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Cooling a box truck


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Posted

Hi all! b

As some of you may know, I recently purchased a 14 foot box truck. So far I have installed shelving and also 1" foam insulation on the ceiling. 

My only goal left for the truck is to keep the box cool enough so I don't have to be extremely gentle when handling soda cans (so basically... I want to keep the box at 85-90 degrees or so)...

I spoke to some rooftop A/C places who quoted me a $4,000, even if I had a friend do the work it would still be expensive.... Does anyone have any ideas on how to cool the box for cheap? I was hoping to spend around $1,000...

I was thinking about either generator/multiple deep-cycle batteries connected to a home A/C unit from Costco?\\

Not sure if my goal is realistic... but would love to hear what others have done!

 

Thanks!!

Posted
Hi all! b

As some of you may know, I recently purchased a 14 foot box truck. So far I have installed shelving and also 1" foam insulation on the ceiling. 

My only goal left for the truck is to keep the box cool enough so I don't have to be extremely gentle when handling soda cans (so basically... I want to keep the box at 85-90 degrees or so)...

I spoke to some rooftop A/C places who quoted me a $4,000, even if I had a friend do the work it would still be expensive.... Does anyone have any ideas on how to cool the box for cheap? I was hoping to spend around $1,000...

I was thinking about either generator/multiple deep-cycle batteries connected to a home A/C unit from Costco?\\

Not sure if my goal is realistic... but would love to hear what others have done!

 

Thanks!!



Check into an RV a/c. Coleman has a power saver line-up that may work. I am in the process of putting one on a Ram Promaster


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Posted

I tried it all, window acs, inverters, portable acs. I just park.it in the warehouse with the ac and it stays decent during the day. Definately paint the rooftop white with the heat shield paint my box teuck went from 120 to 89, and the roof from 190 to 97. I just bought a sprinter box truck 14ft and wanna do something like that to it. 

 

I reccomend whynter coolers, they are badAss they plug into the 12v and freeze withing minutes!

Posted

What sucks about the rooftop rv acs is that u need a generator ans then you sound like a food truck

Posted

I am installing a small low profile Mach 8. Only takes about 1600 watts to run it. Planning on using an inverter with dual deep cycle batteries.


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Posted
5 hours ago, allen watson said:

I am installing a small low profile Mach 8. Only takes about 1600 watts to run it. Planning on using an inverter with dual deep cycle batteries.


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Do you suspect you'll be able to run all day on that? I'm guessing you're talking.... 6 or 8 volts?

I actually happen to be in a lucky position because my Dad sells deep cycle batteries, and can hook me with up some good-condition used ones for around $20/each!

Posted

They sell this very cool portable electric generator looking thing at Sam's Club it's like $1,000 but I think it's enough to power that

Posted
Do you suspect you'll be able to run all day on that? I'm guessing you're talking.... 6 or 8 volts?

I actually happen to be in a lucky position because my Dad sells deep cycle batteries, and can hook me with up some good-condition used ones for around $20/each!


No, definitely not going to be able to run it all day. Just plan on running it in the afternoon while I'm filling machines. The longest I'm parked is 45 minutes but I do a lot of driving. So I'm thinking that while I'm putting in my daily 100 miles the van will recharge the batteries that the inverter uses. The factory air keeps the van cool while driving. It's just the stops that I want to keep the van cool at.


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Posted

Any generator is going to run on fuel to produce electricity, so whether it be portable or not doesn't matter.. it will need to be able to let its exhaust out meaning you can't just keep it in the back of the truck with the door closed unless you have ventilation and it's sealed from everything else.  I think the inverter is the way to go.

Posted
2 minutes ago, AngryChris said:

Any generator is going to run on fuel to produce electricity, so whether it be portable or not doesn't matter.. it will need to be able to let its exhaust out meaning you can't just keep it in the back of the truck with the door closed unless you have ventilation and it's sealed from everything else.  I think the inverter is the way to go.

As for charging.... I would charge every night but that's not enough from what I hear... any ideas on how to fix that conundrum? 

Posted

Seems to me that if it is wired directly to the engine, you would be able to run it all day while you are driving but you would need to switch to battery power while you are stopped.  I definitely lack the knowledge for that though.  Sounds like Allen is going to have a stand-alone setup that won't be connected to the engine.  I would go with what he says though as he has been working in the desert as long as I have been on this forum if not longer (as far as I know).

Posted
Seems to me that if it is wired directly to the engine, you would be able to run it all day while you are driving but you would need to switch to battery power while you are stopped.  I definitely lack the knowledge for that though.  Sounds like Allen is going to have a stand-alone setup that won't be connected to the engine.  I would go with what he says though as he has been working in the desert as long as I have been on this forum if not longer (as far as I know).

 

I want to separate from the engine mainly so I don't run my starting battery down. If anyone else has tried a very low power consumption a/c unit, chime in. It's a Coleman 9000 btu low profile roof top Rv unit. 1550 running watts at 100 deg. 1800 watts locked rotor. Also planning on adding a Supco hard start capacitor.

 

 

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Posted

Makes sense.  You probably don't want to get stuck out there without the ability to keep yourself or your product cool lol.

Posted

Heres what i was thinking. Buying the rooftop one or even the portable ac units (6-10k btu) use this.thing says it powers fridges for 10 to 20 hours. No.noise or pollution. Then add 2 to 3 solar pannels.outside on the roof. It should charge itself. U could tuen on the ac on really hot days and if u run out well oh well but atleast u cooled a few hours?

Posted
1 hour ago, TKK said:

Heres what i was thinking. Buying the rooftop one or even the portable ac units (6-10k btu) use this.thing says it powers fridges for 10 to 20 hours. No.noise or pollution. Then add 2 to 3 solar pannels.outside on the roof. It should charge itself. U could tuen on the ac on really hot days and if u run out well oh well but atleast u cooled a few hours?

Solar Panels eh? So perhaps some Solar Panels, Deep Cycle Batteries, Inverter, and a Costco $200 A/C unit? 

 

That might be enough to take the edge off... If it's a cloudy day the edge should pretty much be removed anyways... I like the solar panel idea!!

Posted

Another idea is always not worrying about it. I talked to a guy who owned 400 machines and he said he doesn't do anything to his box trucks. HOWEVER - he said the cans are EXTREMELY sensitive and even a little metal-to-metal collision will cause an explosion

  • 1 month later...
Posted
On 6/23/2017 at 8:17 AM, Corvus Corax said:

Didn't someone here say they insulated their roof and painted the top with Henry's reflective paint, and this fixed all their problems.

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I did on another post. ZERO problems, not a single can explosion.... on a 120 degree day the cans are warm, but not hot. On 100 degree days they are cool. 

Posted
I did on another post. ZERO problems, not a single can explosion.... on a 120 degree day the cans are warm, but not hot. On 100 degree days they are cool. 


Thanks, which one did you use, there are like 20 different types of Henry roof coating.

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