Air conditioning problems

[Alan Townsend]

I recently acquired a 2001 Catalina 36 MKII (about 1 month ago) and the air conditioning was ok but not great. It is a 16,000 BTU Cruisair. This week it has been running on very short cycles. Cleaned out a very plugged (with mud, sand, algae mats, shells etc) strainer on the raw water side, water flow was ok before and no real change after. Pulled the hose from the strainer to the pump and it was clear but backwashed any way, Restarted unit and it ran for 28 minutes before compressor shut down. Cabin temp 80, setting 71, water temp 85, air temp 85. Unit did not try to restart. Through breaker and manual restart resulting in 2 clicks but no compressor start. Would appreciate any ideas. Could the heat exchanger be plugged and can it be flushed? Would a recharge of refrigerant be needed?Thanks

 

[Jim Rushing]

Air Flow Problem

Alan,sounds like your head pressure is building up and kicking the breaker. In the A/C mode this is a air flow problem and in the heating mode this would be a cooling water problem. When you don't move enough air across the coils to pull the cold out, the compressor head pressure builds up until it shuts down. Clamp an a/c amp meter over one of the a/c wires to the compressor and check the amperage. As the head pressure goes up so does the amperage.Jim