Re: Another AC idea.

Posted by HH56 On 2012/6/3 9:26:10

Perhaps "approach" instead of "idea" would have been a better word in the title.

I just thought the implementation of the rear AC using a regular underdash unit instead of a proper trunk unit was interesting -- not that I would recommend it for the Packard. It kind of reminded me of the photo Big Kev posted early in the forum days of a pickup with a house unit hanging in the back window. I can't tell from the photos but think the vents in that car are actually part of the rear seat back and the hump is the top of that.

As to the heat operated AC Keith mentions, maybe it is time for another look at possibilities now that solar is becoming more of a common undertaking. Some more house units might be available & small enough they could adapt. When I looked for absorption units that might be able to work a few years ago, there was nothing but huge commercial units and the already mentioned fairly small refrigerator units. One would almost need a trailer behind to carry components, the other would barely cool the glovebox since it was designed for a confined well insulated space. Peltier units were too low in BTU output for the large amps needed to run them. It is rather odd with CAFE and weight concerns that auto mfgs haven't figured a way to use exhaust heat to some advantage. Must be some real limitations with the technology still.

As to AC in a Packard, all I can say is to each his own. The 4 @ 40 does not cut it with this old geezer. Even when I was young and dumb(er) in the 50s, my car had "AC" (if you could call an evaporative unit AC).

Different kinds were common and fit my budget (meaning free or cheap) and I tried them all-- A square box that sat on the hump that you filled with water. Had the typical pads but only humidified the car and did not do much else in the way of cooling. Another kind which used some kind of material in little metal box shaped cans you froze in the freezer & then slid onto a metal finned shelf in the unit. A fan would blow over them. Worked better -- until the boxes warmed and the stuff melted. If you were on the road, some of the gas stations had exchange programs for the cans. Of course, we can't forget the water filled tube hanging out a passenger side window.

The first real refrigerant unit I came across was in a 57 Olds but father was somewhat narrow minded in my opinion, and wouldn't let me try & move it from his car to mine.