Tom
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- Jan 13, 2005
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Smoky
I don't have any data to answer that question.
I don't have any data to answer that question.
Smoky said:Tom:
I think we would all agree that the genset cools the entire coach more efficiently than the dash air.
My interest, however, is which is more economical when going down the road. Since I travel alone or with one other human, I don';t need the entire coach cooled when in transit. I just want to be comfortable at the helm, and the dash air does that.
BernieD said:Leo
I don't know why it wouldn't be even more cost effective ??? The price of fuel has no impact on the amount used, so if the generator saves fuel compared to dash air, the $ amount saved would be even higher.
John In Detroit said:In a car the AC condenser coil (it's radiator) is located in front of the engine's radiator, thus if you are running the AC the air reaching the engine's radiator is hotter and thus not as able to cool the engine
In an RV,,, I'm very simply not sure,? I would have to crawl around under and over mine with a flashlight and take a closer look, I do know I have a pair of fans that are supposed to be for additional cooling for the AC per something I read but I"m not sure of the air path for engine cooling.? Does it make a difference? I don't know.? ?I've had no overheat issues using dash air
But on my rig, sometimes the rooftops are just not enough and you need dash air as well
Smoky said:Tom:
I think we would all agree that the genset cools the entire coach more efficiently than the dash air.
My interest, however, is which is more economical when going down the road.? Since I travel alone or with one other human, I don't;t need the entire coach cooled when in transit.? I just want to be comfortable at the helm, and the dash air does that.? So, in that scenario, is the dash air more economical?? Hard for me to believe it isn't, but I am open to more data on this interesting subject.
Your large gasser is normally equipped with a main engine in exes of 300 HP, your gen.set is probably 10 HP.
Yes. It is now only 3 years old and does a great job in all conditions. Has both an engine driven fan and two electric fans, all controlled by t-stat and coming on in stages as needed. My observations have been over the past three years.Is your cooling system in good condition Gary?
The heat generated from the AC, has nothing to do with the main radiator, well, I think in US just like on the old continent, dash AC has his own. radiator.
The a/c compressor takes a lot of HP from the engine. I have seen estimates (in published articles) of up to 30 HP (when clutch is engaged) , but don't know how acurate that number is.
Poor design?
Karl said:Thenoseyone,
Not necessarily. Auto a/c's cycle on and often frequently and do so when the outlet pressure is still in the 200 psi. range. A rooftop or refrigerator compressor would not be able to handle those extreme cycling pressures without a huge motor, so they delay the restart time (around 2 minutes) until the input and output pressures have almost equalized. Also, the auto a/c must be able to operate over a wide range of rpm's and loads, whereas rooftop's run more or less continuously at the same speed for long periods, thus smaller motors are needed. Different requirements - different solutions.? ?
If you need 30 HP to let the dash AC do the same work as a gen.set with 8 HP and roof AC how can we not talk about "poor design?"