Shoalwaters
Guru
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2008
- Messages
- 681
- Location
- St. Lucia, West Indies
- Vessel Name
- "Dragon Lady"
- Vessel Make
- DeFever 41
Here's the problem and the solution:
A while ago I installed a Pioneer Mariner a/c unit to cool my boat's saloon. After running for half an hour or so, fresh water would start to seep out from beneath the front edge of the drip-tray. This would continue for as long as the unit was running. At first glance, it looked like leakage from drip-tray drains/hoses or possibly from locations where components are thru-bolted to the tray. Wrong!
Inspection, with twisted neck and mirror on stick, showed that the water was accumulating outside the tray at the back of the unit where the evaporator is located. The water was then seeping under the tray to the front edge where I noticed it. The culprit turned out to be the way in which the unit is made. The evaporator is fastened to the back of the drip-tray. When the evaporator gets cold, so does the back of the tray and moisture condenses on the inside and outside faces - inside is fine, the outside was causing the problem. The solution was to stick two layers of foam tape on the back outside face of the tray. It still gets just as cold, but the moist air no longer comes in contact with the cold surface, so no condensation.
If I was replacing a/c's again, I would look for the following specs:
1. Recommended by forum members - if in doubt buy Cruisair
2. Internals supported from bottom of tray, not sides
3. Supports welded to tray not thru-bolted
4. Footprint of internals smaller than tray so all drips are caught
5. Hooked straps for hold-downs, not tubes tack-welded in the corners
A while ago I installed a Pioneer Mariner a/c unit to cool my boat's saloon. After running for half an hour or so, fresh water would start to seep out from beneath the front edge of the drip-tray. This would continue for as long as the unit was running. At first glance, it looked like leakage from drip-tray drains/hoses or possibly from locations where components are thru-bolted to the tray. Wrong!
Inspection, with twisted neck and mirror on stick, showed that the water was accumulating outside the tray at the back of the unit where the evaporator is located. The water was then seeping under the tray to the front edge where I noticed it. The culprit turned out to be the way in which the unit is made. The evaporator is fastened to the back of the drip-tray. When the evaporator gets cold, so does the back of the tray and moisture condenses on the inside and outside faces - inside is fine, the outside was causing the problem. The solution was to stick two layers of foam tape on the back outside face of the tray. It still gets just as cold, but the moist air no longer comes in contact with the cold surface, so no condensation.
If I was replacing a/c's again, I would look for the following specs:
1. Recommended by forum members - if in doubt buy Cruisair
2. Internals supported from bottom of tray, not sides
3. Supports welded to tray not thru-bolted
4. Footprint of internals smaller than tray so all drips are caught
5. Hooked straps for hold-downs, not tubes tack-welded in the corners
