This lovely 72' San Lorenzo I deal with did just that. Had 5 compressors as one chiller. Condacaria thought it would be a great idea to have a single chilled water manifold made completely out of copper nickel, that went to each of the 5 compressor units that were each mounted on rubber isolation mounts. Copper doesn't like to be vibrated from several different directions from the harmonics of 3 different compressor units running, eventually it all cracked losing all cooling capacity, unless you had the chilled water fill valve open and gallons of water going into engine room bilge all day until the fresh water tank ran dry. Dumbest design I have EVER seen.
Barnacle buster is a lot more acidic than the other two mentioned. H8eraide uses detergents and such.
What is the acid? I don't seem to be able to find their MSDS... Their web page says not as corrosive as muriatic (hydrochloric? Rydlyme, I think?), phosphoric (BB), or sulfuric acid. What else is there? -Chris
Barnacle buster is Phosphoric acid, here's there MSDS TRAC-SDS-1206-Barnacle-Buster-Concentrate.pdf (trac-online.com) The H8eraide, I cannot find the MSDS for, but it says non-corrosive and phosphate free. 100% biodegradable. From what I can tell, it's more of a cleaner than an acid (soap), but works really well. Amazon.com : H8eraide Marine Descaler Concentrate- Descaling Engine Flush - A/C Flush - 100% Biodegradable - 1gal - Strongest & Safest - Non-Corrosive- Phosphate-Free - Raw Water Engine Flush : Sports & Outdoors
I ended up using West Marine Descaler on all three of my AC units as well as my cockpit freezer compressor. Product is made by Starbrite. Fresh Water flush followed by recirculating Descaler for an hour plus then another fresh water flush with several buckets of fresh water. Had this existing pump set up that worked quite well.
New pump is ready to go as well as new hoses and sea strainer. Since I am doing AC system strainer I decided to also replace generator sea strainer that is on the opposing stringer. Waiting on schedule 80 fittings to build manifold and the support braces to get back from powder coat shop that AC units sit on. Removed them to get pump out and couldn't put them back the way they were. Welcome to winter in Washington. Fly out to FLIBS tonight on red eye with my wife.
I start to drool when I see such clean bilges. It's still on my wish list, still things keep popping up. But I will Paint my E R and stand proud with my Y F brothers with fancy engine rooms,,,, soon..
Was able to finally finish up the HVAC project last night and everything ran great. Biggest hold up in the project was waiting for brackets to get back from powder coat and back order on the pvc fittings that were unique and couldn't source locally. Since I also did some maintenance to cockpit freezer I ran that a bit as well as Generator that received a new sea strainer. Replaced all the incoming AC water hoses with new Trident hoses and built a new manifold out of Schedule 80 PVC and moved it to a nearby bracket to not have that strain placed on the March pump. Ran a short section of 3/4 hose to the manifold that was sized at 3/4 then 5/8 hose to each compressor. Hard to make it look pretty given so much going on in a small space.
A few more pics Now onto the next project which will be removing both transmission MOTA gear coolers and taking them for service and replacing components as needed.
Other than the glued fittings, (I would have gone to threaded fittings) WOW that all looks great and pretty.
I did threaded npt for nipples to 5/8 hose but felt sockets with primer and glue would work best building manifold and connecting the pieces. I could be wrong. I would have thought there would be more composite manifolds out there for marine hvac systems to choose from.
I used to solder up heavy copper fitting manifolds. Looked great but took time. Walk back on the boat and discover one hose nipple would work better angled different. Rats. Most AC manifolds are made at the boat factory per their one-offs. You can find ready made manifolds but they usually are not perfect for your needs either. All threaded makes them easy to repair, modify and never have to worry about a glue joint. I make them up while in the bilge. All nipples angled just rite. Your surveyor may make a comment on the glue connect also. Usually no issues with the Grey PVC.
Nobody builds a boat with glued fittings on the raw water side of anything, with the vibration and slamming a boat can take, it's a recipe for disaster.
I prefer threaded nylon so you can open them up or modify them if needed that said many boats use glued schedule 80 PVC manifold and they work out just fine for years and years. anything but brass which will corrode in no time.
Noted. Was unaware glued schedule 80 was worse than threaded. Was trying to reduce connections and opportunities for leaks. It is not mounted to fixed point where it will flex as it is tie wrapped in three places and floats on the support brace. I also saw glued pvc on some other Sporties and seemed a normal option for Manifold. Will be easy enough to build with threaded connections. Saw the attached at FLIBS on a new Sporty. I think it is from McMaster Carr.
Lousy setup. Single clamps and not even the good solid band clamps…. most of the plumbing on both the 84 Lazzara and now the 110 is schedule 80… very solid and no leaks. Valves had quick release fittings for service if needed. That’s for the chillers raw water as well as the chiller loops and fresh water plumbing. I wish had done that on my 53 chillers
The problem is, on the pressurized raw water side, if anything gets clogged and pressure spikes and a glued fitting lets go, it completely blows off and sinks a boat. You're relying on only glue to hold the entire fitting together. I would never use anything but threaded. For 3 discharge fittings, the supply side can be 1 size larger, any more than 3 discharge fittings you want the supply line to be 2 sizes larger than the branch lines so you don't have pressure drop on the outside branch lines
An air con pump will not put anywhere near the pressure of a 60 PSI Mach 5 or shore side power so I can’t imagine schedule 80 blowing out because of failed glue