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This should be good... in a bad way.

bohica2xo on Wed August 19, 2015 7:23 PM User is offline

This afternoon a friend from a local car club walked through my door with one of these under his arm:



He wanted to know where to install it.

I suggested right back in to the shipping carton to get his money back.

I had to patiently explain that it was the pinnacle of bad ideas. It is quite obviously a small stationary AC hermetic compressor. The magic box is an inverter that runs the compressor.

Somehow they believe that 6,613 btu/h is enough to cool a "4 seat car" - that's right, this is the "Large" unit. An SD508 produces almost 5 times the capacity at 1,000 rpm - engine idle. Somehow this trickle of cooling is going to cool his 1971 Chevelle. Not going to work at all.

Then I looked at the inverter specifications. He figured his alternator could easily handle the stated "25 amps". Hmmm a 6,000 btu/h 125v compressor draws about 5 amps - that would be 625 watts. Fair enough, but we are taking 625 watts at 14 volts... WAIT! that is 45 Amps! Ok, well the inverter has a wide voltage input range - let's do the math the other way. 625/25= 25 wow, they used a 24v system rating. More tall tales.

As he hung his head defeated (he had that A/C bs BEAT!) I asked him how small the "small unit" was. He showed me this link:

Motorsports Electric Compressor

Wow. 3753 btu/h Not enough cooling for a small refrigerator. At least they were honest about the current draw - 31 Amps.

So, next spring I predict we will see the hot rod / custom car guys show up looking to make the magic electric A/C work right.

.

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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.

HECAT on Wed August 19, 2015 7:50 PM User is offline

Masterflux Sierra. Looks like its made in Korea.

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HECAT: www.hecatinc.com You support the Forum when you consider www.ackits.com for your a/c parts.

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HECAT on Wed August 19, 2015 7:56 PM User is offline

This was a good read also.

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HECAT: www.hecatinc.com You support the Forum when you consider www.ackits.com for your a/c parts.

FLUSHING TECHNICAL PAPER vs2.pdf 

bohica2xo on Wed August 19, 2015 8:15 PM User is offline

Yeah Karl, I am not sure if it is a Sierra or just a creative purple paint job from china.

The inverter is likely 12 VDC in and 208v 3 phase out. I did not test it, but the wire size and 3 wires for the compressor sure point that way. No nameplate on the inverter but it screams china.

Marketing electric A/C to the hot rod crowd is new to me.

Thanks for the links.



-------------------------
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.

NickD on Sun September 13, 2015 9:49 AM User is offline

Switchmode inverters can be manufactured far cheaper than the old fashion huge transformer 60 Hz type, but still have extremely high surge currents along with copper and core losses.

But all I see here is the compressor and the inverter, think you need a bit more for an AC system. What was he planning on putting this in? If just a small four seater, my guess would be in a trailer he would have to pull behind it.

With any energy conversion system is addition energy losses. An an automotive alternator dissipates the same power that it can deliver, so whatever these losses are, can double them.

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