NOT a good week to be a liveaboard!

I guess it’s true what they say, when it rains it pours.

-both heads need pumps rebuilt
-holding tank needs inlets fabricated and replaced
-forward AC unit needs refrigerant, it’s freezing up
-water line leak in inaccessible compartment between two bulkheads
-defrosting the ice maker to get ice buildup removed

And I’m not going to blink or breathe or I feel like something else may go on the fritz.

Always a project behind...


Looking for the last of the fittings to plumb the fuel supply for a Dickinson Bering stove here in Toronto, before the next wave of Arctic air arrives...


Marina transformer burned out last week during the last one, whole place is on the giant generator, waiting for the replacement...


Procrastination is always punished...

Greetings,
Mr. t. Look on the bright side. IF you were NOT living aboard, you'd VERY probably be getting into all sorts of mischief. Idle hands are the devil's plaything...

Toocoys, I feel you, sir! My ship has been really good in Galveston, but I have end of semester stuff that I can’t even go check her out! I realize we do not have the winter issue those in the frozen north do, so count our blessings as you muck around the holding tank!

toocoys said:

I guess it’s true what they say, when it rains it pours.

-both heads need pumps rebuilt
-holding tank needs inlets fabricated and replaced
-forward AC unit needs refrigerant, it’s freezing up
-water line leak in inaccessible compartment between two bulkheads
-defrosting the ice maker to get ice buildup removed

And I’m not going to blink or breathe or I feel like something else may go on the fritz.

Click to expand...

Some thoughts for a livaboard…

-both heads need pumps rebuilt
Buy a complete new pump and swap it out, then rebuild one of the others and always have a working spare to swap in
-holding tank needs inlets fabricated and replaced
-forward AC unit needs refrigerant, it’s freezing up
This is often due to lack of air flow, clean the screen located prior to the condenser fins as well as the condenser fins themselves
-water line leak in inaccessible compartment between two bulkheads
I have had success completely bypassing such lines until a comprehensive repair could be organized.
-defrosting the ice maker to get ice buildup removed
Typical - defrost every 2 weeks on your own time schedule. about 2 hours of lineal time and maybe 5 minutes of attentive time.

Good luck , have fun

What temp is the water outside? If below 40f, your compressor will freeze up.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

What temp is the water outside? If below 40f, your compressor will freeze up.

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Wifey B: ASD, are you asking Toocoys in Seabreeze, TX?

BandB said:

Wifey B: ASD, are you asking Toocoys in Seabreeze, TX?

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Ha, well the way the weather has been????

BandB said:

Wifey B: ASD, are you asking Toocoys in Seabreeze, TX?

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I think he moved to Seabrook Tx.

toocoys said:

I guess it’s true what they say, when it rains it pours.


-forward AC unit needs refrigerant, it’s freezing up

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Not so fast, it's not a given. Other things can cause freeze up. Others already mentioned cold water, but that only applies if the freeze up is on the HX assembly and in heat mode. You didn't elaborate beyond 'freezing up', so we can't be certain. But, there's no way the indoor coil should frost in heating. If the indoor coil is actually frosting, then look first for an air side problem: low air flow, blocked/dirty coil, low fan speed. Low charge can also be a culprit, and if that's the case, adding refrigerant isn't a repair, it's just treating a symptom.

Not so fast on the heads needing rebuilding. Clogged discharge line to the waste tank will do the same. BTDT. What brand/model?

Maerin said:

Not so fast, it's not a given. Other things can cause freeze up. Others already mentioned cold water, but that only applies if the freeze up is on the HX assembly and in heat mode. You didn't elaborate beyond 'freezing up', so we can't be certain. But, there's no way the indoor coil should frost in heating. If the indoor coil is actually frosting, then look first for an air side problem: low air flow, blocked/dirty coil, low fan speed. Low charge can also be a culprit, and if that's the case, adding refrigerant isn't a repair, it's just treating a symptom.

Click to expand...

Well we aren't sure what the issue is. The tech came out today and tried to troubleshoot but we couldn't find the problem. Water flow is optimal, air flow is optimal, and we couldn't come up with anything. At this point I'm hoping that it was just a fluke and maybe we sucked something up that caused a water blockage and made it freeze over. We are going to run it as normal and monitor it through the next cold snap. If it freezes over again we'll know it wasn't something sucked up.

The only thing we aren't sure of right now is the compressor will run at about 170 degrees in heat mode. Not sure if thats high or not.

This is what it looked like during the last cold front. The coils were solid ice.

High Wire said:

Not so fast on the heads needing rebuilding. Clogged discharge line to the waste tank will do the same. BTDT. What brand/model?

Click to expand...

Jabsco Quite Flush 37072-001 if I'm reading the pump label correctly. And yes, they need to be rebuilt. The aft pump has a leak in the seal where it mounts to the head, so every time you flush, water squeezes out the seal. And the forward head is getting stuck. Last night I had to take a penny and manually turn the pump from the back in order to get it spinning while holding the button.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. t. Look on the bright side. IF you were NOT living aboard, you'd VERY probably be getting into all sorts of mischief. Idle hands are the devil's plaything...

Click to expand...

The only reason I haven't thrown in the towel on living aboard yet is because every time there's an issue, people always tell me "you still have issues with houses, just different types." I.E. appliances go out, roofs leak, electricl/plumbing issues... etc etc.

And I admit, we've neglected the heads and holding tank issues so those are something that I've known about.

