Air Conditioning - Condensate Discharge

[britinusa]

Getting close to completing the A/C installation. We have Cool!

According to all that I have read, the unit will produce about 1/2 Gallon of condensate per hour.

But how to eliminate the condensate?

Some just let it go into the bilge and let the bilge pump take care of it. I prefer to keep our bilge dry.

Some have a venturi to suck it out with the A/C discharge water. Worried that that might cause a continuing slurping noise.

Some have it drain into a Shower Sump Drain system with Pump and float switch to auto empty the sump.


So I figure a 5 gallon condensate tank would suffice for overnight.

I was considering making a tank to hold 5 gallons, putting in a bilge pump with a manual switch. The routing the discharge via a check valve into a T on the A/C water supply line just before the water strainer.

If the A/C were running, there would be a partial vacuum at the T so the check valve would be prevent back flow if the A/C was off.

We would just have to flip the switch for a minute and the 5 gallons (max) would be sucked out of the tank and pumped into the supply line to be discharged with the A/C discharge flow.

Am I making this too complex?

Paul

[Roc]

Hi Paul,
I strongly suggest you get one of these.  I have one (bought it YEARS ago when it was less than half the price), but it's well worth it.  No need to worry about the AC condensate.

http://www.mmair.com/marine_division/accessories/mermaid_condensator

[britinusa]

Talking it over with SWMBO and others, the idea of using the condensate for drinking water came up.

Easy to implement, just pump the condensate tank into the center tank. The water filtration system (Sediment, Carbon, UV lamp) should clean the water pretty well.

Would probably require that we wash down the A/C heat exchanger and flush it clean every now and then, but wondered if anyone has info on why not do this?

When we head over to the Bahamas for a month in spring, several gallons of fresh water each day would stretch out our water supply. (Of course, we would have to have enough gas to run the A/C unit too!  )

Paul

[Noah]

Easy for me to say... But you might try this on your "tropics crusise" and save the A/C for dockside. 
http://cruisingsolutions.com/product-category/comfort-and-convenience/breeze-bandit/ i would rather store water and libations than gasoline!

[britinusa]

Noah,
we have one.

And Eximius has more storage than the typical C34, lots more.

Already working on our Provisioning list. But that's another thread.

When I complete the A/C install this weekend, I'm just going to strap a never used 5 Gallon tank into the V-Berth and run the Condensate into it.

That leaves the option for eliminating the Condensate for later.

I would still like to hear of any response to the idea of including the condensate into our fresh water system.

Paul

[Noah]

Noah,
we have one.

And Eximius has more storage than the typical C34, lots more

Paul, I would like to hear/see more about your storage in another thread.

[Steve McGill]

Paul,

After the A/C has been running on a closed up boat the amount of condensate (condensed water vapor)
will eventually decrease from the initial amount extracted from the air.

Is this water safe to drink? I'm sure there are folks that may, particularly in an emergency situation.
I would think that the outside of the air conditioner unit and your container for the water may not be as clean as you may want.

I also have memories of the past and concerns with "Legionnaires disease"

Just my 2 cents................................

Steve

[britinusa]

Steve, you just blew that one out of the water!

SWMBO is a 30 year Cardiac Care Registered Nurse - if she reads that, then the water is going overboard! 

Paul

[Roc]

I would think the drain pan in the AC unit wouldn't be clean enough to take water from and drink it.  If you read Peggie Hall's suggestion about filling water tanks...  she recommends letting the hose run at least 15-20 minutes to let the lines all the way up the dock and inside the hose to flush out any critters before filling water tanks.  I always fill my tanks after I wash the boat.  An NEVER fill a water tank from a hose at the fuel dock. People use those to rinse out holding tanks, and the sprayer most likely was in contact with the holding tank deck fitting.

[Robert Mann]

I did same as Roc and installed the Mermaid venturi years ago.  It works very well, can't remember any slurping sounds. Certainly eliminates the condensate in the bilge problem.

[Terry Forshier]

I have one of the mermaid systems and it works well. You need to check it now and then to make sure it is running free and not clogging up.

[Pgutierrez]

Previous owner in my CATALINA 36 had Venturi vacuum line put in to suck out the bilge water via AC discharge.  No slurping noises and works well.   However admiral complains about other noises  - related to the boat captain's poor methane retention system.