An Honest Review of Our Off Grid 12 Volt AC Unit... (van life build)

[@darian.explores]

What’re your thoughts on this option? Let us know.

[@saundz8791]

Thanks for the review and I'm sorry you guys have had issues. I've been looking in to this stuff and I'm still not sure which unit to get. I did manage to get some quotes under 1k with shipping included but some require assembly of parts once item is received. Im also having doubts on the power consumption since I live in Puerto Rico which is tropical and basically 24/7 is summer. I'm looking forward for your video which includes your friend to get some more insight. BTW you could get your friend to maybe share the peace of foam for you to have a mold done or maybe 3d printed. If you could manage to get a mold you could probably make it through expandable foam.

[@darian.explores]

@@saundz8791 thanks so much for the thoughtful words. It’s definitely a hard decision. We took a risk and understood that. I do believe had everything been done properly we’d have a different experience to share. I agree, I think you’ll find her experience interesting considering you live in a 24/7 hot/tropical climate as well. I’ll have that update out as soon as we can. Hopefully this or next Sunday.

[@chucktownvanlife4267]

what is the brand name of this unit and Is it on Amazon? Thanks

[@TucciDaGucci]

Thank you for the video. I live in Florida, where AC is a must, and I'm always scratching my head when it comes to AC units.

[@darian.explores]

The Dometic RTX 2000 is a newer unit. 12V, but about $1100 more than our unit. (Still significantly more affordable than nomadic cooling)

[@kristenwright8152]

Curious if you ran the ac into an inverter? I was thinking just into an mppt...but I'm still learning and researching. Any tips could help!

[@bah5310]

Thanks for the information. FYI, Freon (R-22) is a name brand, you added refrigerant to your unit. So basically that's a vehicle AC unit made into an RV type unit. I've got an older Airstream Interstate and I'm thinking of switching to a DC unit.

[@mike123abc]

Thanks for the informative follow up video! Too often you never hear how something has worked out over time.

[@darian.explores]

Thanks for being patient! We expect to have an update from my friend’s experience with the unit in the next 1-3 weeks. :)

[@orbittelkomsel2199]

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[@88jettaguy]

Hey I wanna say thank you for the honest review. I am in the midst of a step van project and looking at so many variables. Your experience with the A/C is actually helpful to me for cost of system, I can say you saved me moreless $3,000.

[@darian.explores]

Happy we could help. At the time, there were very few resources on van ACs, so it was tough to navigate!

[@beachliving3127]

Your review reminds me of the lyrics of a Run DMC Song called “It’s not funny.” The lyrics are “It's not funny, when you buy a tv off the street You take it home, plug it in, bam, you got beat!.” If you friend’s unit is working well, perhaps you can borrow the part you accidentally destroyed and get it made with a 3D machine. Thanks for your honest opinion. When it comes time for me to do this, I think I will spend the money and get the Nomadic cooling unit.

[@gpr1200rider]

Thank you for the valuable information. I always prefer to run the wiring through my main hole.

[@darian.explores]

Shut up lol

[@MichaelWilliams-ro9bm]

Whew! Your review baffled me! Went with the Dometic unit and had it installed in 4 hours ( in English!, sorry). Have 500 amp hours and uses 100 amps ( on eco mode) all night . 8-10 hours. Perfect. Only costs a little more to go first class. Less than $2k for the RTX 2000. Confusing and exhausting. Good luck with yours.

[@darian.explores]

That’s good to know for the future! I have heard great things about that Dometic unit. But yeah it’s crazy how much the market has flooded with more affordable and efficient options since I built my first van. It’s great for the community!

[@fawaz90j25]

Keep going we watching from Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 soon I will start builder my van 😘

[@darian.explores]

Good luck!!! ❤️

[@FktGT]

Hello, please can you let me know where you putchased your insulated window covers from? I really like the colour 😍

[@darian.explores]

They're Vanmade Gear!

[@AB-Trains-Automation]

I am confused on the power consumption, the unit's spec say it needs 850W (I assume that is max cooling) or 850W/12V = 71Amp/Hr. If the AC runs at 50% cooling = 35Amps per hour, your 300Amp battery would last a maximum of 300/35 ~ 8.5 hours (at 100% cooling it would only run for 4.25 hours). How do you run it all night still have 84% battery which means you only used 16% of 300 Amps or 48 Amps?

[@darian.explores]

We don’t run it all night. We would run it for maybe 45 minutes when we lay down for bed. The unit also kicks off on its own periodically. Also - at the time we made this video, we didn’t realize it, but our battery monitor wasn’t displaying the correct battery percentages so that piece of info could definitely be incorrect regardless. :/

[@AB-Trains-Automation]

@@darian.explores Thanks for the reply, one last question, you can buy those units now for less than $1,000, but as you said, you get what you pay for. Knowing everything you know now, would you buy it again or get something else, although far more expensive?

[@josephgaydosh7300]

If this helps you can put an external thermostat and run it through a relay system into the main power and you will have one and off capability

[@functionalvanconversion4284]

Wow, great information!

