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electric AC Compressor

T

toddwallace

Member
has anyone tried or have any thoughts on an electric compressor with my classic auto air AC in my 1966? My paxton supercharger is on the driver side and struggling to find a passenger side alternator bracket. Other than upgrading the alternator, seems pretty straight forward as I am not dealing with a belt anymore.


Here is what I was looking at:
generic electric AC compressor
 

In the videos above he used a 12,000 BTU compressor which needs a 100A fuse. He GUESSES it runs at about 60A at 12v. He has no way to measure the actual power requirements. He already has a very large 150A alternator. For reference the 1G alternator that came in my 69 Mach is 55A.
The blower at the evaporator (in the cabin) was only 300cfm and was not adequate. He ran it for one hour with the engine off, and the voltage dropped to 11.4v and it shut itself off. That was below the threshold for his engine electronics (Holley EFI?).
It needed a bigger blower to circulate more cfm in the cabin, so he changed this to 600cfm (which sucks even more power). He also changed the fan for the condenser from 233 cfm to 1400 cfm (requires even more power). He kept stressing that the power requirements are intense and it needs a BIG (dare I say huge) charging system. He added a second battery in the trunk just to run the AC and used some impressive cables.
All of this was by the seat of his pants. He didn't know how much power it used to start with, or how much more he added.
 
Like said : these ac systems draws alot of power. Your charging system is the first thing to upgrade before adding an electronic ac system.
Read: big alternator, much thicker wires and big battery.
 
Make sure you keep us posted, I would love to see how this works out. I plan to get rid of the power steering and go electric, AC would be next.
 
kb3 said:
Make sure you keep us posted, I would love to see how this works out. I plan to get rid of the power steering and go electric, AC would be next.
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Hell, why not go all the way and convert the engine to electric? No more worries about gas prices!
 
Midlife said:
Hell, why not go all the way and convert the engine to electric? No more worries about gas prices!
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I really don't spend much time worrying about things I can't control. I could never give up my V-8 motors, and when Barney only runs a couple hundred miles a year gas prices do not factor in.
 
kb3 said:
I really don't spend much time worrying about things I can't control. I could never give up my V-8 motors, and when Barney only runs a couple hundred miles a year gas prices do not factor in.
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couple of hundred miles a year???
I did 250 last week

drive it more
 
The electric compressors are making a dent with the hot rod guys. Word is that they tend to be on the smaller capacity side, so the smaller your cabin area the better. You probably wouldn't want one of the current offerings in a station wagon but they should be good enough for our cars. I would imagine an upgrade to a 3G alternator would go hand in hand with an electric compressor.
All second hand info, though I find them intriguing I have zero hands on experience with them yet.
 
GypsyR said:
The electric compressors are making a dent with the hot rod guys. Word is that they tend to be on the smaller capacity side, so the smaller your cabin area the better. You probably wouldn't want one of the current offerings in a station wagon but they should be good enough for our cars. I would imagine an upgrade to a 3G alternator would go hand in hand with an electric compressor.
All second hand info, though I find them intriguing I have zero hands on experience with them yet.
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I've been intrested in them ever since i had the Prius Hybrid. I'm sure these talked about here are more feasible for use by people like us .
I think one like in the Prius require substancielly more voltage than the 12 v we operate with . I had thought about this when i did the upgrade on my alternator but that was done when i put the Paxton on . That six only has a limited amount of room on the front . But now i think about it why could'nt you put it in the trunk of something maybe even the evaporator.
 
kb65 said:
I am also retired and 74 or will be in a couple of weeks. I am out every evening if it is not raining.
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Here where i live if i don't have something going on that makes money i'm usually in the ac .
Sometimes when i think i'm going to be in the shop the humidity is so bad i just forget it . The last few week our actual temp has ranged mostley in the mid 90's. Feel like temps have usually been 100 to 110. All you have to do is step outside & your soaked .
Now when my vert is running thats different . Put a hat on let the top down & go . Long as i stay away from a lot of traffic where i don't stop or get hung up it's great
 
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