DIY Front Air Conditioning

[Abscate]

[Farf]

The 4KW is the cooling coil rating, no elecrical consumption there.

[Howesight]

I first got this DIY system running back in March of 2013. Now, 8 years later, I have had my first problem. I ran the Westy SVX engine yesterday for a while (moving it out of the garage to work on another vehicle) and let it run for 30 or 40 minutes to get rid of the lifter tick. I switched on the AC system after a few minutes to let the refrigerant oil circulate and oil the compressor seal. I suspect the accumulator since PAG oil dripping onto the driveway was the symptom.

Well, it seems that somewhere in the vicinity of the AC accumulator, either the accumulator, a fitting or a hose sprang a leak.

I will have to investigate later today.
_________________
'86 Syncro Westy SVX

[whyyes.travel]

[Howesight]

I have read that a number of those removing the factory Vanagon air/heater box and installing the Vintage Air evaporator and associated parts (or the SmallCar kit based on those parts) have found that those units were lacking in winter heat. A minority of those using the Vintage Ari/Smallcar system were unimpressed with the cooling power of those sytems, but most were happy.

To the extent that the cooling performance of those systems was lacking or mediocre, I think that the size of the blower fan used in those systems and the restictive corrugated flexible hose supplied may be to blame. I think that the size of the evaporator core is likely not the problem.

In my DIY evaporator, I used an Audi A4 (B5 generation) evaporator and a Toyota pickup/4Runner blower fan. Together, these can freeze you out of your Vanagon. I should say, however, that the way I set my system up, with only 4 vent outlets, results in very high air speed coming out the vents. This is great for cooling you quickly, but over the course of a few hours, leads to very dry skin on your face. This is a common-place in sailing and other similar activities and just requires some cream or moisturizer on your exposed skin. OEM systems use more vent outlets to achieve the same cooling with lower air speeds out the vents, to achieve the same overall volume of chilled air.

If I had any concerns that the system that emerged from my months of fiddling and experimenting had issues, I would clearly explain those concerns. The only one I have is the dry-skin/air speed problem.

Two things that can ruin an otherwise sound AC installation are:

1. Failure to seal out hot ambient air. For that, use the system made by Chris Corkins of Vanistan, found here: https://intrepidoverland.com/shop/cabin-air-control/ Chris calls it his Cabin Air Control Kit;

In my case, I cobbled this together:

CLOSED:

OPEN:

2. A foolproof means of keeping all hot coolant out of your front heater core in summer. I made my own vacuum-electric heater hose shut off. Chris sells a nifty coolant valve that is a lot less difficult to make and install than my DIY approach. Here is a link to Chris' valve:
https://intrepidoverland.com/shop/t3-vanagon-front-heater-valve/
_________________
'86 Syncro Westy SVX

[Kombi///M3]

Hey Howesight.. any chance I can have a look at your set up?
I like your set up better than the others. Do you have a kit for sale?
I've read your old post and thought you've come up with. A kit.
Cheers.

[khughes]

[Howesight]

[Howesight]

Hey KHughes:

My system for sealing out ambient air ingress could be perfect, but it is not perfect at the moment. The reason is that I used an axle-type steel rod at one end of the flaps, instead of at the middle of the flaps. The exterior air pushes against the flap and pushes the flap, the bowden cable and the sliding lever on my HVAC lever panel and allows ambient air in. The kludge I use is to put a rubber band on that lever and attach the other end to one of the diff-lock knobs - - not very elegant. I need a better closing mechanism.

I am going to remove the dash sometime in the near future for a number of things needing attention and will revise the closing mechanism then. If you can place enough force on the HVAC lever, it will keep the ambient air out. In the meantime, I have reduced the force acting against this mechanism by another kludge, duct taping the whole air inlet screen closed except for about a 2.5" by 2.5" square area left open.
_________________
'86 Syncro Westy SVX

[djkeev]

[whyyes.travel]