Cruise Air split AC system

[larryeddington]

Guys, I give up searching the net. My mid cabin has the manual three knob controller on each of my two reversing systems. I would like to change that to analog and cannot seem to find anything other then the Marine Air Passport I/O Controls and cannot find any support for that. Seems I read where someone found one and installed it cannot find that on our website either.

It occurs to me with a few relays I could use a regular system used in homes etc. I have the knowledge and ability of doing that but would like to use a dedicated one. As long as relays are sealed or out of bilge area could work fine.

Thoughts, ideas, urls?

[g36]

Here you go. I installed the fx1 on my trojan it was very easy and made life way easier. Works just like home set the digital temp and forget it. When I had purchased it there was a vertical retrofit I didn't see it but they may still sell it has all the same control but a vertical panel instead of square. Look under cabin controls FX1

http://www.microair.net/main/products

[larryeddington]

Thanks I knew I read about it.

Larry

[larryeddington]

I talked with these people and they actually make the ones for Dometic which is Cruise Aire. Thanks for the direction install looks straight forward and you need two components controller board and the temp readout piece. I wish they just made and sold as a kit but they do not.

Anyway thanks again.

[Flyboy]

Try this
https://yachtaidmarine.com/shop/marine- ... b-dometic/

[g36]

Hi Larry it is very straight forward for install. Yes you only need the 2 parts. I may still have some pics of my wiring etc from my install

[larryeddington]

g36 looking forward to seeing the pics.

Thanks flyboy those appear to be updated versions of what I have the manual control. Both of mine are working well and functional. I want to go to a more current type of control similar to what we have at our houses.

[Micro-Air, Inc.]

Greetings Trojan Boats Forum from Micro-Air:

We've known about your forum for a number of years now, and recently have been following this new thread. We decided to sign-up so we could offer everyone some information that you may find helpful. Although we are a manufacturer, we certainly want to stay within the guidelines and rules of your forum. All we want to do here is offer information and answer some of the questions that a lot of you have about this topic. This will then allow all of you to make your own decisions and choices about your respective situations with as many facts as possible.

First of all, we at Micro-Air would like to give a big THANK YOU to member g36. Your post in this thread mentioning our products and website along with your other post from 2008 have helped a handful of DIY people like yourself who did end up purchasing our products from us or from one of our dealers. Many thanks again.

Regarding the topic at hand, upgrading from the mechanical 3-knob controls on legacy Marine Air Systems or Cruisair air conditioners has been a challenge since the digital controls were introduced back in the early 1990s. All of you already know this. It boils down to what is available that can block that big rectangular hole left behind by the 3-knob control in your walls and woodwork. Although we are aware of what's available since we manufacture most of the digital controls for all of the major marine HVAC OEM brands, we just reviewed it again internally and have boiled it down to a few options:

1. Legacy (large) FX1 Vertical or Horizontal Display - The solution g36 mentioned in this thread and detailed in his 2008 post included our standard FX-1 Control Board and our legacy FX-1 Vertical and Horizontal displays as shown in the photos below. A few years ago, these displays had to be discontinued because the microprocessor that we used from Motorola (now NXP/Freescale) was discontinued. At that time, since demand was pretty much nil, we decided not to create a new circuit board with a current microprocessor. Low and behold, upon inspection just today we found squirreled away in our factory a few hundred display plates that we had not scrapped out. We've thought about it, and have decided to schedule the redesign of this product so we can start selling it again. If down the road we run out of plates, we can always get more, or retool it in plastic if demand warrants. So, if you don't need to replace your 3-knob control today and you want to use the same solution as g36, perhaps in a few months we'll have these displays available again. If you can't wait that long, please keep reading below the photos.
   
   
2. Current (smaller) FX1 Display with an pre-made adapter plate - Our standard FX-1 control display won't block the hole left behind by the 3-knob control, but one of our high-volume dealers, Coastal Climate Control, Inc., in Annapolis, MD, does offer their own adapter plate shown at this link. In fact, we recommend you check out all their products on their FX-1 and EasyStart page since they offer competitive pricing below retail. So today, you could purchase an FX-1 Control Board box, the FX-1 Control Display, the adapter plate, display cable, and optional remote temp sensor all from them.
3. Any FX-1 or FX-2 Control Display with your own custom adapter plate or joinery - The standard FX-1 control display is not the only display that plugs into the FX-1 control board. Furthermore, the more advanced FX-2 control board not only supports all the original FX-1 control displays, but also offers advanced features with its family of unique control displays. Check out our EasyTouch display, which is our latest color touchscreen product, compatible with both FX-1 and FX-2 control boards. Choose any compatible control board and display from what is currently available in the FX-1 and FX-2 control families shown in Cabin Controls category at this link. Both control boards can be purchased in a fabricated sheetmetal electric box, if don't want to obtain one on your own. And if you are a resourceful DIY boater, then you can probably come up with your own adapter plate or do your own joinery to make whatever you choose look aesthetically pleasing and match your boat's decor.
4. Assemble your own OEM Aftermarket Solution - Although we still manufacture certain Cruisair brand controls exclusively for the OEM, several are no longer being manufactured in high volume and are slowly being phased out by the OEM itself. We will continue to manufacture updated versions for end customers for years to come. Within the Cruisair SMX family of controls, there is a legacy control display called the SMXII-AB that will fill the hole left behind by the 3-knob control. An aftermarket version of this is shown in our webstore at this link, along with the corresponding control board at this link. The cover plate for this control display is still exclusively manufactured by the OEM, so you have to purchase it from one of their authorized dealers. We found the cover plate available online at this link. You'll also need the corresponding display cable (called a CXP), the special temp sensor (called a TSEP), and a special display cable adapter (called an A-913) for this control solution, also available from the OEM's dealers. Beyond that, you'll have to mount and enclose it in your own electric box.

