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 Post subject: New A/C Installation
PostPosted: 28 Oct 2018 20:12 
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Tactictian

Joined: 20 Nov 2014 16:20
Posts: 106
Location: Great South Bay, Long Island NY
Hi All,
Broke down and cleared out Starboard Vee Berth Locker and installed Dometic 12,000 BTU A/C-Heat, March 8.5 GPM cond pump, and Perko 3/4" basket strainer. Nuts and bolts of job wasnt bad, engineering everything to fit was time consuming, made cardboard template of base and mock up of unit to insure fit. Used West System Six-10 epoxy to install support rail for A/C Base to inside of hull and made seperate mount also epoxied to hull. With the exception of the pump mount, and support rail on hull, everything else is removable, just in case. I also have a 2' through hull in the same compartment to pump my holding tank out if offshore. West System Six-10 my new favorite epoxy, just use the better caulking gun, stuff doesn't sag, have done some minor fairing with it...great stuff.

Kept it simple and installed Supply and Return Registers in Vee Berth cabinetry. Supply Register is 12 x 6 facing down centerline of boat, Return Register is 14 x 10 and is on the inside vee berth cut out. We sleep in the main salon in the summer mostly, so this should work fine. Hated drilling holes in a perfectly good boat, but worth it to stay cool at the dock next season. Brutal summer in the Northeast 2018..would have killed for A/C, had three mold blooms, with fans running and 4 cowl vents, humidity and heat never quit.

All through hulls in same compartment, bottom of hull was about 1" thick solid fiberglass, side condenser discharge about 3/8" thick solid fiberglass about 5" above the waterline.

Also needed new shore power panel, Installed Blue Seas Panel 30 amp main and 6 breakers, I have one spare breaker left.

Not able to test until next season 2019, waited for fall haul out to install through hulls. Will post update when tested, keeping fingers crossed for now...

Todd
S/V Bleu Moon
Hull #439


Attachments:
File comment: Supply and Return Registers
20180919_124912_resized.jpg
20180919_124912_resized.jpg [ 1.49 MB | Viewed 0 times ]
File comment: Perko Strainer
20181021_143903_resized.jpg
20181021_143903_resized.jpg [ 1015.73 KB | Viewed 0 times ]
File comment: Completed A/C Install
20181028_181025_resized.jpg
20181028_181025_resized.jpg [ 1.35 MB | Viewed 0 times ]
File comment: New Blue Seas Panel
20180908_163841_Burst01_resized.jpg
20180908_163841_Burst01_resized.jpg [ 2.32 MB | Viewed 0 times ]

_________________
Todd McCarthy
S/V Bleu Moon
Hull #439
 
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 Post subject: Re: New A/C Installation
PostPosted: 28 Oct 2018 20:17 
Offline
Tactictian

Joined: 20 Nov 2014 16:20
Posts: 106
Location: Great South Bay, Long Island NY
Picture of Strainer was before I had all hoses clamped.
I also installed switch guards on individual breaker switches on Shore Power Panel.

_________________
Todd McCarthy
S/V Bleu Moon
Hull #439


 
 Profile Email  
 
 Post subject: Re: New A/C Installation
PostPosted: 24 Nov 2019 19:33 
Offline
Tactictian

Joined: 20 Nov 2014 16:20
Posts: 106
Location: Great South Bay, Long Island NY
Update on A/C Installation. We had a pretty comfortable summer on Long Island this year. There were some hot periods though, the A/C worked great, 12,000 BTU Turbo unit was plenty, you could hang meat in the cabin. I have a dark flag blue hull which heats up the boat, so I used radiant floor heating insulation R-6 in all the interior hull spaces I could access in the cabin. I did that a few years ago. I installed it with velcro tabs to the hull sides. I buy the 2" roll at HD. If it's good enough for the astronauts, it's good enough for me, lol. I did have a few bugs to work out, Rick at Marine A/C Supply, Cape Canaveral, Florida who I bought the unit from, was very responsive helping me with troubleshooting issues. He always called me right back, cannot say enough about his customer service. One issue was short cycling, then tripping breaker on restart, that was a safety feature. Sometimes at my dock I was running the unit with the Companionway open, the unit could not satisfy temp and cycled off because it thought it was frosting on t hff e evap coil, so it was going into a defrost mode. We switched that off, I also slowed fan speed to 45% at its slowest speed. I used adjustable supply grille which helped direct air flow. Thermostat is located in the vee berth area nearer to the Return as Rick reccomended, this also worked out well. Boat temp very even and comfortable. Unit is quiet, Supply airflow is a bit noisy, but for the comfort it provides it's worth it. Happy wife, happy life ! I had slept in the vee berth a few times with my head to the bow, I was living like a king !

_________________
Todd McCarthy
S/V Bleu Moon
Hull #439


 
 Profile Email  
 
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