AC for flybridge

May I ad to your question or just tag along?
May even be an idea for you to ponder.

AC for the flybridge,, Does it need to be like the conventional marine ACs?
I am pondering the RV style, overhead units (Coleman style) for our boat. 2, 3 or 4 of them.
Just run a couple of #12 (10?) wires up there.
No copper tubing, No water hoses, No water pump.
Yes, I know in a few years (maybe later) the salt air cooled condenser may fail, then ad the old unit to a favorite offshore reef and plug in another whole new unit.

Been thinking about this for next falls project.

Dumbetic has been purchasing marine and RV companies up faster than Buba can drink beer.
After the purchases, products have been redesigned a few times..
It is hard to compare the quality of the Taylor Made AC groups unit of 15, 10, 5 years ago, last year, last month or have an idea what or how it will be made next month, yada-yada..
IMO, these products have been going down the tubes and not getting any better.
Some of this may be the EPA / gas thingie, I fear is is just getting cheap,, not less expensive or cost reduced, freaking cheap.

There used to be some great independent AC companies.
But again I was just reading about new owners on another popular marine AC mfg company and now that company is just ticking customers off and going down the tubes faster than Buba's used beer.

March styled pumps with mag drive, synthetic cases do seem to last longer. Are you reading or hearing something bad about them?

Titanium uh?
Are you reading or hearing about these?
I would like to learn more about it.
At this time, I suspect a quasi alloy mix for marketing and still expensive.

I've been doing research in preparation for swapping out my aged units. I'm pretty well set on Mabru. A bit more cost but a Florida based private company with great customer service.
For a bridge system, if you have appropriate space , what Ralph mentioned makes a lot of sense. Treat them as throw away units, alot easier to install, the cool naturally falls from the headliner , with traditional units you're going to have to push it up.

We've had OK success with replacement units from Dometic. "Turbo" (DTG or some such) units for 16K BTU and under. A different 27K BTU one more recently for our bridge... but it was so recent I can't speak to longevity.

We've also been researching CTM as an alternative for remaining 16-and-under units on this boat. Similar footprints and installation details, compatible with existing wall panel controllers, lower cost (even when compared to Dometic "boat show discounts").

-Chris

I have been debating what to do with replacing old Cruisair units on my boat as well. Not so much for the flybridge but for the cabins. Unlike sailboats, we have plenty of space on our motorboats to put a household split system and tuck the outside unit somewhere in the cockpit neatly, so that it is barely visible. The obvious benefit is cost, noise and ease of maintenance.

For example, a 12,000 btu system here costs Eur 700, it is nearly silent, inverter, remote, WiFi, all the goodies. You can put the inside unit anywhere and there are plenty of installers who do this for very little money. You don't have to deal with cleaning the strainer, opening and closing the valves, etc. If any part corrodes, you just replace it. The equivalent marine units start at close to $5,000, they are super noisy plus the noise from the running cooling water. If any maintenance is required, you have to go deep in the boat, even just to diagnose it (read: expensive service). Yet, most boats still have marine, sea water cooled units. Go figure.

It takes a lot of BTUs to effectively cool a FB to a level where it’s even worth the hassle. Even a solid skylounge… you will also need a dedicated oversized pump to push water that high

i m done with cruisair dometic. Quality has gone done drastically in the last 10-15 years to the point where you re lucky when components last 10 years. Add to that ridiculous lead time for replacements or parts.

march pumps are the way to go. I have had too many bronze head/impeller pump fail due to erosion whether oberdorfers or Scott’s. I have occasionally had the plastic impeller break on a march but it s usually a 5 minute job. You don’t even have to take the hoses off.

as to alternate brands, I m a big fan of Flagship Marine in Stuart FL. I installed a twin chiller / 5 air handler system on my personal 53 6 years ago. Very well build and excellent support. All the chassis are solid SS not painted crap metal and the condensate trays are slopped. No condensate sloshing around or trapped in foam like cruisair does. And even more important is the fact that they don’t use proprietary electronics. It’s all basic relays and off the shelf parts inc thermostats.

Recently two cruisair air handlers failed in the skylounge of the boat I run. I replaced them with Flagship air handlers. They also make self contained

as to RV style Roof mounted units, i ve seen a couple of boats using them for enclosed FB. Why not.

Mini splits are nice but the problem is where will you put the outside compressor? I can’t imagine having one in the cockpit like you suggest as it will be in the way, blow hot air on your legs and drip rust streaks all over…. Only possibility would be under the FB housing as long as have adequate ventilation, possibly with additional blowers

Looking to replace our existing three 23 yr old CruiseAire units. MarinAir in Miami appears to have a good reputation and pricing, they have Titanium coil, apparently very quiet, included pressure gauges, SS316 metal parts/pan. Not MarineAir. They also sell March pumps, looking at
AC-5C-MD 1020 GPH. Looked at Webasto, Dometic, Mermaid, Mabru and landed on MarinAire.

I understand why you eliminated Dometic and Webasto, can you expand on why the others were eliminated, I more or less finalized on Mabru, that's why I'm curious.

Mabru is still on the list for a small 12v unit in the front stateroom that I can run off my Lithium bank. They appear to be a good unit and have been watching them for a long time, MarinAire has a big sale on at the moment.

I was thinking to install it in place of this box on the port side. Here a couple of pictures, if you can imagine how it would look like. It fits (I tried to put a scale picture) and will protrude only a couple of inches that I can cover with something, then put a step similar to the next photo. It can drain outside the cockpit, that is easy to do and then for the warm air, hm, I need to think about that, may be the cover can redirect it somehow, even with reduced efficiency. Sure, it is a compromise but then again, at 1/8 the cost and disposable.

Yes they do, about half of Mabru, seems to me I couldn't use Marin air as it was a half inch to high to fit into the spot I wanted to put it. I'm retrofitting a split system with a self contained unit.

Give it another year. When Dumbetic doesn't want to compete, they buy the competitor. And pays well.
Look at their history.
Wish I had something in their side to compete with.

Oh, a setup with built in gauges.
Others have tried this.
When there were any gas leaks,, Ya know where most of the leaks were from??
KISS....

Regarding the thought of using RV style units; do your research. They are also suffering from serious quality issues. I have 2022 RV with two A/C’s. Lots of reports of problems and failures.

I fear Dumbetic has already purchased up a few of the RV equipment companies also.
It is interesting what they are buying up these days.

I further fear I may need another name for that business outfit. How bout CashEthic?

I have built in gauges on my Flagship chiller and the only issue I ve had in 6 years was a leaking gauge. No big deal but not worth it.

I have to agree, I think the gauges are a bit of a sales gimic.
If you're concerned about leaking just monitor your output temps. If rising your leaking. Once a year easy peasy.