Q: EcoFlow WAVE 2 portable AC

[TCABM]

Curious if anyone has considered the EcoFlow WAVE 2 portable AC as an alternative to the ice chest ACs. The biggest drawback I see is drainage and routing the ducting, but I guess each of those concerns could be overcome; the unit has an internal drain tank with pump and a lead that could send overflow drainage to an external bottle of some sort and the ducting could be vented to the tail but I'm just spitballing here. Perusing the user manual, I did catch these gems in the Warnings section:

6. Do not use this product in environments with strong static electricity or magnetic fields (such as a thunderstorm).
19. Electromagnetic fields created by this product may affect the normal functioning of medical implants or personal medical devices, such as pacemakers, cochlear implants, hearing aids, defibrillators and so on. If you are using these medical devices, please consult the manufacturers about the restrictions on the use of relevant devices to ensure that a safe distance is maintained between this product and the implanted medical devices (such as pacemakers, cochlear implants, hearing aids, defibrillators and so on) during operation.

Any thoughts from the brain trust?

 

[Salty]

routing the ducting night not be not as trivial as you might think. There are several AD's on factory installed AC's because they pump exhaust into the aircraft, particularly when on the ground.

 

[TCABM]

routing the ducting night not be not as trivial as you might think. There are several AD's on factory installed AC's because they pump exhaust into the aircraft, particularly when on the ground.

Good point.

The intake can be ambient cabin air without duct much like the b-kool type ice chest ACs; I was more concerned about where to duct the warm AC exhaust to.

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

I've been working on an ice chest-type a/c setup and what to do with the exhaust air has been the biggest hurdle.

I haven't been able to build/test my latest iteration but I have a feeling it's a pretty minimal impact compared to the summer interior temp of the aircraft anyway.

 

[Jim_R]

I've been working on an ice chest-type a/c setup and what to do with the exhaust air has been the biggest hurdle.

I haven't been able to build/test my latest iteration but I have a feeling it's a pretty minimal impact compared to the summer interior temp of the aircraft anyway.

???
With ice chest coolers, the exhaust air is the cooled air that you want blowing on the cabin occupants. The inlet is the hot ambient cabin air. The cooling effect is accomplished by running the hot air through a heat exchanger that is circulating ice-cold water, which lasts until the ice is melted and can't absorb any more heat.

 

[Salty]

You got me thinking. I don't want to use this while flying, but I'd love to hook it up for camping in the PA-32. It's big enough to sleep in, if it weren't for the heat in the summer... I'm struggling with how you would vent it though and keep the doors closed for rain....

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

???
With ice chest coolers, the exhaust air is the cooled air that you want blowing on the cabin occupants. The inlet is the hot ambient cabin air. The cooling effect is accomplished by running the hot air through a heat exchanger that is circulating ice-cold water, which lasts until the ice is melted and can't absorb any more heat.

Right. I'm working on an a/c-like unit the size of a small ice chest so that battery power is the limfac instead of ice.

 

[Jim_R]

Right. I'm working on an a/c-like unit the size of a small ice chest so that battery power is the limfac instead of ice.

OK, so it's "ice chest-sized", not "ice chest-type". Got it.

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

Sorry for the confusion. I built an actual ice one first, and it worked ok. Was improving it before I went overseas and had to put it all in storage. Have some ideas I want to try on the next version but just don't think I can get the power draw low enough while still being useful for any reasonable amount of time and without weighing more than the ice version. If anything it's at least a fun min/max project to attempt.

 

[Pinecone]

You got me thinking. I don't want to use this while flying, but I'd love to hook it up for camping in the PA-32. It's big enough to sleep in, if it weren't for the heat in the summer... I'm struggling with how you would vent it though and keep the doors closed for rain....

Maybe make a cover for the baggage door with a hole for the exhaust. Or even better, make a platform that puts this outside blowing in through a bagge door cover.

Other option, duct it out the pilot window opening.

 

[NealRomeoGolf]

You got me thinking. I don't want to use this while flying, but I'd love to hook it up for camping in the PA-32. It's big enough to sleep in, if it weren't for the heat in the summer... I'm struggling with how you would vent it though and keep the doors closed for rain....

In Europe since the houses didn't have AC, you could get a standing unit and then vent the exhaust out the window. They sold these vinyl window covers with zippers that would close around the duct. Kept the weather out while allowing the exhaust. Maybe make something like that.

 

[Lndwarrior]

Curious if anyone has considered the EcoFlow WAVE 2 portable AC as an alternative to the ice chest ACs. The biggest drawback I see is drainage and routing the ducting, but I guess each of those concerns could be overcome; the unit has an internal drain tank with pump and a lead that could send overflow drainage to an external bottle of some sort and the ducting could be vented to the tail but I'm just spitballing here. Perusing the user manual, I did catch these gems in the Warnings section:

Any thoughts from the brain trust?

