Thread: Aircon. That old chestnut

I ended up fitting a Red Dot 6100 in conjunction with the factory knee chiller A/C.

I had removed the original condenser to run a larger non A/C intercooler and got the 6100 plumbed into the original system so I in effect have dual A/C which is great as you get a nice flood of cool air down onto your head & body as well as the added flow of air from the knee chiller.

The compressor just keeps up with the demand of both units, at prolonged idle in +45 degree temps the conditioned air is not icy cool but once on the move it works perfectly. The compressor is the same as fitted to our V8 DII which has factory fitted dual A/C so it is designed to run 2 units. We were able to run all of the pipe work up the inside of the snorkel which sort of blends in OK and is not to obtrusive, but without the snorkel it would look like a real eyesore.

Last year in the middle of the day we cruised happily in around 50 degree temps with a hot desert wind with the fan on high on both units, cooling was no issue but the biggest issue is loss through door gaps etc and radiated heat from the windows & door frames, you really notice how confined a space a Defender and how uninsulated the doors & pillars are when you are seated right next to them unlike other vehicles where you barely notice the radiated heat from them.

It cost me around $2000 to get the 6100 fitted, it is not pretty but it has transformed the vehicle in summer time heat out here in the Middle East and has been worth every cent spent. Doing the conversion was far cheaper than replacing the vehicle.

Here are few general photos of how it looks now, you will notice the unit is on the sloped part of the roof which the installer was not happy about doing as the drip tray under the evaporator needs to sit flat so as all of the water can be properly drained away. The drip tray does the trick perfectly when the A/C is in use but with a heavy shower of rain you can get a few drips of water leaking down from the unit mainly when cornering but with the few days of rain we get out here in Dubai each year this is a small price to pay for a proper aircon unit which actually keeps you cool in the middle of summer.

In the Mountains with Mike - CDR

Overnighter near Masafi - CDR

Originally Posted by goingbush

<Snip> ... I'm thinking a Safari Roof would also help keep it cool on a hot day with the air flow thru between the roof skins


ive never seen one on anything later than a series II

Actually the last time a tropical roof was fitted in a Land Rover factory was the Australian Army Perentie 110.



Although that said it was on the ribbed early 110 roof not the later ribless 110/Defender roof. The tropical roof is also fibreglass (Apparently there are 8 still in stock in Melbourne).

BTW: on Series Landies the aluminium tropical roof continued to the end of Stage 1 production.

How do I get one of the eight still in stock in Melbourne?. Pat