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Old 10-15-2008, 10:04 PM   #5 (permalink)
NiHaoMike
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Just beware that you'll have to recover the refrigerant before you cut any pipes. You'll need an EPA certification to do that. Unless, of course, the cause of failure was a broken pipe, in which case there will be no refrigerant left to recover.

The A/C compressor doesn't use that much power anyways. One datasheet (Danfoss BD250GH) referenced 230W at maximum capacity.

You can use a DC/DC converter to power the existing compressor from the high voltage batteries. If the high voltage is in the range of 150-350v, a PC power supply with active PFC can be modified into a DC/DC converter. The inrush surge might be a problem, but some multi-farad capacitors of the kind used in car A/V systems should fix that. If you need to replace the compressor anyways (which would require an EPA certification), you can check local HVAC supply shops for line voltage compressors (which can run from high voltage DC with a relatively simple MOSFET inverter), but some HVAC supply shops only sell to businesses.

There's also the option of silicon heat pumps, but they operate from low voltage DC, so back to that problem again. System design is also a little tricky.
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