Not on a camper per se, but it is a camper A/C unit.
A group of my friends all have enclosed cargo trailers. We use them as primitive campers when we take the motorcycles or UTV's away for a weekend. Yep, I got a $33k camper, and I sometimes sleep in a cargo box.
Anyway... Another guy in the group wants to set up a trailer the same way. He is a bit short on cash, so he is doing it on the cheap. He got a great deal on a used Coleman A/C ($150!). But its one that come with a remote thermostat. He was anxious to see if it runs and cools, as the owner had it unhooked and on a shelf.
Being a remote t-stat unit, it requires 12vdc to run the relays in the control box. His cargo trailer had no 12volt, so I was in a bit of a quandary on how to fire it up. He/I didnt really want to hook up an old camper converter just to run the A/C. After thinking about options, in his junk-drawer in his garage, I found an old 'wall-wart' power supply that went to only God knows what. Nobody ever seems to throw them away. I know I got a box of them at my place. 12vdc@1 amp output. Perfect.
A little bit of primitive engineering, some questionable 120volt connection to an extension cord and a bit of jumping out terminals on the thermostat control board with some snips of wire, and I actually managed to get the old unit to fire up and put out cold air. I have no idea of the date of this thing, as the labels were so old and worn they were unreadable. But it quiet as a mouse fart. I mean, you can hardly tell the compressor is running unless you touch it. By far quieter than the 2 on my camper and the 1 on my cargo trailer.
Once I got it fired up, he wanted to see how cold it it would get the trailer, so he wanted to leave it like that for a while. That's when I realized how janky the wiring hookup looked. Presented for your approval...
Don't worry. It wont stay like that. I'll have it all safe and neat next weekend.
Tim
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