Has anyone used Marine Air's 12v AC system?

[Cocktail Time]

I was on Marine Air (dometic"s) website and they show a "new" 12v ac system made for boats "too small for a genset". Is anyone here familiar with his type of unit? There is what looks like a Se Ray cuddy on the flyer... I have a friend with a 250 Overniter that wants to know if this is something worth looking at.


http://www.marineair.com/contained/index.html


Dan

 

[tdappleman]

I found an earlier post on this - http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7956 - hope this helps.

 

[Sweet Dreams]

Its pretty costly. Think installation was around 3k and involved drilling holes through your boat hull below sea level for water. We researched all options. Decided that even if the unit and installation had been less, we knew nobody we trusted with putting holes in our boat below the water line. Got a good 7000BTU carry on off of ebay that had been returned to the store then checked out by the factory. And probably if your boat is small enough for AC not to be standard and preinstalled, its probably too small for you to give up the storage and venting space for the 12v unit.

 

[Four Suns]

I'm sure the "experts" will disagree with me but... HOLY CRAP! 31 Amps? How long you expect a battery to last sucking 31 Amps on it? Remember that the Amp-hour ratings are usually 20 hour ratings... not 30 minute ratings.

 

[fc3]

30 amps isn't too bad. You'd have to parallel two or three batteries, which would then draw about 15 to 10 amps from each, which is manageable. But three batteries weigh 210 pounds, more than a 3KW genset. And the 12vdc air conditioner is only 3500 BTU, which is piddly even for a tiny boat. So once again, if you need air conditioning while on the hook, you need a real genset. And that is not a @#$%@ honda!

Best regards,
Frank

 

[tobnpr]

3500 btu's ain't gonna cut it for a 25' overnighter. I don't think it would cool anything more than a V-berth cuddy like you'd find in a 20'er, and that would even be marginal.