Date:         Wed, 12 May 1999 18:52:14 -0500
Reply-To:     Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@USWEST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@USWEST.NET>
Subject:      Re: Question About my AC
Comments: To: Munga Correa <mungareyes@HOTMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <19990512194823.98073.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>When I turn on my AC it makes this sort of loud noise that I really can't
>explain..sounds sort of like small wrenches loose inside just flapping all
>over the place. Any idea what could be causing this? Also I have an 85 Westy

Sounds like a thrashed compressor. You'll need to replace the compressor,
and the drier bottle. Also, the system might need flushing if any metal
particles have made it into the loop. Finally, it is possible for hunks of
metal to find their way into the expansion valve and plug it up.

>Wolfsburg Edition and looking at the owners manual..there is storage space
>where the AC is now..and I was wondering if this option is stock or did the
>previous owner install. One more question..I am very interested in the
>concept of solar power..and i was thinking it would be cool to somehow make
>the source of power for the AC coming from a photo cell installed on the
>roof rack area.

The vw bus needs, at a guess, 20,000 BTU's of cooling, perhaps more. A very
high efficiency air conditioner uses about 1 watt of power for each 12
watts of heat removal. So, you'd need 20,000 Watts/12 = 1.666 KW to power
the system.

Now, the sun beats down with an intensity of about 1 KW/m^2, very good
solar cells are 22 % efficient. Such solar cells are EXTREMELY expensive.
10-15% efficiency is more common. I.e. you can get 220 W per square meter
of solar cell area. So, you'd need 1.666 KW/220 W/m^2 = 7.6 m^2.

So, in short, with everything stacked on your side, there's still not
enough area on top of the bus to supply the energy to run an air
conditioner.

Joshua Van Tol -- jjvantol@uswest.net