AC replacement cost/quote

[aclhart]

I have a 1993 67’ Extended Deckhouse CMY. My Cruisair 16k split-unit compressor went out last week. The coils contain tubing for both Freon and salt water; when we disconnected the fitting, we had water contamination in the Freon circuit, so I am getting to replace the evaporator as well. They will flush the copper lines. Since this was in the pilot house, one of the new self-contained units was not recommended. The Dometic compressor was $3,700 and the evaporator $2,200. We did not discuss a filter drier; it sounds like that might extend the life of the units. Correct? About how expensive?


The units are now made by Dometic. They are reportedly now being manufactured in South America and having quality issues. The long-standing two-year warranty has been reduced to one year, which tells you something. The three service companies I spoke with say the units are not holding up well. All three had replaced multiple units under warranty and had even more that failed shortly after the warranty expired. Even if under warranty, you still have the labor expense of replacement. Are others on this thread having similar reports. With 6 units, this will force me to leave my passion after 36 years of blue-water boating.

Pascal: How expensive was the conversion to a chiller unit? Are they more reliable? Main advantages? Thanks.

[Reefgeorge]

Absolutely put in a quality filter dryer (bidirectional if heat exchanger) like a parker or sporlan. Some of the guys here have had good results with smaller companies supplying the replacement units at less cost. Maybe someone will offer up some company suggestions.

George

[Pascal]

Pascal: How expensive was the conversion to a chiller unit? Are they more reliable? Main advantages? Thanks.

It s a major project has you have to run insulated water lines to each air handler. On the 53 with the ER amidship it s short runs so it’s doable but on other boats it can be a challenge. Cost for the two 36k chillers, 5 air handlers, pumps, tank, hoses was about 21/22k and I spent about 4 to 5 days to install

Benefits are that if you loose a compressor you can still cool most of the boat, you can turn off the air handlers in some rooms to direct more cold water where you need it. During the day I need both chillers but by sunset only one is needed. for instance sometimes I turn one chiller off if using a lot of power for cooking at night

I used a Flahship Marine system. All stainless steel, made in the US and simple off the shelf parts like relays instead of expensive electronic boards

[Boatsb]

I believe its not the manufacturer but the components that make the unit tdd last. Being forced to use lower quality parts makes them fail more often.

Dometic makes good products and some lower cost ones too. As do most other manufacturers.

[aclhart]

First, thanks to everyone for the courtesy of your responses and especially on the filter dryer.

Scott: The failures were mostly in the 8K, 10K, and 12K units, which are the main ones reportedly moved outside the US for manufacture. The failing units were the more expensive units modeled after the original equipment that has been around forever. It may be a learning curve in the new manufacturing facilities or like so many things any more, the cost is the same and only the quality is less. I have other Dometic products that are high quality, but their brand is beginning to suffer in our market, and our local distributor actually has the dealership for 17 states. There was an internet company out of FL that had better prices for the same product but they are not going to come to TX to service the units & the local dealer clearly indicated that he would not. Unlike it sounds many on this thread, I am dependent upon others for installation and service.

Since I am having to replace both the compressor and evaporator, I was not going to switch those units to R-22 and just use their existing 417. Then one of the service folks that I spoke with noted that the 417 units run at much higher pressures and/or temperature, which makes me question if they will last as long as those on R-22. Anyone have thoughts or experience on this aspect?