Cruisair heat no raw water

Hi all.
So I have a head scratcher. My cruisair works fine in ac mode and blows warm in heat mode but does not turn the water pump on. To be clear, when the compressor kicks in on ac mode the water pump comes on. In heat mode the water pump is not coming on. In the manual, it states that the thermostat does not control the water pump but that the compressor does. It also states that the heat works off raw water. My question is if the water pump gets turned on by the compressor, then how does it get turned on in heat mode? And how do I get in on besides unplugging it from the compressor and plugging it into a regular onboard electrical outlet?
Thanks in advance

Here is the bit from the manual.

Does the compressor turn on in heat mode? If not then you are likely making heat with resistance electric.

The compressor does not turn on in heat mode. Good thought but the manual specifically states that it is a reverse cycle heat pump that gets its heat from seawater.

Without the cooling pump working, do you get a fault code and shut down?

jsplichal2 said:

The compressor does not turn on in heat mode. Good thought but the manual specifically states that it is a reverse cycle heat pump that gets its heat from seawater.

Click to expand...

How do you plan to extract heat from seawater without the compressor?

All any air conditioner does is take BTUs from one place and put them in another place. To make a heat pump work, it takes heat from the sea water and puts it in the boat, otherwise known as reverse cycle A/C.

I think you must have a resistive-heat version. Wrong model number or mis-printed manual, maybe?

One way to check would be to look at your AC ammeter and see if you are pulling big(ger) amps when heating. Resistive heating would be 1500W or so, I would think.....

I had it on for about ten minutes with no issues. Then decided to plug the water pump into the wall outlet. Still no compressor kicking on but warm air is coming out. Any chance it has back up resistance heat like a home heat pump and is just using that since the compressor isn't coming on?

Your thermostat control should have a setting that allows you to choose resistance heat if you have it. Here is a screen shot of mine. See P-15.

When turning the thermostat up, I do get two clicks if that tells anything. First click nothing happens and then the second click the heat turns on. Exact opposite turning it down. First click heat turns off and second click does nothing.

This is all I have. Very old school.

boathealer said:

I think you must have a resistive-heat version. Wrong model number or mis-printed manual, maybe?

Click to expand...

Or maybe an add-on sometimes later?

jsplichal2 said:

Any chance it has back up resistance heat like a home heat pump and is just using that since the compressor isn't coming on?

Click to expand...

jsplichal2 said:

When turning the thermostat up, I do get two clicks if that tells anything. First click nothing happens and then the second click the heat turns on. Exact opposite turning it down. First click heat turns off and second click does nothing.

Click to expand...

jsplichal2 said:

This is all I have. Very old school.

Click to expand...

Could be first click is supposed to turn on the compressor, but it's not working? Second click activates resistance heating?

Is it really a Cruisair system? Our MarineAirrrr (now Dometic) has the label clearly on the thermostat. Would have thought yours would say Cruisaire someplace conspicuous...

-Chris

New plan. Go with the assumption it has back up resistance heat that is working and a reverse cycle that isn't. As long as the compressor isn't kicking on, not worry about the water pump not working. Use it as little as possible until I can have someone who knows more than me take a look. Thanks for all the responses. I am now much more knowledgeable about marine ac systems than I was two hours ago.

ranger42c said:

Or maybe an add-on sometimes later?








Could be first click is supposed to turn on the compressor, but it's not working? Second click activates resistance heating?

Is it really a Cruisair system? Our MarineAirrrr (now Dometic) has the label clearly on the thermostat. Would have thought yours would say Cruisaire someplace conspicuous...

-Chris

Click to expand...

Old boat. Who knows. I don't see anything clearly printed on any of the hardware pieces. There are a few component pieces with labeling I'm going to try to look up for any hints.

jsplichal2 said:

Old boat. Who knows. I don't see anything clearly printed on any of the hardware pieces. There are a few component pieces with labeling I'm going to try to look up for any hints.

Click to expand...

Maybe try Googling "Yacht Air Corp Pompano Beach" and "Comfort System" and so forth, too...

