SS MAYFLOAT
Admiral
- Joined
- May 17, 2001
- Messages
- 6,372
A friend at my dock asked me to charge his AC. He said he put guages on it and it registered nothing. So this weekend, I loaded up my equipment in my van to get him all fixed up.
First thing I asked him if he or someone else winterized his boat. He said he did. I asked if he drained, blew out, or put anitfreeze in the units water circulating system. He looked at me dumbfounded and said the he was told the freon in the system wouldn't allow the condensers heat exchanger to freeze. That was some bum advice.
I put my guages on it and he was right, no freon. I hooked up my evac pump and it immediately drawed down into a vacuum. Thinking my hose fitting didn't press in on the schrader valve all the way, I tightened the fitting some more. Okay, now the guage went to "0". Turned the pump on again and again immediately it pulled way down into a vacuum. Shut the pump off and the guage slowly went back to "0". I turned the pump back on and let it run for about a minuet. My pump then started making a wild noise. I turned it off, and removed my hose to his unit........Water! So now I look at him and tell him the bad news that he needs a new unit. I tell him that not only he has water in the evaporator coil, but in the compressor as well.
He tells me that he can get a compressor and coil. Wants me to install it. I say no because there is water in the evaporator coil. He thinks it can be blowed out. I tried my best to explain to him that just one drop of water can destroy a system let alone the contaminates that was in the water. I also explained to him that even with the new stuff, I can't say it will last for very long. It is best to get a new unit.
So for those of you with marine AC's in the north, be sure to pump antifreeze thru the unit during your winterizing. Its a small price to pay over the price of a new unit. If you have heard that the freon in the line will keep the water from freezing in the conderser heat exchanger,,,,,,it is totally bogus and false.
First thing I asked him if he or someone else winterized his boat. He said he did. I asked if he drained, blew out, or put anitfreeze in the units water circulating system. He looked at me dumbfounded and said the he was told the freon in the system wouldn't allow the condensers heat exchanger to freeze. That was some bum advice.
I put my guages on it and he was right, no freon. I hooked up my evac pump and it immediately drawed down into a vacuum. Thinking my hose fitting didn't press in on the schrader valve all the way, I tightened the fitting some more. Okay, now the guage went to "0". Turned the pump on again and again immediately it pulled way down into a vacuum. Shut the pump off and the guage slowly went back to "0". I turned the pump back on and let it run for about a minuet. My pump then started making a wild noise. I turned it off, and removed my hose to his unit........Water! So now I look at him and tell him the bad news that he needs a new unit. I tell him that not only he has water in the evaporator coil, but in the compressor as well.
He tells me that he can get a compressor and coil. Wants me to install it. I say no because there is water in the evaporator coil. He thinks it can be blowed out. I tried my best to explain to him that just one drop of water can destroy a system let alone the contaminates that was in the water. I also explained to him that even with the new stuff, I can't say it will last for very long. It is best to get a new unit.
So for those of you with marine AC's in the north, be sure to pump antifreeze thru the unit during your winterizing. Its a small price to pay over the price of a new unit. If you have heard that the freon in the line will keep the water from freezing in the conderser heat exchanger,,,,,,it is totally bogus and false.
