Cruisair Amerage Draw

[JLR]

The salon Cruisair unit on my 56 MY has started to draw a lot of amps, albeit only for a split second (like 1/10th of a second). When the compressor kicks on, it will draw anywhere between 60-80 amps and then drop down to normal draw. Other than the amperage spike the unit seems to be working fine. I noticed it because the lights flicker and the genset swoops low for a moment when the spike occurs. It also occurs on dockside power. The spike is both in the cool and the heat mode. It is an original Cruisar 24K BTU unit model WFAH 24C. Does this result from a need for a charge, a compressor problem, an electrical problem or just from a unit that is need of replacement. Not sure where to start checking but I would hate to have to replace the unit if it is something simple. Any help would be appreciated.

[JLR]

Add bad start capacitor as another possible cause for the problem. Hoping Steve might see this and chime in. Will head to his forum soon.

[MikeP]

Had exactly the same symptoms with my 24K BTU Salon Cruisair. The sypmtoms then got worse - the compressor would start/stop/restart/stop/restart and finally run perfectly fine until the next time it had to restart. Turned out it was the connection at the compressor itself which had become corroded/burnt. This is the connection "box"on the actual compressor itself, NOT the large connection/relay box that is mounted on the same frame.

The power connection in the small box was almost non-existent. The terminal on the wire had maybe half of the wire strands still remaining and all green from corrosion. I cut back the wire to good core, installed a new connector, cleaned the male terminal at the compressor and reattached the wire.

Surge current went from around 80A back down to around 45 and genny no longer dropped RPM.

As noted, it could be the start cap but in my case it wasn't so check out those wires/connections.

[spcoolin]

John~

I have answered your post in my forum:

http://marine-ac.com/forum/troublesh...pressor/#p2049

Steve~

[Boatnut]

I'll never understand why people can't go to Steve's site with their questions first. He is a great guy and would probably never say anything, but he has started a site and several times requested very politely, people ask their questions there. It appears some people are just too rude to get it. Another little point that has contributed to the site not being what it used to be.

[MikeP]

I don't agree; IMO any post re Hatt maint, regardless if there is a better tech site for the specific issue, should be here first so all Hatt folks can see it and be aware of it. If you go straight to to Steve's site, for example, then no one here has the benefit of seeing what folks are experiencing with a critical part of the boat's systems.

[rwaldrop13]

John~

I have answered your post in my forum:

http://marine-ac.com/forum/troublesh...pressor/#p2049

Steve~

Steve, I tried to look and got error 404, page not found.

[Beachcomber]

Steve, I tried to look and got error 404, page not found.

Steve passed away several years ago.

[UNIQUE_NAME]

Steve, I tried to look and got error 404, page not found.

unfortunately, i believe steve passed a number of years ago.

[SKYCHENEY]

Steve, I tried to look and got error 404, page not found.

MikeP has not posted since 2017 and Steve Pooler passed away many years ago. You are responding to posts from 2011