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Portable A/C Exhaust Placement

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HerdOfTurtles
1st Mate

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USA
68 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/22/2018 : 07:55:20

I'm having a visitor stay on the boat for a few months and need to put A/C on the boat for this time. It's hot here in New Orleans.

The plan is to install a portable unit like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Haier-HPP08XCR-8000-Portable-Conditioner/dp/B073CDTW2N/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&qid=1527000184&sr=8-27&keywords=haier+portable+air+conditioner .

The unit would be placed immediately to the left of the companionway in front of the sink.

I plan to run the A/C exhaust hose to a hole in the bulkhead between the lazarette and salon under the sink so the exhaust will fill the lazarette and exhaust out the aft port cowl vent taking any gas fumes with it.

What do you think? Would it get too hot in the lazarette or would the temperature be about the same as if it had no airflow on a hot day? I guess I could always crack open the lazarette locker a bit as well.

Alternately I could connect the exhaust hose to the starboard aft cowl vent with some long hose and remove the gas tank so I wouldn't have to worry about gas getting sucked into the cabin. In this case I have two wires running out of that cowl I'd have to deal with somehow and I'd probably need to install an additional exhaust blower in the exhaust duct, but I wouldn't have to cut any holes in the bulkhead.

What ya think?

1978 Standard Rig
Fin Keel
L-Dinette

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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3992 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 09:21:34

Is this just going to be temporary while this person is using your boat as a motel?

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

HerdOfTurtles
1st Mate

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68 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 09:27:37

Yes, though I guess if it works well I may want to use it on an overnight trip to another marina.

1978 Standard Rig
Fin Keel
L-Dinette

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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1889 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 09:56:09

I would go with the second plan -- Exhaust A/C waste heat and humidity through the existing vent(s) and remove the portable gas tank.

The additional exhaust blower might not be needed. I'd see how the A/C works without it first. If you do need more fan, maybe look into having it only run when the A/C exhaust blower is running, and using fan(s) similar to the square ones in desktop computers, which are relatively quiet. The ones for typical PCs are 12.VDC, but 120vac versions exist, particularly in the larger diameters, for cooling electronic equipment racks.

Wires could be routed through the same cowl vent by putting a small slit in the vent hose, and taping it up around the wiring.

-- Leon Sisson

� Leon Sisson

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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3992 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 11:08:23

I agree on running the exhaust out the cowling vent. That would eliminate any gas fume problem and you could leave the tank on the shelf or remove it if you feel better about it.. My guess is the air conditioner was engineered with a strong blower knowing that the exhaust was going to be routed through a hose and out a window so I would guess an inline blower probably won't be needed. If you remove one of the drawers under the sink and run the hose through there or as an alternate on my boat the door under the stove folds out for accessing the thru hull so maybe you could run the hose through there and back to the bulkhead. The only damage to the boat will be cutting a hole for the hose in the bulkhead. Look for bilge blower parts for the hose and a bulkhead connector.

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

Edited by - islander on 05/22/2018 11:23:21

HerdOfTurtles
1st Mate

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68 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 11:36:33

@Islander, I can't figure out what your recommendation is.

The options I posited were:

1. Run the exhaust through/to the galley bulkhead so the exhaust empties into the lazarette. This would put positive pressure in the lazarette and push any gas fumes out of the aft port cowl vent attached to the lazarette.

2. Run the exhaust directly to the port starboard cowl vent using ducting. This would cause air to flow into the cowl vent attached to the lazarette, bringing gas fumes into the boat so I would want to remove the gas tank.

1978 Standard Rig
Fin Keel
L-Dinette

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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3992 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 13:50:36

OK I will try to explain a little better. I don't like option 1 because exhausting into the dumpster as you said will pressurize the dumpster area including the gas tank area forcing air along with any fumes out of the cowling vent and probably back into the cabin because the bulk heading and the wood panels along the side of the quarter berth that separates the quarter berth from the dumptser and electrical panel are not air tight. I like option 2 better. My understanding is that you are placing the air conditioner on the floor in the sink/stove area. The air conditioner has a round exhaust port on the back. The exhaust hose would come from the back of the air conditioner through the drawer opening and to the bulkhead then through the bulkhead into the dumpster and continue back to the cowling vent. Since all the exhaust will now go out the vent via the direct connection and not into the dumpster the dumpster will not be pressurized. There isn't any exchange of air between the exhaust hose and the dumpster. I changed my mined, I would remove the gas tank because the cowling vent would now become the air conditioner exhaust only and not a vent for the gas tank. If you needed the gas tank to go somewhere a 3 gal fits nicely on the cockpit floor in front of the transom.

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

Edited by - islander on 05/22/2018 13:53:48

Bladeswell
Captain

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USA
490 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 15:10:59

Hello H.O.T.,

Wow, nice find. I read everything from Amazon's site and assume the unit is 120ac. I am also assuming your boat is at a slip. Could be wrong there. Maybe you have it near the garage on it's trailer. Anyway, lets say it's in a slip. I didn't find anything that mentioned amperage draw which could matter at a slip. For instance, my slip only delivers ac power at 30 amps. Do you happen to know the units amperage draw ? Best of luck.

Bladeswell

C25 TR FK Hull #973 1979 L-Dinette. So.Cal.

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3992 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 15:38:48

What I found is that it's 115v and 7.8 amps.https://www.cnet.com/products/haier-hpp08xcr-air-conditioner/specs/

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

Edited by - islander on 05/22/2018 15:44:17

Bladeswell
Captain

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490 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 17:55:24

hello Again,

Thanks Scott...

Bladeswell

C25 TR FK Hull #973 1979 L-Dinette. So.Cal.

