“You’re as cold as ice...Part I” No, not really


I think that one of the advantages to the Camano is all that glass surrounding the cabin and the exceptional view it gives you. It does however challenge the cooling system. These boats were made in the Northwest so the difference there compared to the humid tropics is certainly different. We have a Marine Air 16,000 BTU unit located under the salon bench. There is a thru hull strainer to a pump in the engine room.

When we purchased the boat I had my AC guy check the freon in the unit as it would frost up. That took care of the problem. I cleaned the condenser coil fins and installed a new washable filter. For a 21 year old unit it works great. It was just a struggle for it to keep the boat cool when the heat of the day was bearing down. The boat also has Phifertex snap on screens for the side windows and a canvas cover for the front windshield as well as curtains on the inside. All of this helps but still the coolest we could get it was 78 deg inside, not bad but a little tough to sleep since by the time the air got to the bunk it was warmer there. We mounted a fan by the AC vent and that helped some.

A few weeks ago I opened the cabinet under the sink and noticed it seemed cool under there. Hmm, an air leak? I decided to do some boat CSI. The AC unit feeds a trunk line that goes to the main vent in the salon via a distribution box which then goes to the galley and a distribution box under the cabinet to the bunk. I checked the distribution boxes and noticed there was some air leaking at the galley. I was able to caulk the connection with some silicone. To access the salon box I needed to remove the salon bookcase, but in order to remove that I had to remove the main register. As soon as I got behind the area I found the problem. The distribution box had broken away from the wall and cool air was flowing back behind the port side of the boat.

After I had removed the screws

Cabinet & Bookcase Out

In order to repair it I would also need to remove the galley cabinet and squeeze myself back in there. This is where being on the “spry” side helps. But anyone with a boat knows, many times you have to lay in some unique and uncomfortable positions to do a repair.

Fun Spaces

The edges of the box was screwed in the 4 corners and 3 of those corners had broken. I disconnected the flex duct which was screwed to the outlet and had a large hose clamp and was taped! I removed the screws and box and applied some Butyl tape to the box edge and re-drilled holes for the screws. Once I had the box on, for good measure I taped the edge with foil tape. 



As hard as all that was, the most difficult part was getting the flex duct back onto the box outlet, especially since the first couple inches were “boogered up” and had to be cut off. The Shortened piece was a little Tough to put on and reinstall the band clamp.


In narrating this event I have left out the expletives, there were quite a few.

With everything back together, it was apparent that the volume and force of the air from all of the registers had increased. Success!

UPDATE: I have another Blog entry about more AC issues - see "Your As Cold As Ice...Part II"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Bottom Line

Image
    H ere in the Crystal River area where we keep our boat, underwater fouling is minimal. This is due to the amount of fresh water we have. Our canal is "brackish" with not alot of salinity and the closer you are to King's Bay and the springs the salinity goes way down. Out to the Gulf and further south, hull bottom fouling becomes worse. Go to the Keys and the Bahamas and it is very aggressive.  Wintertime when the water is cold, the growth is minimal, but when the water warms it is alive with billions of tiny organisms ready to cling to something and start reproducing. Now that our boat is in Tampa Bay and the water temperature is moving into the 70's the growth is accelerating.  How do we combat this? The list of ways is endless but the basic method is to apply Anti-Fouling coatings. Bottom paint. There is a whole science and tons of info about anti-fouling coatings so I won't go into all of it but basically there are 2 types of paint. Hard & Ablative. Bot...
Read more

Pre Loop Madness and Monotony

Image
   The build up was huge, the anticipation was killing us. Now we're here, living on the boat in Bradenton, FL for the next 14 days before we "shove off". With everything we think we will need for the trip in the back of our car, we load it onto the boat. Where in the heck are we going to put all of this stuff? Organizing and storing in every nook & cranny, sorting and reprioritizing. Re-looking at something and saying, "Do we really need 3 of these?" "Put it back in the car." After two full days, Beth managed to get it all labeled and packed away, somewhere. This little boat has a lot more storage space than we thought. Now, to be able to find it when we want it. I looked for my work gloves for 20 minutes!  "Where is all this stuff going to fit?"     Meanwhile I'm doing the same for all of my tools and gear, gallons of oil, fluids and filters, spare parts and odd things that we just might need to get us out of a pinch.  A few last mi...
Read more

The "REAL" Journey Begins

Image
TRAVEL DAY 1 - Palmetto to Sarasota February 14, 2023 4.2 Hours/31.6 Miles     Today is "really" the day we start of the Great Loop, as opposed to the "Unofficial Start of the Great Loop" . We felt pretty confident that all the preparation and work would pay off . Well, feelings are one thing, realty is another.     We pulled out of our slip and headed for the fuel dock to top off the tanks with a few gallons of diesel and pump out the holding tank. Of course the predicted wind was not what we got, neither was the air temperature, still it was a decent day for a cruise. We're still in our home waters so we basically knew the way. Our destination was Sarasota and a free anchorage. We had planned to pick up an anchor ball at Marina Jack's but it was full. Free anchorages mean more money for food, snacks and drinks! Out of the Manatee River and around Ana Marie Island     Beth had planned some routes on her Navionics and Aqua Maps apps and was ready to assume ...
Read more