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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Marine Air in Cat 25

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BarryCooper
1st Mate

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USA
30 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/17/2006 : 22:20:34

Me again. You know us green sailors have tons of questions. I had marine air on my 25' cabin cruiser. I now have a Cat 25 with no air. Years ago, I was at a business expo and saw a cool a/c system. Here is what I saw: An orange and white igloo water cooler like you see on construction sights. It had a larger lid to accomodate a blower. There was some kind of coil inside the cooler. Fill the cooler with ice water, attach to 12 volt battery and BAM!!! Cold air all night. Does anybody know where I can get one of these. Texas nights are so hot and I want air on the boat.

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 00:04:09

Barry - I think I recall some not-too-positive posts about that method of cooling the boat. Search the archives, I could be wrong. (And it's so early in the year for me to be wrong about something. I'm usually not wrong until around June.

)

Steve

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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3321 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 12:00:19

Barry, I bought one last year and it didn't work worth a pinch of coon poop (to use an old Texas expression). And, what was more telling, is that our outside temps were only in the high 80's low 90's at the time...I hate to think how useless it would have been when we got over 100 degrees! The factory took it back without any argument.
Derek

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 12:24:42

$12-1400 put real marine AC in, I am up to speed if you want more info on this. $80-100 puts usable AC in your boat, look at my site.

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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2006 : 11:04:17

Barry,

A "ton" of air conditioning is equal to 12,000 BTUs. How much ice do the guys selling that contraption think will fit into an Igloo water cooler?

What their device will probably do is increase the humidity in your cabin (making you more uncomfortable) rather than cool it off for any appreciable time.

Refrigerated air conditioning dehumidifies as well as cools which is an imporatnt factor for comfort levels.

Give that unit the passeroo.

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At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2006 : 13:59:04

I'm with Frank...put in real marine air. My current boat, C320, has reverse cycle (heat/air) with a digital thermostat, works great. Mine is 16,500, so 12,000 would be plenty in a C25/250.

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2006 : 17:57:13

Or, for about $ 800 new or less used (try ebay), you can buy a Cruiseair air conditioner that sits in your forward hatch and does a pretty decent job of cooling the boat without any plumbing (I've used mine a couple of times in Chesapeake Augusts with success). There are also folks who have put a regular AC unit in the port cockpit locker/blowing into the quarterberth.

Brooke

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Mark Loyacano
Navigator

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USA
247 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2006 : 10:37:39

Barry, I sent you an e-mail via the forum 'profile' about selling my CruiseAir freon air conditioner.
Regards,

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2006 : 19:32:13

We use one of these on the evelyn when we have the full crew sleeping on the boat in the rare instance we don't have other accomodations. It cools that boat down nicely, and you can leave it in a dock box. Of course with this type of unit, your not going to be turning it on at anchor or while tied to a ball.

It works well as a dehumidifier and cools the entire 32 foot boat. There is a lot more area down below on the racer, so between that and the 7 extra feet, I think you could probably make ice cream with this in a boat our size.
The link below is my first attempt at incorporating a link from a affiliate program inside of a post...with a picture etc. Hopefully it works.

DW

<hr noshade size="1">

[url="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=37923409&siteid=41514384&bfpid=358400257&bfmtype=boatersworld"]Taylor Made 7000 BTU Portable A/C[/url]

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Joe Mama
1st Mate

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USA
25 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2006 : 14:59:34

Don't toss out that ice chest cooler just yet... Hook it up to a copper boiler, toss in some fermented corn mash, heat boiler to 173 degrees F; and you'll have some "raht fahn lahtnin'" in no time 'tall!!! Only kidding, everyone knows moonshining is illegal in this country...(wink,wink,nudge,nudge.

Joe mama

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BarryCooper
1st Mate

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USA
30 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 13:18:19

Hey Joe, Making one's own whiskey, wine or beer is perfectly legal here in the USA. Selling the product is what is illegal. Hey the rest of you guys...Thanks so much for all the help. I am way ahead of the game due to this forum. It would have taken me one year to learn what I have learned in one month from your posts.
Rock on,
Barry

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 13:46:35

Brooke -

Considering the slope of the forward hatch on a C-25, how did you get your carry-on A/C to fit securely?

Thanks,

Steve

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 14:13:04

Ok I am still typing with one hand but...
There are multiple vendors of tru marine aire as with most things there are fewer manufacturers. oceanbreezeac.com is the shizzle.

The biggist issue is a rotory compressor to reduce vibration. A Catalina 25 should have the 12700 BTU if you are north of old Mexico. The problem comes with condensation. The pans are designed to drain to the bilge with the shower etc, we do not want that. Mermaid air make something called a condensator which uses the ventury effect to suck "all" of the condensation out as the cooling water is pumped out of the boat, (basically a tube with a check valve). The pan does not fully empty! When you heel you will spill condensate. There is an additional fix; cover the pan, drain into a bottle below the AC and use the condensator to suck that dry. Our boats do lend themselves very nicely to the installation under the Vberth and running ducts to starboard. AC $1200, condensator $100, misc 1-2 BU.

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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3321 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 17:36:22

I guess we are cheap folks! Judy bought an $89.00 unit from Home Depot (5,000 btu) (even came with a remote!). I built a stand to go on the top step of the companionway with a slope from front to back so that the unit sits on a slant and allows condensation to drain directly into the cockpit. The unit sits on both the stand and the companionway sill. We put in the top hatchboard, close the slide top
and pack a beach towel around to get a semi-seal.
Works perfectly in 100+ temps....
One advantage is that you can take it off the boat when racing!

Derek

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 19:29:45

I like Derek's idea best, especially the price and level of effort required!

I got the same unit for emergency use during hurricanes. That economical 5,000BTU A/C unit combined with a 2kw portable generator can cool down either a C-25 at anchor, or one room in a house during a prolonged summer power outage. No, I haven't tried it on my C-25 yet. (I did a rather thorough job of installing it in the house, so I'm not inclined to move it around much.)

A footnote regarding that $89.00 remote controlled 5,000BTU unit from Home Depot -- mine died within the first few days of testing.

(<i>Always test consumer appliances as soon as you get them!</i>) I returned it for the non-remote version with just two old fashioned rotary dials in place of the high-tech touch pad. It's been run maybe a hundred hours or more so far without problems.

-- Leon Sisson

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 21:35:40

Steve - There is a hood of sorts that allows the unit to make a snug (not perfect) seal.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2006 : 10:30:41

And i have been very happy with my 6500 BTUs

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BarryCooper
1st Mate

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USA
30 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 19:03:05

Mark Loyacano, Thanks for striking a deal with me on the A/C. I look forward to recieving it. Barry

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2006 : 22:04:42

Steve, Duane is right. There's a fabric hood that fits around the Cruiseair and over the hatch. It's hardly airtight, but you have to remember that cold air sinks, so it all works reasonably well. By the way, the angles in the hatch are such that I couldn't get the Cruiseair up through the hatch from below until I removed one of the handles on the unit. I can't remember which one it was -- I think aft. There's also an adjustable foot on the forward end so you can adjust the tilt of the unit. You want it to tilt forward just enough for condensation to run out on the foredeck rather than down into the v-berth!

Brooke

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