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4275 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2018 : 19:53:01

I bought a unit similar to the one your interested in. I ended up taking it back because it didn't cool that well and it ended up feeling somewhat humid in the boat (maybe they work better now). Another issue was the exhaust hose was 6" dia. (if I remember correctly). Whatever size it was, it was relatively stiff and hard to get it to go where I wanted it.

Another thing to consider is where the water that is produced is going to go. Most of these have a collection pan that needs to be emptied on a fairly regular basis.

I ended up buying a 6,500 Btu window unit that I set in the companionway when I'm on the boat. While not the ideal location it works for me for a night. It will bring the temp in the boat down from the upper 90's to the lower 70's in 20 - 25 minutes. Dries all the humidity out of the air and doesn't take up any floor space. Condensation water goes out on the cockpit sole.

Frank Hopper came up with this last mod and has pictures somewhere on this forum. Mount the a/c through the dumpster bulkhead between the aft bunk and the dumpster. It's out of the way and you can open the lid on the dumpster when it's running so the exhaust air goes up and out. Water will go into the bilge and can be pumped out with a small bilge pump.

Here's a couple of links with pictures:

http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30457
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30519&SearchTerms=Air,Conditioner

Sorry if I sounded negative, just thought I'd pass along my experience and some other options to consider.

Association Member

GaryB
Andiamo
'89 SR/WK #5862
Kemah,TX

Edited by - GaryB on 05/22/2018 20:12:13

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3992 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2018 : 06:19:16

quote:
Another thing to consider is where the water that is produced is going to go. Most of these have a collection pan that needs to be emptied on a fairly regular basis.

I guess they solved that problem

quote:
Maintenance is minimal with a slide-out washable mesh filter and auto evaporation technology makes manual draining unnecessary.

The different sizes of hose could definitely be a problem but could be solved with hose reducers. As to the flexibility of the hose you could possibly use clothes dryer vent hose. These are the bits and pieces you would have to look into. For a more permanent set up Franks was a better system.

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3754 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2018 : 18:29:32

A problem with single hose models is that they pull the cooled air from the cabin in to the heat exchanger and exhaust it. A 2 hose model with an inlet for heat exchanger air is much more effective.

Dave B. aboard Pearl
1982 TR/SK/Trad. #3399
Lake Erie/Florida Panhandle

HerdOfTurtles
1st Mate

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USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2018 : 10:16:05

Just wanted to give an update for anyone in the future looking to do this.

The AC we put in is a Costway B07CWPK53G 10,000 BTU single hose model.

It sits in front of the sink. The exhaust hose is 6" and runs under the sink and under the quarter berth. Under the quarter berth the exhaust hose connects to a reducer, which reduces the hose size to 4". The 4" hose then runs up through a hole in the shelf at the far aft end of the quarter berth and connects to the cowl vent above that shelf.

The AC can be sufficiently strapped down in this location such that you can simply leave it be and go out sailing whenever you want without having to touch it.

During the day(New Orleans summer heat), even with a silver tarp draped over the boom covering most of the cabin, the AC cannot cool the cabin down lower than say 82 degrees.

The compressor cycles approximately 5-10 minutes on/5-10 minutes off. While the compressor is on and it's blowing cool, the entire salon area can be at a comfortable temperature. As soon as the compressor kicks off, you're right back to the 80's.

The AC is enough to make it bearable working on the boat in the summer during the day. Before the AC, I could only ever spend about an hour or two max down at the boat working on it because I would simply get too hot. Now I can spend pretty much all day if needed.

It gets sufficiently cool at night to sleep comfortably.

Despite it being a little ghetto, I plan on leaving it there full-time, at least until I get a lot of the projects I want done completed, which will be a while.

1978 Standard Rig
Fin Keel
L-Dinette

sethp001
Mainsheet C-25 Tech Editor

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814 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2018 : 11:40:02

Air flow can make all the difference. We've been able to manage the heat with 2 Dometic 12v DC box fans. We run them when anchored out and in the slip. One goes in the forward hatch and one on the table. We also have a cheap AC box fan that we sometimes put in the forward hatch when in the slip.

One guy at our club has a 2 hose air conditioner on his boat. He has the hoses run to 2 cutouts in one of his hatchboards. It keeps the interior very cool, but his boat nearly always stays in the slip.

Seth
"Outlier" 1987 Catalina 25 SR/SK/Traditional Interior #5541
"Zoo" 1977 Morgan Out Island 30
"Nomad" 1980 Prindle 16
"Lost" 1988 Catalina Capri 14.2 (sold - yay!)
"Marine Tex 1" Unknown Origin POS 8' Fiberglass Dinghy
https://whichsailboat.com/2014/07/27/catalina-25-review/

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3992 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2018 : 16:12:45

I don't know why the compressor is kicking on and off if the unit can never cool the boat down to the temperature that it is set at during the day. The compressor should stay on constantly because the unit is always trying to get down to that temperature. It would kick off only if it did. Do you have it set for max cooling and the temperature setting as low as it can go?

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

HerdOfTurtles
1st Mate

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USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 07/10/2018 : 18:49:11

Seth,

Yes, if there's breeze and shade even the hottest days are tolerable. My father had a wind scoop he installed in the forward hatch on his Hunter 25 and it worked great. Also wow those are some expensive box fans.

Islander,

Yeah it's set to max cool 68 degrees, compressor still kicks off after a few minutes. My guesses are either the compressor is getting hot and shutting itself down because the 4" exhaust hose restricts the flow to much to cool it down adequately OR it shuts itself off as part of the "auto-evaporation" feature where it drips the condensation over the hot condenser and blows it out with the exhaust.

1978 Standard Rig
Fin Keel
L-Dinette

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