ac flush

Since I bought a salt water boat, I want to do a barnacle buster flush of both engines, gen set, and both ac's on my boat.

I plan to use a sea flush and bucket system on the engines and gen set and just let it suck in the appropriate amount of water/mix. Once the engines and gen set are at capacity I will let it sit, then clean out with fresh water.

However with the ac's I'm a little confused on proper procedure. Will they self prime from the same method, is there anything different or special I need to plan for, would it be better to run a pump system and run them in a loop instead?

My boat is still on land for what its worth. Thanks.

Best way to do your ac is to create a loop. I have done mine a couple of times using a drill pump, some tubing / hose, fittings and 5 gal bucket. I took outflow hose off of the raw water pump and attached it with fittings to pump and them another to in side of pump and put in bucket. Then used a clear plastic hose that fit snug in my thru hull out put, adapted that to fit a regular piece of old garden hose and ran that to the bucket creating the loop. Mix the barnacle buster and circulate. I used a wire tie to hold the drill at the speed I wanted. Let it run for an hour. Hooked everything back up and flushed with fresh water. Save the system for next time.
Barnacle buster works best if it is circulated. I have never had very good, at least notifiable, results when i have just put it in and let it set. But - - - I have read that others have.

Best way to keep your AC systems clean is to add a few Bromine tablets to the strainers (not Chlorine). Since I have been doing this (around 2008) I have never once needed my AC systems flushed. Knock on wood.

Ken

Rzide said:

Since I bought a salt water boat, I want to do a barnacle buster flush of both engines, gen set, and both ac's on my boat.

I plan to use a sea flush and bucket system on the engines and gen set and just let it suck in the appropriate amount of water/mix. Once the engines and gen set are at capacity I will let it sit, then clean out with fresh water.

However with the ac's I'm a little confused on proper procedure. Will they self prime from the same method, is there anything different or special I need to plan for, would it be better to run a pump system and run them in a loop instead?

My boat is still on land for what its worth. Thanks.

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Since you’re on land, I would create a loop and pump system.
If your boat is anything like mine, which I suspect it is, you could start and end the loop in the bilge by connecting to both lines where they come off the pump.
Use one line to pump in to the system, and another to return.
Disconnect the discharge hoses from both units. They’re short and can be manually cleaned.
Create and connect a line to go between both discharges. That will close your loop.

Go right to the AC unit and remove the lines in and out and connect your flush kit up and run it for an hour. Simple. I built quick connect fittings on mine so it makes it easy to do this once a year. No more fighting with hoses and clamps.