AC condensate drain to bilge ?

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cardude01

cardude01

Guru
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
5,290
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Bijou
Vessel Make
2008 Island Packet PY/SP
My AC drains to the bilge, and as a result I always have a wet bilge. The bilge pump is not able to suck all the water out for some reason. It turns on and gets almost all of it out, but then when it turns back off some of the water drains back into the bilge.

Anyway, I would like to run the AC drain lines to my existing shower sump pump, but the run is up hill.

Is there some kind of a booster pump I could hook into the AC drain line that would send it to the shower sump, or do I need another sump pump in the bilge to get it up to the shower sump? There is very little room to mount another shower type sump, but I suppose it could be done.

ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1444840025.238547.jpg
 
Just buy another shower sump pump kit in a box, and drain it to the outside of the boat. You could also send it to the shower sump, but that would make it dependent on 2 pumps. The shower sump would be more likely to clog than the condensate pump.
 
Last edited:
Bill, if it is a self contained unit with no separate air handler the condensator drain should work. My Blackfin has that arrangement. My Sabre has 4 remote air handlers that drain to a sump to be pumped over board through the head sink drain.
 
Our Cruise Air units have had the venturis since 2004. Work great. They don't look quite the same as the ones in the Mermaid ad....maybe they are available elsewhere for lower cost. One thing about them is if the tray gets rusty the condensate will leave a rust stain on the side of the boat where the raw water discharges. I solved the problem with a very thin wall plastic extension tube stuck into the through hull (duh).
 
As it usually goes, while I was working on my AC drain project something else decided to quit working. The AC control unit flashed HPF, which usually means my strainer is clogged.

When I closed the crappy ball valve on the substandard through hull setup it felt a little funny I thought. I check the strainer and there were some jellyfish at the bottom but not many. Cleaned the basket, reinstalled, same thing. HPF.

This time I unscrewed the strainer top and opened the crappy ball valve, and no water came out. Nothing. So figuring something was clogging the through hull, I attached my trusty shop vac to the hose and attempted to blow back through the crappy ball valve, but got nothing. Just solid pressure. Valve is open (or shows to be anyway).

Could the ball valve have failed closed? The handle moves but nothing happens. Or do I just have one bad ass jelly fish in there? ?

Here is the ball valve. I know I need to replace it with a proper seacock but would like to get the AC going again.

View attachment 45459
 
Maybe this will make you feel better about your set up .It's kinda redneck but it doesn't clog .
 

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Pack Mule said:
Maybe this will make you feel better about your set up .It's kinda redneck but it doesn't clog .
Click to expand...


I'm pretty redneck myself so I like those. I don't trust these water-circulating marine units.
 
BerettaRacer said:
Damn, $200 bucks?? They must be pretty proud of that little gizmo, lol.
Click to expand...

Capt.Bill11 said:
Yeah, if you're reasonably hand you could cobble one up yourself.
Click to expand...

Yeah! I bought a venturi off Ebay for <$10 shipped., Do a search, pick the fitting size you want, add some clear tubing between the drain and the Venturi, and plumb it into your cooling line....It's a $15 solution..

Why add pumps, drains, complexity and $$$ when a simple and cheap solution is out there..

20151014_162857-vi.jpg
 
Last edited:
Heron said:
Yeah! I bought a venturi off Ebay for <$10 shipped., Do a search, pick the fitting size you want, add some clear tubing between the drain and the Venturi, and plumb it into your cooling line....It's a $15 solution..

Why add pumps, drains, complexity and $$$ when a simple and cheap solution is out there..

20151014_162857-vi.jpg
Click to expand...


Awesome. Thanks y'all.
 
So this thing will just hook into the AC raw water discharge line?
 
Heron said:
Yeah! I bought a venturi off Ebay for <$10 shipped., Do a search, pick the fitting size you want, add some clear tubing between the drain and the Venturi, and plumb it into your cooling line....It's a $15 solution..

Why add pumps, drains, complexity and $$$ when a simple and cheap solution is out there..

20151014_162857-vi.jpg
Click to expand...


Looks like an item available on Amazon for even less. One question I'd have is whether it's self priming
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009YUIHW...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7ygjohr955_b
 
I don't like the idea of water flowing from outside through this device without some assurance regarding leakage.

On the other hand my bilge pumps are of greater capacity then my AC pumps and I do like to keep it simple, hmmmm.

My condensate pump is self contained and discharges via a thru-hull, but when the time comes to replace this is a thought.
 
If above the water line, run it out a through hull directly outside. This eliminates the water in the boat and having to rely on a pump.


Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum
Capt. Don
 
ARoss said:
Looks like an item available on Amazon for even less. One question I'd have is whether it's self priming
Click to expand...


ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1444910080.594512.jpg

Found this description on eBay. Looks like it might be self priming?

So if my raw water AC cooling line is 5/8 ID, do I get this 3/4 hose thread and get some kind of barbed fitting with 3/4 thread?

I also found some of these on eBay in different thread sizes ranging from 1/2 to 1" to 1.5" thread sizes. I wonder if that 1/2 thread size necks down too much and would restrict the flow if the 5/8" raw water hose.

Heron, what size did you use?
 
Last edited:
cardude01 said:
My AC drains to the bilge, and as a result I always have a wet bilge. The bilge pump is not able to suck all the water out for some reason. It turns on and gets almost all of it out, but then when it turns back off some of the water drains back into the bilge.

Anyway, I would like to run the AC drain lines to my existing shower sump pump, but the run is up hill.
Click to expand...


Why not re-route the condensate line to drain directly over-board via a new thru-hull well above the waterline? That's what I did on my own boat.
 
The way the bilge is set up on this boat there are no easy ways to route a drain line to the sides of the hull. Hard to explain but that's the case-- this is mostly a sailboat hull.

Where the bilge pump sits and where the AC drains is more like a sump area than a full bilge.
 
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cardude01 said:
As it usually goes, while I was working on my AC drain project something else decided to quit working. The AC control unit flashed HPF, which usually means my strainer is clogged.

When I closed the crappy ball valve on the substandard through hull setup it felt a little funny I thought. I check the strainer and there were some jellyfish at the bottom but not many. Cleaned the basket, reinstalled, same thing. HPF.

This time I unscrewed the strainer top and opened the crappy ball valve, and no water came out. Nothing. So figuring something was clogging the through hull, I attached my trusty shop vac to the hose and attempted to blow back through the crappy ball valve, but got nothing. Just solid pressure. Valve is open (or shows to be anyway).

Could the ball valve have failed closed? The handle moves but nothing happens. Or do I just have one bad ass jelly fish in there? &#55357;&#56866;

Here is the ball valve. I know I need to replace it with a proper seacock but would like to get the AC going again.

View attachment 45459
Click to expand...

If it is really blocked up, you may need to remove the elbow to clean it out.

It is possible the valve stem sheared off. If this is the case, the valve handle would most likely turn much easier than before. If that is the case, you will have to replace the seacock valve.

*Edit - I had another look at the photo. Hard to tell - but check to see if the handle is just rounded out, and is not rotating the valve stem.

Regarding the AC drain, is there no way to pipe it to the a sink drain?
 
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In the meantime, stick a gallon milk jug on the end of the hose and empty as needed. It takes a long time to fill up a gallon of condensate, even here in the most humid place on earth.

Also, condensate water is distilled, so you can pour it into your batteries.
 
My 1000 gph a/c pump once sucked up a huge jelly fish. Had to have a diver pull him off and out of the hull intake. Pump was jammed with jelly that had sieved thru the strainer.
 
Heron said:
Yeah! I bought a venturi off Ebay for <$10 shipped., Do a search, pick the fitting size you want, add some clear tubing between the drain and the Venturi, and plumb it into your cooling line....It's a $15 solution..

Why add pumps, drains, complexity and $$$ when a simple and cheap solution is out there..

20151014_162857-vi.jpg
Click to expand...


So when the AC raw water pump turns off is there a one way valve that stops the salt water from back flushing back up the condensate line? Or does this not happen for some reason?
 
Dougcole said:
In the meantime, stick a gallon milk jug on the end of the hose and empty as needed. It takes a long time to fill up a gallon of condensate, even here in the most humid place on earth.

Also, condensate water is distilled, so you can pour it into your batteries.
Click to expand...


Marine A/C units can make 5 or more gallons of water per day in a humid environment.

And the water they make is not distilled.

"Distilled water is water that has many of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container."
 
cardude01 said:
So when the AC raw water pump turns off is there a one way valve that stops the salt water from back flushing back up the condensate line? Or does this not happen for some reason?
Click to expand...

Yeah. there is a spring loaded valve in there. Suction (system pumping) opens it, pumping off, the valve to the condesate line shuts. I got the 3/4 (hose bib) size so I could use this at home with my pressure washer if it didn't work out!
I confess, I haven't mounted it in the boat yet so I don't know if it will restrict flow through the tube or not..
I know others who have done this, and it works quite well... No different than the $200 Mermaid system really..
And no additional holes through the hull...
 
Last edited:
Great. Thanks. This looks like the simplest solution for my application.
 
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