Why does air con waste discharge above the waterline

luke collins

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Is there a reason why the air conditioner discharges waste water above the waterline? The noise makes me want to pee all night. ?
 
It doesn’t on all boats. On my boat the a/c sea water discharges below the waterline but there is a tell tale dribble above the waterline to tell you the pump is working and you do need that. Just occasionally the intake will get blocked or the pump fail so a discharge or tell tale above the waterline will tell you
 
I'm not sure cost is a factor.
The only difference here (as opposed to the genset, that requires also a gas/water separator) is one valve on u/w discharge.
And some builders install valves also in discharges above the w/line, anyway.
In principle, it's better for the pump and chiller functionality to avoid any discharge backpressure, as you have with a fully submerged discharge, albeit tiny.
But of course, noise can be annoying, and it can be even worse for your neighbours, particularly with sailboats or aft cabin mobos.

The way this particular cat was skinned in my boat is by putting the discharge above the w/line (just), but inside the idle bypass box of the engine exhaust.
That's just as quiet as a fully submerged discharge, but with zero backpressure.
The only drawback is that I can neither hear nor see the waterflow, but (and I'm also referring to Deleted User post here, since I believe his chiller unit is the same as mine) it's no big deal, because the chiller stops automatically in a matter of seconds, if it senses a lack of raw water flow.
 
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I changed mine from above the waterline to straight through the bottom (with a valve) and I can’t detect any difference in performance. Being 37ft it’s still not common to have a/c so felt sorry for the neighbours sweating it out with the windows open while we were cool and calm with a waterfall outside.
Also for our small boat part of the marina the elec is not metered so it’s cool calm and free.
 
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I changed mine from above the waterline to straight through the bottom (with a valve) and I can’t detect any difference in performance. Being 37ft it’s still not common to have a/c so felt sorry for the neighbours sweating it out with the windows open while we were cool and calm with a waterfall outside. Also for our small boat part of the marina the elec is not metered so it’s cool calm and free.

I managed to piss off a prominent forumite who was moored next to my boat one night in Sardinia. We had the a/c on and it dribbled next to his cabin window all night, apparently keeping him awake most of the night:D
 
I managed to piss off a prominent forumite who was moored next to my boat one night in Sardinia. We had the a/c on and it dribbled next to his cabin window all night, apparently keeping him awake most of the night:D
I actually had an intermediate step where I introduced a second outlet above the waterline on the other side and had a diverted valve. It gave me the choice of which side to piss off.
 
I managed to piss off a prominent forumite who was moored next to my boat one night in Sardinia.
We had the a/c on and it dribbled next to his cabin window all night, apparently keeping him awake most of the night:D
Really? Name and shame, M.
Pretty sure I wasn't the one who complained, because aside from the fact that I could sleep in a thunderstorm, I still had the old timber boat when you were here, and she was as sound proof as a concert hall if not better! :cool:
 
Well, I said "in principle" it's better to have no backpressure.
I fully accept that the lower efficiency - if any - is practically impossible to notice.
Agree, my point was one of reassurance for the OP that if he wanted to go through the bottom then compared with all the other variabilities of temperature and humidity he’s not going to notice.
 
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