Air Conditioning Maintenance

[Ken Juul]

I was surfing the web and came across this tidbit of information on the Mermaid A/C troubleshooting page.

Ensure the air conditioners water coil is not full of debris.  Even the cleanest of strainers can still allow silt, sand, or other debris to accumulate in the air conditioners condensing coil.  This will inhibit heat transfer and cause the air conditioner to lose cooling capacity and run warmer - eventually causing the pressures to exceed the high pressure reset button setting of 375psi.   A fresh water coil flush may be necessary, if it is deemed necessary.  Simply flush the air conditioners water coil and lines with garden hose pressure water.  The pumps in the marine industry are volume pumps, not pressure pumps.  The flow of water through a garden hose is substantially higher and can flush the debris that may have accumulated inside the water coil.  It is recommended to do this procedure at least once or twice a year.  The frequency of this will depend on the caliber of water your vessel is in.

I know the water in the Chesapeake is dirty....another one for the project list!

[Roc]

Ken,
I disconnected the input and output hoses on my A/C and put garden hose connections on one short adapter hose.  Connected that one to a garden hose, and the output line into a large bucket.  I turned on the dock water and looked at the water going into the bucket.  To my surprise, the water came out clean.  The dock pressure is so high, I've bursted the hose many times while washing the boat, so I know a lot of pressure was going through the coil.  I guess the coil wasn't that dirty.  I sail out of Rock Hall on the Chesapeake.  I did read a similar posting about flushing your A/C with a garden hose on another website, and the person said that a lot of crud came out into the bucket.  I was expecting the same.