Mermaid AC goes out

[Keith]

Well, my 10 year old Mermaid 16.5k got a leak in the heat exchanger. Decided that rather than try to repair it, I called to order a new one. List price about $2300, but since I'm replacing one of theirs, they applied a $500 credit. In other words, if you decide to buy a Mermaid, you should ALWAYS be replacing one of theirs!

That's the good news. Bad news is that they are out of stock right now for est. two weeks, waiting on a shipment of condensers. Oh well, at least I have one big unit and the portable one running.

 

[Tony B]

I have a Mermaid now and had them on other boats. They are great people to deal with. We have minor things happen when I'm not around and so the Admiral calls them up and they walk her through it over the phone. She learned where the reset button is and now she thinks she is an A/C mechanic.
I highly recommend their Condensator. It sucks the condensated water out of the air conditioner's pan and sends it overboard with the discharge water. Keeps your bilge nice and dry. Kinda pricey for what you are getting, but well worth it.

 

[psneeld]

I have a Mermaid now and had them on other boats. They are great people to deal with. We have minor things happen when I'm not around and so the Admiral calls them up and they walk her through it over the phone. She learned where the reset button is and now she thinks she is an A/C mechanic.
I highly recommend their Condensator. It sucks the condensated water out of the air conditioner's pan and sends it overboard with the discharge water. Keeps your bilge nice and dry. Kinda pricey for what you are getting, but well worth it.

Most boats just plumb it into a shower sump or a sump that takes care of it and a few other things that need draining occasionally.

 

[Tony B]

Most boats just plumb it into a shower sump or a sump that takes care of it and a few other things that need draining occasionally.

My sailboat has several small bilge areas and my AC unit is up forward, so the water goes into the bilge up there. It collects between 3.5 and 5 gals per day in the Galveston Bay area. My sailboat also has waterless packing glands or whatever they are called and we use the Marina showers when at the dock. Therefore, my bilge is always bone dry. So in my case, it was worth the $140.
If I see water in the bilge, generally something is wrong. About the only water that should get in there is after a hard rain, whatever gets into the anchor locker drains into the bilges.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

We are thinking hard about AC. Sounds like you are happy with it, yes? Is the 16,500 cooling your entire boat or do you have mutliple units?

 

[Tony B]

The 39' sailboat has only one unit (16K). In the Hot, Hot, Houston weather, it fights the summer all day long. Barely keeping the boat down to about 72.
On the Mainship, there is 2 and most people with the Aft Cabin have 2 Units. Usually a 16K for the Main Salon and the aft Cabin (master suite) and a smaller one for the Galley and the V-Berth area.

 

[Keith]

On my Krogen 42 I have two 16.5 units plus a little portable one and that isn't enough in the Houston weather. I could use three 16.5 units but there isn't any room for the third one. The one he recharged has quit again so I'm down to the portable unit blowing directly on me. It's tolerable with a fan as well, but the cabin is getting 82+ in the day.

 

[rwidman]

......I highly recommend their Condensator. It sucks the condensated water out of the air conditioner's pan and sends it overboard with the discharge water. Keeps your bilge nice and dry. Kinda pricey for what you are getting, but well worth it.

Most boats just plumb it into a shower sump or a sump that takes care of it and a few other things that need draining occasionally.

My AC unit is above the waterline and the condensate drains by gravity. It's a good system.

My 16K BTU unit has a hard time cooling the boat. I suspect all that glass is a major reason. The side and rear glass is tinted but not the front glass.

A dock neighbor has a window tinting business and he told me about a window film that blocks heat but does not reduce visibility at all. I'm trying to get him to give me a price but he said it is very expensive.

My feeling is that it can't be more expensive than upsizing the AC unit and the boat's electrical wiring.

 

[JAT]

We are thinking hard about AC. Sounds like you are happy with it, yes? Is the 16,500 cooling your entire boat or do you have mutliple units?

If I may...I'll put in my 2 cents: When we had our Morgan 33 OI, we had one Mermaid 16.5 on her. She kept her cool in the FL summers, and warm in the winters even when it got nippy.

Now on our Gulfstar 44, we have one Mermaid 16.5, and two 5's. The 16.5 cools the salon and galley, one of the 5's does the aftcabin, and the other does the forward v-berth and head.

Depending on your boat's layout... you might need two units.

On our Gulfstar there was virtually no realistic way to have the 16.5 configured to cool the aft cabin...so it has its own 5kBTU, the same issue applied to the v-berth and forward head.... But I do think if we tried to cool the entire boat with one 16.5....the unit would be overworked.

 

[Forkliftt]

We have two 16.5 units on our Sundeck on the Gulf Coast, one unit is very old but still hasn't died and does what it should. I put the reflective bubble foil from HD in the front three saloon windows/ hatches and if everything is clean we can stay fairly comfortable. The boat was commissioned in the North East and it appears the original set up was one split unit for the aft cabin and saloon. The self contained unit in the front cabin is under the bunk and the supply air runs were terrible. I have taken a lot of the curves out but there is still much that could be improved. I feel that with new units and proper front duct work I could keep the boat comfortable in this subtropical climate.

 

[Keith]

When I first got my boat, there were Textilene window covers for the pilothouse windows, but even with them in place it acted like a greenhouse. I got three sheets of that foam/foil house sheathing at Home Depot and cut panels out to put in the windows, foil out. What a difference! The foil reflects sun and heat, and the foam insulates the windows. Temp inside is now ambient with AC, but would be 130 on the window frames if uncovered. One of the best additions ever. I have the darkest limo tint available in all the saloon windows.