“WAECO” 1500 roof a/c 12v/240v

[Guest JudgeMental]

Anyone experience with “WAECO” 1500 roof a/c 12v/240v

 

Have ordered this unit on new van. Wondering if any one has one.

 

if yes are they are happy with the unit?

 

Also how useful and effective it is on the move as well as on site…

 

[olley]

Hi judgemental no experience, but I did look into this unit a couple of years ago when we had a Kentucky, the only drawback is the current need to run it on 12v somewhere in the region of 80 amps if I remember rightly.

 

I was advised that you needed an alternator of about 120amp output for it to work ok. So an alternator upgrade might be advised depending on the size of your existing.

 

Olley

[Guest JudgeMental]

Thanks Olley!

 

I went for the 1500 as the 2000 unit definitely needs the alternator upgrade, I will have to see when I get the ford - but I think the alternator is only 80 amps. Problem is I have cab air as well so may well need a bigger alternator...

 

Any ideas as where to go for an alternator upgrade?

 

On 240v they only need 3.5 amps to run which is OK for most sites

 

Regards Eddie

 

[olley]

Hi Eddie I would think any garage would quote for a bigger alternator, I would be wary of running the a/c if it is only an 80amp alternator as it will be running nearly flat out all the time to power the a/c which may cause it to overheat. (3.5x240=840watts/12=70amps less inverter efficiency. say 90% total load around 77amps)

 

However if it was say a 100amp then before going down this route see how it runs. I believe the a/c has switch which turns it off if it senses the battery being drained to much.

 

We decided that as we already had cab a/c to just have the 240v one, I must admit though that being able to run the habitation a/c while on the move is a big plus, as we have found out with the RV.

 

Olley

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

Someone hit our truck 2 years ago which put our demountable camper rig of the road for the summer. Luckily the insurance company hired a 7m motorhome for us for our usual month long summer trip.

 

It had cab air but it was very uncomfortable for the children in the back on our trip down to Spain. Especially as they could not open windows as well.

 

Have tried to find out size of alternator on new ford without any luck - will have to wait till camper arrives.

 

Euramobil we have ordered has sliding windows in the over cab so at least a draft can be created on the road. And we can run a/c on fan only, which should help cool things a bit until alternator gets sorted out.

 

[Clive]

Cab air con does not take its major power from the alternator, its directly taken from the engine crankshaft via the aircon pump.

 

I have some new 100 amp BOSCH alternators available if they will fit?

 

 

C.

 

 

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Judgemental:

 

According to WAECO's 2006 literature the EC-1500 unit has an average 230V current consumption (cooling mode) of 3.2A and needs a 'campsite' power-supply of 4A minimum. On 12V the unit draws an average 75A, and an alternator capacity of at least 90A and a total battery capacity of at least 100Ah are recommended.

 

Ford's 2004 Transit brochure indicates clearly that a 120A alternator was standard on RWD vehicles fitted with cab air-conditioning. Less clear is whether FWD Transits with air-con also gained the higher output alternator, though I'd take an educated guess that they did in order to cope with the requirements of the additional electric fan that forms part of the air-con system. (When I'm in the mood I'll check my own FWD Transit-based Hobby as that's got the air-con package.) No idea what alternator the latest Transit 2.2 litre power-plant has (with or without air-con), but the possibility seems to be there of a high output alternator already being present. If a Ford dealer can't tell you, try asking Roy Wood Transits (www.roywoodtransits.co.uk) as they may be able to provide an off-the-cuff answer.