I answered Ed off list. But here's some blithering about cooling water pumps.
I know most listers don't have air conditioners but many have water cooled
refrigeration units. AC's and refrigeration systems share a lot of
commonality.
Just to elaborate on water cooling pumps, several factors influence pump life,
etc. Hours is the biggest factor. Plumbing configuration may be another.
Bigger lines are better and allow the pump to run at less load. Constricted
flow can reduce pump life. More importantly, water flow equals heat rejection.
Reduced heat rejection means the air conditioner or refrigeration compressor
is laboring. This can reduce the life of the compressor.
Routinely flushing the cooling system helps. In areas where the water contains
a lot of solids, this is especially important. Most operate intermittently.
When the pump shuts down, solids will accumulate in low spots in the system.
Eventually, water flow may become restricted.
Touche's AC water cooling system has a tee in the line and a valve on both the
intake and discharge. I routinely hook up a dock hose to the tee and flush the
line by alternately closing and opening the two valves. The most common
pluggage issue I have is stuff getting stuck in the ell on the intake thruhull
valve. Usually the pluggage never makes it to the strainer. I hook up the
dock hose to the tee, close the valve on the discharge and blow the pluggage
back out through the intake thruhull. (Next haulout I will upsize the thruhull
and reconfigure the piping to minimize recurrence of the problem.
As for Ed's question, Mermaid usually provides their units with a Teel
centrifugal pump. I had a Mermaid in Touche' for a few years and replaced the
pump about every 2-3 years. The pump is fairly inexpensive and is also
available from Grainger for about $100.
I now have a CruisAir air conditioner with a March/Dometic water cooled pump.
A much better AC and a much better, longer lived pump. At nearly $300 a pop I
don't keep a spare pump on board but the aforementioned tee allows me to use
dock water to cool the unit until I get a replacement.
Dennis C.
Touche' 35-1 #83
Mandeville, LA
>________________________________
> From: "elev...@grayinsco.com" <elev...@grayinsco.com>
>To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
>Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 1:36 PM
>Subject: Stus-List AC Water Pumps
>
>
>When I purchased the C&C 34 in November,
I knew the AC was inoperable. The unit is a Mermaid 16500 BTU AC/Heat.
We have diagnosed the problem as a bad pump. I wanted to match the pump
to the main unit and I was waiting to order a Mermaid pump from Defender
only to find that Defender removed the Mermaid pump from its stock apparently
with the 2013 catalog. Assuming that other brands of pumps produce the
same flow capacity, it there any reason to match the same brand? Like diesel
horsepower where generally more is better, is a pump with greater capacity
better or more durable? Or is it overkill?
>
>Ed
>New Orleans
>C&C 34 "Briar Patch"
>C&C 30 "Dream Girl" (For
Sale)
>
>
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