Marine 12v air conditioning

[Captain Anthony]

Mabruteam, Your post is absolutely spot on. Can you provide us with information on how to determine the difference between B30 90:10 and B30 70:30?
I would be very interested in knowing. Your information may just point me in the direction of installing a refurbished unite with B30 70:30. I thank you in advance for your reply, Aj Addeo

[Bunji]

Originally Posted by Mabruteam

Using Titanium? how many 20 + years old Cruisair units have you seen on Hatteras, Bertrams, Searays.. they last because their coils were made with CuNi B30, 70:30 the new ones are made out of the economical CuNi B10 90:10,
All CuNi are easy to integrate and weld with copper, titanium was a good advertising for the manufacturing companies but the integration and welding is proving to be a nightmare.

Well I’ve been around boats most of my life and I’ve never seen a Mabru air conditioner unit let a lone a 20 year old one, probably explains why your using this forum to do your marketing
I have no problem finding the room to put a household domestic split system air conditioner at a fraction of the cost, can fit it myself and comes with a five year warranty

[kjlewis159]

Originally Posted by Bunji

Well I’ve been around boats most of my life and I’ve never seen a Mabru air conditioner unit let a lone a 20 year old one, probably explains why your using this forum to do your marketing
I have no problem finding the room to put a household domestic split system air conditioner at a fraction of the cost, can fit it myself and comes with a five year warranty

Bunji, I'm sure they said the same thing about the light bulb when it first came out... correction - they thought the light bulb invention was witch craft are you seriously saying that you plan to install a residential unit on a marine vessel you do realize that would void whatever warranty you're promoting right? that "5 year warranty"... let's compare apples to apples, not apples to kumquats

[B28_Majic]

Originally Posted by Bunji

Well I’ve been around boats most of my life and I’ve never seen a Mabru air conditioner unit let a lone a 20 year old one, probably explains why your using this forum to do your marketing
I have no problem finding the room to put a household domestic split system air conditioner at a fraction of the cost, can fit it myself and comes with a five year warranty

You clearly did not properly read Mabruteam's post.. He said 20+ years on old Cruisair coils, not Mabru. B30 (70% copper 30% nickel) was a tried and proven alloy that manufactures stopped using to reduce costs. B30 has significantly higher corrosion resistance to the subpar B10 with only 10% nickel. I always enjoy reading the residential split vs marine ac debate. By that logic, I assume that you have automotive engines in your boat with air cooled radiators and dry exhaust. You could always just add a condenser in front of your radiator and a belt driven compressor. Sounds like a great solution to me!

[Bunji]

Originally Posted by kjlewis159

Bunji, I'm sure they said the same thing about the light bulb when it first came out... correction - they thought the light bulb invention was witch craft are you seriously saying that you plan to install a residential unit on a marine vessel you do realize that would void whatever warranty you're promoting right? that "5 year warranty"... let's compare apples to apples, not apples to kumquats

Huh. We’ve been using split system air conditioning in the marine industry here in Aussie for years Commercial (fishing) Trawlers, Barges, Ferries, Yachts, Catamarans etc because it’s cheap and it works. (as I mentioned in earlier posts) Manufacturers don’t have to know where the unit lives, (warranty), I work in the industry.

[jonathanv]

Originally Posted by Bunji

Huh. We’ve been using split system air conditioning in the marine industry here in Aussie for years Commercial (fishing) Trawlers, Barges, Ferries, Yachts, Catamarans etc because it’s cheap and it works. (as I mentioned in earlier posts) Manufacturers don’t have to know where the unit lives, (warranty), I work in the industry.

This was one of my original ideas. They are super efficient but where to mount the outside unit on our sailboat...? A friend of ours mounted it on their cabin roof but that sticks out too much for my taste. Are there any low profile outdoor units?

[Bunji]

Originally Posted by jonathanv

This was one of my original ideas. They are super efficient but where to mount the outside unit on our sailboat...? A friend of ours mounted it on their cabin roof but that sticks out too much for my taste. Are there any low profile outdoor units?

No. The smallest units the 2.5 and 3.5 kw are the same size,
The window/wall (Box) style with the Microair easy start 364 Is another option, Place in front of a hatch make up some ductwork, as well there are a few new portable ones on the market now maybe worth a try (cheap)

[Acadia]

New products need to start somewhere.

On my cat I have a Mabru 12v 12kbtu to cool the 4 cabins and a Velair variable speed 16k 115v for the saloon. I have 2.3kw of solar and can run the Mabru overnight without running the Gen unless we have a cloudy day.