Greetings,
Mr. t. You can't throw in the towel, you'd go nuts...


https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/mental-benefits-water_us_5791024

The maintenance on a liveaboard in my experience is WAY more than a house if you don't count outside work or an ancient house or a leaky basement, etc, etc.

The systems tend to be more frail and don't seem to last as long under constant use.

Especially if you toss in the engine, genst and dink...but don't toss in if you do all the maintenance on your car,.

Sure it can vary wildly between boats and houses...but in my 3 liveaboard experiences....boats have kept me jumping more than houses.

Greetings,

Mr. ps. Read post #15. You know why you are, where you are. As do the majority of TF members, I expect.

Sorry RT, that article isn't describing someone who may just be a little saturated by too much of a good thing...

Or did you mean Brunswick, Ga?

psneeld said:

The maintenance on a liveaboard in my experience is WAY more than a house if you don't count outside work or an ancient house or a leaky basement, etc, etc.

The systems tend to be more frail and don't seem to last as long under constant use.

Especially if you toss in the engine, genst and dink...but don't toss in if you do all the maintenance on your car,.

Sure it can vary wildly between boats and houses...but in my 3 liveaboard experiences....boats have kept me jumping more than houses.

Click to expand...

If that's a pep talk...it's severely lacking... :lol:

No pep talk...just an honest rrsponse....

Like that one thread discussed....not many ever make the leap and out of those many don't last long.

psneeld said:

No pep talk...like that one thread discussed....not many ever make the leap and out of those many don't last long.

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You underestimate my persistence sir. Now you've made it a challenge. :lol:


Although it's a rough day/week with the maintenance on these systems, it does not discount our happiness level living aboard. We've been more content these last few months than we ever were in a house on acreage with horses, or in our RV.

psneeld said:

Sure it can vary wildly between boats and houses...but in my 3 liveaboard experiences....boats have kept me jumping more than houses.

Click to expand...

But I don't get today's view with a dirt house
And I don't have to mow the grass or pick up and get rid of those bloody palm fronds.

toocoys said:

.... Last night I had to take a penny and manually turn the pump from the back in order to get it spinning while holding the button.

Click to expand...

Mirroring the old expression of "spending a penny",coin in slot of toilet door. Except you still have your penny!

toocoys said:

Well we aren't sure what the issue is. The tech came out today and tried to troubleshoot but we couldn't find the problem. Water flow is optimal, air flow is optimal, and we couldn't come up with anything. At this point I'm hoping that it was just a fluke and maybe we sucked something up that caused a water blockage and made it freeze over. We are going to run it as normal and monitor it through the next cold snap. If it freezes over again we'll know it wasn't something sucked up.

The only thing we aren't sure of right now is the compressor will run at about 170 degrees in heat mode. Not sure if thats high or not.

This is what it looked like during the last cold front. The coils were solid ice.

Click to expand...

So you're running it in heat mode. Freeze up in those coils is caused by either low flow, temps of the seawater (<42F) coming into the are too low and enough heat is being removed so the seawater is freezing in the coil and frosting the external surfaces. You don't indicate what your inlet water temps were, nor the splits on the seawater circuit.

You might try checking the strainers on the seawater circuit, make sure the thru-hulls aren't obstructed. Do a cleaning of the seawater coils. They could have a build up of gunk on the inside that's limiting the heat transfer in the coil. I'd do a thorough coil cleaning on the problem unit first. I prefer using muriatic acid in a recirculating flush, there are threads that describe the process. It can be messy, you're working with acid, but muriatic is very effective and relatively quick.

If your seawater pump is serving more than one unit with a manifold, you could shut down all but the problem unit, then pinch the hose to all but the unit that's freezing. Just reduce the flow to those to increase the flow to the problem unit. If that stops the frosting, then you need to assess the piping size to the offending unit, as well as review the pump capacity. It could be that the sizing is just adequate, any maintenance-related performance shortcoming could result in the symptoms you're seeing.

If the coil was frosting while the tech was troubleshooting, he should have been able to determine from system pressures and temps what was going on in the system. That he was unable to conclude anything isn't encouraging. I would expect that a proper diagnosis would include thorough assessment of system temps/pressures. The compressor running at 170F is on its own, inconclusive. With the coil freezing up, he should have seen some abnormally low suction pressures, and/or abnormal splits on seawater/air coils, but that can also be significantly impacted by very low seawater temps. Out of curiosity, was any mention made of splits, superheat, or subcooling? Those values point to the cause of the symptoms.

Greetings,
Mr. M. I just checked. Water temp for Seabrook TX has been 65F and above for the last week.

toocoys said:

You underestimate my persistence sir. Now you've made it a challenge. :lol:


Although it's a rough day/week with the maintenance on these systems, it does not discount our happiness level living aboard. We've been more content these last few months than we ever were in a house on acreage with horses, or in our RV.

Click to expand...

Only after time can you decide whether it's right for you or not. The challenge isn't to live aboard or not. It's to figure out what is best for you.

This is a joke right. The universe is laughing at me for making that comment about persistence, right?

Got off at 6am, came home like normal, walked the dog like normal, changed the temperature on the aft AC unit from 71 to 68 like normal, and I wake up just now to this awful noise coming from under the bed. THE EFFING AFT AC ISNT BLOWING!!!!

I think this is froma frozen blower though. I kinda banged on it and it turned over a little and felt like it was slinging ice bits everywhere. This one is an older Dometic Unit though.

But the front AC is now cooling just fine.

WTF?!?!?!?