Looking for A/C recommendations

[TWedd]

I'm need to replace an A/C on a neighbors boat. Any thoughts on the different brands? Looks like Dometic has bought several of the older names. Does anyone have experience with Marinaire out of Miami? Looks like a nice unit from a smaller company. Is it a quality unit??

 

[ranger58sb]

We had Marine Airrrrr Vector Compact 16K BTU units original to the boat.

I replaced those recently with Dometic DTU16s, so far, pleased. After their introduction but before Dometic acquired Marine Airrrr, the units were called Vector Turbo.

Actually, our originals were still working, but... I thought to replace early just in case, and wanted to get quieter units, better airflow, and better drip pans.

-Chris

 

[FF]

You might consider Mitsubishi Mini Split , it replaces everything and is very quiet.


No pulling jelly fish out of the water intake, at midnight.


No running out of interior heat in cold water.

 

[caltexflanc]

Marinaire is a Chinese knock-off, right down to the slightly altered name. That aside, no direct experience, only OK "reviews"on boating forums. If you are going to cruise your boat, far and wide, I'd personally prefer an established brand with a widespread network of techs and parts to support it.... starting at your home base, of course.

We have had mini-splits at homes, and been on small ferries, and found them noisy outside, taking up a fair amount of real estate on deck. Some of the larger associated interior units can be quite noisy as well. There's a reason you rarely see them on recreational craft.

 

[Dixie Life]

I installed several Marine Airrr units in my boat. The company, before Dometic bought them, were great to work with. Customer service with Dometic is a joke. But, the DTU equipment is still the same as before(so far); very good quality.

 

[Turtle Blues]

Saw one on the bench last week, less than 2 years old with a bad coil. Can't say that has any statistical significance, yes they are Chinese but manufactured parts sometimes fail and the replacement was readily available at reasonable cost. Like the oil filled gauges, not sure you need to be constantly monitoring system pressures just nice to see instantly. Insulation and housing seemed adequate.

 

[Wayfarer]

I've been thinking about posting the same question. I don't have AC, and have been trying to train myself to not need it. I've survived, but I could have sweated through a Maid of the Mist poncho on more than a few occasions. I think I'm going to have to spring for it soon.

 

[rgano]

I got a 10KBtu Dometic DTU unit to replace an old rotted out Dometic 7KBTU unit. Great unit with lots of copper instead of AL.

 

[tozz]

I'm need to replace an A/C on a neighbors boat. Any thoughts on the different brands? Looks like Dometic has bought several of the older names. Does anyone have experience with Marinaire out of Miami? Looks like a nice unit from a smaller company. Is it a quality unit??

We installed an Ocean Breeze last year (Ocean Breeze AC). We got the unit with the reversing valve so we could use the heat as backup to our diesel heat in the winter. Good support so far but we are still working out some bugs with the installation. The AC works good but we have had the coil freeze up on really hot/humid days and also when we tested the heat setting this spring it would run for a couple of minutes but then shut down and continue to cycle on and off. Support said the water might be too cold but we told them that many many boats are running reverse cycle units in the PNW and in this marina without issues with the water temps. Ultimately I don't think either the freezing or the heat problem are issues with the unit but rather with the settings or install.

 

[Enyar]

You might consider Mitsubishi Mini Split , it replaces everything and is very quiet.


No pulling jelly fish out of the water intake, at midnight.


No running out of interior heat in cold water.

Could the compressor be mounted in the engine room?

 

[Comodave]

Could the compressor be mounted in the engine room?

I would not mount an air cooled compressor in the engine room, not nearly enough air flow to get rid of the heat. A water cooled compressor is another story.

 

[BrisHamish]

Another vote here for the Dometic products. Cost a bit more, but good quality and support everywhere.

I am in a similar position to Chris/ranger42c - I upgraded our older MarineAirrrrr to the newer Dometic versions and have been v pleased with performance.

Hamish.