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1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:32 pm
by Macdiver
Where and how is the AC located in the F-32? How about a generator?

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:28 pm
by mikeandanne
On our 78 the generator ( 6.5 kohler flat head four ) was length wise between the engines against the aft bulkhead and the ac was just on the other side of the same bulkhead aft mounted to the cover over the fresh water tank.There were two slaves ,one in the v berth and the other in the salon on the starboard side just behind the distribution panel.I believe that to be factory or darn close to it.

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:59 pm
by captainmaniac
Ditto on my '79 for generator placement. As far as AC goes I don't know if it was factory, dealer, or installed by someone else for a previous owner, but the unit was installed under the forward dinette seat and venting for it consumes a bunch of the starboard handing locker. Does a good job of cooling the lower cabin but doesn't do as much for the salon as I would like, and with all the glass on a sedan it's like a greenhouse.

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 12:25 pm
by comodave
We installed a 16K Mermaid in our F32. We put it directly under the lower helm. The water heater was moved outboard and there was plenty of room for the A/C. Had to custom fabricate a plenum for the supply ducts. Put the main supply vent in the deck right above the unit and ran 2 4" supply ducts, 1 to the dinette and 1 aft in the saloon on the starboard side. This cooled the saloon very well and since cold air drops the galley, dinette and vee berths get cooled as well.

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:39 am
by P-Dogg
captainmaniac wrote: doesn't do as much for the salon as I would like, and with all the glass on a sedan it's like a greenhouse.
You can reduce your cooling load with window "tinting". You don't have to actually get a color, they have clear films that block UV, which is the main cause of radiant heating.

I'll provide a link when I'm at an actual computer.

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:59 am
by comodave
We had a bra for the windshield on the F32. The windshield is very large. I ordered 80" Sunbrella in order to make it from one piece.

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 10:45 am
by captainmaniac
P-Dogg wrote:
captainmaniac wrote: doesn't do as much for the salon as I would like, and with all the glass on a sedan it's like a greenhouse.
You can reduce your cooling load with window "tinting". You don't have to actually get a color, they have clear films that block UV, which is the main cause of radiant heating.

I'll provide a link when I'm at an actual computer.
My windows are already tinted....
comodave wrote:We had a bra for the windshield on the F32.
.... and we have windshield cover that does the front 3 panes plus most of the first pane on each side....

And on the bad days we will keep drapes closed or mostly closed on the side and salon windows...

Some day I may re-plumb the A/C to move a vent up top, but don't really want to run ducting through the engine compartment (in case it somehow picks up fumes and blows in to the cabin), or near electrical panel (possible condensation issues)... Haven't found a route I m comfortable with yet.

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:29 pm
by WayWeGo
captainmaniac wrote:My windows are already tinted...
Older window tints do not block all that much heat, but the newer ones do a better job. We have fairly dark tint on our windows, but the cabin still gets pretty hot, so I have been looking into the newer window films. There is some pretty good info at http://www.motortrend.com/news/3ms-wind ... int-77391/

Re: 1983 f-32 AC placement

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 1:57 pm
by El L Sea
We just redid our Salon and slider with the 3M metal crystal based tint and the "touch temperature" of the inside of the window is about 5 degrees cooler than the previous regular dark tint. Wish they made a tint for the poly on our rounded corner windows...