Air Conditioning Mod to Dual Hose - The Perfect Unit - Hold ya hoses, going tripple

[@Digbite]

You're a very clever guy. I'm going to try this also. Thanks

[@reidster87]

I've discovered that my RCA 12,000 BTU portable AC unit is made by Midea and uses a similarly separated and gasketed design to yours, in spite of being in a larger and differently shaped cabinet. Your videos are quite helpful for me to add a condenser inlet hose. It's particularly important right now as my area has been blanketed in wildfire smoke for a few days and I have to stay inside and keep the windows closed to avoid triggering my asthma constantly. I can't use my single hose portable AC since it will draw too much smoky air from outside. Adding an inlet hose for the condenser will help me a lot as the temperature outside has been over 30 yesterday and today, and it's starting to get too hot and humid in the house.

[@bernnardooliveira3961]

Hey there, i think i got the same model as you and I’m currently looking forward to do this mod. Have you done it yet? If so, let me know if you have any tips regarding the way to connect the new hose. Idk about yours, but my model didn’t come with a detacheable filter like the one in the video so I’m still tinkering it

[@unlost117]

I have loved all the videos you have put up and you enabled me to build a home made 3 + 1 axis 3D printer with milling capabilities and laser cutting as well. Thank you Dirk. I also have a single room AC unit where it pumps hot air outside and i need to modify it as well to stop negative pressure in room drawing in hot air from outside. LOVE your work Thanks again.

[@happyIMB]

This is series of videos on portable AC units is super inspiring and well done on explaining all the details. I really enjoyed watching the conversions to improve the single unit design. It inspired me to undergo a similar conversion and prepare for the summer. It's best to start early, before these units become very expensive and unvailable :) What do you think of the Ometa AC unit 9000BTU, it seems to have similar design with the condesor coil nicelly exposed at the back? I probably would need to open it up to confirm that inside partitions are well separated and sealed, but looks promising. It doesn't seem to have nice removable covers like this Medion unit, but I think that's something I could work around.

[@dherrendoerfer]

Yes, I think that may even be the same unit inside - or something closely related.

[@repeatman]

I have a Sunpenttown unit that looks just like this. Its the WA-1288. I also use mine as a heat pump.

[@strawtoro]

I made a similar conversion for my mohorhome however my problem is, due to the lack of space, I had to install the original exhaust hose and the new hose to take the air from outside very close together. Do you think that might be a problem? This would mean the condenser is probably going to take some hot air previously exhausted, mixed with the exterior air

[@dherrendoerfer]

Generally yes. The units usually have enough coolant to support a wide temperature difference across the condenser and still be efficient - maybe you can add guides or vents in a way that separate the air flow somewhat. I build a recessed unit using the three hose design for a friend in a mini-apartment and it works like a charm.

[@joehendenderson1851]

Cus if u add a second hose to cool the condenser it won’t reallly do anything the ones they sell with 2 hoses are mad to use the outside air to cool the condenser then expel that air and the air it wakes in gets recirculated, if u add hose it can magically make the air recirculate so it will still be dumping the good air outsode

[@raduienasoae217]

you might wanna measure the actual power drawn with and without the second hose. my shot at this didn't go as hoped. with the second hose setup the power consumption increased from around 690W to 830W without a significant change in temp vs. time figures

[@dherrendoerfer]

Interesting. I wonder what would be causing that - with my PAC the power drain remained almost constant. What are the btu/power draw values from your unit ? Oh - and what type of coolant is sit using ?

[@argsgsgsgnngndg9894]

could be that the intake hose doesn't allow enough air to cool down the compressor enough. You might need an electric fan in the intake hose to let more air in

[@Steve-xl2mn]

The condenser was being cooled with conditioned (cooled) "from room" air in single hose configuration. With dual hose configuration, it's being cooled by warmer outside air--the compressor sees a higher pressure workload, trying to compress the warmer refrigerant. How much difference? It would depend on the inside-outside temp difference. The efficiency of dual hose configuration will be seen with faster indoor cooling and reduced operating time to maintain that cooler indoor temp. Overall, the dual hose will be more efficient.

[@babacheif]

Would it be worth while putting a fan in the funnel shaped inlet from outside and maybe a fan assisting exhaust?or would it tax the system too much

[@dherrendoerfer]

No, it would probably help. But you would heat the cooler with outside air, or introduce humidity maybe.