Install a small access panel to suit the exhaust outlet size and in an appropriate location. Not sure how this works with a certificated aircraft, but I'm guessing it's not that hard to make the addition of an access panel legal.

 

[Dicky Bhagat]

Install a small access panel to suit the exhaust outlet size and in an appropriate location. Not sure how this works with a certificated aircraft, but I'm guessing it's not that hard to make the addition of an access panel legal.

There is post on FB Cessna 182 page. It seems he ran the exhaust duct through the rear plastic bulkhead to the back and the drain pipe drain port through the bottom in an inspection plate- hole and install a grommet.

 

[Pinecone]

In my Mooney, that rear plastic bulkhead covers a metal bulkhead.

 

[Mike Baute]

I have found several plane owners that done this with the Zero Breeze units. The Zero Breeze is almost the same size but only supplies half the btu for cooling so not near as good as the EcoFlow Wave 2. The zero breeze is 16 pounds without the battery and the Wave 2 is 32 pounds. The ones I saw they did the small drain line and the exhaust line to the belly of the plain like any other factory AC unit

 

[Chris Mixon]

I just completed a Wave 2 install in my Commander 114 and while it's better than before, it's not that effective overall. I get some dehumidification and a 20-degree split but it can't really cool the cockpit that much with all the heat gain through the big windows. It is not as cool as a B-Kool but with the Ecoflow Delta Pro battery bank (2 kWh) I am using, it lasts 4-6 hours as compared to my B-Kool only lasting 45 minutes.
I elected to run my hot air ducts to my tailcone and the condensate drain to my old battery drain and the cold air discharge is currently routed up to the front between the seats. I am using a 3d printed discharge head that I found on Printables.com but I would really like to get the cold discharge up on the ceiling so the cold air is coming down rather than up and it needs more CFM, but from reading on other forums, adding a fan to the discharge side duct can cause the Wave 2 to throw errors.

Admittedly, I am an edge case since I am located right on the Gulf in Southern Louisiana, and during my first tests, it was 110F on the ramp and about 120F in the cabin with 90% humidity. With everything running and the cold duct sitting right between the seats, it gives just enough cooling to make it bearable after running for an hour, I had a 90 degree cabin and 70-degree output air. Once at altitude, I can even dial it back some since I also get pretty good ram air cooling at cruise.

I think the next project is to improve the cold air ducting and get it up above my head.

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

The flight school I used to instruct at in Gulfport ordered 1 of them to test out. I've been curious their thoughts, I know they didn't do all the plumbing.

 

[TCABM]

Timely updates. We balked on the Eco Wave primarily because we could point to somewhere in the documentation where it talked about possible EMI and nobody wanted to accept that risk with our avionics setup.

Last week someone ordered a similar unit that has an RF remote so we can test it out on the ground. This was has a caution not to overcharge the battery, so they’re also looking at a timer for the charging cord.

We’ll see how this shakes out and report back after the ground test.

 

[Chris Mixon]

I have three Aspen ProMax 1000 units in my Commander and a Garmin 540WAAS, SL30 comm, and GTX 330. I don't have any RMI problems. My RSMs for the Aspens are on the top of the fuselage aft of my baggage area and did not see any changes there either. I will point out however that I am not hooked to the AC electrical system at all. I am using an EcoFlow Delta 2 Pro battery with 2 kWh of storage that gives about 6 hours of operation at max cooling and more than 8 if I go to Eco mode.

The EcoFlow equipment is Bluetooth or WiFi so I run the Wave2 and check battery levels using my phone or my Ipad mini on the yolk.

Chris

 

[TCABM]

I have three Aspen ProMax 1000 units in my Commander and a Garmin 540WAAS, SL30 comm, and GTX 330. I don't have any RMI problems. My RSMs for the Aspens are on the top of the fuselage aft of my baggage area and did not see any changes there either. I will point out however that I am not hooked to the AC electrical system at all. I am using an EcoFlow Delta 2 Pro battery with 2 kWh of storage that gives about 6 hours of operation at max cooling and more than 8 if I go to Eco mode.

The EcoFlow equipment is Bluetooth or WiFi so I run the Wave2 and check battery levels using my phone or my Ipad mini on the yolk.

Chris

Our transponder, com panel and GTN all use bluetooth in some manner, but that was a good excuse to keep from using mx reserves for a toy air conditioner that a single member wants but isn’t willing to pay for out of pocket since nobody else wants it.

For reference, we’re in the SAT area so heat and humidity can be issues here.

 

[Chris Mixon]

Our transponder, com panel and GTN all use bluetooth in some manner, but that was a good excuse to keep from using mx reserves for a toy air conditioner that a single member wants but isn’t willing to pay for out of pocket since nobody else wants it.

For reference, we’re in the SAT area so heat and humidity can be issues here.

That's understandable. I'm funding the whole thing for mine and I own the aircraft. Using mx reserves for this is a totally different kettle of fish. let me know how the alternative ac turns out.