330 express- 2002 Air Conditioning Problem

[Stoneman]

I've had this boat about a month now, and have made great progress updating everything. One problem that I am having and cant figure out is why the air conditioner is not working. On shore power, I open the pump valve, turn on the air breaker but the unit wont put out cold air. I hear the compressor turn on, but still blows warm air. I dont hear any water pumping out anywhere though. Could it be the water pump itself? I saw the video on Grady's site but this model does not have a separate breaker for an "air water pump" like in the video. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

John

 

[HMBJack]

Port side mid ship is the A/C water outlet just above the water line.

If you do not see water flowing OUT of this thru hull fitting, either your pump is not working (likely) or you have blockage somewhere) less likely). Has the bottom been painted recently? Did the crew paint over the inlet screen under the boat? I'm thinking your A/C water pump needs replacement. It's 14 years old and there's no easy way to Fresh water flush it after use. So 14 years of soaking in salt water took it's toll. Just my opinion.

Not sure what else to advise you on. When I first got my 330, my A/C didn't work either. Then someone pointed out - I needed to open the sea cock at the transom area to let water into the system. Duh on me...

Good luck!

 

[DennisG01]

The pump is running? But no water is coming out the thru-hull? A couple things come to mind...

-- Is the seacock open (although I think that's what you mean by the pump valve)?
-- Check the seacock thru-hull/strainer for obstructions (backflush if needed).
-- There could be an airlock if it hasn't been run for a while. Shooting some water into the thru-hull outlet on the side of the boat or going for a cruise with the the seacock open to try and force water into the system would usually eliminate that variable.
-- Try backflushing the system from the outlet thru-hull on the side of the boat. Remove the hose from the outlet side of the pump for this.
-- If you can't get water going through the system, it could be clogged up with salt or minerals and would need to be acid flushed.
-- The A/C system should regularly be flushed - if done on a regular basis, you may not have to do a full acid flush, although some people like to use bromine tablets in the strainer on a semi-regular basis.

A fresh water flush can easily be added by installing a T with garden hose adapter and another seacock in the inlet line between the thru-hull and pump. In some applications, you'll already have an elbow or straight pipe there - just replace it with the T. Close the main seacock, attach garden hose to the "T", open it's seaock and turn on water.

 

[Slacktime]

I have a 2003 Marlin, the ac setup is similar. Last year I ran the ac all summer while at the dock. although we are in fresh water, the strainer eventually became clogged and burned out the pump motor. Check to see if the pump is running when you energize the system. If not you probably need a new one. The motor needs water running through it for cooling.

 

[DennisG01]

Should also add... if the pump is NOT running, check the fuse! Otherwise, see above posts about a non-running pump. However, you might get lucky and be able to gently tap it with a hammer. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does! I've never taken (or even attempted to take) an A/C pump apart, but I might give it a try before replacing.

 

[Stoneman]

Thank you all for the input. I have opened the seacock when I tried running it but do not believe I heard the pump on or making any noise for that matter. I am heading down tomorrow to work on some other items and will definitely try all of your suggestions. Especially hitting it with a hammer 1st! Maybe I'll get lucky. The A/C was at the bottom of my priority list since getting it ready for tuna offshore was the main focus. Just a few more things to do and if the weather cooperates and tuna move into our local canyons - look out tuna!

Thanks again,

John

 

[beachbum]

Dennis G01, do you hav a picture of the "T" and shut off that you installed for doing a fresh water fish of A/C/ system? or does anyone have a flush system for the A/C and Genset?

Thx

 

[jip40]

Dennis G01, do you hav a picture of the "T" and shut off that you installed for doing a fresh water fish of A/C/ system? or does anyone have a flush system for the A/C and Genset?

Thx

I have a fresh water flush for my A/C - I'll be down at the boat on Aug 22nd & will take photos and post them here.

When I had the fresh water flush installed it was meant to solve a problem with the pump losing prime but then I realized it could also serve to provide the flushing. A year and a half a go I moved the boat from the FL panhandle to the keys and also moved from a high/dry stack to a wet slip. The pump would lose prime every time I ran the boat on plane without having the A/C on.

One of the first things I changed after relocating the boat was to change out the A/C and genny strainers. The original strainers were those little green PITA models. I installed two of the Raritan see thru strainers which are about three times the size of the original ones & a quick look tells you the condition of the strainer. I hoped this would alleviate the problem with the pump losing prime but not the case, I still had to run fresh water through the flush hose. While diving for lobster I noticed that the through hull for the genny had a clamshell guard on it but the A/C didn't. I installed a clamshell guard on the A/C & problem was corrected. Now the water flows through the system regardless if the pump is running or not.

NOTE: last time down the genny shut down as soon as I turned the A/C on. The servicing tech asked when the last time the A/C system had an acid flush. I've had the boat 5 years & had never heard of it. BTW the water was flowing through the system & looked to be good flow. He did an acid wash & the water flowing through the system looked to be about twice the flow as before. After the flush the genny had no problem handling the A/C as well as other components.

