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Topic: Keeping the bay cool in the summer (Read 807 times) previous topic - next topic

Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Decided to visit family in Missouri and Illinois for the summer and brought the bus along. Between the heat outside and the aqua hot, the first bay stays warm. It's also where my batteries and inverter are located. It is currently 66F outside but 90F in the bay. Typical days are a high of 90+ so it's generally 95-100F in there.

I know there's a fan in the bay but I don't know if I've seen it work nor do I know if it'll work all that great if it's 90+ outside. Does anybody have any suggestions on keeping the area cool-ish in the summer?
1999 U320 WTFE #5586
2014 Subaru Forester 6sp
4000 watts of solar
650 aH @ 24v

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #2 –
My AH bay does not have a fan in it.
Maybe this was an addition after the 98/99 coaches.
Has anyone added a fan to this bay? I know this bay gets very warm with the AH running.
Peter    Alberta Canada
'98 U320 40'  Build 5359 M11 450 HP, Aqua hot, Blu Ox

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #3 –
Quote from: AC7880 –
Related thread: Small electric fan in electronics/mechanical bay.

Thank you for that. It was set around 110. I lowered it all the way down and I'll see what happens.

My biggest gripe is that while driving in the heat, flipping the ac on causes the fans on my inverter to go and then all the charge controllers and everything heat up and cause the batteries to increase in temp. Wondering it there would be an easy way to get cooled air under heat other than adding a small ac or something down here.
1999 U320 WTFE #5586
2014 Subaru Forester 6sp
4000 watts of solar
650 aH @ 24v

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #4 –
I know the newer coaches have a lot more electronic gizmos so my comment may not apply, but on our older model the inverter/charger is probably the most "temperature sensitive" device.  Our Magnum MS2812 is mounted in the large central storage bay.  The installation manual contains the warning below:

Locating the Inverter
The inverter must be mounted in a clean, dry, ventilated environment where the ambient temperatures will not exceed 122 oF (50 oC). The location must be fully accessible and protected from exposure to heat producing devices. You can mount the inverter horizontally, vertically or upside-down. It must be securely fastened to a shelf, bulkhead, or other structural part.

Here in sunny West TX the daily high temps have been recently running in the 105-110 degree (F) range.  I wouldn't be surprised if the storage bay temps are pushing the upper limit set by Magnum.  The inverter has its own internal cooling fan.  I will sometimes hear it running if I open the bay in the middle of the day.  In spite of the fact that I "abuse" our inverter by making it reside in the hot bay, it has survived almost 10 years of this treatment and still functions perfectly.

I guess anything you could do to lower the temps in your electronic bay, or to just increase the airflow through the bay, would be advantageous.  I wonder if it would be worthwhile to add some ducting from inside the coach, through the floor, into the bay.  Perhaps two ducts with inline 12V fans- one fan sucking cool air from the coach interior and blowing into the bay, and the other sucking warm air from the bay back into the coach interior.  Probably more trouble than it would be worth...

1993 U280 SE 40' WTBI, Build: 4359
C8.3 300hp, 6-Speed, Exhaust Brake
960 watts on the roof (6 x 160)
Sorento (or BOLT) on a Kar Kaddy SS
"Nature abhors a vacuum"

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #5 –
I've considered drilling a hole in the floor to get air flow in the basement. I'm also rethinking my mini split ideas and potentially putting a concealed ducted unit in the basement and running ducting up into the main area. Thankfully I'm not having to use the inverter while parked, and hopefully it starts to cool down by the time we head out of the midwest. Looking forward to next year and I may be putting my electronics elsewhere. They do great in the winter time, but they're taking a beating in the summer heat.
1999 U320 WTFE #5586
2014 Subaru Forester 6sp
4000 watts of solar
650 aH @ 24v

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #6 –
I would hold up on drilling a hole in the coach floor for bay venting because the hot air rushing in the coach would be greater than any cool air reaching the bay. If I were going to vent the bay I would do it via the bay door near the electronics but I hesitate to do that because 1. you didn't mention a problem being caused from heat and 2. one would have to be creative to design a vent that would look nice. Suppose I'm saying why try to solve a problem your not having. If I were to do anything, your idea of moving the inverter to a different bay would be my pick. You having duct air on your model coach you might could tap into the coach duct work and run it to the bay. All just knee jerk thoughts on my part.
Dub McBride 1996 270

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #7 –
I have the Xantrex 3012 and it has 2 cooling fans. In the summer they are almost constantly running as the bay is hot. 8 years now and no electrical problems from the heat. I did move the AH controller out of the stainless box to the wall of the bay. My coach is only 23 build numbers older than yours so everything should be similar.
1999 40 ft. U-320 wtfe build 5563 Chuck & Lynda's "Rollin' Inn"  2030 watts solar
prev. mh's 71 GMC 5 yrs. 73 Pace Setter 1 yr. 78 Vogue 5 yrs 81 FTX 40ft all electric 18 yrs. 1996 Monaco Signature 3 yrs.
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland
Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you will die today.  James Dean

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Zach –
I've considered drilling a hole in the floor to get air flow in the basement.

Two things to consider before doing that.

You are going to be taking hot air coming off the hot road.
You will need to make sure you do not bring in moisture when driving in the rain.
2014 ih45  (4th Foretravel owned)
 1997 36' U295 Sold in 2020, owned for 19 years
  U240 36' Sold to insurance company after melting in garage fire
    33' Foretravel on Dodge Chassis  Sold very long time ago
 

Re: Keeping the bay cool in the summer

Reply #9 –
Quote from: turbojack –
Two things to consider before doing that.

You are going to be taking hot air coming off the hot road.
You will need to make sure you do not bring in moisture when driving in the rain.

Sorry, I should specify that drilling a hole in the floor would mean drilling a hole in the main floor like below the drawers under the stove/sink.  There are already vents for the aqua hot register. I would not be drilling a hole into the bay floor. The bay fan is already routed to the bay floor with a hole. Drilling a hole under the sink and placing a fan to suck air into the bay would be helpful in keeping the temps down but only if I've got the AC running up here.
1999 U320 WTFE #5586
2014 Subaru Forester 6sp
4000 watts of solar
650 aH @ 24v