ac water strainers

[e burger]

Hello I am new to the carver web site. We have always used hull truth but being brand specific is great. We have bought our first carver. It is an 84 36 ft aft cabin 3607. We love it and are attempting to learn all that we can about the idiosyncrasies of this model. I am 70 and my wife is 67 (50 years together) we expect this to be our last boat and hope to make it a semi live aboard. We are experiencing an issue that I would like some input on. We have three ac units all separate and on their own breakers. Lately when we run the salon ac it will run for several mins. and then trip the main breaker. We have two power cord inputs, one for the ac and one for the general electric. Each ac unit has its own breaker but the salon is the only one that causes a problem and then it trips the ac main not its designated breaker. I have searched and can only find one raw water strainer and one pump. Any and all input will be appreciated, please do not fail to mention the obvious because what is obvious to you may be greek to me. I am leaning toward a weak main but this is an airpax and this model is obsolete and the ones I have found are over $200.00 Have a great day (preferable on the water) Ed

[waybomb]

50 years! That's great.

I don't have a 36 aft, but had a 42 aft and now have a 36 Mariner. There's only one pump servicing all the condensers.

You may ask around to see if anybody you know has a clamp on ammeter. They can instruct you how to use it. It is possible the unit breaker has failed, the current being used by your salon ac is higher then the main. It's possible. Check amp draw at start and run, and compare to breaker ratings. If less than the unit's breaker, I would then agree it
is the main breaker needing replacement.

If an original ac unit, and loud and vibrating, I might consider the unit is bad or going bad.

Having said that, I installed a new Webasto in my forward cabin. The original is directly under the bed. The Webasto's air flow through the vents is louder than the motor/compressor. If you find you have to replace the unit, I recommend Webasto. I have no financial interest in this recommendation; I just really appreciate the Webasto.

[e burger]

Thank you very much waybomb. That input will save me hours of looking for extra strainers. I am going down tomorrow evening (Friday) after work and do some P.M. on the engines and electric. I will return home sat eve and after church sunday my wife and I will return and make the boat "lady like".I am considering swapping the leads with the forward A.C. since we never use it and see what happens. As soon as I get a definite answer I will post it hopefully it will aid someone else. Have a great day (preferably on the water} Ed

[eric_b]

It could also be a pump starting to go bad. I had a similar problem last year, where the AC would turn on, run for about 30 mins and then the breaker would trip. I found that the pump was overheating and tripping the breaker. I have a Calpump model 900 and replaced it. The new pump will run all day long without issue. I only have the single AC unit, so only 1 pump and strainer to keep clean too.

[e burger]

Thank you for the input eric-b. On our boat one pump services all three units. When I was down there today I noticed that the water flow from the ac thru hulls was just a little bit over a trickle. The strainer is clean so I pulled the pump and took it home. I am hoping for a dirty impeller but a total rebuild is cheaper then a new pump. Will let you know what I find. Have a great day. ed

[Viper]

How did you make out with this? Does it happen if it's just the other 2 units running? One thing that can certainly contribute to your symptoms is the main AC feed. If there is a poor connection at the dockside service or at the boat's inlet, it will cause an increase in currernt draw. Check the outler at the dockside pedestal for discoloration around the plug's prongs, look at both ends of your power cord, and the inlet at the boat. If there are signs of heat like a dark color or deformed plastic around ANY contacts, the item should be replaced. A quick and easy check is to switch cables with one another and see if the problem still occurs.

[Chris86]

I have a 4207 and the salon AC had the same thing happen. After some talking around I had an AC guy come over and used Barnacle Buster in the circulation water line. At first there was just a trickle amount of water that was circulation through the AC. Not good. After 2 1/2 hrs. The flow was as what it should have been as new and the AC has worked as good as new. No more breakers tripping!

[Lyndon670]

Watch your AC panel once you have turned on the system. On the load side, if you see a swing up near or beyond the max of your specific breaker when the pump kicks in - it's either the pump on its way out (they start with a large amount of consumption and then roll back once they are running) or a bad breaker. On my Silverton I had the identical issue as all of you have posted and I was able to get away with replacing the breaker. It still probably was a pump at the end of its life, but a new breaker was able to handle the load for a longer period - long enough for the pump not to require the monster load. DO NOT put a larger breaker in for obvious reasons.