[@dtmty]

contact your seller and make it ship the styrofoam separator, cheapest shipping option, no matter, mention the link of this video and mention that would be a change in your experiencie also for update the video comment, mention the volume of views and comments, so would be right and positive that they ship that and you catch it, then you finally will solve it.

[@kevinmckie6895]

Hi, thanks for the info. I was about to order a unit but they are saying my 14.25 x 14.25 inch hole in my roof would have to be enlarged? Your video indicates you used a 14x14 inch hole and just drilled four mounting bolt holes? Is that correct?

[@darian.explores]

They told me the same thing but it’s easy to get it through 14x14. You just have to go in at an angle. Yes about the mounting bolts.

[@psyamok3735]

Hmmnnn.. the temperature sensor to automatically throttle down the unit might be defective or the connection has problem. I don't know how you install your unit but from what I see, it could be the defective part so that tour unit can't sense the atmospheric temp and can't throttle down to save electricity. Also when you redesign and get rid of the big white plastic cover, do you allow the recirculation of the internal cabin air back into the unit to recool? If you don't, then the unit will continue to take in hot air from outside to cool it to pump it into the van. That will keep throttle at high speed all the time because it has ti to cool hot air all the time versus the retooling the cooler recycling cabin air. This recycling cabin air versus outside warmer air is extremely important as the temperature sensor usually place where it detects the temperature of the return cabin air to decide if your predetermined air temperature has been reached.

[@darian.explores]

Thank you so much for this information, we really appreciate it. We did leave open slots in that area to still intake air but I’m wondering if it’s not open enough, still. Might have to tweak the setup over the summer. Thanks again. 🙂

[@breakdownbill1]

How many watts does this run on low cool or eco setting. I have a Bluetti 200Max with a 12 volt port that can take 30 amps can I run this unit on the Bluetti

[@Doc_Fischer]

Simple fix to eliminate the divider is to install some small 2” or so bilge blowers out of the units .

[@stevey500]

Did you guys ever fix your missing air shroud issue? I'm on the edge of ordering one of these units. Does the unit have a true "automatic" mode that varies the blower speed and compressor speed in order to meet/maintain the set temperature? If the unit properly slows down the fan speed and compressor when the set temperature is met would be nice or especially go completely to sleep if the interior temperature falls below the set temperature. Sure, these units draw a ton of wattage considering limited battery capacity in vans and small trailers but I feel slightly confident that with an efficient space, these units could do so well. I appreciate your great videos and sorry for the long winded comment and questions but, I find this low voltage AC topic to be a pretty important one as it's a turn in outdoor living comfort for the better.

[@darian.explores]

No, we haven't. We plan on making some upgrades to our rig in a month or two. Not sure if you saw the video after this. Our friend purchased the unit and we asked her about her experience. Hers does kick on and off. They have a 159" WB Promaster as well. Here's the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYTGlGmonrFja5Y Hope that helps you get a little more clarity. Summer van life is tough!

[@paulutd69]

Thank you. I don't know if it is possible for you to get a 3D printer styrofoam done from someone to make your unit work more efficiently. The language barrier is a concern. The price is the bonus! Maybe in the future someone will be able to ship out of China on a cargo ship. These 12volt units are the future for vanlifers.

[@darian.explores]

Could definitely have one 3D printed. And yes, I’m SURE there will be many 12v AC options in the coming years! There is such a high demand now! Dometic came out with one a lot more affordable than the leading options (but it’s not quite as efficient).

[@aaronschinlaub9704]

One thing it sounds like it might help I know you said something about putting free on in it I didn't know if you ever knew about vacuuming down the system and getting all the air out you might want to retake the freon out vacuum everything down and then try to find out how many pounds of freon goes in it and then you might have a lot better experience

[@darian.explores]

Great insight. The seller actually told us we didn’t need to vacuum and they did prior to sending the unit, but now that I’m thinking about it, maybe with the time that had passed it should’ve been done again? Not sure. Thanks for the feedback.

[@Sugarkryptonite]

@@darian.exploresIf they had actually done it at the factory and there were no leaks in the system (not suppose to be otherwise your freon would have leaked out as well), there would be no reason to do it again. Then again, not sure how much we can trust these Chinese manufacturers so who knows.

[@MannyWC]

they should send yall a new ac (mb yall pay for shipping) because of your great vids on the product! Maybe you could be a distributor with English instructions/service.

[@darian.explores]

Thanks! I agree, tbh. 😆 We've sold a lot of their units and haven't made money or received a free unit. Oh well lol.

[@MannyWC]

@@darian.explores Well you’re definitely helping lots of peeps out. Hopefully karma will kick in:))

[@JoseMartinez-jf2iy]

Could you guys take some good footage of the out side dimensions

[@darian.explores]

If you head to the product site, I believe all the dimensions are listed there. The link is in the description.

[@clutchcargo666]

Ali baba? I thought you said in the first video that you bought it direct from manufacturer

[@darian.explores]

We did, via Alibaba. You contact the manufacturer directly on the site.

[@clutchcargo666]

@@darian.explores gotcha, I didn't know you could do that