So last fall , haul out was on a 30 Kt pouring rain day and i admittedly did not do a very thorough job. I winterized the Marine Airr 10 KBtu air conditioning system by disconnecting the shore power, taking off the weird 6 special do-not-lose screws of the pump head, cleaning and spinning the impeller on the shaft , and blowing out all water in the hoses and sea water filter. when summer came to the great lakes last week, i reassembled the march pump -- alas, no water pumped ! i took it apart again, and compared it to the parts diagram--well, the ceramic thrust washer was missing. so i am now trying to order 2 replacements (since they are ceramic, these thrust washers tend to break a lot, especially if air con runs continually...) i now know to order thrust washer replacements before you need them... instead of spending $280 on a whole new AC pump.
The penalty I paid for sloppy Air Con winterization ...
- Thread starter MitchM
- Start date
Ah, experience. It's said that good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, most experience comes from bad judgment.
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I have had really good service from my March pump on the 12K BTU MArine Air.. The first one lasted 15 years.. Mine runs on dehumidify mode for 15-20 minutes every 4 hours when I am not on the boat, and in the summer, a LOT when we are on board.. That pump had a bazillion hours on it and I think that it suffered from being in the engine box.. the heat in there on a hot day of motoring is pretty bad and I think that is ultimately what killed the coil.. Boat stays in the water year 'round and the dehumidify cycle runs year 'round.
Doesn't help you now but there is a much simpler way to winterize the air conditioning system that does not involve pulling the pump apart.
I learned from watching our yard do it. I've written about it in previous postings.
Get a fluid transfer pump from harbor freight. Runs on 12 volt and very inexpensive. Mount it atop a 5 gallon pail. Put 1 to 2 gallons of antifreeze in the bucket. Then you run hose from the transfer pump into the air conditioning pump discharge and let it pump antifreeze until it comes out the air conditioning intake through hull. If you have two air conditioning units repeat the procedure in the second discharge through hull.
That's it your are done. All there is to it.
There is no problem pushing the antifreeze backward through thr circulating pump. Doesn't hurt a thing.
I learned from watching our yard do it. I've written about it in previous postings.
Get a fluid transfer pump from harbor freight. Runs on 12 volt and very inexpensive. Mount it atop a 5 gallon pail. Put 1 to 2 gallons of antifreeze in the bucket. Then you run hose from the transfer pump into the air conditioning pump discharge and let it pump antifreeze until it comes out the air conditioning intake through hull. If you have two air conditioning units repeat the procedure in the second discharge through hull.
That's it your are done. All there is to it.
There is no problem pushing the antifreeze backward through thr circulating pump. Doesn't hurt a thing.
We just disconnect the intake from the seacock, and pour 1.5 gallons of antifreeze down a funnel into the hose while the pump runs. It does take us two people - one to pour and one to turn the AC on and off.
Even better:
Install a Tee, valve, and hose on every (head, AC, engine, and after freshwater tank) intake. Sucking in glycol is a breeze (one person, no funnels) and the job is always done right. Boats should be built that way.
Install a Tee, valve, and hose on every (head, AC, engine, and after freshwater tank) intake. Sucking in glycol is a breeze (one person, no funnels) and the job is always done right. Boats should be built that way.
thanks for all the great AC winterize tips. i in f act have some little extra 12v and hand pumps. getting at the march pump to do it ' frank sinatra my way' was always a PIA --with the added feature of losing the special screws or thrust washers into the bilge..
Groco makes a fitting for doing that. It's in various diameter and will take a garden hose fitting. We use it to charge several systems that are manifolded together (2 AC units, water maker, and refrig back-up condenser). IT's convenient. However, the fittings are bronze and Groco -- they're not cheap.
^^ Exactly. I actually use a fridge bottle I had (came with a valve), but same idea. SO handy, so easy.