Yes the Mabru really does only draw 35-40 amps. This depends on what voltage you use and if your wire gauge is sufficient to eliminate resistance. The Velair will draw 33-100amps through the inverter depending on the setting.

Disclaimer I am dealer for all these efficient units Frigomar-Velair-Mabru-Termodinamica. These are the only brands I sell because we design systems that allow you to cool your boat overnight on lithium’s. Although it is possible with conventional units, it’s much easier with efficient ones. It’s easier to do on Catamarans because of how much solar you can install but we’ve also done it on a mono with 1200w of solar, 945ah of lithium and a 12v mabru. On sunny days they can go sans generator for overnight operation.

These modern AC units along with lithium has really changed the way we can do things.

It’s not uncommon for some minor issues with any products as complex as a marine AC. I have a close working relationship with these companies and so far they have been very responsive with any problems I’ve had, which have been few and far between so far. This is based on the sale and or install of roughly 50 units between the brands.

These are expensive upgrades but If you want cool air without a generator this is the best way to do it. Having said that, I’m not going to get rid of my generator, it’s nice to have when you need it. Just don’t need to run it as long anymore and under not enough load.

Hope this helps

[Qismat]

Can confirm - We're running a Mabru 12V 7K BTU unit and it pulls about 34 amps on high speed. Works great! Really glad to have it. Runs off the lithiums and solar, don't have a generator.

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by Pizzazz

Thank you, I missed it. I found another interesting solution, looks good on paper but probably too small. It could make sense for a v-berth or the back cabin on a smaller boat. It is basically a 12V, inverter powered micro DC with 1,800 btu's at 10A which sounds approximately right. Sample cost $550 which means that with a distributor discount the price would be even lower.

https://www.rigidchill.com/micro-dc-aircon/#

I am not sure how much the inverter technology helps these small units as they will be operating at maximum rpm's anyway. Still, I do not think that one can beat the price performance of a small window unit ($150) installed in a locker and properly ducted (meaning four ducts, not one or two).

Originally Posted by Captain Anthony

This Micro DC Aircon looks very interesting. Have you conducted any additional research?

I looked into it further and emailed them. If using 12v system they emailed me it's about 1500 btu/hr.
IIRC the 12v was actually closer to 1300 btu/hr and uses 150w.
The 24v was way more BTU but 300w.
I think the 12v would be too smal to cool our cabin. But I'm so tempted to try.

[Adelie]

It would probably be enough to cool your sleeping cabin, especially if you insulated it.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Bunji

Well I’ve been around boats most of my life and I’ve never seen a Mabru air conditioner unit let a lone a 20 year old one, probably explains why your using this forum to do your marketing
I have no problem finding the room to put a household domestic split system air conditioner at a fraction of the cost, can fit it myself and comes with a five year warranty

For what it's worth I have two 5 year old Mabru 115v marine ac units on my Mahe. No association with the company, but I can tell you that one broke about a year after I got it and they flew someone up from FL to Annapolis literally 2 days after I called them who fixed it all for free under warranty, no questions asked. I obviously would have preferred it hadn't broken, but given that mechanical stuff on boats inevitably fails occasionally that's about the best customer service one could hope for. So whatever they are they aren't a fly by night operation who won't return your calls, quite the opposite.

[rma]

Seems like there is a lot of interest in running a small AC off batteries. Why don't we all just organize ourselves and get distributor pricing on the Mabru clone? If 50 of us get together, the 7000 BTU 12v unit is only $1000/unit. Message me if you want to team up.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Maka

Swamp cooler will be all 12v. 12v pump, 12v fan.
If you can put Gel Packs from your freezer in the reservoir it will blow very cold air.
The longer it runs the cooler your boat will get.

Simple enough you can build your own.

First off the evaporative part of a swamp cooler only works if the air is dry. Which seldom happens when you're somewhere hot and, you know, literally floating on an ocean of warm water.

As far as the melting gel packs part, the very smallest AC unit we're talking about here is 1800 btu. That's .15 tons, or the equivalent cooling you would get from melting 300 lbs of ice. That's a lot of gel packs!

Another way to think about it, if you got the ice from your onboard freezer you could just install a freezer with the door removed and have the same effect...I think we all realize that wouldn't cool much of anything.

[FlyingScot]

I bit the bullet and ordered one of the 12v small Rigid models. Shipping was outrageous but total price with thermostat was $850 shipped.

I'll get it and install in a couple of months. Our expectations are low. 1-2c temp drop with corresponding drop in humidity would be worth it to us. We should be able to handle the amp hour draw overnight without too much difficulty