AC No Water Flow???

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walterv

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Went to the boat today to winterize the AC system.
In my boat, I have 3- AC units (Salon, Galley, Stateroom) that work off the same pump, and 1 AC unit that has its on pump (Bridge)

First thing I do in the winterization process is to flush the system with fresh water.
I do this via a Thuroflush cover on the strainer, hook up a hose and let it rip.
I see a great flow of water coming out the discharge for the salon and galley AC, but not a drop out of the Stateroom AC??? Ran the water for close to a 1/2 hour.

Went to the Stateroom AC and pulled the discharge hose off the top of the AC unit and no water?? The bottom hose is a bit tougher to get to so I did not check, but will assume water is present there. I will check that tomorrow.

So assuming water is making it there, I seems I would have a clog in the condenser of the Stateroom AC unit.

How do I unclog this???

I hardly ever use the AC in the Stateroom, but I guess that really does not matter because if I have the other units on, water is still pumping through this unit.

What are your thoughts on how to proceed??

Thanks
Walter
 
I would suggest hooking up the dockside hose to the inlet side of the condensor to blow out whatever is stuck in the condenser coil. The 50-60# water pressure should clear just about anything that could have grown or gotten lodged in the coil. I made a A/C flush adapator using a short length of flex hose with a hose bib connection on the one end....and hose clamps on the other to connect to the inlet and use it a couple of times a year to clear sediment in the coils. If you are in salt water, you might want to consider circlating some acid thru the system. I bought a gallon of phosphoric acid at HD (AKA Barnacle Buster) and circulated thru my A/C systems, which started going off on high head this summer and I am back in business-cleared the low water flow I was experiencing.
 
You can also blow it out from the outlet . Either way street pressure should get it flowing
 
Received some info from the Silverton Club. I had to plug the other two outlets to get strong flow to the third AC, when I did, it blew out the crap and I had a steady stream.

Thanks
Walter
 
I would still run the hose thru each one in the spring.
 
Good point about the check valve. That should stop backflow through the pump so any water you force into the outlet will come out the other outlets.
 
NEVER force water into the inlet ... ur pushing all the junk into places u don't want .

Locate the manifold that splits to ur three units. That's the point u want to make a hose connection to connect dock side water to blow out ur condensers . Each one individually . U should do this at least 2 x a year . U don't have stuff growing in it . Its watch hill mud ! Id also periodically throw some bromine tabs in the basket of ur ac strainer. Bromine wont hurt anything . Been doing this since day one of my current vessel. 8 plus years no issue .

Rob
 
Your opinion. In my opinion the junk is allready wher I don't want it. It is just hoses an tubing. Works forme.
 
I m not a big fan of backflushing as indeed you end up sending th junk up stream. If you do, disconnect the hoses a th pump, or at the manifold if you have multiple unit and put it in a bucket to collect the stuff

Here in so FL we ve had an issue with small mussel like shells in the past 1 to 2 years. I had never seen thm before. They look like mussels but only about 3/8" long and grow in the hoses. We hauled out back in septembre for bottom paint and had very little flow on one system with manifold feeding multiple units, tuned out the manifold was clogged solid with those mussels, which I assumed had died during the two weeks the boat was on the hard.
 
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