Post edited 8:21 am – August 26, 2011 by Steve Pooler

Hi Rick~

No Clue ?    Well in case no one has clued you in…Luneair has been out of business for quite some time, so finding a 3 knob Luneair control for that unit might be kinda tough…

You could try to adapt a Cruisair, or Marine Air 3 knob control, and they will wire up to your unit ok…But as I remember, Luneair was different with the reversing valve…They powered the valve for Cooling…Cruisair, Marine Air, and others power the reversing valve for Heat…

So if you were to wire it up with a control that is commonly found…You would get heat when asking for cooling…

To change this might require a Normally Closed relay to be added to make it work properly…

If you went with a digital control…First off, all that I know do the same & power the reversing valve in cooling…But also the price of the control will likely cost you as much as you paid for the little unit…

That brings up another issue/question…Is 6000 BTU enough for a 30' sailboat ?…Likely not…Unless you are in a very mild climate…Down here a 6K unit would be installed in a small V-berth cabin…

Though Luneair was a quality unit…I think I might re-consider going thru the effort & expense of installing that unit in favor of a larger one that still has parts available….A 10K unit should do your boat fine…

Steve~

rickinnj said:

Steve,

 

Thanx for the prompt reply!  If I'd had a clue, I probably wouldn't have bought the unit.  As far as size is concerned, I had assumed that since a 5k unit in the companionway met my needs in the past, this one would do as well.  On the Chesapeake here this summer, there was only one night where I just had to use aircon to sleep…the rest of the summer I was fine with hatches open and fans running. The woman and the kids are the biggest driver for installing a/c.

 

Not worth it, huh?…Well…That would depend on a few things…

• Do you know the unit runs & cools ?…I'm guessing not since you don't have a control…
• How handy are you at wiring ?…Meaning do you have an understanding of AC voltage & circuits ?

Before I even went thru the expense of buying (any brand) a used control…I'd want to know the unit runs ok…Being a Lunaire…It's got to be at least 20 years old, and a lot could have happened to it in that 20 years…

If you are handy/comfortable enough to wire power directly to the compressor, fan, and reversing valve…You could run it on a bench with a garden hose connected to see what it does….

Steve~

 

Thanx again,

Rick

Yep…That's pretty much it, but they each need neutral too.

Steve~