/drying) effectiveness for the climate and personal preference, and whether it will be predominantly needed when parked or motoring. Then think about powering it. Otherwise you risk the tail wagging the dog and it not provided the solution you expected.

Dave


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## 88724 (May 9, 2005)

Hi Dave

In the French version it says on low it only consumes 1.87 ish amps, even gives the consumption for on standby awaiting remote control instruction!

George

PS I will have to check what mine uses on low


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## 88757 (May 9, 2005)

Thanks Dave, you're a gem! Great to read details in 'proper' English.
Think that may be just the job for us. My sister who is joining us for a few days in Italy suffers with her sinuses and the drying method may not be great for her. Also we really would like a system that would work in transit and on site . Haven't yet checked your info on using Air Con. while travelling. Will get to that tomorow, or rather later today.
Mary :lol:


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## 88883 (May 10, 2005)

George

What's a swamp cooler ?

Chris


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

La memme pour moi aussi!


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