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Post by hawker63 on Aug 6, 2020 16:36:23 GMT -5
We had a service tech in to blow the lines of air conditioners. It was a major pain as he had to remove each of the 3 lines from the manifold and then connect a fresh water source to clean out the units. $250. Today I went to Lowe’s and modified the manifold
- Inlet side I added a T and 2 valves. One goes to the pump and one goes to a quick connect for the garden hose.
- On the outlet side of the manifold I added a valve for each AC.
Not to flush/clean, I connect a garden hose to the inlet side of the manifold and using the individual valves on the outlet side, can clean each of the AC units individually.
Plan to flush every 2 weeks or if we are leaving the boat for a week or so so the dirty ocean water doesn’t stay in the units. Should eliminate needing the AC guy to flush them. He suggested a couple of chlorine tablets in the strai we to kill any growth/creatures that get into it. Any thoughts.
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Post by tc33obx on Aug 7, 2020 8:40:51 GMT -5
I've heard the tablets in the strainer suggestion before. I believe that works perfectly fine for algae growth but I don't know about scale build up.
I was in fresh water with my 4460 most of the time. Always ended up running the unit in fresh water before leaving it for an extended period of time. I had a similar hook up to your modifications to flush though.
On my 33OBX, we don't run the air conditioner much when we are in salt water. When we do I probably should figure out how to flush it. I flush my Yamaha's religiously when coming in from a run, it's probably something I should figure out for the gene and air conditioner as well.
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Post by omarf4 on Aug 7, 2020 14:20:26 GMT -5
I drop a marine cleansing tablet into both the strainers once a month right before starting either the generator or the ac. Crenshaw marine tablets (no affiliation) and they seem to keep the lines clear of dirt and algae. We use the ac 24/7 here in Texas (freshwater lake) and the build up is excessive without the tablets. Bilge cleaner (star brite) concentrate would also work for an occasional quick cleaning.
There is a flushing cap sold by Trac that will screw right into the grocco strainer and can be used for backflushing.
Don’t use chlorine tablets as that’s harsh on plastic/hoses and marine ecosystem.
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Post by hawker63 on Aug 9, 2020 16:36:35 GMT -5
 Here’s a picture of what I did, still need to clean up the mount as it’s hard to get a clean look with the freshwater pump and the lines to the front A/c is short I have the same quick connect on my dock water supply as I put on the manifold so when I leave for the week, I disconnect the water from the boat, connect to my manifold, flush each A/C till water is clean and ,hopefully, I don’t have to use a guy to flush the system again. I think if I had more time, I would redo the original manifold with a T at each end instead of 90’s since when we removed from the boat, there was grass and growth at the 90’s. We boat in Charleston, so lots of dirt and plants in the river. We have the hull cleaned once a month to remove growth. |
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Post by gofast24 on Aug 10, 2020 10:34:34 GMT -5
Looks good, now wondering what boat you have, only a picture of a 4XXX Regal? How many hours on AC systems? Guessing you have 3X AC units? Where are you docked, fresh or salt water, and no, dont use chlorine tablets ever anywhere on vessel! In 20 years on our lake never had to back flush AC sea water side of condenser heat exchanger, probably due to clean fresh water here?
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Post by hawker63 on Aug 10, 2020 11:28:46 GMT -5
Sorry, it’s a 2007, 4460
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Post by gofast24 on Aug 12, 2020 10:55:21 GMT -5
Thanks! Maybe put all the info in your salutation so when you post all info is there (like mine) ? |
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Post by philiphancock on Aug 14, 2020 22:54:41 GMT -5
I drop a marine cleansing tablet into both the strainers once a month right before starting either the generator or the ac. Crenshaw marine tablets (no affiliation) and they seem to keep the lines clear of dirt and algae. We use the ac 24/7 here in Texas (freshwater lake) and the build up is excessive without the tablets. Bilge cleaner (star brite) concentrate would also work for an occasional quick cleaning. There is a flushing cap sold by Trac that will screw right into the grocco strainer and can be used for backflushing. Don’t use chlorine tablets as that’s harsh on plastic/hoses and marine ecosystem. My 07 4460 is also in salt water. I put marine tablets in the strainers about once per month. In the south Florida summer the AC also runs 24/7. Feel like it keeps the lines clear. Boat is currently in the Keys (Islamorada) find there is even more growth down here. The marine tablets really control the build-up. |
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Post by gofast24 on Aug 15, 2020 10:44:50 GMT -5
Ya, suspect being in brackish or salt water is a lot more problematic then us in very clean fresh water. So, rely on you salt water guys experience as I dont have any experience, so dont have any advice, sorry!.
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