Air conditioner RW "flushing" ?

[MikeP]

With the recent "discussions" re how marine air conditioners work it occurs to me to ask about flushing them.

I had always assumed that the circular water coil on the top of my marine compressors served the same function as the radiator-type condensor coils on a home a/c - essentially a heat exchanger. Therefore, I have further assumed that at some point, flushing the coils with an acid mix would help ensure adequate cooling/heating - the same way we clean eng heat exchangers or intercoolers.

For you A/C guys - is this correct or not? Would the same benefit result - more efficient heating/cooling? I was planning to flush the RW AC systems this spring since I have never done it but if it doesn't really do anything, I won't bother (though it would take very little time).

[Captned]

It works for me, I do it once a year, a little submersible pump, a bucket some hoses and clamps, some muratic acid, I run it backwards through the units for 1/2 hour or so. You should see the crap that comes out!

Captned
46 78 CON

[krush]

Clean heat exchangers are happy heat exchangers

[REBrueckner]

That's been discussed here and is a good idea if you experience any problems or even a preventative measure...

[MikeP]

I didn't recall a discussion re A/c flushing. Obviously, I missed it. The searches I did didn't turn up anything but I may not have selected the right terms.

I remove/clean my engine HEs and intercoolers periodically but I have never bothered with cleaning the A/Cs since they will run us out of the boat whether heating or cooling. But it seems logical that it's a good PM exercise. As I said, it won't take any time at all, so what the heck.

I guess a better question might be, for those who have done it, has it made any noticeable difference in performance?

[Kerry Alexander]

Try the products from Barnacle Buster in my HE and they came out great.
DD in Ft Myers, FL sold it to me and said they sere going away from acid.
I am going to use it in my AC.
This site also tells you how to do the job.

http://www.trac-online.com/

[Kerry Alexander]

Link to how to flush AC.

http://www.trac-online.com/pdf/A-C_S..._Contained.pdf

[Pascal]

just follow MAster Genesis procedure, it's in the FAQ section. same as you woudl do with your HE. around here, So FL, with a lot of growth, warm water and AC that run year round, we do it usually every 3 years or so.

[Trojan]

Acording to Cruisair. The material there coils are made from require no flushing. But, I would in salt water.

BILL

[first big boat]

I went to their website and read all about it. When you have used this product, can you really see the disolved crap in the bottom of the bucket?

seems to me, although the product isn't cheap, that even if you only saw a 10% increase in flow, it would be worth doing every 2 years or so.