 

[HMBJack]

Hi there Dennis,

I'd like to add a garden hose fitting to my A/C raw water inlet hose like you. I have a 2006 330 Express with the FP Diesel genset.

Question: I understand the idea of adding a Tee fitting to accept a garden hose for FW flushing. But why is it necessary to install a second seacock? If the garden hose fitting has a good cap on it, wouldn't that prevent leakage during saltwater use? I'm thinking of a brass type garden hose fitting barbed and hose clamped on both ends (i.e. something strong). Not sure why the 2nd seacock is needed at all.

Also - Do you have a FW flush fitting on your genset? Seems like that would be really good as well. And if so - do you RUN the genset while on freshwater?

Thank you Sir!

Sincerely,
Jack

 

[DennisG01]

Hi Jack,

Yes, a cap could certainly do the job. But because everything is below the waterline, I think the safest bet is to use the seacock (it might be a safety requirement, too?).

Sure, you could absolutely do the same thing with your genny, as long as your water source can supply enough water flow and for a long enough time. IE, I don't think an onboard water tank/pump could do the job. If you really wanted to do it right, use something like Salt Away, too!

 

[HMBJack]

Thanks Dennis and good point about the "below the waterline" issue. I didn't think about that.
I normally keep those 2 sea cocks closed unless the genset or A/C is in use. Cheers, Jack

 

[JoleGW33]

On my 330 I close the seacock of either the AC or Gen, unscrew the top of the strainers, remove the plastic filter and insert the hose, run the gen or the AC with the hose overflowing as I flush each system. Works like a charm, I do this on dry stack though without the drain plug, I would be a little skeptical on doing this on the water since theres a lot of water rushing down the hull.

Acid flush your heat exchangers at least once a year depending on use, completely necessary.

 

[beachbum]

can you acid flush yourself of does it have to be done by professional?

great info in this post, I look forward tht pic's

back to the original question, My AC was blowing hot, then I found the marine had not reconnected a hose...check all your hose connections

 

[everwhom]

Lots of great info on this thread, especially since I'm a new 330 owner and I've never had a generator or AC before. Everything seems to be working pretty well on both my generator and AC, but I did have the AC shut down once with the HPF error on the control. I looked it up and it seems to be due to low water flow. It happened when I was up on plane for a while, so I'm thinking it may be a pickup issue. Once I was trolling again I was able to restart the AC and it worked fine, and the water flow seemed good too, though I don't know what "normal" is supposed to look like.

Anyone else have a problem with their AC while up on plane?

I'd also like to know more about acid flushing. I'll add that to my winter maintenance list for my marina.

Joe

 

[JoleGW33]

An acid flush can be done by yourself or any AC professional, you just need to run acid through the whole AC system (you can gravity feed it through the strainer), theres also barnacle buster and other products safer for the environment. I would recommend a professional since the only "easy" way to DIY it would be by dumping acid in the water and thats not cool.

Also if you have your boat on a water slip and run the AC constantly you should clean it/flush it at least once a year to keep it operating at optimum condition.

Since the pick up runs directly to the strainer it is posible to air lock it (you need water in the pump all the time in order to create vacuum) from waves when the hull comes off contact with the water.

 

[Tucker]

Just seeing this and thought I'd add what I'm using for a tee. I use a tee from a Prestone flush kit for cars. Comes with several size tees and the cap end is a garden hose thread. The cap has a rubber gasket. I use this to flush the system with antifreeze after pullout. Yea, every season I get vacuum locked and have to squirt the hose through the discharge fitting to get the pump to prime. The air break trap thing doesn't do squat.

 

[DennisG01]

Tucker, you may want to think about changing that plastic T out to a bronze one. For one, there's only one type of plastic (it's really not "plastic" - it's called Marelon) that's approved for below the waterline and that Prestone kit stuff isn't it. The reason is regular plastic is no where near as solid and reliable and if you get a crack/leak, you may not know it till it's too late. There's a time and place to skimp on things, but this isn't one of them.

 

[Tucker]

I would like to. Got a recommendation? Marelon doesn't make a tee like this and I've never been able to find anything in bronze. The Prestone tee is designed to take 220 deg water @ 15 PSI.

 

[DennisG01]

Midland Metals makes them: https://midlandmetal.com/product.php?ca ... e+Fittings

I'd also look into Groco and Apollo.

Here's another idea: Go to http://www.groco.net/seacocks.htm and page down to the "SSC" series. I have never personally used this, but it's always caught my eye.

 

[everwhom]

Just as a followup to my HPF error code when trying to use the air conditioner while on plane, in case anyone else has this problem. It looks like for some reason I only have a conventional round strainer on my thru hull instead of a clamshell high speed pickup. I'll change it out this winter.