Stupid A/C Winterizing Mistake

[Beekeepergreg]

I went to flush my A/C system with fresh water before flushing with antifreeze.
I put a funnel in the strainer with the seacock closed and a rag to seal around the opening. In doing that I lost my prime. I thought I was having problem with re-priming the pump. When I realized what happened it was too late. I usually put an pump on the hose and have a positive pressure to the A/C pump.

For those of you that haven't figured out my mistake.....I had my A/C on HEAT.. thus the heat exchanger was an evaporator...I froze my heat exchanger...Instead of not priming, I was freezing the water going thru the exchanger...no flow.

Moral of the story... put the A/C unit in Cooling and if something works don't take shortcuts.

Hopefully the new A/C unit will be quieter and my wife will be happier and not mind me spending $1,300 on a stupid mistake.

 

[Comodave]

Ouch! That is too bad but your new A/C will be much quieter most likely. Imset a 5 gallon bucket on the deck above the strainer and put a garden hose adapter on the strainer. Turn on the A/C pump and it it over quickly. I don’t turn on the actual A/C unit just the pump.

 

[Cigatoo]

I don’t understand? Water circulates regardless of set on ac or heat, correct?

 

[Beekeepergreg]

Charlie,
I had very little flow and the water in the coils froze. If I was in A/C mode the little water would have boiled and not ruptured the coils.

 

[Cigatoo]

Charlie,
I had very little flow and the water in the coils froze. If I was in A/C mode the little water would have boiled and not ruptured the coils.

Thanks Greg.

 

[Chrisjs]

I do not remember exactly how I used to winterize the AC/heat system. What I do remember is that I did it with the boat in the water (needed 220V from pedestal) and I simply flushed with non-toxic antifreeze poured into the AC seawater strainer until outlets showed pink flow into the sea. The only thing that got winterized on the hard was the main engine (for obvious reasons). That got a few gallons of antifreeze fed through the inlet strainer with the engine running for a couple of minutes, till pink came out the exhaust. I figured there was no need to flush with freshwater. All systems were designed for salt water and the antifreeze was the flush.

 

[Ski in NC]

Gad, I've froze both my units several times over the years, luckily no apparent damage.

Did the freeze really breach the cooler tubing? Lost refrigerant? It takes more than you think to thaw out, are you sure it was fully thawed?

 

[Cigatoo]

Gad, I've froze both my units several times over the years, luckily no apparent damage.

Did the freeze really breach the cooler tubing? Lost refrigerant? It takes more than you think to thaw out, are you sure it was fully thawed?

Thanks for that thought. I think I froze mine as no antifreeze would circulate. 15 minutes later I had circulation. If things froze and caused damage would I lose water or Freon? Both units were in heat mode when I started to winterize.

 

[Ski in NC]

If you have water flow, it is thawed well enough. Try running it in heat mode and see if it works. Check for water leaks. If water is flowing and it is making heat, refrigerant is not lost and it survived.

Freeze-ups are common on these things. I think they designed the HX's to handle it, at least a few times.

 

[Cigatoo]

If you have water flow, it is thawed well enough. Try running it in heat mode and see if it works. Check for water leaks. If water is flowing and it is making heat, refrigerant is not lost and it survived.

Freeze-ups are common on these things. I think they designed the HX's to handle it, at least a few times.

Thanks Ski. I had water flow. It’s on the hard now. Got plenty of AF through the system. Springtime job now.

 

[Beekeepergreg]

For my freeze, I tried to run but tripped a GFI. It wasn't the same GFI that I was using when I froze. Next time down, I will bring a meter and check. If there is a freon port that is easy to open, I will check for pressure.
I didn't notice any oil which is encouraging.
Maybe I lucked out.