43 DC A/C replacement

[gbharrington]

Has anyone replace the A/C units on a 43 DC, in particular, the salon unit? I'm finding it difficult to find a self contained unit that will fit in the current salon location, which is below the deckhouse bench seat. Has anyone been in there and removed some or all of the paneling? I am wondering how much additional space there is behind the forward panel and above the top panel before you get to the fiberglass primary structure which makes up the bench seat.

 

[micky]

Here's what I did on my 1974 43DC.

Started with one 16k btu unit:

 

[micky]

For the cool months and winter it cooled down the cabin just fine but from march to sept. it couldn't keep up with the heat so I added another 16k btu unit right next to it. The water discharge from the first unit goes into the second unit's inlet and from the second unit it exits to the thru hull.







Where the original evaporator was, I converted it to storage:

 

[mdshore]

I put my new self contained unit starboard of the refrigerator near floor by hull side ( behind where the co2 tank used to be ) ran the ducting behind the salon wall stbd side and installed 4 vents along the walls and one in galley facing toward vberth .Out of sight, and close to newly installed strainer/ seacock .

 

[gbharrington]

Thanks for the replies and good food for thought. At this point I'm still committed to trying to utilize the original location. Flagship Marine http://flagshipmarine.com/selfcontained.html has a 18K BTU unit that looks as though it might work with some modification. I just got off the phone with them and am waiting for a quote.

 

[mdshore]

a pic of my install stbd of the fridge in galley (where Co2 tank was. perfect spot to run ducting aft behind salon wall . return intake in nice - low location for good flow.