Marine 12v air conditioning

[motion30]

You would be incorrect

[flee27]

Originally Posted by Opie91

It is certainly interesting and sips power, but it also does not put out a ton of cooling.


Also that $2000 leaves quite a few parts missing, it is going to take at least another $500 to complete the installation which pretty much equals what it cost for a Velair 4-10k unit.

I agree with what you are saying. From new installation perspective all the units will require a good bit of extras. A unit like the Velair would require more duct work supplies and effort to install. So this to me seems about equal across the units.

So then to me it really comes down to the goals of the install. Assuming one is only concerned with cooling/dehumidifying a small space like a closed off cabin. The Clark's unit presumably uses less power and is definitely a smaller foot print. For people like me with a smaller monohull (Sabre 42) which limits space for solar, battery banks, and for mounting the ac unit. Clark's unit gives me something else to think about.

I have been processing this ac question a lot lately with the goals of just cooling a closed off cabin for sleeping with something that I can power off batteries. Up until Clark's unit I was convinced the Velair would be the best option. Still might be. The benefit to the Velair unit for me is that in eco mode one should be able to run it off a reasonable sized battery/solar setup. But when plugged in I could have more BTUs to help cool/dehumidify more of the boat.

Still proccessing...

Thanks for all the comments and information.

Foster

[fxykty]

Slightly off topic so my apologies in advance for asking about how many air conditioners are needed.

We want to cool our sleeping cabin and our salon. I contacted Mabru via their contact form regarding air conditioner selection for our boat. They suggested two 12V units: their 7BTU for our sleeping cabin and 12BTU for our salon.

We would rather have only one unit as we would rarely if ever require cooling to both cabins at the same time. Typically it would be cooling the salon during the day and into the evening meal, then cooling the sleeping cabin prior to going to bed and perhaps into the early morning.

So we could buy just the 12BTU unit and install an Y-splitter on the output duct. But wouldn’t we need to manually move a louvre in the Y-splitter, or on the output grills, to direct air to the cabin we want? Or would it be OK to direct air to both cabins?

For a typical air conditioner installation is it normal to have one unit per cabin, or do you buy a single unit that can output to two or more cabins?

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Slightly off topic so my apologies in advance for asking about how many air conditioners are needed.

We want to cool our sleeping cabin and our salon. I contacted Mabru via their contact form regarding air conditioner selection for our boat. They suggested two 12V units: their 7BTU for our sleeping cabin and 12BTU for our salon.

We would rather have only one unit as we would rarely if ever require cooling to both cabins at the same time. Typically it would be cooling the salon during the day and into the evening meal, then cooling the sleeping cabin prior to going to bed and perhaps into the early morning.

So we could buy just the 12BTU unit and install an Y-splitter on the output duct. But wouldn’t we need to manually move a louvre in the Y-splitter, or on the output grills, to direct air to the cabin we want? Or would it be OK to direct air to both cabins?

For a typical air conditioner installation is it normal to have one unit per cabin, or do you buy a single unit that can output to two or more cabins?

I was thinking about this too. I'd like to setup a y-valve to direct air into the salon or into the owners cabin. I'd also need two control panels (or thermostats if separate) for each area with a switch so the unit can cool the area we are sensing. Seems feasible, but I haven't seen it done before.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I’m not sure why you say that…. But here’s the reason why they want efficient units: so that they can run longer from their battery banks. We have 6kVA inverter power and a 10.5kWh lithium bank + 10kWh AGM bank. Power efficient units allow us to run A/C all night until the solar kicks in again.



Compare that with the 12V DC units: I can’t run them unless I install enough DC-DC converters to create the 12V power source. Boats thathave these large solar arrays and lithium banks have 24V or even 48V battery banks, with only enough 12V for starting an engine, using the radio etc.



This is why they go for the AC powered VFD units. Compared to the old style, they save 40% energy.

