AC Compressor

[Northcott]

My AC compressor makes a loud weird noise when trying to start. It try's for maybe a minute then cuts off. Is it done? Can I buy parts or just replace? I'm a located in an area where the nearest Marine AC guy is 300 miles away!

If I need to replace... This runs two evaps, one n the galley one n fwd birth... So do I switch to two self contained units n b done?

HELP!!!!!!

 

[Fanfare]

Can't help with the repair, but I did un-split my fwd salon and fwd cabin ACs several years ago. The split system never seemed to work well. Adding one more compressor really helped. My fwd unit is sort of mounted at an angle for space reasons. I have heard these are hard to find now. Don't scrap it!

I also split my AC electrical into two legs on my 50 amp service. Master and bow on one, aft salon and front salon on other. Seems to balance usage pretty well. Your electric is newer than mine so ymmv.

 

[jim rosenthal]

"LIFE IS JUST ONE DAMNED THING AFTER ANOTHER." Frank Ward O'Malley, journalist, playwright 1875-1932

Yeah, until one day there isn't another damn thing after the most recent one...and then you're done.

 

[Fanfare]

I think ol' Frank learned that in '32. But it's all we got!
Might as well get a great boat and use it as much as possible. Was it Frank who said on his deathbed, "Wish I had spent more time at the office?" Maybe not.

After three days travel, filled with the usual "adjustments" from 10 months storage, have finally arrived at Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, in the Bahamas. Life is good. Beautiful sunset. Wish you were here.

 

[fixin-to-cruise]

It could be a bad start capacitor...

 

[MikeP]

Start cap, as noted could be the issue. Also - I had a start problem on one of my units that sounds similar to what you are describing and it turned out it was the wiring/connections at the compressor itself (not the control box where the cap is located). The connection had, over time, corroded and caused very high resistance and arcing at that point. I cut back the wire to good material, installed a new female connector, cleaned the male terminal on the compressor and that was the end of the problem. So check the connections before you start doing major work.

Good Luck