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Muggles[_19_]

On 3/23/2017 4:54 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:51:20 -0500, Muggles
wrote:

On 3/23/2017 11:14 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:40:11 -0500, Muggles

Asking for advice and help with a home project is totally 'on topic'
here, and even if I don't know how to do everything other people can do,
at least I try to build something that is designed to meet the need I'm
asking about.

You're no help at all.

The condensate pump is NOt put inside the unit. It is put in the
drain pan so you don't need to empty it, or in many cases just
connected to the drain. It has a small reservoir, and when it gets
full it starts the pump. When it gets empty it shuts the pump off.
They are used extensively on furnace mounter AC units and on
condensing furnaces.

OK I understand what you're describing, now.

This is the problem with this particular machine: The reservoir is at
the upper portion of this AC, and it has a hole in the back of it where
I can and have attached a hose to drain that into a large container. I
could drain it outside if I could find a way to run the hose outside
without drilling a hole in the house. We just don't want to do that
right now. Maybe we will in the future, but the reservoir never backs
up and is always freely draining, so that fluid isn't dripping into the
bottom pan.

That aside, the second problem is when humidity is high, the machine
produces excess condensation that drips into a pan that is at the bottom
of the machine, but has no drainage holes. I'm guessing it's generally
meant to catch sweat that drains from the sides below the main
collection reservoir and is supposed to just evaporate. BUT, our high
humidity in the summer ends up producing too much water for that bottom
pan and it runs over onto the floor.

If the air conditioner is doing it's joband the house is kept closed
up, the humidity very quickly drops to the point condensation is no
longer a problem

In the early summer before it gets REALLY hot, the humidity isn't that
bad so there's really no problem with the excess overflowing from the
bottom. It's later or after a rain that we have the problem.

Initially, just sitting the AC on a plastic lid that could catch that
bottom pan water that overflows worked fine. It would usually
evaporate, but our humidity got worse producing more than the plastic
bottom pan I used could handle, and I'd have to soak up the excess with
towels which got old pretty quick.

Where do you exhaust the heat from the portable air conditioner?

It has a flexible vent you insert into a partially open window similar
to a dryer vent.

The main reservoir isn't really a problem. It's the fluid that overflows
from the bottom of the machine, and there's no access hole to hook up a
tube to even connect a pump too. So, he only thing I could think of for
that bottom pan issue was to make a platform for the AC where the bottom
pan could drain into a large container that could be easily emptied if
it got too full and didn't evaporate quickly enough. That was all I
could come up with on my own to solve the problem until I could figure
out a better solution.

And the commode will do the job, or a tray and condensate pump

I've been looking for hard plastic trays with the dimensions:
26"x20"x4". That gives a little bit of room for finding one that isn't
exactly the same, but close.

I've never had any use for the portable units. I used one in a
computer room for a while, and I swear the motor put out more heat
than the thing removed from the room. It evacuated the moisture out
the exhaust with the captured heat, after a fashion. I gave up on it.

I was surprised how well these two cool the house, and they aren't noisy
like a window unit is when the compressor kicks in. I liked the first
one so well I bought a second one.

So... I could put a pump to drain the bottom pan outside, but I really
need a better design than what I came up with that includes a pump (that
isn't loud when it kicks in) with the design if I'm going to do that.
I'm not even sure how to go about designing it. I'm open to ideas,
though.

Go to Walmart and spend $38 on the commode. take off the backrest and
the seat. Go to Home Despot and by a 1/2" or 3/8" plywood
"handi-panel" and cut it to fit the top of the commode. Run hose from
the outlet into the commode bucket (or just into the tray-coming up)
and get a plastic tray to put on the plywood. A boot tray will do the
job Put a hole in the tray above the commode bucket so the drips drain
into the bucket..Possibly route the drain hose through the tray as
well.
Set the commode at the lowest possible height - or even remove the
adjustable legs and put rubber "cane feet" or chair tip rubbers on the
bottom to protect the floor - you want it as low as you can set it
without the bucket touching the floor. It will look decent and work
very well for an investment of under $50 in the USA. Closer to $75 in
Canada.

OK ... thanks for the idea. I may need to make a second platform for the
#2 portable AC, and will keep this design in mind.

--
Maggie