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  1. #1

    Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    Thursday evening, around 8PM, the entire lower level (staterooms) AC goes out....again..... My "new" Cruisair system is the most unreliable system on the boat and it keeps me on pins and needles wondering if it's going to be running over the next few hours. Of course, it always craps out on the eve of folks arriving to the boat for an outing.

    The last time the guy was out to recharge the system was just a month ago, and the prior recharge was six weeks before that. Cha-ching every time. Last time, however, I put a large dye pack in it. I have a known, very small, leak at a soldered joint (a birdshit weld done by the idiots that installed my new system...twice, because they put the wrong unit in the first time) on one of my solenoid valves. When I called my AC guy, he said he wouldn't work on my old stuff and that to re-do the solenoid valve manifolds, he recommended starting from scratch because you only get one shot at soldering those with a brazing torch...try to do it twice and the valves get damaged. I've heard that from several AC guys...the brazing torch is just too hot. And these valves and pipes are nearly 30 years old except for a couple that I've replaced.

    Anyway....with record heat coming this weekend, there didn't appear to be much I could do at this point. I had to go find the real leak - the big one, and I'm not talking about the one at the solenoid valve - somewhere there was a puddle. I picked up a UV light at the auto parts store on Friday for $15. Ed found a spray of dye all over the condensing unit Friday night. A fitting had come loose on the new condensing unit at a pressure sensor/switch and let my gas go.

    As we huddled on the dock with Pascal and a few others, it didn't look like there was going to be any AC joy for the weekend at the sandbar. For once, Pascal was "out-airconditioning" me. Usually, its the other way around. LOL

    At that same time, my neighbor was coming home from a overseas trip. When he learned of my dilemma, he to come over with a bottle of refrigerant and his gauges. Cool! But then, we didn't have the proper tool to turn the top of the valve on the condensing unit. A neighbor had a good ole boy AC guy working on this boat....he almost got away in the darkness, but Ed and Pascal blocked his exit out of the gate and coerced him back down the dock to Sanctuary. We had everything hooked up and ready to go...just needed his tool. He turned the valve for us, gas flowed in, cool air out...just lovely.

    My cost for this house call on a Friday night at 9:30 p.m. by a guy who had been working since 7AM that morning and had a flight to Costa Rica the next morning at 4AM: A bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label. Sometimes, the squirrel does find the nut.

    So, we'll save the rebuilding of the valve system for another day... I stil plan to go through all of the evaporator units to make sure they aren't leaking too. They are almost 30 years old. Funny...that old, old stuff never worries me about failing. It's the new stuff that keeps me awake at nights...go figure.

    ....and by the time I went to bed, it was freezing in my stateroom...just the way I like it.
    Ang
    1980 58MY "Sanctuary"
    www.sanctuarycharteryacht.com

  2. Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    A bit of a different twist....

    This weekend is to be the hottest in Jacksonville in 10 yrs, 100 today, 101 Sunday...
    So what happens just over 3 hrs ago? The entire neighborhood loses power.....

    The great thing about living on a Hatteras, I just cranked up my genset and am sitting in a cold salon with those crazy land lubbers are sweating.....

    The one thing I have noticed though, my saloon unit puts out a LOT more air when on the genset than when on shore power.....
    Charlie Freeman
    "No Dial Tone"
    1973 43' DCMY
    Fernandina Beach, Fl
    www.yachtmoves.com

  3. #3

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    Sounds like the marina has a power problem. My dryer and ac would not work at the same time efficiently on shore power until changing marinas.
    Had to replace the compessor on a 2 year old unit because of it. Everything always worked correctly on the genny.
    Fred
    31 Tiara Open
    "Escalation"

  4. Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    We DO have power problem....

    Seems they ran aluminium wiring down the dock when it was built.

    The boats at far end who run 220v are lucky if they get 210.

    The 60' Hatteras I captained in 2003 couldn't run all it's A/C units due to that. I moved it next door to Lambs Marina and it had zero problems...
    .
    At my end (the cheap end for small boats) didn't seem to have any problems, but looks like that's a lie now....
    Charlie Freeman
    "No Dial Tone"
    1973 43' DCMY
    Fernandina Beach, Fl
    www.yachtmoves.com

  5. #5

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    So here we sit at the beautiful Chicago skyline on the lake... its a blistering
    77F and the water is 64 in Cal harbor. BTW... the genny is running perfectly and the air is on too... time to head back to un-reality!! ws
    yachtsmanWILLY

    I used to think I knew everything until I found the experts HERE; Now I know I dont know SQUAT



    www.flybridge.proboards.com
    Uncensored, no nonsense boating fun for adults

  6. #6

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    Special tool to turn the valve? Are you talking about the service valve?

    If you got a bad braze, sometimes the only way to get it right is to start with new clean copper.

  7. #7

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    Man, I really feel sorry for you guys. You are right, as soon as you get a threat of record heat, the AC's immediately become suspect.

    Up here in Ct, we don't worry about that (at least not this year). Record heat? RECORD HEAT?!?!?! What the hell is that?!?!

    It's still March or April here. The good news is that my heats work perfectly.

    Oh yeah, the mold is growing quite well due to the 30 days of rain we've had all in a row!

    If this keeps up, I'll make you a sweet deal on my AC units.

    Global Warming???? Not in Ct.!!

    K

  8. #8

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    I'm in Guam...it's very humid, but it hardly gets to 90deg.

  9. #9

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    Well we dont have a boat yet but it been a series of sizzlers here in Lower Alabama.Hotter than we can remember sence we got here in 91.Got us wondering about the Gulf water temps.If this Bahama high lasts could it lead to a larger cane season?Robby in Mobile

  10. #10

    Re: Record heat, no AC, yet still a happy ending

    Ang,

    Re brazing the small leak, I recall my father saying he had successfully repaired a freon leak in a refrigerator with epoxy. Something to consider here?

    Bob

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