-Chris

ranger42c said:

Maybe try Googling "Yacht Air Corp Pompano Beach" and "Comfort System" and so forth, too...

-Chris

Click to expand...

Thanks. I spent a couple hours trying that shortly after buying the boat. I didn't find anything other than some dead ends. New to boat ownership though so if anyone knows anything about the company let me know.

Look for a "reversing valve" in the refrigerant piping. This switches a reverse cycle system from heat to cool. If there is no such valve, you may have a "cool only" unit that uses electric heat. Some RV units that houseboats use work this way. This is particularly common on boats/RV's marketed in warmer climates. Could you post an image of the unit?

Daniel

Getting ready to leave the boat so this will be an item for another day. Here is a pic though.

Dang thing posted upside down. Sorry but I don't know how to fix that.

Did look real quick before leaving. I'm only about 90% sure what a reversing valve looks like but I'm pretty sure I don't have one.

Your photo post # 11 shows a Yacht Air, Pompano Beach control panel. I have Yacht Air air conditioning / heating on my boat, two, 1600BTU units, similar panel. They use heat strips for heating. It has been a while since I have used the heat function and I don't remember if the water pump or compressor would run while it was in heat mode. I can give it a try during the week and let you know. Yacht Air seems to have ceased operation a few years ago, a pity because I had called when I bought the boat in 2008 and they were very helpful. I do have an owners manual for the Yacht Air units on my boat when you have time check your units, the green one you pictured, see if they have a Yacht Air Label on them and what model & size. If so I can send you a copy of my manual.

The tags on my units.

That is incredible news. I just figured boat was like house in that you could have any brand name thermostat and it didn't really affect the system. Clearly not and I can now just ignore that cruisair manual I have. I'm pretty sure I don't have any plates to reference but I should be able to take a thorough look tomorrow. I'm not really sure what strip air is (other than the obvious sounding name) but I'm pretty sure I don't have that. Heat comes out of the vents from the cooling unit just as it would for a reverse cycle system. I am now assuming resistance heat. Thanks for the reply. Really helpful.

jsplichal2 said:

I just figured boat was like house in that you could have any brand name thermostat and it didn't really affect the system.

Click to expand...

Apparently can't even count on being able to do that anymore.

We had new AC/heat pumps installed at home in 2016, and both needed new thermostats. The third semi-annual service call happened last Thursday, and this tech (finally) noticed they had installed an incorrect thermostat on one of the systems; said it wouldn't effectively control that particular heat pump in extra cold or extra hot weather.

New thermostat installed (at least, no charge for that). Now we're back to having two different thermostats, one for each of the two different heat pumps.

-Chris

Here are a couple more pictures of my system. The compressor units are made by Copeland, they look quite similar to yours, same for the Temp/fan speed controller. I went over to my boat today and ran the heat function it worked fine and no water was circulating through the unit.
Maybe Copeland supplied compressors to Yacht Air and Cruiseair. Maybe you have a Yachtair system but a previous owner had a Cruise air manual on board.
The blue stickers were put on the units when an A/C tech replaced the 22 freon with DuPont MO99 last year.

That does look like them but yours are in much better shape. Mine are missing the cover panels with the nameplates unfortunately. If you have an electronic copy of the manual I would love to have it. If not please don't go to all of the trouble of scanning it. I'm just happy to at least know what I'm dealing with.

Well Christmas miracles sometimes come early. I found the cover plate loose in a corner of the engine room. Looks like the same model as one of yours.
R16CHW
I don't suppose you have found any place that supplies parts? My rear unit burned up the switch plate. Or does Copeland make compatible fan/heat/air switch units?

I have a the Yacht Air Manual which on 7 pages scanned and ready to send to you. I will send a private message with my email address to your profile page, you can send me your email address and I will forward the file to you.

Bam

We bought trawler with 12-14 yr old package ac heat ....tested them for load and output and concluded best to retire gjem so replaced entirely ...New are great quiet efficient less Amps that was best in long run. Don't want nurse problems and old equipt.