265 Express AC

[Rfazilat]

my wife and i will be staying on our boat over weekends and i would like to add an AC unit in place of the fridge location. wont ever use the DC fridge when we have a cooler aboard. found a 4200 Mabru unit. install is pretty straight forward. However, looking for some advice on raw water intake and discharge locations. Anyone add AC to their 265? we will only run it while on shore power.

 

[Fowl Hooked]

I haven't but am interested to hear how it goes. I still use the fridge, nice to always have a cold beverage available, but AC would be really nice as well. The raw water pickup for the head is right there in the cabin sole and could be an easy enough place to access. I know this will freak people out and to be honest I'm not sure I could convince myself to do it but depending on how much water that unit cycles and discharges you could (and I stress could) consider just discharging into that same area and letting the bilge pump handle it. I'd probably be more inclined to run it further aft to one of the boxes that gravity drain overboard. I'd look at putting something into the forward top corner of the fish box but don't know enough about the unit to know if it'd get the water that far or not. Also depends on how you use that box and whether or not you want to be intentionally dumping water in there. In any case, good luck and welcome to the 265 club.

 

[SkunkBoat]

My guess is you could use the intake for the head and use the sink overboad drain.

 

[Fowl Hooked]

My guess is you could use the intake for the head and use the sink overboad drain.

Do both the head sink and the galley sink drain overboard? I had it in my head that they both went into the shower sump or forward bilge but guess I need to go look at the schematic again. That would make things easier for sure.

 

[wahoo33417]

An alternate suggestion: If you're willing to give up the overboard discharge from the waste tank (but keep deck pump out), you could use that seacock as your dedicated cooling water and only open the seacock when you run the AC.

The factory option usually ran a hose all the back to the bilge, either to a dedicated seacock, or tied in to an existing seacock. But that is a long run and I think loses a fair bit of efficiency of cooling water.

You would have no need for the pump that sits on top of the waste tank.

For the discharge of the cooling water, it is much easier, and a less scarier, to cut a new overboard discharge hole in the side of the boat above the waterline. I'm not so confident that the sink drain could handle the cooling water discharge volume. It would depend on what size cooling water pump you go with. And I'll suggest going with the biggest pump the manufacturer recommends for the most efficient cooling power of the AC.

The drip pan of the AC is a slow trickle and that can be routed to the shower sump pump, especially if it's all a downhill run. If you use your shower, now may be a good time to make sure the sump pump is clear of debris and hair. You should be able to manually test the float switch, too.

And as I learned from this forum during my install, obviously double clamp all hose connections. And when you do, make a point to face the clamps in opposite directions.

Also, the cooling water pump is likely to pick up some air from beneath the seacock. Especially mine, which is rack stored, so a pocket of air is trapped beneath the seacock every time the boat is put in the water. It tends to cause an air lock in the cooling water pump.

My solution was to place a 'Y' valve after the cooling water pump with one short hose leading to the shower sump. Now, before I start the AC, I open the cooling water seacock with the 'Y' valve completely closed. Then I briefly open the one hose path leading to the shower sump. That seems to clear the air from the pump. Then I can close the sump pump side of the 'Y' valve and open the AC side of the 'Y' valve and I'm ready to crank on the AC.

Obviously I always check to make sure there is good overboard cooling water flow coming out of the side of the boat.

Last thought: A 4200 BTU unit might be a little light if you boat in some really hot climates.

I have a 6500 BTU unit on my Sailfish and it does an okay job here in South Florida. I also carry a simple, fold-up canopy that I can hang over portions of the cabin in direct sunlight and that helps.

In my year (2007) Sailfish, the factory option was for a 7,000 BTU unit. You may want to check the Grady catalog for your year 265 to see what the factory was using on your boat.

Good luck with your install. And post some pics along the way!

Rob

 

[drbatts]

A couple things to add. If you use an existing through hull or make a new one for the intake install a strainer to prevent debris from being sucked up. This maybe tough if you use the head inlet as there may not be enough clearance under the floor. Also consider a portable a/c unit if you’re just looking for a/c at the dock. A buddy of mine uses one in his tiara. He Says it works very well.

 

[wahoo33417]

Along those same thoughts of needing a strainer, I agree. Rather than attempt to add to the bottom of the seacock, I opted to put a high-volume, high quality strainer/filter in-line between the seacock and the water pump. That way I can get at whatever gunk comes through.

I thought the strainer would be a collection point for stuff like sargussum weed and would be a high maintenance item. But, so far, it has never needed to be cleaned out to keep the pump running. So far surprisingly little 'stuff' comes through.

Rfazilat, you've probably gathered by now that it's important to have reasonably easy access to whatever you decide to do. Holes in the bottom of my boat connected to hoses by clamps are always on my mind! That said, I've never had a problem. But I still feel better being able to confirm that each day while we're aboard.

Rob

 

[Fixit]

I’d use the toilet intake and put in a new through hull above waterline where ever. Convenient I wouldn’t mess around with relying on a float switch and bilge to pump out water from a/c pump. That’s a great way to sink your boat imo. Condensation drain to shower sump I’d say is fine

 

[DogBone]

If you are always going to be on shore power when you use the AC, have you considered a portable roll around unit with the dryer vent type of exhaust port? Much cheaper (less than $1000) and you can let the condensation drain into the sink. I've seen people use these and just stand them on the counter next to the sink.

 

[wahoo33417]

If you are always going to be on shore power when you use the AC, have you considered a portable roll around unit with the dryer vent type of exhaust port? Much cheaper (less than $1000) and you can let the condensation drain into the sink. I've seen people use these and just stand them on the counter next to the sink.

Good idea if you just want to give AC a trial run before you spend a bunch of money and effort on it. I did this very thing for the first vacation trip in our Sailfish. Fortunately, we had a 6" inspection plate in the aft berth that I could tie the AC's exhaust hose into. By removing another inspection plate on a vertical bulkhead near the livewell, the warm exhaust air only had to travel a few feet to get outside. Much easier than trying to fit the exhaust hose over a window. That was my first idea and it wasn't pretty.

Actually, I replaced the interior inspection plate with one of those 'trash bag' plates. It comes with a maybe 8" deep nylon trash bag built in. That bag became a very useful sleeve to make a good connection with the AC's exhaust hose. Well, that and a lot of duct tape .

I had to drill in a couple of eye bolts with backing washers and secured the AC in place with 1" nylon strapping. And I replaced the wheels with little rubber blocks once I got the thing in the cabin.

We used a 5,000 BTU unit from Amazon Home Basics. It was the cheapest and lightest unit with good reviews that we could find. Several years later and it still works when I test it out at home.

It all worked well. Condensation was so minimal I just let it run into the forward bilge. I kept an eye on it, but never noticed any difference given the amount of rain water that comes around the split anchor locker lid..

Still, the AC unit was somewhat in the way with two people in the cabin. Maybe it won't be in your 265. The experience allowed us to decide we liked having AC enough that that we installed a Mermaid AC unit ourselves.

 

[glacierbaze]

I've been running a portable DeLonghi in my garage for several years, and it is more than adequate, especially if you use an insulated duct for the warm exhaust run. There is no drain, it evaporates the condensate.
Less than a small window AC at Sams a few years ago.

 

[Rfazilat]

all great advice to consider. just picked up a unit and give it a go and will let everyone know the outcome.