Air Conditioning installation on 1984 34

[Damspacher]

Just purchased Cruisair AC for our 84 hunter 34. We are thinking about installing the unit under the nav table because it looks like it may be easier to run the ducts to the stern and V berths on the port side.
There is another 34 in our marina with the unit installed under the nav table and the duct work on that boat is ran back to the V berth thru the storage spaces with the plexi glass sliding doors. I think I would like to run the duct thru the spaces behind the cushions but I'm not sure I can get the duct thru the space under the sink if I go that route.
Those are my thoughts so far. Any feedback on my thoughts on other installation options would be a big help.

Thanks,
Dave & Deb
SV Gusto

 

[kloudie1]

AC in a Hunter 34

On my ’85, 34.. I put the unit in the settee just forward of the sink. It fit by relocating the water heater outboard just a little. I ran the duct through the sink cabinet then into the starboard cubby under the sliding doors. Then vertically up through the cabinet to a vent on top of the cabinet. Plans are (uuhhh it has been about 12 years now) to run another duct forward under the sliders then up and into the head behind the mirrors (right up under the top shelf) then through the little closet in the V berth as high and as outboard as possible. I have not needed a vent in the aft cabin because the air goes in there pretty well through the openings as long as the louvered doors remain open. Other 34 owners on this site have put the unit under the nav table and run ducts fore and aft.. the good thing is that location helps reduce the normal starboard list .. I didn’t want to lose the easily accessible space under the table so I put mine in the settee There are pros and cons for both locations.. For sleeping in the v berth, a small fan on the floor blows intot the berth. Ohhh I put my seawater pump in the engine box and that was not a good idea. After a long motor trip, the box gets hot enough to trip the thermal breaker in the pump motor; ice on the coils is needed to get it to run again. The hassle of the installation is definitely worth it for comfort on those hot humid nights at the marina.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Dave & Deb...

Like Claude, I have a 12,000 BTU AC/Heat pump unit (older King Air) in my H34 installed under the aft dinette seat. As the 5th owner I inherited the sins of the original installer (the installation is not that welll done).

I have a 6" 90 elbow off the fan with a 4" connector that sends air to a vent above the indented cabinet space of the galley sink cabinetry. It shoots a good volume of air into the aft cabin.

Off the elbow the main 6" duct work wiggles forward around the hot water heater to a "T" in the cut-out at the starboard side of the aft dinette seat. Straight up across the "T" goes to a vent in the upper shelf.

The leg of the "T" feeds a 4" hose that feeds through the cubby spaces, through the head cubby space, and into the lower starboard cabinet of the v-berth. The vent is in the horizontal surface between the upper and lower cabinet. I've had to add a computer pancake fan in the air box below the vent to get better circulation into the v-berth.

Here are pics of the above. As mentioned, others have used the Port side for their installation, but this seems to be the more common one.

 

[Jim D]

Dave, I posted my install a while ago. Here is link to it.
http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=725525&highlight=jim d

jiim d.

 

[Mickey84H34]

Insulated duct is a waste of space.

I also went with the aft dinette seat because it was wasted space anyway. Here's some advice you may not hear anywhere else. Forget about all that insulation on the duct work. All of your duct is inside your air condictioned space so it doesn't need to be insulated. I used flexible plastic pipe from Home Depot tucked up under the shelf in the storage space down the starboard side and you can't even see it. I found round plastic vents at an RV store that can be swiveled and shut off for about $6 ea. The duct to the rear berth goes behind the stove, through the bulkhead, turns 90 degrees and goes to the vertical panel between the rear birth and the storage area under the starboard cockpit seat (That's the only section that needs to be insulated). I have two vents in the end of the seat box for the main cabin and one vent each in the front and rear berths. I used the same location as Dan Johnson for the forward berth vent so the only space used up is in the lower cabinet but above the door so it's not even visible. Works like a charm and didn't cost me any useable storage space other than the seat box.

 

[kloudie1]

Mickey, where did you get the swivel vents with shut-off?? I have been looking for those.. Manufacturer? Model?

 

[Dan Johnson]

Mickey...

I'll disagree with you about the need for insulation on the duct run forward to the v-berth. As it lays along side the hull, the afternoon sun will heat the hull (if broadside to the west) enough to affect the "chill factor" of the air being directed forward.

I don't disagree with your use of plastic pipe however. Its smooth interior surface doesn't impede the flow of air and you can slip insullated sleaves over it quite easily. Am thinking of doing that sort of upgrade for next summer as we are planning to do a lot more cruising.

 

[Mickey84H34]

I found the vents at a local RV parts store but here they are online.
http://www.rvpartscountry.com/DirectionalRegisterBlack4wShut-off
If you use the 4" flexible plastic pipe from your local home improvement store you'll also be able to use the T's and elbo's for splits and sharp turns. As for the insulation, our unit has no trouble cooling the boat here in the deep south so I don't think we'd see the benefit of a couple of degrees difference in the air delivered to the V-birth but if you were trying to us a smaller unit or had a larger boat maybe it would help. Our run down the starboard side is just a few inches above the waterline so hull temperature doesn't get very high. Another helpful idea is to put a hinged top on the aft bench to provide easy access to the AC. Our unit blows air into a small air box on the port end of the bench where we cut 2 round holes for 4" vent registers to cool the main cabin. We used the square-to-6"-round-vent piece that came with the AC unit and a 6"-to-4" plastic pipe reducer frome Lowe's to make the necessary conversion to 4" plastic pipe. The 4" plastic pipe (not installed yet when these pictures were taken) exits the starboard side of the air box, passes through the compartment under the sink and then T's into the run forward and aft. The forward run stays under the shelf through the cabin and the head and enters the lower compartment of the storage cabinet in the V-birth. Next time I go to the boat I'll try to get some pictures to make things more clear.

 

[kloudie1]

Many Thanks, Mickey !! I'd been looking for dampered, directional, 4" vents for a while.. had looked at some RV places but had not seen that one. Again, Thanks! Next time I am around Bayou Chicot, I owe you a beverage at the Oar House..

 

[Mickey84H34]

That's my favorite watering hole although I haven't spent much time looking for better alternatives since we moved the boat from Moss Point, MS to Island Cove Marina at Bayou Chico. Maybe we'll manage to cross paths sometime. Good luck with the install.