Air Conditioner Exhaust Hose too short

amf

I've just bought the Amcor AMC-10000 portable air conditioning unit from Comet....seems a seriously good bit of gear. Cost £230.

The problem is the exhaust hose is too short (1.5 metres)...our living room windows only open at the very top and the hose won't reach. The Comet salesman tried to sell me a tumble dryer venting kit for £15, saying it would work as a hose extension. I declined and bought a venting hose hose from B & Q for £6. It fits inside the AC and I've attached it with duck tape. After 20 minutes the duct tape is hanging off - obviously the heat and condensation in the exhaust.

I found http://www.airandwatercentre.com/store/SEURLF/ASP/SFS/PID.375/SFE/productdetails.htm

This is an extension hose for £30 + VAT + delivery (out of stock till 2/8/06). It seems you attach the extension hose to the original with duct tape. In view of my previous attempts I'm not so sure this will work.

I can't find any other exhaust hoses and I don't want to install permanent exhaust through the window or wall. I could probably do with a hose around 2 - 2.25 metres.

Any suggestions please?

Volcano

Sounds like the main problem you have is that the duct tape isn't holding. Duct tape was only ever designed to seal ducting joints airtight, not to hold things together. You need to mechanically fix the hoses together or your b&q venting hose to the a/c. Can you use a short piece of large bore pipe, slip the hoses over each end then fix with either large jubilee clips or pop rivets? Once this is fixed securely you can then use tape to seal it.

amf

Thanks for that idea Volcano:beer: Will give it a try.

shopndrop

Am quite interested in how efficient these air con units are? If the window is open for the exhaust hose, does it still work properly? Reason I am asking is that in a car, for air con to work properly windows need to be closed - presume the same does not apply for these portable units?

Mikeyorks

amf wrote:

Any suggestions please?

This aluminium tape is used to e.g. joint bathroom extraction hoses. So the environment is similar to that you describe? But I would attempt to overlap the hoses first, so the tape isn't in direct contact with the moisture laden air?

Having said that - this tape has coped with 4 joints in my in-line system for the past 18 months with no problem :-

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Necessities_Index/Tape_Aluminium/index.html

flang

Will a Zip tie not work?

amf

Thank you all:beer: Update....I found a helpline number on the back of the instruction book. I phoned it and was told that under no circumstances should I extend the hose, as this would impair the unit's operation.

The lady I spoke to suggested putting the unit on a table, removing the castors. It doesn't look great (even though its only a small table I've used)but the hose now goes out the window.:j

shopndrop - yes, in principle you are right about open window. That said you have to consider the relative sizes of the car versus the living room and also the fact that the cold air is being blown away from the open window. I can't give any specific info on how efficient unit is as its been cool up here since I bought the bloody thing:rolleyes: I can say that in the short time we've given it a run out this Amcor unit's blast can be felt at the far end of the living room, over 25 feet away.....so looks good to me.

deanos

Dont see why you cant extend the pipework how can it affect the operation its only getting rid of warm air.

kaya

extending the hose a little wont make much difference to the operation of the unit, but your electric consumption will go up drasticly, i looked at one the other day that was 1800w, thats like having 18 100watt lightbulbs on!!