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pinetreeporsche
Samba Member
Joined: June 11, 2009
Posts: 752
Location: Falls Church, VA
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 Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:03 pm Post subject: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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| I had Bays twice (but have been a Vanagon owner since the '90s)- BUT have a friend who's looking at a Bay Westy that looks in good shape. But wondered if some owners have put AC in-- or if it was a dealer's option that I had never noticed before. Any info will be appreciated. |
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jtauxe 
Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004
Posts: 5780
Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:35 pm Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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The best option: Just deal with it. I owned a bay window Westy in Texas for 10 years. It was hot, but I got to drive a bus!
_________________
John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD
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tristessa
Samba Member
Joined: April 07, 2004
Posts: 3992
Location: Portland, OR
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busdaddy
Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2004
Posts: 51121
Location: Surrey B.C. Canada, but thinking of Ukraine
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Our79Westy
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2012
Posts: 97
Location: Bronson, FL
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| Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 5:38 am Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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I use this when on shore power...works better with pop top closed 
while it says it will operate on 850 watts, my 3500 watt inverter is not strong enough to get the compressor to start 
awaiting a more powerful inverter...and subseqent install...I will post results in my thread when i can
_________________
1979 Westfalia DELUXE 2.0 FI manual
Mexican beigeutiful and mostly original.
See the most up to date status of Constance on YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCvO1ZedS22IepvvRYaTxiPQ
My 1979 Westfalia Campmobile's sundry Tales of Constance
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620965
1990 Vanagon, Red, Driven 70,000 miles till sold. |
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rsbadura
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2009
Posts: 656
Location: Berlin, Germany
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Hikelite
Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2012
Posts: 557
Location: Colville, WA
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| Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 5:29 pm Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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| pinetreeporsche wrote: |
| I had Bays twice (but have been a Vanagon owner since the '90s)- BUT have a friend who's looking at a Bay Westy that looks in good shape. But wondered if some owners have put AC in-- or if it was a dealer's option that I had never noticed before. Any info will be appreciated. |
There were dealer added options available. My bus had one. It was already disconnected when I bought it in the 90's. Compressor technology has improved substantially since the 70's, so you're better off installing a system from one of the vendors linked above. Others have certainly done it.
I considered getting my old system working and did a lot of research. Here is my take on the issue. When will I use it? If the engine is running, I'm moving, so the wind wings work wonderfully. If I'm not moving, I really don't want to idle the engine just to make myself cooler. If you spend a lot of time commuting in the summer, maybe... otherwise I couldn't justify it for myself.
If you want it for camping, look into a portable solution like Out79Westy suggested. I guess if you're running AC, you won't mind the generator. 
_________________
~Kevin
My 1968 Campmobile |
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5688
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 11:08 am Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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Another option for camping AC is a window unit sitting in the roof rack, blowing into the zip-opening of the pop top. I used it twice in humid mid-90s temps this summer. Didn't need anything fancy to "seal" it to the top, I just used a blanket and clamps.
_________________
Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22639
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:04 pm Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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| Our79Westy wrote: |
I use this when on shore power...works better with pop top closed
while it says it will operate on 850 watts, my 3500 watt inverter is not strong enough to get the compressor to start
awaiting a more powerful inverter...and subseqent install...I will post results in my thread when i can |
Ypu don’t need an inverter on shore power
A 3500 watt inverter will dump a car battery in about 8 minutes, by the way
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.ssS! |
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danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15143
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:07 pm Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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maybe 10-12 minutes  with the engine running..
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| Abscate wrote: |
| These are the reasons we have words like “wanker” |
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Hikelite
Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2012
Posts: 557
Location: Colville, WA
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:37 pm Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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Dave, I can't wait to visit Kansas and buy you a beer. I like the way you think.
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~Kevin
My 1968 Campmobile |
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5688
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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bigbore
Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2003
Posts: 3297
Location: Wasilla Alaska
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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move to here in Alaska fixed.
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where its cold and snowy |
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alman72
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2014
Posts: 2573
Location: MICHIGAN
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:48 am Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
| Our79Westy wrote: |
I use this when on shore power...works better with pop top closed
while it says it will operate on 850 watts, my 3500 watt inverter is not strong enough to get the compressor to start
awaiting a more powerful inverter...and subseqent install...I will post results in my thread when i can |
Ypu don’t need an inverter on shore power
A 3500 watt inverter will dump a car battery in about 8 minutes, by the way |
I don't think he is using the inverter on shore power. He is using straight shore power, because his inverter from the battery wont kick it on.
Lots of electrical items have a spike needed to turn on, and then maintain with a lower watt draw. So if he had a "more powerful" inverter, what needs to be higher is the spike draw. after startup, the draw to maintain will be 800 watts. this will also draw a battery fairly quick. maybe an hour on a 90 hour deep cycle aux battery |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22639
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:34 am Post subject: Re: What options were or are available for Air Cond'n in Bays? |
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You won't be able to draw 80 amps from an auto battery of any size for very long - once you go above about 10% of the battery rating, internal resistance comes into play and you lose capacity/reserve/voltage/all of the above
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