Micro-Tube Parallel Flow Condenser (1 Viewer)

[flintknapper]

Thanks for the feedback. Great information...I can't believe it's TOO COLD! I've NEVER had anyone say that in my truck.

I have! It was ME.

My wife and I were on a trip once and stopped at a fast food burger joint. After we ordered...I turned to her and asked "do you really want that Malt & Fries with your order"? I distinctly remember it getting very cold for the duration of that trip.

I'm still sold on the overhead unit mounted on my attic rack. It has built in ducts that I can send forward along the roof line or down on the 2nd row. I won't get any direct cooling below the attic rack but given the open cage design, it should circulate the hot air (rising) nicely.

I think an overhead unit will do fine. We want to break up the temperature strata (front to rear) that occurs in our vehicles...but it isn't necessary to introduce too much cool air at too great a velocity. Generally...most folks have a 'comfort range' of about 70°F to 74°F in the summertime. And will tolerate about 20 fpm (0.1m/sec) to 40 fpm (.2 m/sec) air velocity after the vehicle has cooled down.

You'll be an instant hero if you can just lower the temps back there by 30°-35° from ambient AND move some air around. If possible... avoid having air blowing too hard on anyone. Regardless the temperature it gets annoying.

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[Dissent]

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LOL, that's flirting with disaster there!

 

[Dissent]

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What's your opinion with tapping in the rear lines at the Condenser connections? They're the easiest to access and they have to come off anyway in most cases. Is this recommended/possible without having negative effects?

 

[flintknapper]

LOL, that's flirting with disaster there!

I've survived worse. Been married for 34 years now. Had to sleep a few nights with one eye open though.

 

[flintknapper]

What's your opinion with tapping in the rear lines at the Condenser connections? They're the easiest to access and they have to come off anyway in most cases. Is this recommended/possible without having negative effects?

If it were me...I'd tap into the high side (liquid line) somewhere after the condenser and drier but not too close to the front evaporator.

Low side...I would pick up between the evaporator and compressor.

 

[ARB777]

Thanks for the feedback. Great information...I can't believe it's TOO COLD! I've NEVER had anyone say that in my truck.

I understand the fitment issues and the Nissens is a straight bolt-in unit but I don't think you can ever have TOO MUCH condenser in an 80 given the small grill opening. I do wonder if the rear tube 'tees' could be tapped and run off the condenser mount points killing two birds with one stone. Need someone smarter to chime in on this...@flintknapper? I've been eyeballing those hard lines and I would rather overhaul the birfs again than deal with removing them and having them modified.

I'm still sold on the overhead unit mounted on my attic rack. It has built in ducts that I can send forward along the roof line or down on the 2nd row. I won't get any direct cooling below the attic rack but given the open cage design, it should circulate the hot air (rising) nicely. I can't find one small enough to fit between the wall and fridge in the rear corner.

The limo ducts sound intriguing but that soft headliner will be a pain to deal with.

Hmmm. Thats a great idea. I never thought of teeing it that way. However, you can only do that for the high pressure line. Low pressure has to be teed the way i did. Your idea will work given that you will have a rear dryer. Any input @flintknapper ?

 

[ARB777]

Another thing that might be of concern with having the unit roof mounted is the lines. You gotta be creative hiding the plumbing.

 

[ARB777]

Refrigerant line routing.

 

[ARB777]

More

 

[ARB777]

More

 

[ARB777]

Heres the limo duct i got. And the way im ducting it right now. Fully customizable anywhere you want a vent. Lol.

 

[ARB777]

On the limo duct, you basically cut a hole where you want to place your vents. Its pretty flush and would fit nicely between the roof and headliner. However, not a project i want to tackle right now.

 

[Dissent]

Another thing that might be of concern with having the unit roof mounted is the lines. You gotta be creative hiding the plumbing.

Nice work and thanks for the pics! I'd build some sort of C or D pillar cover to hide the lines but OEM cleanliness comes 2nd to comfort.

 

[smritte]

@ARB777 Where did you get the ducting? Im failing miserably at sourcing that.
My initial thoughts are mounting rear evap in rear corner where jack used to be. Run the duct inside the left "D" pillar. From there figure out a vent system to blow forward. That flat ducting may work for running along rear roof. Cover it with material that matches headliner and use deflectors that face forward somewhat. Ive only eyeballed this and taken basic measurements for evap fitment. Im going to make a gear mounting system for the "D" pillar. That would hide any cutting I need to do. Also thought of just having one or two vents pushing out from the top of the pillar.

Good job by the way.

Scott

 

[flintknapper]

Hmmm. Thats a great idea. I never thought of teeing it that way. However, you can only do that for the high pressure line. Low pressure has to be teed the way i did. Your idea will work given that you will have a rear dryer. Any input @flintknapper ?

^^^^ Correct. You have some options for the high side, but I agree that the only place that makes sense for the low side is where you tapped in.

Good job.

 

[ARB777]

@ARB777 Where did you get the ducting? Im failing miserably at sourcing that.
My initial thoughts are mounting rear evap in rear corner where jack used to be. Run the duct inside the left "D" pillar. From there figure out a vent system to blow forward. That flat ducting may work for running along rear roof. Cover it with material that matches headliner and use deflectors that face forward somewhat. Ive only eyeballed this and taken basic measurements for evap fitment. Im going to make a gear mounting system for the "D" pillar. That would hide any cutting I need to do. Also thought of just having one or two vents pushing out from the top of the pillar.

Good job by the way.

Scott

I got it from proair. They dont have very many left since limo jobs have gone down they said. Drop by their warehouse and see what they got. They're at Rancho.

9604 7th St
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
Ph : (909) 930-6224
Fx : (909) 930-6226

The main duct is nice and thin but the problem is the connection between those ducts and from the rear unit to the duct. you still have to use that thick slinky duct. Kinda hard to hide that thing. Proair doesnt have other solutions as they use it on sprinters and buses so size doesnt matter. Do you know of any ac supply shops near by?

Why the rear left where the jack is vs rear right where subwoofer is? The right side has way more room (if you remove the subs) but still my rear unit still did not fit. Only asking because thats where i want to mount mine too but have no good reason.

Thanks for the kind words and all the help.

 

[ARB777]

^^^^ Correct. You have some options for the high side, but I agree that the only place that makes sense for the low side is where you tapped in.

Good job.

Thanks for the kind words @flintknapper . And for all the help and support. Ill still keep on bugging you guys til we fine tune this job.lol.

 

[Mark3406e]

@Dissent did you just go with a stock OEM evaporator , drier and TXV valve ?

 

[FJW8ing]

I did not see confirmation the Nissens condenser P/N 94184 fits in R12 '93 and '94 trucks.
I recently put one in my '93 (8/92 build date, 5/93 is listed as a part change date).

It dropped in just fine. However, the M6-1.0 studs that came with condenser were not a tight diameter fit with the hose fittings and leaked at high pressure (>200 psi). I drilled and tapped the condenser fittings to use the same hardware as the original condenser (M8-1.25) and it now holds pressure.

I replaced everything but the lines and filled with r134a to ~850 g (following the R12 conversion TSB) with ~7 oz of PAG46 oil (I believe TSB calls for 6 oz).

Vent temps of 48.5 F at 84 F ambient (and moving). I plan to add an auxiliary condenser fan eventually.

Sooo nice to finally have a/c

 

[White Stripe]

Looks nice