Turning a window unit into a mini split?

[Stoker]

Ever seen the Flir One camera.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Stoker

Ever seen the Flir One camera.

There'w already a thread here by an EcoRenovator who is sharing his experiences with his Flir 1

-AC

[ecomodded]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

Units a ton and a half or smaller can be fitted with a reversing valve and a defrost control, leaving the original metering device to control heat flow. Old school twisty knob units can be used with the original thermostat, modern button boxes benefit from adding a single stage heat pump thermostat. The whole retro fit can cost less than 100 dollars.

New plan , hacking a portable Ac with reversing valve that should have defrost control via some sensor. that has me thinking to mount the evape and fan unit outside and leave the case with compressor condenser and controls inside.

a Mini split on a short chain , slip the evap and fan unit out the window and let it rip.

I think its outlet fan will be powerful enough I would add a fan to cool the indoor compressor

That's the Mods I think of what else do i need to do with a automatic type unit like this ?

[TechShop]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

IT CAN BE DONE. I am considering doing the same thing with a prefab window unit. Run the two heat exchangers in SERIES (not parallel) by swapping the cap tube out for a straight pipe. Pipe the condenser end into the reversing valve, and install a txv and check valve on the evaporator end. This way, the condenser will not burp liquid or fog into the compressor.

...

You are correct in assuming that running both heat exchangers together will be more efficient. The more surface area and airflow you have, the more heat you can harvest from outdoors. How much more efficient? No one knows yet.

...

I like it and this brings something to my mind:

I have a dehumidifier I made from a $10 second-hand window-unit that I gutted. I simply installed a drip hose into the drip-pan and placed it on a 5 gallon bucket. I used packing tape to seal up all of the side vents on the sheet metal shroud. and threw out the foam blocks that separate the hot side from the cold side.
Next I removed the cold-side fan blade.

Now, the unit is like a little piece of duct, bringing in air through the cold side and out the hot side, powered by the axial blades of the condenser fan.

The reason I bring this up, is that if you did a similar configuration (sandwich the compressor between the the series heat exchangers) and use the plumbing scheme you've described [Jeff], you would recover a majority of the heat from the compressor during heating mode. This configuration might also keep the unit from icing up on the colder days for two reasons:

1) You have a larger evaporator surface for the given heat load with the dual HX.

2) You have the compressor in there giving you the electric resistance heat from the electric motors (compressor & fan).

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by TechShop

I like it and this brings something to my mind:

I have a dehumidifier I made from a $10 second-hand window-unit that I gutted. I simply installed a drip hose into the drip-pan and placed it on a 5 gallon bucket. I used packing tape to seal up all of the side vents on the sheet metal shroud. and threw out the foam blocks that separate the hot side from the cold side.
Next I removed the cold-side fan blade.

Now, the unit is like a little piece of duct, bringing in air through the cold side and out the hot side, powered by the axial blades of the condenser fan.

The reason I bring this up, is that if you did a similar configuration (sandwich the compressor between the the series heat exchangers) and use the plumbing scheme you've described [Jeff], you would recover a majority of the heat from the compressor during heating mode. This configuration might also keep the unit from icing up on the colder days for two reasons:

1) You have a larger evaporator surface for the given heat load with the dual HX.

2) You have the compressor in there giving you the electric resistance heat from the electric motors (compressor & fan).

The newer GE Zoneline PTAC units do this with the indoor air stream using heat pipes. The indoor HX is sandwiched in between an upstream and a downstream HX that are connected. When the unit starts in cooling mode, the downstream HX is cooled by the exiting airflow. This causes a pre-cooling and dehumidifying effect in the upstream HX. Because of this arrangement, the indoor HX settles at a lower balance point temperature than it would without the extra help. The unit removes 25% more moisture from the indoor air, and the indoor coil doesn't frost up as quickly. It sounds like a gimmick, but it really helps the unit to provide much more comfort in humid environments.