I'm wondering if anyone on here has pictures of the factory installed air conditioner and/or generator installation for the 356 (36). I'm particularly curious about the installation location of the ac unit and the routing of the supply ac/reverse heat lines. On the genset, I'm curious about the routing of the exhaust. Any pictures? Dan Jonas (S.V Feije II)
AC
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356 A/C
Hey Dan, I'm in the middle of installing a 16K btu mermaid system on my 356 (yes, it's 5 degrees out and I'm working on air conditioning). I'll post pics as soon as I can. the factory system is under the aft stbd settee, outboard of the refridge compressor (where I'm putting it, too). A duct is already in the boat from the factory from there, behind the refridge and stove into the aft cabin-look under the hatch in the bottom of the closet. going forward, a 6" duct goes around the settee and has a supply grill out of the forward end of the settee into the main cabin (by the fwd cabin door), the duct tees off into a 4" duct at the end of the fore-aft part of the settee before making the turn to port. the 4" duct goes into the base of the stbd locker in the forward cabin. Hunter adds a thru hull under the port settee for cooling water-I chose to move the head sink to the shower sump-we don't use it much, and use the shower thru hull for the ac supply-fewer holes in hull is good! The water outlet should go on the hull at about the same height as the sump outlet, about the stripe between the ports-I think we'll run it into the corner cabinet above the settee and out-or y it into the shower sump outlet with check valves.
Hey Dan, I'm in the middle of installing a 16K btu mermaid system on my 356 (yes, it's 5 degrees out and I'm working on air conditioning). I'll post pics as soon as I can. the factory system is under the aft stbd settee, outboard of the refridge compressor (where I'm putting it, too). A duct is already in the boat from the factory from there, behind the refridge and stove into the aft cabin-look under the hatch in the bottom of the closet. going forward, a 6" duct goes around the settee and has a supply grill out of the forward end of the settee into the main cabin (by the fwd cabin door), the duct tees off into a 4" duct at the end of the fore-aft part of the settee before making the turn to port. the 4" duct goes into the base of the stbd locker in the forward cabin. Hunter adds a thru hull under the port settee for cooling water-I chose to move the head sink to the shower sump-we don't use it much, and use the shower thru hull for the ac supply-fewer holes in hull is good! The water outlet should go on the hull at about the same height as the sump outlet, about the stripe between the ports-I think we'll run it into the corner cabinet above the settee and out-or y it into the shower sump outlet with check valves.
Chuck, That's pretty much how I visualized it. I thought I had seen a Hunter 356 once with both the genset and ac thru-hulls located in the same area as the others (forward of the engine). I'm not fond of the idea of using the shower sump for the ac outlet, thats a lot of water when it is running and would put more load on the shower sump pump than I would want to risk. My manual shows the ac location where my refrigeration unit is, so I expected to go outboard as well on that side. Are you putting in the reverse cycle unit or just ac? Also, I have not been to the boat to measure, but I was curious if the 13.75" height is a problem in that location? I have struggled with the best solution and have finally arrived at the Mermaid ac/rc heat. I don't need ac much, in fact rarely, but heat is a big deal. I looked at diesel fired heating, which is an alternative, but in the long run, we may take the boat south for a season or two, so that finally focused the thinking. Also, do you intend to use the ac away from the dock power? If so, what are you going to use to power the load? Thanks for your help, and promise for pictures. Where did you buy your unit? Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)
356 AC
Hi Dan, we seem to think alike! I alo went with the mermaid reverse cycle system, ordered it from Defender-they had the best price and a boat show special that included free shipping. The mermaid has a stainless steel base with a condensate well under the condenser. I ordered their heavy foam pad and trimmed it to fit inside the base-it protrudes slghtly so the system actually sits on the pad for vibration damping. Set up that way, it just clears the underside of the settee. I'm not thinking of using the shower sump for the outlet-I'm thinking of using the sump outlet line-it's a 1" hose, while the ac supply line is only 5/8" I would put check valves in the feeds from the sump and the ac, so output from either can't back up into the other system. the sump pump is pretty small, so efectively I would have 2-5/8 hoses sharing a 1" outlet. I ordered matching teak grills from Hunter for the return air-only about $30 ea vs $60 from mermaid, and they match the refridge grill. The unit is in, all cutouts made, wiring and plumbing run, I just have to connect the system and secure the ducting Right now, I don't plan to use the system away from the dock, but a genset is the obvious next step. Hunter puts the thru hull for the genset water supply between the 2 portside thruhulls, outlet is mixed with the exhaust.
Hi Dan, we seem to think alike! I alo went with the mermaid reverse cycle system, ordered it from Defender-they had the best price and a boat show special that included free shipping. The mermaid has a stainless steel base with a condensate well under the condenser. I ordered their heavy foam pad and trimmed it to fit inside the base-it protrudes slghtly so the system actually sits on the pad for vibration damping. Set up that way, it just clears the underside of the settee. I'm not thinking of using the shower sump for the outlet-I'm thinking of using the sump outlet line-it's a 1" hose, while the ac supply line is only 5/8" I would put check valves in the feeds from the sump and the ac, so output from either can't back up into the other system. the sump pump is pretty small, so efectively I would have 2-5/8 hoses sharing a 1" outlet. I ordered matching teak grills from Hunter for the return air-only about $30 ea vs $60 from mermaid, and they match the refridge grill. The unit is in, all cutouts made, wiring and plumbing run, I just have to connect the system and secure the ducting Right now, I don't plan to use the system away from the dock, but a genset is the obvious next step. Hunter puts the thru hull for the genset water supply between the 2 portside thruhulls, outlet is mixed with the exhaust.
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