Help, AC or no AC, getting ready to place order!!!!

[Jeffrey]

Mike's correct. Starcool requires one of the following:

1. Engine running.
2. A Generator running
3. Shore power

I don't do any of those.

[philrod]

Well put, Jeffrey. I don't do any of the above either.

[calclimber]

I have the Star cool and use it when driving around all the time. The reason I got it was we have three big spoiled dogs that ride on the back bed eb50. I have not used it while connected to shore power other than at home, but its nice to know I can. When I ordered the van my thinking was get the items that are part of the original build that might be costly latter. I just got back from having a winch, awning and solar panels installed. Now I have almost everything.

[Captkimo]

My van should be done mid September. I ordered it as simple as possible. I had to keep my self in check or I would have driven off with a 100k van. I will be purchasing a honda 2000 generator. I figure if it gets REALLY hot I could always run the $800.00 honda and plug a regular fan into it. The way I built my van, I reminded myself of the Vanagon days. Minimal as possible and what I would really use or need. I'm already several steps ahead of the vanagon!

EB 350 4X4 diesel
elect. penhouse( they really talked me into that one)
ext. shower, EB 50 floor plan, CB, floor box, amsoil
upgraded brakes pads, rotors. yakima racks.
Dats it! I may add bumpers/tires later

[herbabell]

All really good points. I started on this trip to get a simple basic go anywhere truck and to get away from the sat tv, and all the other stuff that has made getting away from it all, taking it with you. Still on the fence, you know how it is when you want it you want it NOW. I want my SMB

[Scalf77]

I chose the Starcool. I live in the northwest so I can’t say that it gets heavily used, but then I picked blue for the color, so it can get pretty hot in the summertime. I have found that it does really work great at cooling off the van. In fact at times almost to well, I don’t need the rear to be set higher then low speed on the fan. With out it, it takes a while to cool the van down. I have also taken it across country at least twice and found the air conditioning worth its wait in gold in the humid areas, especially when plugged in.

While Sportsmobile says it is easy to get serviced, nobody really wants to work on it. They will tell you to take to an RV shop, and the RV guys tell you to take it an auto place. That said, I did find a local Ford dealer that was willing to work on it and did a great job. When parked it is pretty noisy to have running and fans never really cycle off, but at least your cool.

I will say it has given me some grief (it must have been installed on Friday or Monday). I had some loose wires going to the relay panel that caused twenty some days in a ford dealer while on a sabbatical from work. (This of course is my opinion and another area where you get caught in the middle of whose fault it is) I also had the Freon leak out; they found one of the lines going to Starcool hand tight. But, if I had to do it again I would probably get the Starcool.


Greg
2004 EB350 V10

[jage]

Did we every come up with an alternative to starcool? (besides the ol' window unit in the back window!)

Actually on my trip to get the SMB I saw a class A flat towing a Ford Explorer- in which the driver side rear window had been replaced with a huge air conditioner- it hung a good foot and a half out to the left of the vehicle. Wish I had a pic!

[Buji]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Mike's correct. Starcool requires one of the following:

1. Engine running.
2. A Generator running
3. Shore power

I don't do any of those.

Well. technically it will run off the batteries. For a while

I have it and use it a lot, but my usage patterns absolutely require it:

The van is dark grey.

The van is used to ferry about 5-10 party people around, and when we're loaded (literally) in the back, it gets warm. Even at night.

I did get two AGM batteries so I could run the AC while it was parked for errands and golf and such. I will say that it's VERY nice to come back to a climate controlled van after a round of golf on a hot day.

If it were just me and the dog for just campin', I prolly woulda done without, but that wasn't the van I wanted .

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by Buji

Well. technically it will run off the batteries. For a while

I have it and use it a lot, but my usage patterns absolutely require it:

The van is dark grey.

The van is used to ferry about 5-10 party people around, and when we're loaded (literally) in the back, it gets warm. Even at night.

I did get two AGM batteries so I could run the AC while it was parked for errands and golf and such. I will say that it's VERY nice to come back to a climate controlled van after a round of golf on a hot day.

If it were just me and the dog for just campin', I prolly woulda done without, but that wasn't the van I wanted .

Come on, we all know Mr. Soda talked you into it.


Herb

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by jage

Did we every come up with an alternative to starcool? (besides the ol' window unit in the back window!)

Actually on my trip to get the SMB I saw a class A flat towing a Ford Explorer- in which the driver side rear window had been replaced with a huge air conditioner- it hung a good foot and a half out to the left of the vehicle. Wish I had a pic!

I have the 12V a/c system (not StarCool) that SMB offers. You'll be able to check it out on Sunday.


Herb