So, as you can see, you do have a few choices to consider from Micro-Air and our dealers. Hopefully, you find this information helpful in your quest to update your mechanical 3-knob controls to a digital solution.

I'll do my best to monitor this thread and answer any follow-up questions. Thank you again for your interest in Micro-Air products.

[prowlersfish]

Interesting . I do have a question . I have 2 12K units ( both share 1 pump ) I would like to up grade one of them to the digital control , it has the 3 knob system right now. The system uses no pressure sensors/switches .What would it take to upgrade my system ? Would the lack of sensors cause a issue ( set fault codes )

Thank You Paul

[Micro-Air, Inc.]

Hi Paul. Thanks for your question. You bring up a good point since it does actually apply to all 3-knob upgrades.

If your system has no pressure switches (which we'll talk more about below), then all you have to do when you install the new control board (any model) is add a wire to jumper out the high pressure input to the control board. As an aid to the OEMs and to installers, almost all of our controls boards have an cuttable jumper that is used to jumper out the low pressure switch by default since many smaller A/C systems don't have one of those. (If the system has one, the OEM or installer simply cuts this jumper on the board and wires in the low pressure switch to the appropriate terminals.) So, assuming your system has no pressure switches at all, depending on the control board you choose, you'll likely only have to jumper out the high pressure. This will prevent the faults from occurring.

Now, on most 3-knob systems, the manufacturer typically would install at least a high pressure switch that is wired inline with the compressor common wire and is therefore line-duty. Line-duty means this pressure switch is able to carry and disconnect (if necessary) the full compressor load amperage at whatever your line voltage is. If the system has both a line-duty high pressure and a low pressure switch, they would then be wired in series so that if either switch opens, the compressor shuts down and/or won't start. On newer A/C systems that already come with a digital control, the pressure switches are pilot-duty since they are simply breaking a low-voltage signal (e.g. 5VDC) coming from the control board which it then uses to detect the fault.

So, with this being understood, if your 3-knob system has line-duty pressure switches, you can still use them in a pilot-duty application to properly signal the control board that you are installing. All you have to do is unwire the line-duty pressure switches from the compressor common wire, splice the compressor common wire at that point, and then extend and reconnect the switch's two wires to the control board at the appropriate terminals. In this way, you not only preserve the benefit of the pressure switches, but you take advantage of one of the digital control's benefits. All digital control boards shut down the compressor when the high pressure switch opens, but they also delay restarting it once the switch re-closes. This allows the system's refrigerant pressures to equalize before attempting a restart. Otherwise, if the system restarts immediately upon the high pressure switch closing, which often happens within a few seconds of the compressor shutting down, the compressor will stall due to the high refrigerant pressure still built up on its discharge output. Repeatedly stalling your compressor will overheat it and eventually cause damage. Note that not all 3-knob controls have this disadvantage since some do incorporate what's called a solid-state timer to delay every start attempt, but that isn't always the case.

[prowlersfish]

There are no pressure switches on the System I what up grade . The main question is what do I need to upgrade it . I know a control but what else ? I assume that the Fan will not run until need with the new control ? The unit is a 120 volt 12K crusiair cool only .

[Micro-Air, Inc.]

Sorry if I misunderstood your question. In order to upgrade your Cruisair 12k 3-knob system you will need:

1. A control board in an electric box like this one here.
2. A control display like this one here.
3. A display cable like this one here.
4. An optional remote temperature sensor if the display's sensor gets affected by sunshine or is in a closet, like this one here.
5. Perhaps an adapter plate for the display like this one here.

All of the control boards power the fan from a separate output that uses a solid-state device to vary the fan speed, so you should connect the fan wires to this output. The control has many programmable settings, one of which allows you to set the fan to run continuously, or have it run only when the compressor is turned on.

[prowlersfish]

Do I need one with SDL or without ? And what is SDL ?

[Micro-Air, Inc.]

No, you won't need an SDL version of the control or the display.

SDL is a old-style of 8-pin connector manufactured by Amp/Tyco as shown here. Micro-Air previously used this type of connector for a very old digital control family called ECU-Maxx, now discontinued. We moved away from the SDL connectors and jacks since they were very expensive. Now we use 8-pin RJ-45 modular plugs and jacks for the display connection, and they do the job quite nicely for a lot less money.

But because there are still thousands of ECU-Maxx controls in the field, whenever someone needs to replace one, we tell them to retrofit it with an FX-1 because we make a version (as you found) that has an SDL jack soldered into the board instead of an RJ-45 jack. This allows the person to reuse the same SDL display cable that may be strung through the walls of their boat, which can be very inaccessible and very difficult to change to a new style RJ-45 cable without ripping out the walls of their boat. We also sell an FX-1 family display called the FX-Maxx, which looks and functions just like the display from the original ECU-Maxx. The FX-Maxx display is also available with an optional SDL jack, so the other end of the existing SDL cable can be reused when doing the upgrade/retrofit.

[prowlersfish]

Thank you > I see what I need . Wish you had package deals to save me some money LOL .