10.  Air Conditioning compressor

This unit is from Masterflux, model Sierra 06-0982Y3. 

I get a lot of questions about this unit regarding how/where to purchase.  Masterflux has designated the retailer as Revolt Custom Electric Vehicles at:

www.revoltcustomelectric.com/components-accessories.html

A  variable speed AC motor is built into this compressor unit.  This makes it quite compact.  In fact, this compressor (with built in motor) is slightly smaller than the original BMW compressor that was driven off the gas engine.  Because of it being an AC induction motor, you must drive it with the electronic control board shown since you cannot connect the motor directly to a DC source.

The compressor will reside in the cavity next to the drive motor,  directly below the plumbing that passes through the fire wall and into the interior.  It is designed for the standard R134 air conditioning fluid.

The original condenser, evaporator and drier units are still used in their original locations making this a straight forward conversion.

Since this will be connected to the main battery pack, it can operate at any time, no longer tied to a running gas engine.

Yet another advantage over the original design, it's speed is adjustable to allow running only the level of cooling desired without cycling on and off to regulate the temperature.

Aug 2008 update:

The compressor/motor is mounted and the plumbing complete

The vacuum side plumbing, visible with the Inverter removed, goes straight up to connect with the fire wall pass-through fitting.

I took advantage of a pair of threaded studs that were exposed after removing the air pump that was part of the smog controls of the old gas engine.  This made for a great mount point for the custom hydraulic adaptor I machined out of billet aluminum.    The black cap on the right end of the horizontal hose section is the standard fitting that is used in charging the system with R134 air conditioning fluid.

Dec 2009 update:

The final form of the air conditioning control board enclosure:

The bottom plate of this enclosure (not visible) is thermally connected to this water cooled charger it is mechanically mounted to.  This plate was the replacement of the air cooling base in it's original form, seen in top photo.

It mounts onto the charger with only two bolts on top by virture of the slot feature on the bottom that forces the base flat against the cooled face.  Thermal grease between ensures good heat transfer.

The small box that is riding piggy back is a convenient location for the AC power source relay.  It routes the line input power for charging from either the front bumper charge port or the old gas filler port.  When the gas filler door is opened, this relay is energized to allow charging from that port rather than the default front bumper port.

Here is a routing adjustment that makes the battery pack install/uninstall easier by getting the hose out of the path of the front right pack foot:

In the process, I moved the filler valve to the Alu billet tie point, to reuse this nice BMW item.

A closup of the tie point.

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