Paul, I think Flagship and Mermaid may be the same. You should research that.
On the advice of another 35-1 owner, I installed a Mermaid in 1999. He had installed one in his 35-1. I basically copied his installation. A couple years after I installed it, my friend chunked his Mermaid and replaced it with a CruiseAir. The problem with my Mermaid was their high pressure switch. It was a mechanical switch. That is, high pressure pushed out a pin which then pushed a slide which activated an electrical switch. This design is very unreliable. I didn't appreciate that you needed to keep all those sliding parts lubricated. One day some "stuff" got sucked up into the inlet thru hull and plugged the water flow. The high pressure trip activated but the slide didn't move. Therefore the high pressure switch never tripped. The unit blew all the refrigerant out through the Shrader valve. I was not on the boat at the time. Mermaid had a deal where for a set price, they sent you a box and shipping label. You pulled your unit, dropped it into the box and shipped it to them for refurb. I did that. They returned it to "factory specs" but it never seems to work as well as original. I made sure I kept the HP slide lubricated. It later developed a leak. My refrigeration repair buddy fixed it. It worked a while and then developed another problem. I pulled it and sold it on eBay. My "aha" moment happened when a friend remarked why do you think Mermaid makes it so easy to send the units back to them? I replaced it with a CruiseAir. No problems since 2006. Also, the Mermaid used a cheap Teel water pump. I could get these at Grainger for about $50. I replaced it twice. I kept a spare on the boat. The cruiseAir uses a Dometic (March) pump that has been problem free. I don't keep a spare for it but I do have a way to connect dock water to the unit in case it fails. The CruiseAir uses an electrical high pressure switch. It has tripped several times due to cooling water flow blockage. I trust it. I would explore how the high pressure switch is designed. If it is mechanical, make sure it is lubricated and operated without resistance. FWIW, a friend here just installed a Flagship in his Island Packet. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 2:31 PM, PME via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hi, > > I wanted to give an update on what I have decided to order. First off, > it turns out that installation location eliminates several of the AC units > from consideration. On my LF38, this location is a cabinet between the > starboard settee and the head(similar to were several LF38 owners have > units). This location has plenty of depth and height, but limited width. > Taken this into account, these were the units I found that met these > considerations: > > [1] Dometic/Cruisair vector-turbo/stowaway-turbo > [2] Mermaid M16 > [3] Flagship FM16R > > While I liked the Dometic/Cruisair unit, it’s base price is $1k more than > the others and for the DYI person, there is a reduction to the warranty for > not having the unit dealer installed(2yrs -> 1yr). With regards to > Mermaid, I have found that there are those who love it and those who hate > it. I remembered that Defender sold these units, and so I sent them an > email asking if they can still obtain Mermaid products. Here is Defender’s > reply, ”Unfortunately Defender is no longer selling Mermaid AC units. Due > to some customer service issues we had, we did server ties with that > particular company." I went to the Mermaid website which lists an internet > price, but when I called for more information, I was told that the price > increased back in February and that their "IT guy” has not gotten around > to update the website. Adding all this up, I feel I would be asking for > trouble going with Mermaid. > > The good news is that from the get go, I have been impressed with Flagship > Marine. They have been very responsive to inquires and accommodating to my > needs, and they have factory direct pricing and a plethora of information > on their website. So I have decided to go with the Flagship FM16R w/ heat > option, 115V, top discharge, with remote enclosure option to further reduce > the width. The only hard thing to swallow is the nearly $250 for FL > taxes and shipping. The specs are listed below. > > • Flagship Marine FM16R w/ heat & digital thermostat > • load: 11.3A/18.1A cool/heat > • 16,500 BTU/hr > • size: 21.5x14.6x13.5, 77lbs > • warranty: 5yr/1yr parts/labor > • refrigerant: NU22 > • made in the USA > • base price: $1,709+$78(remote option) > • website: http://www.flagshipmarine.com/selfcontained.html > > > - > Paul E. > 1981 C&C 38 Landfall > S/V Johanna Rose > Carrabelle, FL > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the > bottom of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > >
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