Air Conditioner Duct Work.

[rmjohns]

Curious for you folks with AC Units under the VBerth ( or other areas exposed to the bilge) if you have run duct work to pull in air from the cabin instead of from under the VBerth?  We get an odor from the AC when it's running and I have to imagine at least part of that is due to the fact it's pulling bilgey air from under the VBerth.  We do have a 12x12 grate that allows air into the VBerth bilge area, but it's just an hole with a screen over it. 

Or for that matter has anyone cleaned the evaporator core?  I'm in the process of replacing the duct work from the unit to the cabin, so that might help a bit.

Thanks

[mark_53]

I don't have AC but I do have a diesel heater with long ducting runs.  I was getting odor when pulling air intake from the aft locker.  I ran intake ducting into the aft cabin to pull air and odor went away. So yes, pull air from the cabin not the bilge.

[Dwainideus]

Two years ago, I installed a 16K BTU unit under the VBerth, intake air from two grills on the vertical cabin wall directly behind the a/c at the rear of the VBerth.  Installed a Mermaid condensator to remove the condensation from the drip pan which keeps the bilge dry.  So far no odors, I think keeping that area dry is the key...

[Ron Hill]

Rob : Way back (mid 1990?) there was a AC installation that I thought was SUPER.  That owner had 1 compressor unit and two condenser units!!  That took care of the duct work problem to the aft cabin!!!  I don't recall if it was a MKI or MKII.  Don't recall where he installed these units, but I published his article in the Mainsheet tech notes!!!

There was NO duct work involved with the aft cabin just the one dedicated condenser unit !!!

At the time I thought it was a great idea!!  I don't have any AC!

A few thoughts

[Kyle Ewing]

I second Dwainideus' comment about keeping the area dry.  I remove any water from under the v-berth to eliminate weird smells, which is rare.  Usually the only water is from priming the pump.    On my 1990 that area was sealed from the bilge area above the keel so I actually had to drill a hole for the pan drain hose.

I looked into ways to pull air from the main cabin for air circulation reasons but couldn't figure out an easy way given the return duct size.

My installation follows pretty closely Karen and Terry Clark's article in the tech wiki. My intake grill is just to the right of the v-berth drawers as high as I could get it without interfering with the cushion insert.  This keeps air flow away from the lowest part of the v-berth.  I'll post a picture when I'm able.

[Jim Hardesty]

I don't know if this helps or not, when I'm ready to leave the boat I turn the AC off but leave the fan running for about 15 minutes more or less.  Hope that dries out the duct work.  I have a v-berth install and take the air from a grill installed over where the v-berth drawer was.  Also have a dedicated shower sump drain, from Johnson, to remove the water from the drain pan, bilge stays dry.
Jim

[rmjohns]

Thanks guys,
    I did drill a hole to allow water to drain from the VBerth bilge back to the main bilge just a couple weeks ago, so maybe that will help.  We have a little access door just an inch or 2 off the floor, so that wasn't a water tight area like I've heard other comment on.

I don't have any fancy things for the drain pan, way just sits in there until it gets high enough to get out the weep hole on the side, which leaves maybe 1/2 inch of standing water in the pan. That weep hole drains back through tubing to the main bilge area.  It does seem like I could come up with a better pan drain setup.

[Dwainideus]

https://www.mmair.com/marine-division/accessories/mermaid-condensator/