Running the A/C at the Dock

Alex F said:
Gary, does the shutdown event accurs by some kind of protective sensor preventing any damages to the a/c system? Does it mean that procedure as simple as cleaning the strainer and turn the unit back on?
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Yes and yes.
 
If I am spending the weekend on the boat at one of the places we regularly cruise to I will leave the A/C running while we go to the beach for a few hours.
If I am leaving the boat alone overnight or back at my regular slip I don't run the A/C. I also unplug the electric from the boat and disconnect the fresh water hose.
The thought of that A/C pump going unattended overnight or for long periods of time makes me nervous.
The battery switch is usually in the off position unless we need it.
I don't keep anything in the fridge on the boat unless I'm sleeping overnight or spending a few days aboard so there is no reson for me to leave it running. I clean it out and take the contents home in a cooler when I leave. I also prop the door open when it's not in use, unless of course we are underway.
I don't like the idea of leaving a hose with running water hooked up to my boat when I'm not there either. I also turn it off at the dock before we go to bed for the night if we are sleeping aboard.
I stay on top of things and do frequent maintenance and inspections but my feeling is that it is better to be safe than to be sorry.
Besides, When I come back to the boat to get ready for a trip I always bring a cooler with whatever I need in it, and when I get where I'm going the A/C cools off the relatively small cabin in a very short amount of time.
There is really no need for my boat to be hooked up to electric when I leave, there is nothing that needs to be running.
There is always the issue of electrolysis too. I keep my boat in a relatively small boatyard with about a dozen others. Most are day type boats and pretty much everyone follows the same routine as I do and we don't have any problems.
Come wintertime I get to see dozens of other boats that spend the season in other marinas or at private houses and come around where I am for the winter on the hard. Some of them have real problems caused by electrolysis after spending the season in a place where everyone leaves everything on all season. For some reason it really seems to be a problem on boats with Bravo drives. They really take a beating.
 
My experience with the a/c on boats is the units seem to be bullet proof. Never had one fail in 30 years of owning airconditioned boats. When we cruise, we are gone for 4-5 weeks at a time time and the air pretty much runs 24/7. The pumps are low pressure so there is not much risk of a hose failure and the hoses are in plain view so any deterioration should be pretty obvious if you look. About the only issues I've had to deal with is cleaning raw water pick up if there is vegetation in the water that gets sucked into the pick up.
 
Well is it true the Coast Guard recommends closing all sea cocks when a vessel is left unattended? If that's true couldn't your insurance consider it negligence? I'm just sayin'
 
Ya know... I'm the "cheap boat" on my dock and most of the other boats are running their HVAC systems all the time. I doubt this is a big "problem" as you would hear more about it.
 
i think this is a healthy debate - there is no right answer but there are reasons that support both arguments. let each person make his or her own decision and everyone's happy.
 
These are all great posts, I seen one other problem with leaving the a/c on. What about fouling the raw water coolent lines. Sooner or later this has to happen and the a/c will have to be replaced. I don't leave mine on when I am away. I figure I really want it to work when I need it. Just a thought.
 
topgun1185 said:
These are all great posts, I seen one other problem with leaving the a/c on. What about fouling the raw water coolent lines. Sooner or later this has to happen and the a/c will have to be replaced. I don't leave mine on when I am away. I figure I really want it to work when I need it. Just a thought.
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Huh? What are you talking about? Part of maintaining these systems is flushing them out with an acid.... *Anything* that uses raw water needs to be cleaned out/flushed out periodically. Just because it gets dirty doesn't mean it is ruined. Sorta like underwear.
 
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Regarding fouling the lines...I put a chip of chlorine in the strainer 1-2 times a season and it seems to do a good job of cleaning out the gunk. in the lineset I'll put it in usually on a weekend where I know we'll be running the AC most of the time so as to not overly dilute one part of the system. Anyone else do this? I think I got it from the SRO board...
 
I think its much easier and cheaper to replace an a/c system then replacing moldy headliner and carpet.
 
When away from the boat I turn the A/C off, But I have a fan that I turn on and leave run to move air in the cabin to prevent mold and mildew.
 
too much heat and humidity down here not to keep the A/C on. I either set it for the humidity cycle, or put it at 79 degrees.
 
I leave it set at about 78 when away. I also use 1in chlorine tablets that I put in the strainer basket. One tablet seems to last about 1.5-2 weeks depending on how hot it is. There was a decent amount of growth in the strainer when I bought the boat but nearly all of it is gone now after keeping up with it. I check the strainers every weekend I get there anyhow so its no big deal to throw in the tablet each time. SB
 
It works for me. Comparing the ac strainer to the genset and mains there is a huge difference. I get plain old 1" pool tablets from walmart, 36 or so of them for 6 bucks. Nothing likes to grow in chlorinated water and I can't think of anything in the system that its corrosive to. SB
 
Thanks Newbie, that sounds like a good excuse to not open the pool this year - I used all the chlorine on the boat!
 
I tried leaving my A/C running all summer last year and got fouled lines and all kinds of crap growing in the system. Using a chlorine tab sounds like a smart idea that would eliminate the problem.

I lost a fan in the forward berth unit plus it had a leak, so while the Cruisair A/C guy was installing me a new one Monday, I asked him about running the unit all the time. He said it really depends on where the boat is kept as to how badly/quickly the cooling lines clog up.
 
Well.. I boat in the same area as you and I can tell you that growth here is very bad... You will either learn to do a flush yourself or pay someone else to do it... but you'll have to do it.
 
Will the Chlorine hurt any part of the systems? I have never heard of this practice.
 
The 1" tablet is too much, IMHO. I also get my tablets from walmart but break them into 2-3 chunks and put a piece in at a time, but only when I'm sure the unit will run for a couple days. The corrosive nature of chlorine could cause damage to gaskets in the strainer and other parts of the line as well if left to accumulate over a long time with no water moving through the system to dilute the ppms.
 
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