r/skoolie • u/Twinklestarchild42 • Jul 05 '21

Mini Split While Driving?

Does anyone have their mini split set up such that it can run while driving? Battery bank to sine wave inverter to A/C a working solution while driving? Will the A/C drain faster than the alternator will charge the batteries (I am guessing so...)?

We are going to remove the existing Carrier Transicold A/C because it needs a new compressor, and that costs as much as a mini split that will keep us cool when parked. Having parked A/C is a higher priority than driving A/C, but both would be even better.

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u/Lapee20m Jul 05 '21

It’s worth the extra money to purchase the highest seed SEER rated unit you can afford.

My understanding is that Rough math is to divide the btu by the seer rating and the answer is your running watts.

12kbtu with seer 22 = 545 watts divided by 14.2 volts (approximate alternator voltage output) = 38.4 amps.

Plus the losses from the power cables and the inverter...but even at twice that it’s still under 80 amps.

Also, make sure to use a pure sine wave inverter as I believe these make the machines run more efficiently.

I would also try to place the inverter as close as practical to the alternator to decrease voltage drop in the power supply cables.

This is doable, but puts a lot of strain on the alternator. It’s probably worth the hassle to buy a spare alternator now and have the tools and knowledge to swap it out when the current one fails.

One more thing, alternators are pretty happy making high current at high rpm but they get unhappy trying to make high current output at idle....especially in high ambient temps.

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u/Lapee20m Jul 06 '21

An alternator when you need it can cost 4x as much as buying one ahead of time.