First trip this spring with shore power, so I decided to run a/c to check out. Opened sea cock and started her up, pump primed fine and water flow was good, strainer nice and clean. Put on and set thermostat to 70, outside temp was about 80. After a few minutes I felt the air coming out of the vent and it was cool, not cold but adequately cool to lower temp in boat. Got cooler over next few minutes. After running about 30-40 minutes I went back into cabin and it was cooler than outside, but not nearly as cool as I expected on 80 degree day. Usually when it runs on hot days, 90+, I can expect it to maintain cabin just below 80, which feels good. Not this time when I checked the air after about 30-40 minutes, as mentioned above, the air coming from the vents was no cooler than the air temp inside cabin. I lowered the thermostat thinking perhaps the compressor had cycled off, but it had not and after another 15 minutes it was clear that it was not cooling. Fan and compressor were running, but no cooling, and the airflow from the vent was significantly less then when started. I did not have opportunity to go under bunks and check unit so I just shut it down. Do you thing I have low freon, which would explain lack of cooling but not reduced air flow. Or, do you think the coils could be freezing up? How do I avoid that? First boat with A/C so have not experience here. Help appreciated.
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these a/c units are not going to work like a car where it will blast cold air. They are more for cooling the air gradually. Setting it at a lower level when its having trouble will only compound the issue. You set it for a few degrees under, let it hit that temp and rest , then repeat slowly getting down tot he temp you want.
I am guessing your unit froze up, which is fairly common. Make sure everything is clean, air intake, screen, etc. You can also turn on reverse cycle "thaw mode", it will reverse cycle the a/c for a given time to thaw the unit. Mine does this, turns on abotu every 20 minutes. If its 80 out, I generally set to 75 or 76, if I set it for 70, the unit will freeze.
Also make sure all doors are shut and keeping as much sunlight out of the cabin as possible.
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A properly installed/functioning AC should never freeze, you should make sure the filter is uber-clean, and do a quick check and verify that the intake and exhausts are all sufficiently sized. I believe the AC compressor only has "on" or "off", no in-between settings, so if there is not sufficient airflow over the condenser it gets so cold it freezes the humidity out of the air as it hits. Once it freezes, it blocks the airflow significantly.
The other option would be low refrigerant.
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Thats the problem ish. Most of the a/cs installed were not properly installed, I find many are way undersized for the boats. My 10k in my 3055 is a joke, it should have had alot bigger. The installation from bayliner with screws holding non-insulated tubes in place with air leaks all over is also apart of the issues.
Properly installed a/c shouldnt freeze, but most a/c's are not properly installed from the factory in the 1st place.
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