As per title really.
Walk!
My Car doesn't have Air Con - is there anything I can do to stop melting?
- Thread starter Blackhawk47
- Start date
Walk!
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2007
- Posts
- 11,117
- Location
- West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
New idea:
Put ice pack in freezer over night and take out in the morning and tuck it in at the back of my shirt for the journey.
Put ice pack in freezer over night and take out in the morning and tuck it in at the back of my shirt for the journey.
Why
I have climate control, but I only use it at higher speeds, much prefer driving with the windows down.
Windows down at 80mph+ is just annoying.
a lot of HGV drivers have similar setups usually though the truck itself will have aircon that runs off the engine as such, the portable solution is usually for the hours spent parked up with the engine off.
A DC driven portable aircon unit can hammer the batteries of an HGV though so I doubt you'd be able to use it with a Mini unless the engine was running which I assume is the idea anyway, just out of curiosity lbratch, what sort of inverter (i.e. make / model) do you use and do you know what sort of current / wattage / amps etc it draws?
I'm considering knocking together a similar setup - for my Scania - having baked most nights this week.....
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Sep 2003
- Posts
- 8,557
- Location
- Glocestershire
Buy an old Mundano and sell it again when it gets cold.
Or do what James May did when he drove that race prepped Aston through europe.
Or do what James May did when he drove that race prepped Aston through europe.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 27 Sep 2004
- Posts
- 25,821
- Location
- Glasgow
New idea:
Put ice pack in freezer over night and take out in the morning and tuck it in at the back of my shirt for the journey.
Well if you're going to do that then remember not to have it against bare skin, that could be extremely painful.
I'm considering knocking together a similar setup - for my Scania - having baked most nights this week.....
Do trucks not have aircon at all? That seems like a massive oversight if so as you'd think for anything where people are going to be spending large amounts of time driving it would be worth fitting.
Most trucks, especially Artics, have Aircon. Alas, it runs from the engine and does not work when the engine is off.
Its expensive ultimately to fit as either a factory or aftermarket option which is why many don't have it.
Some operators argue it has a detrimental effect on fuel consumption. Personally, I find it makes no difference at all.
Many foreign HGV's have roof mounted Aircon units but they are very expensive and generally not required in the opinion of many UK based operators.
http://www.topcooling.com/photos.html
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 27 Sep 2004
- Posts
- 25,821
- Location
- Glasgow
Ah, that's fair enough. I'd have thought it worth the while of the bigger haulage companies to fit units that worked while the engine was off though for their operatives doing overnight stops - if the driver is tired due to poor sleep then they're more likely to make a mistake. It's also got to be better than the added risk of electrical problems etc from jerry-rigged units by drivers who plumb in their own but this perhaps is one of the many reasons why I don't run a haulage company.
We get a "Fuel Bonus" of £3.50 per shift for driving the truck efficiently, use of cruise control and keeping engine idle time to a minimum.
One of my mates was phoned up by management to be told he'd lost his bonus due to having his engine ticking over for over 11 hours and they wanted to know why he'd left his engine running for such a length of time....
The driver in question works nights and parks up in the day to sleep, his reply was "You tell me where else I can park up and sleep in Air conditioned luxury for £3.50 and I'll switch it off."
Priceless.
get a T towel, soak it in water, ring out so damp, then place over blowing air vents. Keep a bottle of water in car to re-wet towel when dry. Used to do this with Landrovers in the desert and it does work quite well!
rgds
Simon
rgds
Simon
neat trick
Thinking of the physics behind it, a lot of the heat in the blowing hot air will be used to evaporate the water in the towell.
A very ingenious solution. I like !
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2007
- Posts
- 11,117
- Location
- West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
I may not need that solution right now but many thanks for the idea.
I think I may of cracked this and understand how the heater thing in this mini works.
The choices are:
A) Put the selection for footwell ventilation and you get a bit of air coming through the the air vents and cool air down below.
B) is for the front window and can be used for some air circulation in the cabin but doesn't work well as you don't feel the cold air. Has always worked a de mister though.
C) channel all the air through the vents and this allows all the air to come through the vents.
Now next to this is a selection for the fan setting: either 1) which is quiet and adequate for most days - 2) which is a lot louder and more noticeable at slower speeds but fine on the motorway if you have the radio on as well.
Now my first 3 points A) B) C) already knew but i tried my hardest to push that hot/cold knob in and it clicked slightly (i think) and stays pushed in as far as I can tell. Now with this in I can feel the air noticeably colder - not air con but it was cooler than the air outside by at least a few degrees.
And I only noticed this on the motorway yesterday coming home from drag racing and I didn't feel hot at all being in the car with the windows up once I had got home and that was over an hour in the car.
I think I may of cracked this and understand how the heater thing in this mini works.
The choices are:
A) Put the selection for footwell ventilation and you get a bit of air coming through the the air vents and cool air down below.
B) is for the front window and can be used for some air circulation in the cabin but doesn't work well as you don't feel the cold air. Has always worked a de mister though.
C) channel all the air through the vents and this allows all the air to come through the vents.
Now next to this is a selection for the fan setting: either 1) which is quiet and adequate for most days - 2) which is a lot louder and more noticeable at slower speeds but fine on the motorway if you have the radio on as well.
Now my first 3 points A) B) C) already knew but i tried my hardest to push that hot/cold knob in and it clicked slightly (i think) and stays pushed in as far as I can tell. Now with this in I can feel the air noticeably colder - not air con but it was cooler than the air outside by at least a few degrees.
And I only noticed this on the motorway yesterday coming home from drag racing and I didn't feel hot at all being in the car with the windows up once I had got home and that was over an hour in the car.