Trojan Boat Forum

I turned on my A/C last night for the first time... I have a F30 Express with a Cruiseair (I think) all in one unit under the V berth middle fill in section ..

Followed my standard starting... start.. wait about 30 seconds .. then turn to run for the compressor to kick in... it did but quickly kicked off...

Inspected the situation and found that I have no water discharge... pump sounds like it is pumping.. since it was night time I did not try to go any further..

But I think it is not getting water before the a/c system since the compressor is kicking off I am assuming due to lack of water..

I would like to check if my pump is pumping water without sinking my dang boat.. if I take off the outlet hose off of the pump .. that won't cause any problems and then I can see if it is pumping water? Right? I do not remember seeing a strainer on that pump.. should there be one??

If it is pumping then do I do the same thing at the unit?? take off the inlet hose for that and see if it is getting water?? That way I can track down where my problem may be..

OR... could there be an internal reason why my ac unit will not discharge water...

Thanks for any help or suggestions as always.. this board has saved me a bunch of calls to my Lexus driving mechanic..

Many systems need to primed after being put back in the water. I your boat has recently been in dry-dock, that's likely the cause. Most systems, the pump is installed above the water line and they are just open vane pumps, not like the sealed vane pumps on your engine.

First check and clean the strainer, fill it up with water. Next, if you can easily remove the line leaving the pump, do so and run it. If water comes out, your're primed, reconnect the hose and you should be running.

If not, connect a garden hose to the inlet side of the pump and run water through till it comes out the side hull fitting. Reconnect and run. That's about all there is to it.

I've installed a T fitting before the pump. In the spring, I connect the garden hose to the T, shut off the through hull fitting valve. Run the system for a few minutes on the garden hose. This fills the system. Once in the water, I open the through hull and it pulls lake water just fine.

By the way, the T fitting is handy for winterization. Once on land, I connect a short piece of hose to the T, close the through hull valve, run the system and pump a gallon of pink stuff through the system, then open the valve to the through hull to let it drain, and last drain the strainer.

Mitch

Thanks for the suggestion... just messed around with the hoses and voila.. must have been a block somewhere.. all working fine..

BUT....

I think the air could be colder... probably original freon.. (Cabin Comfort AC)

How do you recharge refrigerant? Is this something best left for the experts??

Thanks again...

Make sure the filter to the coil on the AC unit is clean. Also, if you don't have a prefilter, try to vacuum off any lint or dust off the coil. Be careful not to bend or dent the fins. you can also use a spray bottle to spray window cleaner on the coil and then rinse it into the drain pan below the coil. That will get dirt buildup off the coil. Try that before you hire someone to work on the freon. It might help. If you have multiple return air grilles to your AC unit, check to make sure they don't have filters on them that could be plugged up. You should have a strainer inline between the thru hull intake and the pump. If not get one put in. They are cheap and will keep gunk out of your pump and your heat exchanger coil in the AC unit. It is basically a plastic container with a screen inside it to catch whatever gets sucked in out of the lake.