Let’s start with the basics…

Seawater flow thru your A/C system is primary…

Without water flow….You have NO cooling !

Service people on the docks (at least the better ones) can walk down the dock during the summer and tell which boats they are likely to be getting a call from next just by the flow of water (or lack of) going overboard on each boat….Lack of seawater flow can cause other problems besides loss of cooling…

• Lack of seawater flow causes high system operating pressures
• This, in turn increases the amperage draw from the A/C unit
• Possibly leading to: Burnt up wiring at switches or shore cord ends

Many of these symptoms can stem back to the cause of low water flow. If the flow is allowed to remain restricted,  compressor failure can also occur in some older systems.

Different than land based systems, Marine systems installed below decks have no fan to remove the heat from the refrigerant…They use water to carry away the heat for many reasons…

• Water is more efficient than air as a heat exchange medium
• Size of a unit with air cooling is much larger, thus making air cooling impractical on boats
• Air cooled units require a exit path for the heat so that the space they are in does not continue to heat up as they run, thus reducing their efficiency further

As you see from the picture above….It’s an example of a seawater strainer to a system that has seen little love, and this system of course did not cool.

Every boat owner should become familiar with their boats overboard flow rate when the system is clean, and become accustomed to glancing at it every chance they get…Once you have established what is normal for your boat, a simple glance may be enough to recognize a mounting problem, and thus head off a ruined trip due to the loss of A/C…

The first question a tech may/should ask when he gets a call Is…”How is the seawater flow ?”

More frequently than not…The owners answer is he thinks it ok, or Yes it’s flowing…Only for us to arrive to find not much more than a trickle….All this is ok for us as techs…but if you would like to save that expensive service call…Keeping your strainer from looking like the picture is a great start !

Seawater strainer maintenance is not hard to do…But of course every boat or installation is different. You should also know that the more the system/s run…The more frequently you will need to clean the strainer. During the winter months here in central Florida we find that due to cooler water (marine organisms seem to grow more slowly in cooler water) and obviously less usage you may not need to clean the strainer but once a month….Summer is a different story !

Depending on where your boat is moored, Tidal flow, Water Temp, and Running the system/s 24/7 can require cleaning the strainer as often as every week…I have even seen worst case situations where a boat may be moored in a pass with much tidal flow (and grass flats nearby) causing the grass to “Tumble” in the water down to where the thru hull is located, thus requiring the strainer basket to be emptied in a matter of hours…

Steve~

Here’s what I can share at this point from the Cruisair/Marine Air perspective & what I have been told.

Self Contained R-22 units are no longer in production…sort of…

Since 417a is a drop in replacement for R-22 you can get the R-22 units (but they are shipping charged with R-417a)

We are told that the R-417a drop in replacement refrigerant for R-22 is 17% less efficient than the R-22 in the same unit (like running 60Hz equipment on 50Hz power)

So if you bought a new R-417a unit…You can evacuate the R-417a and re-charge that unit with R-22 to realize the same performance as a R-22 unit that was purchased before the production change…

You can also evacuate a older R-22 system & recharge with 417a…But the 17% performance drop still applies…

R-22 refrigerant should still be available for quite some time yet…But…The price will climb pretty quickly.

Edit:  5/1/2011…2020 is slated to be the end of production of R-22 in the US…None will be imported either…But at that point, if you still have an operational R-22 system, it can be evacuated and re-charged with R-417a.

The new R-410a cannot be used in a R-22/R417a system even with evacuation…It’s not compatible with the oil in the 22 system & the pressures will run too high in that system (metering devise is not set for it either)

My distributor has about 3 months worth of sales of units with R-22 available, but after they are gone he will only stock the new R-410a units….And is now only ordering Self Contained unit with the new R410a.

5/11/2011…R-22/R417 self contained units are no longer in stock.

Split or Remote systems are a whole different story…

One thing they are the same in is that none of the existing systems can run the new R-410a, but they can run the R-417a with the 17% drop in performance….but the problem is bigger with small split systems.

Typically the 16K & smaller split systems have always used piston type compressors as opposed to the rotary type that have been used in self contained units for many years now…

The reason for this is that the rotary type compressor does not lend itself well to long copper line runs…
Rotary crankcases don’t hold enough oil for the migration of oil with the refrigerant throughout the longer line runs in split systems…
It’s my understanding that the rotary can run out of oil before it has a chance to return with the refrigerant, and thus can ruin itself in a split system from lack of lubrication.

The compressor manufacturers are being forced to phase out production of the lower efficiency piston compressors by the EPA or whomever…

5/1/2011…We still have no info on when this might happen but as of this date…Replacement R-22 split system units with the older piston compressors are still in production…But only ship with R-417a which can be evacuated after installation & replaced with R-22 to maintain efficiency.

Scroll compressors would be a great alternative, but as of yet…The compressor manufacturers have not developed Scroll compressors in the smaller sizes that are required for our smaller Marine split systems (the larger than 16k marine units are using scrolls now)
I guess they figure the Marine market is too small to develop new small scrolls for, and that the rotary’s are fine for the home window unit market (which is what the the rotary’s were developed for)

I know that Dometic Cruisair/Marine Air has been testing small splits using rotary’s for quite some time now…So far they aren’t saying much…

Until then…They are only offering the same piston type smaller split systems and shipping with R-417a (the drop in replacement for R-22) to meet the new regulations….The Larger splits (over 16K) will be available as either R-417a (mainly for replacements of the older R-22 units) or the new R-410a units, but to utilize R-410a condensing unit you must also change the air handler…No need for new copper tubing runs.

Dometic is now offering their new “Emerald Series” split/remote systems with rotary compressors (16K & below) Also with  TXV’s (thermostatic expansion valve) metering devises at both the condensing unit & air handler (2 TXV’s)…Larger than 16K “Emerald Series” systems are Scroll compressors.

Steve~

Developed through innovative engineering, this high-efficiency system blows chilled air through high-velocity directional jets aimed at people in
the helm station, outdoor salon, fishing area or other locations. Just when rising temperatures would normally force passengers into air conditioned living space, they continue to enjoy their current location as jets of chilled air automatically start blowing on them.

CoolBreeze’s two-stage operation is totally automatic based on two user-defined set points, and can easily be installed on boats of all types and sizes. It is available as factory-installed OEM equipment and it can be retrofitted onto existing boats as an aftermarket product. CoolBreeze uses
environmentally safe R-417A refrigerant

Dometic Cool Breeze at Marine-AC.com