Aircon! Revisited...

[Drifter]

It's a me, innit?

Yes, I'm still alive, no I still don't have a boaty license, no, still haven't really taken my X out very much at all...

OK, quick update on the boat license fiasco... Tried avoiding the marina and going directly to the gov' marine department... but sadly they directed me to the marina, the self-same marina that said I can't have a boat license cos I'm not Malaysian. I have a Malaysian driving license, after 18 years I finally got my permanant residency, but no I can't have a boat license because some fu@ or something.

Any-hoo... basically it is possible for my local Malaysian wife to take a short course and get her license, then she can register the boat, then we can park it at the local marina. Woot. No, she doesn't have to be onboard every time I use it.

More importantly perhaps, when I directed asked the official if I was supposed to have had a license for the 20 years or so I've been motorboating around all over the place without anyone ever asking for a license before..???? They confirmed nope, no need a license for that as long as I'm not doing anything commercial. So basically I ONLY need one if making use of the lovely floating docks at the lovely new marina, which has only existed for the last 3 years or so.

Anyway, back to the topic... y'all may recall I've often pined for and asked about air-con, cos Borneo is HOT. We're right on the equator. Think Florida, but hotter and more humid.

I've often hunted around, trying to find something that could run on batteries, and it's always been a no-go. Basically you need a generator to operate the compressor. So lots of weight, lots of noise, fumes, dangerous fuel... eew!

But... ta-da!

https://shopee.com.my/12V-Air-Condition ... 4891833464

I've already bitten the bullet and ordered the thing, and it's already arrived, or they have, as it's in 2 parts, controls inside, compressor outside.

It's built for lorries, tractors, that kind of thing, runs on 12 or 24v, obviously I ordered the 12v version, and yes it's going to need a few hundred bux oc lipo battery, which I was thinking of mounting down ahead of the ice box area? Maybe some padding of some sort, to avoid creating a hard-point on the hull.

So I thought I'd share?



I have not tried connecting it all together yet.

Tomorrow I shall try measuring the cockpit area (I know, I know...) because I'm thinking of modifying the steering column to take the compressor. It will need to be wider I think, may even take up the whole space widthways, but worth it if I can have aircon.

Yes, that means it would be blowing warm air over my legs, but I'm figuring I won't be using it when underway, only when parked up fishing or sleeping overnight.

I want to do something with the steering column anyway, as I notice it moves a bit if I push or pull on it, suggesting the deck is rotten underneath? It's OK and can be used but I believe my early X had a wooden floor below the glass, and if so it's dead. So why not fix that and build in an aircon compressor at the same time?

One concern is salt water splashing over the back, but I'm figuring that shouldn't be much of an issue, cos if it was then the boat would get lots of water in the cabin, so I'm presuming that's a pretty dry area? I can keep a little lip around it anyway, but obviously there needs to be open grills or something for air to flow in and out.

So go on then, shoot down my dreams of chilled fishing and tell me all the problems or reasons why I'm doing something silly?

[kenfyoozed]

Please keep us posted. I’m very interested

[Russ]

Glad to hear from you.
You have some bizarre rules for boat licenses and operations.

I don't think I'd like to mount the compressor where you are proposing. It's hard to tell how large it is, but why not above deck someplace? Sideways?

What's the current draw for this thing?

I guess the price makes it affordable, but almost every 12v boat aircon I've seen is water-cooled. Much more efficient than air. Especially if the air is as hot as you say.

Maybe show some pics of your proposed mounting.

[C Buchs]

I know you aren't using a window style AC unit, but this might be of interest to you. https://macgregorsailors.com/forum/view ... ilit=billy

Jeff

[NiceAft]

Along with all the other posts; I’m just wondering what the BTU rating is? I didn’t notice it on the site you supplied.

[Drifter]

I asked my friend who is having the same thing fitted in his camper, he tells me 5000 BTU, whatever that means.

He says typical home split-unit like this is around 9000? He also claims that with his big-ass lipo battery his will run for 50 hours. So I'd be happy with a single-buttock battery that can run it for 25 hours, as I just want to run it while sleeping, so I can cook without cooking myself and for those "Omigod" moments when it's just too hot and you need a break.

I've barely used my X but the plan is to motor out to some great fishing spots, fish, then move away from the spots and anchor for the night, cook some of the day's catch for dinner, tell tall tales, put the world to rights and snooze in air-conned goodness. Wake up, and either cook and/or catch breakfast, before practicing sailing for a few hours, working back towards the coast and then motoring up the river back to the marina.

So I only really need maybe 12 hours of run time? Allow a buffer to avoid damaging the battery, so any battery that could run it for 20 or 25 hours is plenty. Then I can heave the battery out and charge away from the boat or house in my garden shed (concrete and 15 yards away from my house, because fire and things)

The thought of being able to hop into the cabin and enjoy a slow, icy-cold ginger beer, with aircon...? *swoons

Thanks C Buch for linking the thread with it mounted in the doorway. That does seem quite an easy solution, and by blocking the cabin it further traps the cool air. May be a lot easier than modifying the steering column, plus I just realized I'd be blocking access to the fuel tank spaces if I did that... It's been some time since I've even sat in the boat in my garden, let alone used it!