Thanks Nick for addressing the issue of 24v boats such as ours
My cruisaire AC aircons are 22 years old, used sparingly before I installed the 1800w solar and Multi 5 +3kw Inverters along with my new 20kWh Lithium Freedom Won system.+ 780Ah AGM backup... ALL 24V !
These old aircons are oversized and power hungry on startup, but we're designed to run off of Generator, which I rarely need

I mostly want just an aircon at night when sleeping set at 26C

What Brand of efficient AC aircon units would you recommend as I am out of touch with the new Brands?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks Nick for addressing the issue of 24v boats such as ours
My cruisaire AC aircons are 22 years old, used sparingly before I installed the 1800w solar and Multi 5 +3kw Inverters along with my new 20kWh Lithium Freedom Won system.+ 780Ah AGM backup... ALL 24V !
These old aircons are oversized and power hungry on startup, but we're designed to run off of Generator, which I rarely need

I mostly want just an aircon at night when sleeping set at 26C

What Brand of efficient AC aircon units would you recommend as I am out of touch with the new Brands?

I think I would go with these… whenever they become available again: https://www.imarineusa.com/VelairI16VSD.aspx

[angus99]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I think I would go with these… whenever they become available again: https://www.imarineusa.com/VelairI16VSD.aspx

I talked to the lead engineer at Velair, who says this line is being totally redesigned—supposedly a bit smaller footprint, rotating blower and a more competitive price point. One of the models will be 12-V, IIRC. They were—as of three months ago—shooting for late Fall to bring them to market, but with supply chain issues, who knows?

Dometic is field-testing its new TX Series which will also have VS compressors and WiFi controls.

It’s going to be a tough choice once these are on the market.

[Pelagic]

Thanks Angus and Nick... I will monitor availability of these 2 Brands.... Just loving the stability of the Lithium and running the 5kw Multi/24V/230
For AC V I am set up with 230V which they seem to have stock.... but good to know about the redesign

[fivecapes]

Strange no one's mentioned Frigomar.

Didn't Velair copy them?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

Strange no one's mentioned Frigomar.

Didn't Velair copy them?

Indeed, but I think they are rather expensive. The interesting thing is that they have chillers, air handlers etc. for larger installations instead of all self contained units. Pro’s and con’s for each…

https://eshop.titanmarineair.com/pro...contained-unit

[silverlb]

Look at termodinamica 24v self contained... very efficient units. Their compressor box are also super impressive.

https://www.termodinamicausa.com/products/24v-unit

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

Strange no one's mentioned Frigomar.

Didn't Velair copy them?

Post #4
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Post #71

[B28_Majic]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

Well this thread helped large. Turns out I have a crapped out last summer blowing no cold air. You made me crawl in the back to write down numbers and such. Turns out my Jeanneau has a Mabru. I needed 600$ in parts. It did run with the generator or at the dock. We use it maybe 8 days a year on Lake Ontario but probably cause it’s worked poorly. I’m working out the details to turn it and open vents remote. I have a stepper motor in one hatch.

I'm curious about your Jeanneau with a Mabru unit as I know we have been doing installations for a local dealer but have only been doing them for about two years and exclusively DC units so boats that do not have generators installed. It is entirely possible that the unit was purchased and installed aftermarket but $600 in parts seems excessive unless you mean parts and labor. Were you able to get the system operating correctly or are you still having issues with your Mabru unit? Please send me an email at support@mabrumarine.com and I will be glad to look into your case.

[FirePilot]

Originally Posted by 170122

I am planning to replace my AC air conditioning on my boat from 115v AC to 12v DC, the one we have in the Master is noisy run with the inverter and consume 65amps producing 7000BTU, we were able to see a manufacturer at the Miami boat show presenting a 12v military 7000 with touch screen and heat running on less than 30 amps including the pump, that unit was very quiet, 17 F differential between the air intake and the discharge, 380CFM.. what else should we ask this company, their reviews are excellent.

We’re wanting to replace the dometic units in our Jeanneau SO409.. I’ve been trying to find out as much info as I can on the Mabru 12v units. I got to be honest I’m a little turned off by reading the original post and seeing Mabru’s Guerilla Advertising campaign disguised as a potential customer. I’m now wondering if the reviews are even real? Anyone have any honest feedback on the company?

Thanks

[Qismat]

We have a mabru unit and a non-mabru "mabru" unit from China. The mabru unit has been running for probably 1000+ hours and still going. Other one less hours as it's newer, but same. They're great. Take a lot less power than 115v units.