I really hate Cruisair Dometic

[Pascal]

Long story short… a few days ago we had an electrical issue inside the Cruisair control cabinet on the 116 which damaged two of the 3 chillers control boards. My AC guy had one in stock so at least we ve been able to run on 2 chillers. Well it turns out Cruisair no longer carry these boards and they are pushing their newer control system, an all In one computerized setup which means no redundancy. That fails and all three chillers would be out.

We found a couple of used boards so we should be able to get that third chiller on line quickly but in the long run we need to find a solution.

Why do manufacturers insist on integrating everything sacrificing redundancy!

On my 53, the Flagship chillers are controlled with off the shelf relays and thermostats with LED diagnostics. Simple, cheap and easy to fix.

Buyers beware.

 

[Briankinley2004]

This is one of the reasons I don't want to replace my old line voltage Honeywell stats even though they have a wide temp swing.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

This is one of the reasons I don't want to replace my old line voltage Honeywell stats even though they have a wide temp swing.

I wouldn't worry about that. I removed mine in 2008 and replaced with the FX1 boards and have never touched one since.

 

[Cricket]

Maybe it's something Flight Systems could help with??

https://www.flightsystems.com/

 

[Briankinley2004]

I wouldn't worry about that. I removed mine in 2008 and replaced with the FX1 boards and have never touched one since.

I had one of those boards on my 55 and had to send it to Flight Systems. The old original ones on the other 3 units were still going when I got rid of her

 

[43DoubleCabin]

HVAC systems are a mystery too me. I have a pretty good grasp on all the other systems. One of my chillers shut down after several hours of running. I cut it off and let it sit an hour everything’s back to normal. So I’m assuming it’s a relay capacitor etc. Is this something a residential service tech to diagnose? Or do I need to bring in a Cruisair Guy?

thanks

 

[Pascal]

Marine AC is different from residential.

It seems to me that you have a restriction in the sea water supply or inside the coils. On a cold start, pressure is good but probably creeps up with time till it shuts down on high pressure. When is the last time you descaled that unit?

If you don’t have barnacle buster or a pump to run it try back flushing that unit with pressure water. Disconnect the hose on the discharge side, connect it to a water hose. Disconnect the intake, at the manifold and put that on a bucket. Turn in the water hose and watch the crap come out in the bucket.

I have temp sensors on my coils and monitor their temp. In summer I back flush whenever I see the temp creeping up, before the unit can trip. Just a quick back flush usually result in a 15-20 degree coil temp.

 

[43DoubleCabin]

Marine AC is different from residential.

It seems to me that you have a restriction in the sea water supply or inside the coils. On a cold start, pressure is good but probably creeps up with time till it shuts down on high pressure. When is the last time you descaled that unit?

If you don’t have barnacle buster or a pump to run it try back flushing that unit with pressure water. Disconnect the hose on the discharge side, connect it to a water hose. Disconnect the intake, at the manifold and put that on a bucket. Turn in the water hose and watch the crap come out in the bucket.

I have temp sensors on my coils and monitor their temp. In summer I back flush whenever I see the temp creeping up, before the unit can trip. Just a quick back flush usually result in a 15-20 degree coil temp.

thank you for the suggestion. I will look into that. For what it’s worth this is a freshwater boat. It also seems the cabin and the salon temperatures are about 8° warmer and they have been over the last few years.

 

[Pascal]

If fresh water then growth is not going to be the issue. I assume you ve checked the strainer and thru hull?

 

[43DoubleCabin]

If fresh water then growth is not going to be the issue. I assume you ve checked the strainer and thru hull?

Yes. Both units are served by the same thru hull and strainer.

 

[rwaldrop13]

If fresh water then growth is not going to be the issue. I assume you ve checked the strainer and thru hull?

Even in fresh water I'd check strainers and thru-hulls. I had the cap for my strainers so I could close off the thru-hulls and flush the systems all the way thru with dock water pressure, which during the summer/warmer water months was a 2x weekly chore.

 

[Pascal]

Even in fresh water I'd check strainers and thru-hulls. I had the cap for my strainers so I could close off the thru-hulls and flush the systems all the way thru with dock water pressure, which during the summer/warmer water months was a 2x weekly chore.

That’s what I meant. Growth isn’t an issue inside the coils but you could have debris in the strainer

 

[madhatter1]

Long story short… a few days ago we had an electrical issue inside the Cruisair control cabinet on the 116 which damaged two of the 3 chillers control boards. My AC guy had one in stock so at least we ve been able to run on 2 chillers. Well it turns out Cruisair no longer carry these boards and they are pushing their newer control system, an all In one computerized setup which means no redundancy. That fails and all three chillers would be out.

We found a couple of used boards so we should be able to get that third chiller on line quickly but in the long run we need to find a solution.

Why do manufacturers insist on integrating everything sacrificing redundancy!

On my 53, the Flagship chillers are controlled with off the shelf relays and thermostats with LED diagnostics. Simple, cheap and easy to fix.

Buyers beware.

It’s called churning. Bring out a line of controls that already has a planned end of support and planned end of life to force the sale of upgrades. It is very intentional. Most manufacturers do this as while you might swear off A and go to B someone is going from B to A or C.

Once you have all needed to be operational keep looking for more replacement parts to hoard. Avoid being forced to upgrade equipment that still has plenty of lifespan left.

Does Honeywell own Cruiseair?

 

[Boatsb]

Good thing the government isn't involved like in making things green and inefficient just because.

My guess is the components are not available after a time and with the new regulations and bs they can't keep making things the same.

Every time the design needs to change all the components are replaced or the whole device is replaces since components aren't available anymore.

Don't blame dometic. Blame DC.

 

[Pascal]

Dometic, the evil empire, owns Cruisair.

 

[madhatter1]

I did contract work for a controls company called Novar. They built backward compatibility into every next gen. Then once Honeywell bought them was the beginning of the end of their Logic 1 brand. Witnessed it. Had it explained to me. Dometic is surly no different. I’ll hang on to my simple old stuff for as long as possible.

 

[Captain Ralph]

Dometic, the evil empire, owns Cruisair.

Along with most original AC companies and still buying them up.
Dumbetics operating rule; Don't compete, buy up your competition.
Soon, It will just be Dumbetic.

Where are the international monopoly laws and when do they take notice?

 

[Pascal]

Not just air con by Hynautic / Sea Star, pump companies etc the list goes on