keeping cool

[baggypipes]

has anyone knowledge of the workings of a car air conditioning we recently hired a car with such a unit & wonderd if one could be adapted/used in our catamaran as we head for the med next year

 

[elton]

They're very complicated, and they're intimately connected with the rest of the car's electronics. They're heavy, and the compressor is normally belt driven by the engine. When you take the system off a car this will inevitably mean releasing the (volatile) fluid, so you'll have to get it refilled somehow if you ever manage to install it in your boat.

 

[harvey]

Our last boat (imported from the US) had a fridge system which used a car air conditioning system driven by an extra pulley on the front of the crankshaft. The fridge space was 11 cubic metres (huge!) and the whole thing was extremely efficient. I can't think of a reason why you couldn't transpose the whole lot into a boat....compressor, valves, matrix etc. Only problem I can see would be having to run the engine whenever you wanted to activate it. Interesting
Good luck!
John

 

[Talbot]

You could run a cars AC unit on a boat, but you would have to run a generator or your engine in order to power it. The car ones use a LOT of of power (abt 8 hp) and that would flatten a battery bank in minutes.

 

[baggypipes]

many thanks for the reply dont think ill bother just wondered it seemed like a good idea
apy sailin

 

[pvb]

Sure about that?

[ QUOTE ]
The fridge space was 11 cubic metres (huge!) and the whole thing was extremely efficient.

[/ QUOTE ] I really don't believe you had a boat with an 11 cubic metre fridge. The big double-door fridge-freezers used domestically typically have an internal capacity of around 0.5 cubic metre.

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Baggypipes and welcome to the YBW forums,

Our cat has an air conditioner fitted, have a look at the caravan thru' roof air con units, Carrier make a marine version, we installed one a few months ago when the original one (Not marine grade) failed.

If you plan to spend some time in a hotish climate sleeping can be problem without cool air, even better if your in a marina, just hook up the 240V A/C and your comfortable. I suspect a portable gen set would produce enough to run it, but we have not looked at this yet.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[Dave99]

All has been mentioned - car air con requires engine to be run so no good for a sailing boat but would be ok for powerboat on long legs

 

[William_H]

Yes a car A/C compressor can provide a huge amount of cooling. If you set it up with a water or keel cooled condenser you could improve the efficiency and really provide a lot of cooling power. either for fridge or aircon. You would however need to run it from the main or a separate engine. As stated the horsepower required is a lot. On some small 4 cyl cars they fit a disconnect for the A/c compressor so that when you open the throttle fully it disconnects the A/c to give you full power for overtaking and often a throttle nudger to open the throttle more at idle because the A/c will drag the idle speed down. (not so much of a problem on big cars) but still a real horsepower requirement.
Thhe beauty of using a 240V Ac aircon apart from cheap is that when at a powered marinna berth yoiu have all the comforts but you would need a decent gen set to operate it away from mains power. olewill

 

[harvey]

Re: Sure about that?

Absolutely right.... slip of the cogs somewhere. Would you accept 11 cubic feet?
John

 

[mikewilkes]

Waco make a motoer home one which is being used here in the south of france very successfully. Model is Coolair 1000. Sits ontop of the roof and only sticks up 199mm. Only sticks down into the cabin by 55mm. Overall size is approx 1100 x 560mm - cost about € 1,500 / £ 1,000 but discounts are available through Motor home suppliers.
This model will start up and work off a 3 amp supply. Some off the others have quite a high "kick in" amperage. You can also buy from Carfore etc a domestic one for less than €200 but you end up with a big bit inside as well. OK if you have the space and the amps available.

 

[pvb]

Much better!

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[ccscott49]

Hows life in froggie land me old mate?

 

[deffie]

HI,
what about the social cost of adding gear so you need to either use a generator or run the engine a lot in the marina?
What about the guys that need to get their heads down to catch an early tide, or people just wanting a quiet drink in their cockpits as the sun goes down ?
Have people lost sight of why they took up sailing in the first place ?

 

[Heckler]

take all the bits off a car, junk the "electronics" and put simple make and break controllers, set of refrigeration guages, an old compressor off a fridge to use as a vacuum pump. a bottle of gas and an intercooler to cool the compressed gas and bobs your uncle, unfortunately if you have to ask the questions you wont have the knowledge and mechanical skills to do it.
Stu

 

[mikewilkes]

[ QUOTE ]
Hows life in froggie land me old mate?

[/ QUOTE ]
Absolutely fabulous. Had 6 -8 weeks just cruising up the canals and 'er indoors was over the moon with it.

 

[mikewilkes]

[ QUOTE ]
HI,
what about the social cost of adding gear so you need to either use a generator or run the engine a lot in the marina?


[/ QUOTE ]
What about when you are hooked up to shore power - that does not make a noise!!!!