[@KallusGarnet]

Why don't they sell them like this in the first place

[@One-Day-After-Another]

Egggs freakibng XACTLY!!!!! I mean... HELLO!! Look how green we have to be with the new regrigerants... ultra efficient systems... appliances.... and yet.... they can just willy nilly make one hose AC's that are about the least energy efficient thing you can possibly think of... aside from just running the thing outside in the heat.....

[@methods-SE]

It's absolutely maddening

[@SebastienCARE-fq4pj]

Hello. Perfect job ! You seem to be someone perfectionist and pugnacious (as a quality of course). You helped me a lot in my research. Did you insulated the 2 interior parts (hot // cold) of this unit with thin insulation sheet + thermal silicone sealant as well, to prevent any air leaks? Finally, do you think it would be interesting to switch to 2 insulated exhaust ducts for air exchange with the outside? (I am thinking of thermal exchanges but also noise attenuation). Sorry for my bad english :)

[@dherrendoerfer]

Thanks ! never heard of that second adjective before ... I think that insulating the hoses only makes sense when you have a very long way to go, in my case I think it's not needed. The unit I have here was not modified internally, I think it's good enough, at least way better than all the others I've experimented with.

[@kwirkLA]

OK but hear me out... ... what if there were 4 hoses

[@dherrendoerfer]

..... interresting .....

[@guardfromscp6902]

Wha-........., GENIUS !

[@methods-SE]

Lol

[@kowhaifan1249]

i have this exact model of ac unit, could you please give me the measurements you used so i could fashion my own mod?

[@dherrendoerfer]

what measurements would you need ? - the box shaped insert has a size of 255x240mm some sanding at the edges make it fit perfectly.

[@matsibley7832]

Hi i have a logic that looks exactly like yours but im not sure if mine will need the top or bottom converted is there a way to tell more air seems to get puljed through the top there seems to be a senor on top ill add a pic if i can Thanx in advance 1:49 1:49 1:49

[@JohnGuest45]

If you check the temperature of the room at 1ft height intervals you may find the hottest air is not as high up as you imagine.

[@ZuckerbergDaReptilian]

What do you think would be preferable for hose diameter, a 4" or 7" as an intake. Looking around my local hardware stores and can't find any 5 or 6 inch at the moment.

[@dherrendoerfer]

The intake should not be smaller than the exhaust - 7" sounds ok - that should make the fabrication of the shroud easier too.

[@ZuckerbergDaReptilian]

@@dherrendoerfer Thanks! 😃

[@giuseppearcieri1944]

Third hose seems the obvious way after seeing this video, but why don't you just lift the unit up? I'm trying to mount a shelf near the ceiling and install my portable ac there as I have also ax exhaust hole in the house wall; I think this way I can shorten the exhaust hose and also make the unit cool the hot air near the ceiling and 'shoot' it at the floor. I think I hope I'll get some improvements this way over a standard floor installation.

[@giuseppearcieri1944]

PS your single to dual hose videos are awesome, thank you very much for sharing!

[@dherrendoerfer]

@@giuseppearcieri1944 Yeah, that is a good idea too.

[@Faded_Fragger]

Is the inventor chilly 9000btu (bought from Amazon) convertible into a dual hose unit?

[@dherrendoerfer]

I think it’s very sind similar to the unit I converted. Yes.

[@methods-SE]

I have a single hose unit that I'm going to convert to dual house. I completely disassembled it and inspected everything.... * This piece of junk is pulling a big draw on the room * It blows out a very heavy plume of very hot air * It is sucking hot air in from the room next door!!?! * I'm going to do a duct tape special and feed it fresh air from outside What a very frustrating design they have made... It makes no sense

[@dherrendoerfer]

Yeah, the unit I started with had the same issue.

[@Faded_Fragger]

I wish I could get one of those wooden shapes lol

[@simonduffy99]

I've been using a cardboard box to achieve the same thing.

[@BobbyNewhartFace]

I'm gonna do the same tomorrow. Tape and boxes. Lol ​@@simonduffy99

[@stephenchen8741]

pls share the dimensions of your mod :)

[@dherrendoerfer]

You mean the exhaust hose adapter ?

[@minctartepie]

Infinite huh 😂

[@dherrendoerfer]

Definitely !