Cab Air Con

[Bob Mac]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are prospective buyers who have been looking for a secondhand 'van for some months. At our budget we may not be able to afford one of the newer models with cab air con. Having hired a van in the summer without air con we definately feel this is something we would want, especially for touring in europe.

Does anyone know if there is a possibility of retro-fitting an air con unit? We are looking at possibly buying a Swift Suntor 630L or similar.

 

Thanks

 

Bob

[Brian Kirby]

This is on a Fiat Ducato base, so it should be possible to add cab air-con.  However, it isn't cheap.  To stay within a fixed budget, you'd need to knock the cost of the air-con off the price you pay for the van, so will have to shop for a cheaper van to pay for the air-con.

If considering that, you may wish to consider installing a roof mounted Dometic, or similar, air-con unit that can be used while static as well as while driving - providing you are planning on using mains hook-ups when you stop. 

The cost will, I think, be little different to the cost of fitting the cab air-con alone and, of course, the benefits would be that much greater.  There are incidental costs, for example you will almost certainly need to replace the original habitation battery and add another to give the installation the resilience it will need to cope with possible traffic delays, when the alternator output will be insufficient (unlike normal cab air-con, the whole caboodle runs electrically).  These units use a purpose made inverter to power them at 230V while in motion, and the mains hook-up when static.

You would need a van that enables the roof mounted unit to be sited to the front of the vehicle, to benefit front occupants while driving, and that means either a front located 400mm sq rooflight (Mini-Heki size), or no front rooflight at all.  The bigger rooflights present holes the air-con units don't fill!

However, cab-air-con has been quite common on vans for a number of years, albeit it as an option.  Unless the budget is very tight, therefore, and as such options don't add anything like as much to the selling price of vans as either of the above retro-fit options would cost you, I think you'd get the best value of all by searching for acceptable layouts with cab air-con fitted from new, but being fairly open minded about whose conversion you buy.

Two comments.  The Suntor 630L has a very long rear overhang, that will make manoeuvring in tight spaces tricky (risk of side swipes with the rear end) and will be prone to grounding on ferry ramps etc.  There seems some confusion over the MAM, but most seem to be listed at 4,250Kg (which a van this size will need), so you'll need a C1 driving licence.

[Guest JudgeMental]

Just keep looking till you find a van with cab a/c and save yourself a lot of expense and grief......make sure it is working properly as well? *-)

[thebishbus]

Hi. We had cab aircon fitted to our previous MH , A Burstner, on Fiat Ducato in 2004, by Reader Air Conditioning in London. tel. 011483726300. e-mail info@readerair.co.uk. Cost then £1600. :-) .

Brian B.

[PJay]

Hi Bob

Welome to the forum.

We have a Swift Sundance 2006. I believe this is the same as the suntor.

We have fitted a Dometic air con on the roof. Well worth the cost, if you are going to Europe in the summer. Ours can be run whilst travelling, and has a remote control which can be used from the cab. It also can be used for heat in the winter, as long as you are on hook up. This was fitted at the dealers, but there are lots of people who advertise fitting in the mags. We used it a lot this year whilst in Spain and Portugal

PJay

PS forgot to say the inverter is fitted under one of the seats

[Bob Mac]

Thanks for your reply which is very helpful. Some other people have mentioned roof units, may be worth looking in to. Not sure if they may prove noisy whilst static?

 

Note your comments re the rear overhang. We like the rear lounge and separate diner layout, but this does make for long vehicles.

 

We are not in a hurry, we would like something for next spring, so will keep looking.

 

Thanks again

 

Bob

[Bob Mac]

Thanks. Do you find the roof mounted unit noisy whilst static?

 

Bob

[Guest JudgeMental]

Bob Mac - 2010-11-05 12:51 PM

 

Thanks. Do you find the roof mounted unit noisy whilst static?

 

Bob

 

Yes a bit, but whats the alternative if down on the Med. You become accustomed to it to be honest..... It is better then being uncomfortable in the heat of the day :-S

[ips]

I agree with judgemental better to hold out for a MH with air con if that is a particular on your wish list. Cost of retro fitting I would think would be quite high.

[rolandrat]

All the time I have been travelling abroad I've never had a problem not having air con, I had a cab 12v fan fitted which we used in standing traffic but once on the move we turned it off. Our "A" class Hymer was a different matter because it was like sitting in a goldfish bowl and we used the fitted aircon frequently. Our latest motorhome has airconand whilst abroad this year we never had it on once so I think it's just personnal choice.

[Guest JudgeMental]

so you sit in the cab on the Med/spain/Italy or Greece with posibily 35-40 deg + tempertures (july/August) and you dont need a/c...... What are you a fish? :-D

[rolandrat]

Steady Judge.

[Mel B]

Hi and welcome to the mad house ... I see you've already met the main mental man (his Lordship - the Judge! :D !).

 

If you want cab air con then wait until you can get a van that you like with it already on - retro fitting is expensive and any additional cost to buy an identical van with it already on won't cost anything like that.

 

As for vans generally - be careful what you buy - it is very tempting to get a nice big one but we've been motorhoming in various guises since 1996 and since 2003 we have had a 5.53m, 4 years later changed to a 7.14m, and this year we went back down to a 5.99m one and it is one of the best decisions we've made. The longer van was lovely with a pullman dinette up front and nice big fixed transfer rear bed with massive garage, big kitchen etc, but the length was limiting on where we could park and how easy it was to manoeuvre - I certainly won't go for one as big as that again. If you get it wrong, it can be an expensive mistake.

[thebishbus]

Hi again. When we bought our last van it did not have cab air-con fitted.I told the seller that we liked his van and would have bought it if it had had air -con fitted, he then dropped the price by £1800, :-)

We then bought it and as I said before had air-con fitted for £1600.

Could be worth you trying to get a discount with no air-con (lol)

Brian B.

[mikebeaches]

See if you can find a Rapido you like within your budget - they've all had cab air-con fitted as standard for quite a few years.

 

(And twin adjustable armrests on the captain's seats in the front).

[backofbeyonds]

We are looking at a Hymer Exsis A-class and would want to have cab aircon fitted. Can it be done, does it work OK - are there any complications? Any recommended fitters in East Anglia? (?)

[Archiesgrandad]

I am intrigued by the posting from P Jay. We too have a roof aircon with inverter, but never thought of using it on the road. Ours is mounted close to the rear of the van, and I wonder if it's effect will be felt at the front when we're travelling. I would appreciate any advise or experience.

AGD