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Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:10 am

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Code: [url=https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630832&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=]DPD Air Conditioning for type 2 bus? FAQ[/url]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but does anybody know where one of the DPD overhead A/C units can be purchased? I'm looking for a new or used one to retrofit Air conditioning to my 1978 delux bus (non camper). From all the posts I've seen here, that one seems to move the most air.

Wed Jun 24, 2015 11:36 am

DPD is long gone. If you want a NOS one you will have to look and look, and put an ad in classifieds. Ed Gilmore is whom many folks use today. http://www.gilmore-enterprises.net/

Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:15 pm

I've looked at Gilmore Enterprises already and all they have for the late bay's is the under dash setup. That's fine for the front passengers, but I want to cool the whole cabin.

I like the way the old DPD overhead unit is setup for both front and rear passengers, so my thinking is to find a used one of those and modify it to replace the old tube & fin evaporator with a modern higher efficiency / capacity setup with a bigger blower for more air flow. So basically, all I need is the shell of one of those units, working or not. For that matter, I'm wondering if you could scan one of those units and 3D print one :o Seems like that would be an easy way for Gilmore or one of the other AC companies to adapt a couple of super high efficiency evaporators to just about any vehicle.

There are plenty of sources for modern parallel flow condensers, fans, high capacity alternator, and rotary compressor to round out the system.

Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:38 pm

You mean like one of these? Our's is all complete however I removed the old compressor when rebuilding the motor. "One of these days" I'll try to get it working again. In the mean time, it makes a nice conversation piece and the blower works on hot days.

-jeffrey

Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:47 pm

Keep watching the classifieds, they show up now and then, often the plastic is super brittle and yellow so get lots of pics before sending money. A modern compressor would be a better upgrade.

Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:02 pm

yes, jhicken, that's exactly the one I'm looking for. Like busdaddy also noticed, I have found a couple of junkyard busses with these installed, but years of sun exposure had disintegrated the plastic......

Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:45 am

Anybody thought about using the AC bits out of a minivan and adapting to a bus? I was looking at a crashed Honda minivan and the front and rear evaporator/blower units are quite compact, even with the extra heater coil. It also looks like the condenser from one of these could be easily mounted under the bus. Just wondering if anyone else has tried this.

Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:18 pm

Hey heard u needed an a/c unit.

Im selling the one I took out of my bus here on The Samba...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1793380

Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:51 pm

Those rear ac units in other minis r pretty gutsy, some controllable from front too, a mazda mpv of ours had one in rear. I'm going to add ac to my 88 westy, have one rear (50$) also. One from a brand x under dash that i will be able to fit in front, i'll loose my glove box except 4 front door as a cover to still look norm.all i need now is to figure hose drier etc layout & get the hose,most of my expense will be the hoses, my2cts, as usual no warranty offered at this time. Remembering my old 70bay i would probably use the spare tire position to fab a healthy ac, unit could go up to ceiling & plenty of room, tire wastes that space anyway.

Sat Jun 27, 2015 7:18 am

I had the overhead unit in a 73 Bus years ago, wish I would have had the money to get it working again. The fan still worked, but was missing the compressor and other parts.

I have 3 VW Buses out of 7 total vans in my plumbing service shop. I have installed one Gilmore A/C unit and two from ICE. Both dealers were very nice to deal with. The Gilmore was less expensive, but the ICE looks MUCH more integrated-it looks like one of several units VW offered as an option. It is also more powerful, and to me, was worth the extra money to purchase our third unit from them. If you run a BA-6 gas heater as one of our Buses do, the fans will sit low. I ended up replacing the ones on that Bus with some that a local a/c specialist had to gain some ground clearance.

Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:04 pm

Thanks Mslniak, I'll PM you on that DPD evaporator unit. I have retrofit an AC system in a Porsche 911 before, so I'm no stranger to what's involved with a custom engineered system. My goal is to make a system that looks like something the factory would have done at the time, but use the most modern / efficient evaporator / condenser / compressor I can find to build a system with the capacity to cool down the whole bus in 100 F Texas heat.

The aftermarket has come a long way with high efficiency parallel flow micro channel evaporators and condensers in every kind of size imaginable to fit the confines of a bus. Super quiet swept blade fans are also available that are many orders of magnitude better than what could be had in the 1970's.

As for the compressor, the newest designs are clutchless variable capacity units (via electronically controlled swash plate / multi-piston configuration), that are not much bigger that a large grapefruit. Theoretically, these units should operate either clockwise or counterclockwise rotation, unless the variable swashplate dictates only one direction of operation. To mount a compressor on a type 4 motor, the way the factory did requires a counterclockwise rotation of the compressor (even though the motor rotates clockwise). The old York's didn't care which direction they rotated, but a lot of newer rotary compressors (including scroll and vane type) do.

Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:47 pm

Hey everyone my A/C unit is back up for grabs. potential buyer didnt pull through, PM if your interested.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1814423

Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:57 pm

I kept the a/c (DPD underdash) running in my bus for years until a few years ago.

It's a constant struggle keeping them running for any length of time leak free. Vibration, hose lengths, number of connections frt-back all make for work. But when it wasn't leaking it ran very well and cold.

I now removed the compressor and sat it off to the side with everything still plummed up. Buttoned up the hole where the York compressor sat.

Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:41 am

I'm having the entire DPD system installed on my 71 Westy this week and the installer feels I have a bad part in the under dash evaporator: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-u49t8lm7fLbjdzV1BiMTZNMEU/view?usp=sharing (Click on open when the page loads to view better photos)

Does anyone know what this is, or where I could find one? I will be sure to post photos of the entire installation when I am finished.

I'm hoping to find a similar part locally or and an auto parts store. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It appears to say PBM and says 150-10 12V on the bottom with 5 numbered terminals.

Thanks!

Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:50 am

Also, if there is a wiring diagram for this, that would be helpful as well as maybe the part is good but just not hooked up correctly?

Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:16 am

most likely it is a relay that controls the compressor clutch

Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:43 pm

Thank you, you were exactly correct. I could not find the exact relay but we found one that worked so I will post the details once I pick up the bus later today. Surprisingly it all works, fans blow hard and it is very cold with Freon. They did have to replace the original lines but all seems to be working fine. The only issue is when idling, the motor will die once you turn the A/C on so I think we just need to adjust the carb/timimg. I'm excited to have it running finally. :) It is a new compressor type that is supposed to just take 1 HP.

Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:50 pm

I have a full Texan DPD set up, most of it is in the closet. If I cut through my hoses running from the compressor on the engine to the over head unit, am I fudged? Or can an A/C shop re-do it with new hoses? I'm not sure I'll be re-installing the A/C after the engine rebuild. We'll see.

Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:57 pm

They can easily remake them, my guy made all of them in-house and I kept the original ones for reference later. I have the Texas made DPD under dash unit. Here is the original setup I purchased here on thesamba: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1380122.jpg

Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:03 pm

I think you should do all of us 71 owners a service and post some pictures of this device and how it's installed, especially with that newfangled compressor, there's no such thing as too many options :)