An alternative is to mount it under the rear seat. That would keep the noise away from the cabin (but not if sleeping in that under-cockpit berth..). On the other hand the compressor and the internal fan unit need to be close to each other, so not sure if that would work. Not without crawling into the rear berth to adjust it.

I guess my happy, ideal setup would be the unit under the rear seat, with the gas lines etc running under the cockpit to controls above the step. I'll have to measure both the cockpit and the unit's hoses.

I really need to dig out my ladder and go look inside the boat, do some measurements etc.

I shall do that today

[Drifter]

So I wondered how big an area that could cover, and also if such a figure were feasible from a 12v unit? So I asked a brain (Perplexity):

"It is unlikely that a 12-volt battery-powered split-unit air conditioner with a cooling capacity of 5,000 BTUs is feasible. Typically, 12-volt air conditioners with cooling capacities in the range of 6,000 to 7,500 BTUs are more common"

Ah.. I thought maybe 5000 was unfeasibly high, but seems the brain is doubtful as that sounds too low., so yeah, plenty feasible. The same brain says that you need around 20 BTU per square foot, so 5k would cover around 250 square feet.

Anyone have any idea of the square feetage of a 26X?

[NiceAft]

A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of one gallon of water 1 degree f.

A 5000 BTU unit can cool a small room up to 200 square feet. That’s smaller than an M or an X, but it should remove much humidity, and that should make sleeping easier.

[kurz]

How much Ah it takes?

[Drifter]

Cheers Nice

Kurz, I have no idea I shall go peep at the unit, see if it has anything interesting written on it...

Pic taken, 30 to 50 Ah?

So I did some measuring...

The main compressor unit, leaving room for wires and the hose thingies, is 27 inches wide.

The interior control bit, with fans and wotnot, allowing for the hose thingies, is 22 inches wide.

The supplied hoses, again allowing for the hose placement on both units, is 10 ft.

I'm pretty sure (without physically placing it there, cos was by myself) that the main compressor unit could be bolted to the bottom of the captain's seat...

If installing just below the hatch (or even creating a mini hatch for it to be mounted into) then there could even be enough spare hose so the captain's seat could be raised up, at least most of the way.

Or, if accepting the chair will remain forever down, it would be possible to run the hose under the bench, through the head and fit the interior unit on the head wall..? Not sure if that would be perfect, or if we'd be forever smacking our heads on it. Again, tricky to really visualize just holding a tape measure. This weekend I'm supposed to be going camping with the same friend who has one of these fitted in his camper van. The following weekend I may recruit my wife (I have not given her a rank yet) to help me manhandle the units into place, to see what really can or can't be done.

So 5000 isn't quite enough? I suspect though that any 12v unit with more would be altogether too big, bulky and heavy for fun fitting. I'm already only semi-confident about this unit; I really wouldn't want anything bigger.

For now it will go back onto the back burner, but for sure it is looking like I won't need to modify or replace the steering column, which is a great plus. If I can actually bolt it into the places I'd like to is not certain yet, but looking hopeful

Stay tooned!

[Russ]

5,000 might be enough for your needs. On my 34' Hunter we had a 5,000 BTU window unit stuck in the companionway and it did okay.

It's the power consumption for Aircon that is so costly. Even marine 12v efficient units consume a lot of power.
I'm not familiar with Lipo batteries other than they are vastly different from lead acid.

30-50 amps of power draw is a LOT of power. I guess you can do the math to see if the LiPo battery can handle it. Keep in mind you will need heavy electrical wire to feed 30-50 amps.

I found a similar unit on our American Amazon


A similar unit on Amazon has reviews that claim documentation contains zero words in English and the buyer was frustrated.


Interesting note on the listing:

Note: The interior of the air conditioner does not contain refrigerant, and you need to add refrigerant yourself, R134a 600g. Vacuum treatment is required before adding refrigerant, and the tools required for vacuum treatment include vacuum pump, pressure gauge, etc.

(Refrigeration oil: POE68/included) No need to add. (Refrigerant: R134a/600g/ not included) You need to add it yourself.

[Be Free]

An amp-hour is a unit of electrical charge. It is equal to the charge transferred by a steady current of one ampere flowing for one hour.

An amp (ampere) is a unit of electrical current. It is equal to one coulomb per second (an amp-hour is 3600 coulombs).

30-50 amps is a fair amount of current. 30-50 amp-hours is not much charge when you are looking at automotive sized batteries. A run-of-the-mill dual purpose marine battery would be rated around 100 amp-hours or so. A deep cycle (golf cart) battery is usually somewhere north of 200 amp-hours. Even a small (7" x 7" x 3") LiFePO (lithium) battery will be at least 30 amp-hours.

[Russ]

I'm pretty ignorant about new battery tech. However LiPos seem to still be in the 100ah range. Simple math tells me at 50 amp draw...that's 2 hours if you drain it totally flat.

Maybe I'm wrong.

It all makes you appreciate how much energy is in a liter of petrol. I don't know, If I had to do Air conditioning I might toss a Honda generator in the dinghy behind the boat on an extension cord and plop a window unit in the companionway.