replacing salon a/c mainship 34 2006

[keith c]

The 16000 btu unit in salon is on its last legs. Does anyone have experience in the job of replacing the unit? I have taken out the" screw in" floor around the opening and it looks like the a/c pan drains directly into the sealed fiberglass box which has a drain hose to the outside. Thanks for any helpful info!

 

[Duetto]

hi,

we don't have a 34 trawler but we do have a 34 pilot. i replaced a/c on that 2 years ago. i assume it is a cruise air or the like and you'll be replacing with dometic or webasto. conceptually it's simple: 1) disconnect and label/make a chart of all the wires going into control box. 2) disconnect the hoses...usually 3 -water in and out and drain 3) disconnect the a/c ducting. if you have the same replacement unit or similar then you just reverse the steps. if the wires/hoses/ducting don't line up, then it becomes a project to make them. so take pictures of the existing unit and see if you can go online and make close to a match. if you find one buy it.

 

[keith c]

Thanks, Duetto. Which brand and size unit did you use?

 

[Duetto]

our pilot came with a 12k btu cruisair. dometic no longer offered a 12k thru defender so i TRIED to replace it with a dometic 16k that they claim works for 12 or 16k. most of the time it probably does but not on our pilot. iced up constantly, so we took it to florida and swapped out the 16k on our other boat. back to the pilot, we went with a 10k from flow, a florida ac shop and it works perfectly.

i learned more than i ever wanted to know about in and out flows and duct sizes. that's why i'd try to match what you have.

 

[Bacchus]

I havent replaced any but can say it seems our salon / saloon AC in our '08 MS 34HT is undersized. I run the fwd cabin unit w a fan blowing into the saloon when it's hot and the combo does fairly well.

 

[Swa]

I thought I might have more fun with the money I would have paid the ac guy and exchanged our unit myself. Measure the area and be sure the unit will fit. I went with a Dometic 16k (works great)There are many you tube videos you can refer for help. There are also many sources on the net to purchase at a discount. It took me most of the day to R&R along with new duct work etc. 3 hoses. 2 sets of wires. Its really not difficult unless its a hot day.