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Old 06-02-2012, 11:54 PM   #1
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Coleman Polar Cub

I have a 1999 E150 cargo van that I have converted into a camper. I am looking into buying a Coleman Polar Cub rooftop air conditioner (9000 BTU) and powering it with either a Yamaha 2400i or a Honda 2000i. I'm curious what I can expect in regards to installation costs and how effective the unit will be at cooling the van in 110 degree heat. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

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Old 06-03-2012, 02:49 PM   #2
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Re: Coleman Polar Cub

Quote:
Originally Posted by briantroy
I have a 1999 E150 cargo van that I have converted into a camper. I am looking into buying a Coleman Polar Cub rooftop air conditioner (9000 BTU) and powering it with either a Yamaha 2400i or a Honda 2000i. I'm curious what I can expect in regards to installation costs and how effective the unit will be at cooling the van in 110 degree heat. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

My rig is well insulated
With refletix in all windows
doors kept shut
Polar cub running on high.....

Alabama hills 100 degrees
kept us ok, AFTER a LONG cool down time

Laughlin Nevada 110 degrees
started it 8 am, before Mr. Sun woke up too much
did great

I have been told that a RV roof AC is only meant
to keep rig 20 degrees cooler than outside air

When we drove down from Mammoth to Alabama hills
the floor if my rig was HOT from heat ratiating up from road
took a LONG time to cool down rig

I also use fans to circulate air

In honesty i cannot give a good first hand report:
drive someplace while it is hot outside
park, turn on ac, and mark starting temp, and
lenght of time to cool down

my rig is a crusier fixed top but i am pretty sure
i would keep temps better than a PH, IMHO

will prob use the AC a little bit this summer and post

That said and done, i do not think there are any other
really viable solutions for AC other than the polar cub
for ease of use and compactness

that said and done
i cant spell Star cool
and i dont want to hang a household AC out my window
nor build a box for one and run a vent in the window
then figure out how to store above

i am SURE this all will be disputed :a5:
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Old 06-09-2012, 07:04 AM   #3
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Re: Coleman Polar Cub

I don't think there is much to dispute Bill! You pretty much summed it up. I have thought of all of this too and I hate it, but I'm probably eventually going to go with a front window-window unit. I've seen this done well and I've seen it done badly, and it looks bad either way, but I personally don't want to give up my Fantastic fan in the roof for a roof ac, even if the roof would hold it.

Having AC in a van requires a big tradeoff somewhere, and it's still not going to be frosty cool in there in the summer, no matter how much money you throw at it.
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Old 06-09-2012, 09:34 AM   #4
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Re: Coleman Polar Cub

If you live in a dry climate you might consider evaporative coolers. Take a look at what the longhairs came up with. http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?t=33842
Cheap to make and almost foolproof.
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Old 06-09-2012, 11:33 AM   #5
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Re: Coleman Polar Cub

We have a Dometic Penguin (I think I determined it to be the 13,500 BTU unit) on a well insulated EB van. It came with it from its former life as an ENG van, obviously spec'd for folks to work with racks of running communications equipment.

I don't use it much, but with adequate power (3000W+) it will cool the van down in 100 degree F weather in about 10 minutes. It can easily get it to the point where two people need blankets to comfortably sleep. FWIW my only window covering is reflectix, so that's always up.

So it's certainly possible to make this work.

However this approach does use a lot of power. I generally don't carry a generator at all,so on average I don't use it. In other situations, fuel and available generator overhead on a shared generator can be at a premium, so I'm looking at putting together a swamp cooler for at least one trip this year.
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