Anyone build their own hatch air conditioner?

[abk]

Have you built a hatch AC? Would love to know how it worked out... Any pictures, stories or plans would be appreciated...

It just bothers me to plunk down 700+++ for one...

Thanks in advance

ABK

 

[Steve Dion]

Why don't you get one of these for $123 and have a piece of sheetmetal made to go through a port or hatch and connect to the front of the AC.

You could also cut a hole in the side of the cabin and mount it permanently.


http://www.google.com/products/cata...LUBJ-ejgTri5HkCA&sa=title&ved=0CBMQ8wIwAjgA#p

 

[Dan Johnson]

Bruce...

here's what you can do if you're a bit handy with woodworking tools. This was on my previous boat and worked well. The AC was a 5k btu with remote. The hatch assembly was originally just the screen boards, but a new lower panel was created to hold the AC unit.

 

[Benny]

It is not worth it to try and convert a window A/C unit to be used on a cabintop hatch. Have seen a few attempts and none worked efficiently. The main problem is air circulation. In a window unit the warm air intake sits below the cold air exhaust. With the unit sitting under a cowling or housing which covers the open hatch the cold air has no way to go but down and it is easily sucked back into the unit. This cold air will fool the thermostat into thinking the desired cool temperature in the cabin has been reached and will cycle the compressor off while in reality the cabin will still be warm. The challenge would be to design and fabricate a baffle that would separate the air being taken in from the air being pushed out. A circular flow is desired as cold air drops while warm air rises. A straight piece of cardboard or plywood as a baffle does not seem to create the desired circulation. Save yourself the trouble and get a 5000 btu unit and install it in the companionway as in Dan's posting.

 

[MrUnix]

It is not worth it to try and convert a window A/C unit to be used on a cabintop hatch. Have seen a few attempts and none worked efficiently. The main problem is air circulation.

I actually saw a boat down in the Keys where the owner had modified a wall unit into a pseudo-central unit! I don't remember exactly what kind of boat it was, but was around the 25-28 foot range and was being used as a live-aboard. Basically, they took the guts out of the wall unit, mounted it in the rear bilge under the cockpit area on a custom built platform with rubber isolators to minimize vibration. Duct work was then fabricated to feed the supply air into the cabin, and a return line was cut through the rear bulkhead where a regular home a/c filter was installed. It worked fantastic and kept the boat super cool even on the hottest days. To top it off, I remember the owner telling me that the total cost (less his labor) was about $30 for stuff he had to buy.. the A/C itself was a unit someone was giving away for free and most of the material used was scrounged from dumpsters at local construction sites.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Jeff]

I used the hatch mounted Cruise Air unit for years on our H26. It worked very well here in the midwest at night. During the day it just doesn't keep up. At 60 pounds or so it was best handled by 2 people. The longer I had it the more I wished for a built in model. That just wasn't practical for a 26 foot boat. You can pick them up used in the $300-$400 range.

 

[rpwillia]

Haier

A lot of folks in my area are using <$99.00 haier dorm air conditioners from Wal Mart and mounting them in their hatch way replacing 2 of their hatch boats with a frame that holds the AC unit. Works very well and those units are small enough to store onboard, unlike my cruise air unit.

 

[RECESS]

I copied Seth Dixon's mod on his O'Day 25 and it gets the cabin very cool. I just use a $99 Wal*Mart model with remote. I have had it in the companionway and it is a major hassel steeping over it.

http://oday.sailboatowners.com/inde...id=257&cat_id=127&aid=7169&page=article&mn=25

 

[rejenk3]

Google "portable room air conditioners". These are designed like a dehumidifier but the hot air enters a flexible tube to be routed out a window (hatch)

 

[Hermit Scott]

I actually saw a boat down in the Keys where the owner had modified a wall unit into a pseudo-central unit! I don't remember exactly what kind of boat it was, but was around the 25-28 foot range and was being used as a live-aboard. Basically, they took the guts out of the wall unit, mounted it in the rear bilge under the cockpit area on a custom built platform with rubber isolators to minimize vibration. Duct work was then fabricated to feed the supply air into the cabin, and a return line was cut through the rear bulkhead where a regular home a/c filter was installed. It worked fantastic and kept the boat super cool even on the hottest days. To top it off, I remember the owner telling me that the total cost (less his labor) was about $30 for stuff he had to buy.. the A/C itself was a unit someone was giving away for free and most of the material used was scrounged from dumpsters at local construction sites.

Cheers,
Brad

I am doing that to this AC unit. I ordered a 135 cubic feet per minute blower to pull air in through a cowl vent and push it out of another cowl vent. When it got here it had been dropped and was seized, I had to send it back. I got it for $22 including shipping, too bad it was bad. I have marine AC that works great, I was building this partially as an experiment and to have something that will run off of a Honda 2000 generator.

 

[Bad Obsession]

I made hatch boards for my Catalina 30 out of ply wood and fabricated them to fit the window unit.

The window unit worked okay (even though it was over 10 years old). The boat cooled after some time had taken place.

The negatives were there though. It was an absolute pain in the butt to try to get around the AC unit when going into the boat, It was heavy and bulky to move and store, and I always had a wet cockpit floor from the drainage.

I have been thinking about buying one of those AC's from Wal-mart that are stand alone. All they require is a fresh air intake which you could easily fabricate. You could also design it so that they water would run into the bilge.

 

[Bad Obsession]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Haier-7-000-BTU-PORTABLE-AC-W-REMOTE/13423135

http://www.walmart.com/ip/DeLonghi-...le-Air-Conditioner-With-Dehumidifier/10980215

http://www.lowes.com/pd_317824-94320-KU32085_4294859075_4294937087?productId=3219969&Ns=p_product_quantity_sold|0&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Air%2BConditioners_4294859075_4294937087_?rpp=15$No=15$Ns=p_product_quantity_sold|0

http://www.lowes.com/pd_317825-94751-DPAC11010_4294859075_4294937087?productId=3192543&Ns=p_product_quantity_sold|0&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Air%2BConditioners_4294859075_4294937087_?rpp=15$No=15$Ns=p_product_quantity_sold|0

 

[Hermit Scott]

I made hatch boards for my Catalina 30 out of ply wood and fabricated them to fit the window unit.

The window unit worked okay (even though it was over 10 years old). The boat cooled after some time had taken place.

The negatives were there though. It was an absolute pain in the butt to try to get around the AC unit when going into the boat, It was heavy and bulky to move and store, and I always had a wet cockpit floor from the drainage.

I have been thinking about buying one of those AC's from Wal-mart that are stand alone. All they require is a fresh air intake which you could easily fabricate. You could also design it so that they water would run into the bilge.

That may not be a fresh air intake, that is probably an exhaust if it has only one vent tube connected to it.
If you buy one take note of how the air is ducted to the condenser coil. Some of them pull air from the room being cooled and eject it out of a vent tube. That is very counter productive and makes them inefficient. Somewhere hot outside air is leaking back into the boat to equalize the pressure differential. If possible get one that pulls the air from outside and then has a duct to blow out the hot air back outside.