CP19 Air conditioning

[dbinvermont]

Down here in NC it does get a bit warm in the summer time, and I found myself unable to stand the heat in the cabin on a 90 degree day.  I decided to remedy the situation by removing the condenser from a 5000 btu window ac, and replacing it with a coaxial water cooled condenser.  I installed the unit under the vberth (in front of the compression post), and installed a small pump (with the necessary thru-hulls) to get rid of the heat.  A slide in panel covers the whole thing up when not in use, and now at the dock I  have air conditioned comfort if I choose to stay over night.
The only downside so far, is the loss of storage space, but it is more than offset by the extra time that I can now spend on the boat.
It will also run on my $89 Harbor Freight generator, but I don't think I will take it to that extreme..
It was not that difficult a modification or installation, and I am very pleased with the results!

-Dave B

[alsantini]

Hi Dave.  Very interesting.  Do you happen to have any pics?  Interested in how you connected it to the cooling water.  Thanks     Al

[Salty19]

Wow---sounds great!   Can you provide some more information on parts, detailed instructions for the swap (isn't there refrigerant to deal with, or special tools/techniques?)  and pictures?   I suspect  many will be interested. 

The spirit of this DIY section is to do exactly that...go beyond just a summary and dig into the details.

Thank you and NICE WORK SAILOR!!!

[dbinvermont]

You are right, there are some parts of the job that requires some tools (and know - how) that not everyone would have.
For instance, removing the existing refrigerant (and recharging at the end) might be something that could be done by a local a/c tech if needed.
Beyond that, it is a water cooled condenser loop (refrigerant goes through the inner coil, cooling water flows around it). When the unit is running, a water pump (I used a small Harbor Freight utility pump, 110v) needs to be turned on before you start the a/c. Typical marine a/c units work exactly the same way. A marine a/c pump is a lot more expensive than the Harbor Freight one, but I needed to keep initial costs down since this was an experiment! I might buy a better pump later, but for now the HF pump is working fine.

On a side note, the refrigerant that went back in was R138A (automotive), that can be purchased anywhere, and is inexpensive.  This is safe to do since the original R410A uses the same type of oil as the R138A. There is a marked decrease in efficiency, and so my 5000 BTU a/c is probably more like 3000BTU. Which is still overkill for the interior space of a CP19!

The utility pump and the thru hulls are in the storage space on the port side of the v berth, and there is still some space left for storing things.  The intake thru hull fitting is of course below the water line, and so needs to be high quality (no plastic!). The return fitting is plastic, and is at the top of the storage space, above the wl.
This may raise a few eyebrows, but since my last boat (a 30'er) was loaded with thru hulls (above and below the wl), I guess the idea is not a big deal to me. They do need to be of high quality, and installed properly.

I didn't take any pictures of the modifications as they were happening (I always kick myself for that!) but I could send some "after" pictures.

Thanks for being interested in my little project!

-Dave