replacing ac on 1978 tri cabin

[marklo154]

Just wondering if anyone out there has completely replaced there ac units on a 78 tri cabin, Cost, manufacturer etc.

This season if I turn both on after a hour or so the breaker trips in the boat, and even when they are running they are not as cold as they where in previous years. Are the original crusie air units still serviceable, I assume they use the old r 12 freon.

Any input or advice greatly appreciated.

[prowlersfish]

Try flushing out the raw water side of the units . BTW they use R22

[marklo154]

i flushed the lines already on the advice of a mechanic, no change. The lines seem to be frosting up.

[prowlersfish]

Did you use something like rydlyme or barnacle buster ?

[marklo154]

I will look up these products and give it a try

[WayWeGo]

I have heard of some live aboards who put a HTH pool chlorinating tablet in their strainer for the A/C to avoid growth. I have also heard of someone who grew up in a boatyard, who put a coil of copper wire in his A/C strainer and had good luck with that.

[k9th]

I just sold my '79 Tri-cabin but I replaced the A/C about 5 years ago. The unit in mine was a MarinAire A/C with reverse cycle heating. It only had one unit that was 16,000 BTU/hr which cooled the entire boat very well. As a mater of fact the people who bought the boat cited the A/C as one of the deciding factors since they had looked at a couple of comparable Tri-cabins before purchasing mine.

I did the work myself and the unit cost right around $1500

[El L Sea]

I have heard of some live aboards who put a HTH pool chlorinating tablet in their strainer for the A/C to avoid growth. I have also heard of someone who grew up in a boatyard, who put a coil of copper wire in his A/C strainer and had good luck with that.

In saltwater, we use Bromine tablets.

[rickalan35]

El Sea - Hope you're getting some time on that big boat. Still lifting the heavy iron?

Marklo - Back when I owned a '74 Tri, I purchased two air conditioning units from Flagship Marine located in Stuart, Florida. www.flagshipmarine.com Flagship treated me well from a customer service perspective, did what they said they'd do and offered great advice.
They also sold me all my louvered vents, hoses etc. My units did not heat via a heat pump but rather had electrical coils located in the output tube that did a very good job.

My marina installed one thru hull which pushed water through both units. I installed a 5000 or 6000 btu unit inside the closet in the aft bedroom (at bottom of the three steps on the left side as you descend) This did not require sacrificing the hanging locker capacity. The second air conditioner was a 10,000 btu unit and it was installed directly behind my second fridge inside the storage space at the bottom of the two steps heading to the V-Bunks (on your right side as you descend)

I ended up insulating the headliner in the salon because on hot days it was very difficult to cool the salon. Even after that, it was okay but never wonderful. The rear bedroom was always cool and comfortable even after cruising (those V-Drives gave off a load of heat for a couple of hours)

If I had it to do over I'd increase the salon unit to 16,000 btu.

Good Luck

Rick

[WayWeGo]

In saltwater, we use Bromine tablets.

The folks I was referring to are also in salt water. I do not believe they leave the tablets in all the time, but put them in every month or so and run the A/C until they are dissolved in a day or so. Bromine is also used as a pool and hot tub sanitizer, so it is also a good choice.