AC when away from the boat

[kimoshatt]

We had several 42' to 54' boats that we left in the water for 6 months in Fl for the summer while we were in MI. We had small oscillating fans in each room and Davis/West Marine air dryers on the floors of the rooms. We opened closets, Heads and cupboards. It was hot but we never had mold. Put fans on tables and air dryers on the floor.

 

[Mambo42]

I’ve been thinking about doing this but have not seen it done before. Is this basically tennis court fence screening material?

It is not a tennis screen fence material, the holes are about 2 mm in diameter, bit like the one way stickers you can buy for advertisement.
Pity am not on the boat at this moment, could take a picture of it, but it definitely does do the job.

 

[Mambo42]

Possibly phifertex which is commonly used for vessel exterior window shades.

Blocks out varying amounts of sunlight depending on which fabric and resembles a dense screen.

Could very well be, I found it on the boat after I bought her, but it sure does do the job. As soon as I am back on board (1.5 months) I can take a picture and post it.

 

[Yachtman]

[QUOTE=.

I have a big home style dehumidifier that runs when I’m away. It is in the shower and drains into the shower sump. It keeps the humidity down really well, but it also puts out additional heat.


Do you work that your shower sump stops working and the ac unit overflows into your bilge. Maybe drain it straight overboard?

 

[cardude01]

I don’t think that dehumidifier puts out enough water to overcome the bilge pump. Maybe a gallon or so a day.

 

[JRO]

I don’t think that dehumidifier puts out enough water to overcome the bilge pump. Maybe a gallon or so a day.

If your boat doesn’t look like a “Fire Boat” when all bilge pumps are pumping… You may need to rethink why you are replacing your Rule float switches every few months. Your bilge pump capability is your lifeline.

 

[JRO]

No. Nothing running. This was when I first arrived at the boat.

After more investigation I think my sensor on the AC control panel was incorrect. After running for hours the inside temp would not get under 90 according to the panel, but I know it was not that hot inside. The other AC panel showed 80. Anyway, that caused the one AC unit to freeze up from too much running and not enough air flow over the condenser I found out.

I recalibrated the sensor on the panel and increased the air flow to the unit so testing it now.

You need to clean the barnacles and other marine growth out of your heat exchanging hoses. Look at the flow… it’s low.

 

[Nepidae]

I see that there is a lot of input on this topic so I'm not going to check & see if anyone else suggests what I'm about to say.

Our boat has an older small A/C and we don't have a generator. We do have 600Ah of battery and 660W of Xantrex solar panels. But no soft start to use the A/C. So, running the A/C is not an option.

We also have a boat designed properly with a hatch on the fwd deckhouse over the V-berth and another aft on the sundeck over the aft MSR. After buying our boat I put truck sun reflector panels in the 3 fwd windows at the end of the deckhouse. You might be able to see what I am mentioning in my profile picture. IF NOT PM me.

To finish setting the stage we usually are on our boat doing the Loop from May/June to October/November and then put the boat up for the winter. This yr we are in FL sitting out hurricane season.

I don't think, per se that the heat is an issue but if you allow it to excape then it will be less of an issue. Most dog their boats down so no air can move and then compensate with humidifiers and A/C. Then further compensate with high water alarms and other alarms to keep an eye on the items that have been added.

We bought our boat in '10 and for the first 6yrs cruised the Chesapeake where she would be closed up for the work week.

We have never had mold or mildew and we don't run the A/C while we are away.

This winter we are in FL west of Okeechobee with no dock power available (old FL marina).

What I have done is install solar exhaust fans on the 2 hatches. Like these (https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|6880|2290139|2290144&id=3857882).

All you need to do is to keep air moving.

As said, I also added truck windshield sun reflectors in the 3 fwd windows can be obtained from Walmart, to keep the beating sun from getting into the boat.

We also have homemade hanging curtains that deflect the sun on all of the boat windows.

I have one of the solar fans pulling the air in and the other, pushing it out. I've even had the fans stop due to age or amount of sun available, yet the air circulation continues to work. It doesn't take much.

We're on 12yrs with our boat and never had mold or mildew.

Thought I'd throw our success out for others to know.

 

[cardude01]

To follow up, I installed a MarCell cell-base sensor on the boat since there is no WiFi at this dock. It tracks heat and humidity on the boat. So far the heat has remained around 85 degrees and humidity in the 50s running my big house style dehumidifier. So that all seems good.



I am going to attach a high water sensor to it here in the next few days also.

 

[nobles9596]

I installed the Mitsubishi split units. They use a lot less power, no drains to clean and it is almost completely silent, inside and out. You see more and more boats around the world going to this. The dealer put a 10 year warranty on it so have no worries.

 

[cardude01]

I installed the Mitsubishi split units. They use a lot less power, no drains to clean and it is almost completely silent, inside and out. You see more and more boats around the world going to this. The dealer put a 10 year warranty on it so have no worries.

Very cool. Did you install the compressor on the flybridge?

Where did you mount the inside unit?

 

[Group9]

I installed the Mitsubishi split units. They use a lot less power, no drains to clean and it is almost completely silent, inside and out. You see more and more boats around the world going to this. The dealer put a 10 year warranty on it so have no worries.

We installed the Pioneer mini-splits a year ago. Two 12,000 BTU units with the compressors hidden on the fly bridge. The inside units in the salon and main cabin. 42 foot motor yacht. Our boat has never been cooler and we leave them on all the time with no worries about a split hose sinking the boat.

 

[CharlieO.]

I installed the Mitsubishi split units. They use a lot less power, no drains to clean and it is almost completely silent, inside and out. You see more and more boats around the world going to this. The dealer put a 10 year warranty on it so have no worries.

Nobles, I'd be interested in learning more about your set up. We've got the same boat but wasn't sure where I'd mount the components.