Hatteras 48' LRC Air Conditioning.

[Nube]

Good afternoon,

Has anyone got a 1976-1981 Hatteras 48' LRC and know the actual BTU per zone as installed by Hatteras.

My boat had the A/C removed by a previous owner and I would like to re install it. I have the Hatteras 48' LRC blueprints that show where the units go, just not what the capacity is.

Along that vane, has anyone replaced the A/C on their 48' Hatteras LRC. What brand did you replace with, how many BTU's are your system, did you use self contained, split gas, or chilled water. Did you install any units in areas that weren't factory, and why?

My intention is to go with self contained units. Reason being that wile cruising in Mexico and Central America if one unit goes down, the remainder are unaffected.

I don't particularly care for the residential style mini split or RV style units as I don't want to sacrifice deck space for the condensing units, or wall space for the air handler.

Thoughts, comments, funny stories are all welcome.

Thank you,

 

[Pascal]

If you don’t mind the costs, the most reliable system is chillers. With the typical two chiller system you still have cooling if one of the chillers fail. Yes during the day in summer it will not be as cold on one chiller but at night it will be fine

I have a twin 36k BTU system on my 53MY and even now in Miami in may I am still just running a single chiller. In summer I usually run both during the day and one at night to avoid tripping breakers while cooking (single 50 amp shorepower)

The other downside of chillers is having to run water hoses thru out the boat. On some boats it a pretty easy. On my 53 for instance I installed the chillers in the port ER and it’s a short hose run up to the salon as well as aft to the master. The bow is easy as well thru the gen room.

That said, I have been wondering if the original copper from the old splits could not be used since the evaporators coil diameter isn’t that big anyway. Don’t remember the diameter since I removed all the old gas lines years ago.

As to brands, stay away from Cruisair. They were gold standard in the 80s and 90s but no more. Expensive, all proprietary parts and controls, long dead times. My chillers are made by Flagship Marine in Stuart FL. Well engineered, simple controls using off the shelf relays and thermostats. All made in the USA. They also make self contained and I think marine splits. Great people to work with.

 

[mermas]

I own a 48' 1976 LRC #310. We are on our third AC replacements. Above is our boat ac doc's when it was delivered. 16,000 btu in the port salon, 10,00 btu on the starboard salon, 16,000 btu Pilot house, 16,000 btu master stateroom, 7,000 btu guest stateroom. Our latest is Dometic in the polit house installed by comfort marine air in Fort Lauderdale next to Sams. We have three Sruisair SMXir systems. The last unit is a second gen system in the salon (10,000 BTU's) Mermaid Marine air. Noise is an issue with the all in one units especially in the v-berth. Also note the old units were R22 Freon which is no longer available. Most units will be R-410a they run a a much higher PSI a r22 unit runs 65/160 where a r-410 unit will be running 120/480 PSI on the low/high sides. So as you can see the compressors are working march harder. on the newer units. I have 15 restaurants with a lot of cooer equipment and we are seeing anything less than 5HP being made in China and its not holding up.

Regards

Paul