I have this old Kenmore dehumidifier that someone gave me. I'm trying to find some specs on it and it's old enough that googles doesn't have much on it.
The long story is that I'm starting to research adding A/C to my van for camping with shore power. I don't think this will be a viable unit to start with since it's from the 70s and uses R12 but it might make a good proof-of-concept project.
I'm mostly trying to figure out how to know what parts to scavenge in the future... how to figure out BTUs from pint capacity or compressor part number. This one is a 40-pint.
Noddaz
PowerDork
1/14/23 3:46 p.m.
The pints probably refers to how much condensate the water tank holds.
And I just saw this.
NMNA YMMV ect ect
Best AC for camper van
In reply to Noddaz :
Pints is a rating of "capacity" and is the number of pints removed from a typical space in a 24-hour period.
I know that pints is how much water it removes, but in order to remove X amount of water from STP air, you need to generate Y amount of heat delta. I figured there had to be some rough correlation between pints and BTUs, even if it was a vague correlation.
1988RedT2 said:
Possibly relevant discussion here:
https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/71663-Dehumidifier-BTUH
That's a good read, thank you.
Noddaz said:
The pints probably refers to how much condensate the water tank holds.
And I just saw this.
NMNA YMMV ect ect
Best AC for camper van
I have another thread on here from a few months ago that talks about why I don't want to do stuff like that. Long story short, there is a roof rack, so rooftop units are out. I'm fitting this behind factory panels (actually behind some ply panels that closely mimic the factory panels) so I need smaller, individual components that I can place where I need them. Something like a minisplit is not going to fit without tearing it apart into individual components... which I can do with nearly any refrigeration unit, including an old window AC, a dehumidifier, or refrigerator. I want to mount the compressor and condenser on the frame under the van and then I only have to drill two 3/8" holes in the floor to pass the refrigerant lines through to the evap. Add squirrel cage fan and some ducting and done.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Hate to be Debbie Downer but that’s not going do much cooling.
A pint of water weighs 1.06 pounds. Latent heat of condensation is 941 BTU / pound of water. 40 pint rating for 24 hours divides down to 1.67 pints per hour or 1.77 pounds of water. That’s 1,662 BTU / hr. The average window AC is 5,000 BTU / hr. Not to mention it’s a dehumidifier so the fan blows the cold air from the evaporator coil directly into the condenser coil to reheat it (that’s how dehumidifiers work) but hey, at least it’s dry air if it still works. I couldn’t find anything to break down the compressor nametag but based on the pints / 24 hour capacity the above is in the ballpark.
In reply to 11GTCS :
I realize that. First, this is not going to be my AC, this is a tinkering project. Second, the condenser/evaporator would be separated. If you think about it, a dehumidifier is just an air conditioner that shares the cold and hot side in the same air. I would plumb them with the condenser on the outside of the van and the evap inside.
My point in asking was so I can have a frame of reference for the actual thing I hack up for my AC. Now I know (thanks to you) that a 40 pint unit is too small.
My initial numbers tell me that 3500 BTU would do a fair job, but 5000 would be better in case I'm camping in the sun or I'm taking a trip somewhere hotter. I could get a new 5000 btu window job for $175 and hack it, but there is a reason they only cost $175. They're really junk. If I'm taking the time to plumb in a custom AC system, I don't want to have to replace parts every couple years. I would rather find a scratch-n-dent food service fridge, a dentist air compressor with a bad tank, or something with quality parts that won't die as quickly. I'm just in the learning phase, so your numbers are very helpful in sizing something in case I stumble on another free dehumidifier.... which seems to be quite frequently.
I don't mind sourcing individual parts, but if I find something like a commercial AC or dehumidifier it's cheaper, and it's a pre-engineered system of compressor/evap/condenser which saves me the mathing part.
