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Marine Air Conditioning

Discussion in 'HVAC' started by twhite, Sep 3, 2018.

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  1. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    I currently own a 1987 Viking 41ft sportfish convertible. the current ac unit in the bed room has a compressor failure. then salon ac unit yesterday had a voltage spike that took out the control panel controls and then main circuit board. I changed controls from bed room to salon to diag the control failure. I need to located the other main circuit board so I can swap these hoping to just get by for the last month or two of boating in lake erie., my boat did not come equipped with manuals when I purchased it, so I have no idea where it would be located. I have searched and removed any panel or floor piece I could and still cant find it. the salon circuit board was located in the under the lower bunk bed in middle room. would anyone know where or how to find the other circuit board location? thanks for the help.. both units are original marine air
  2. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The main circuit boards are on the units themselves, generally in a metal box. You should also have a pump trigger circuit board that allows each unit to turn the pump on and off when the unit demands air, your boat might be older than that and the pump just runs all of the time.

    Plan on replacing them, they're past their lifespan.
  3. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    Yes I agree, I’m planning to replace them this winter during winter storage.. I must be describing the pump trigger circuit board.. it contained 4 what I would call phone jack cords going into it.. when I opened this box it smelled of burnt electronics.. it was located approx 4 feet from the compressors on other side of a wall below a bed. But I can’t for the life of me find the other pump trigger board.. if I could I could swap them and at least bandaid the concern till winter storage. Any ideas of where to locate it
  4. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    There is only 1 pump trigger board for all of the units, that's what the 4 phone jack cords......1 from each unit.
  5. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    I unplugged all 4 jack and expected I would loose power to the control pad figuring that since the only thing that plugs into the control pad is a single phone jack. Led me to believe I must have another pump trigger board
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The control pad wiring goes to the air handler itself where there is a board. The air handler has another wire that then goes to the pump relay box/board.
  7. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    Ok thanks I will keep swapping what I can to see if I can resolve this. Appreciate the help.. do you recommend the domestic for replacement units ?
  8. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    The air handler is that a term for the evaporator and fan unit or for the compressor ?
  9. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yes. The other wire that goes to the trigger comes off of either there or the compressor unit.
  10. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    I have two original Cruisair WFAH 16 units with the old rotary dials on my 1981 Ocean and only this end of summer did one start acting up. Myself and my HAVC tech friend just replaced the compressor only on the one and it's working very well again. The other unit keeps on trucking. I know they are from '81 after working on them now, not replacements. 38 years old and still working. I did have to replace the pump relay contactor this summer with a new one from Micro-Air in Allentown NJ. They are the folks that make the wall controls and relays boxes for Cruisair/Marinairr/Dometic. You can get the same parts for half the price from them.

    If it was me, I would work with what you have got. Micro-Air should have the parts you need. Complete new A/C units can add up, and my not be needed. Plus you boat in fresh water! Another positive.
    Keep in mind my units are super clean and were always, luckily, dry not in contact with water/leaks. I hope yours are in the same condition, with no bad rust.
  11. wdrzal

    wdrzal Senior Member

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    The air handler is a term for the evaporator and fan unit
  12. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    Thanks for the input guys.. my boat has two pump/compressor circuit boards. We were able to bypass the circuit board completely. This will bandaid the ac for the rest of the season.. this winter I’m putting in new units... any recommendations ? Domestic is the old marine air so are their new complete contained units the ones I should go with ?
  13. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yes, stick with domestic
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Well, Dometic purchased their competition. So, thru a few lines, they gona get your money. The plus side, lots of options have been standardized. Moving forward your support will be of better value for service and parts.
    There will always be independent company's out there till Dometic buys them up. So, for the long run, buy a Dometic system. AND the stuff works great.
  15. twhite

    twhite New Member

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    Great thanks guys
  16. ranger58sb

    ranger58sb Senior member

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    Several owners in our group have said the Dometic Vector Turbo (or whatever it's current name is) is the greatest self-contained unit since sliced bread. More powerful than previous same-size units, quieter, no rust from the condensate pan, even better controls. The quote I got to replace our older Marine Airrrrr Vector Compact models seemed OK, although I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

    OTOH, I've also seen 'net reviews questioning their longevity, reliability over time. Not easy to evaluate those; can't tell if any posted negative reviews are really representative or not...

    -Chris
  17. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I've replaced several with the same BTU units of the self contained with the turbo blowers. They crank. Double the airflow and I'm measuring 34F out of the discharge vent on them when the previous unit only blew 46F air out of it, and they use a touch less electricity.
  18. motoryachtlover

    motoryachtlover Senior Member

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    I recently replaced my aft stateroom with a 410A Dometic and so far so good. I am now replacing the salon and the front stateroom with Dometic. I have heard that Dometic is not as good as it used to be. I have also heard that they were being made in China and/or Brazil. I heard from a good source that that is not true that the units are manufactured in Pompano. So made in the States. But when you speak to AC professionals they act like Dometic is the only quality choice available. I do think Dometic has a superior ability to service its units in various locations due to the large Dealer network. So at any rate I am all in with Dometic. We will see how it turns out. Contemplated Ocean Marine in Stuart but heard you have to ship the entire unit back to them for service but they use parts that are commonly supported in land based AC units so theoretically you could get a non marine tech to repair them. But I am still working at don’t want to spend the time dealing with all that.