Mrichardson
New Member
- Nov 28, 2009
- 22
- Boat Info
- 1989 Sea Ray 340 Express Cruiser
1977 Century Arabian - 17'
- Engines
- Mercruiser
All,
I figured that I would post a summary of my recent experience with a Marine Air air conditioning unit on my 1989 340 Express Cruiser. Hopefully this will be a benefit for someone in the future. I know that I scoured these forums when I was going through the problem so maybe this will help.
Original problem.
Started up the AC after winter storage. Fan would blow but the air would not get cool.
Checks:
I checked the water flow and the pump was running and pumping water out the side of the boat with good flow.
When I turned the thermostat from warm to cool, I could hear the compressor kick on. The water flow out the side of the boat would correspond with the compressor being on.
In general, the unit would not cool in spite of the compressor and fan and pump running.
Solution:
The switching valve was stuck. The compressor was unable to heat or cool because the valve was stuck in between settings.
I tried banging on the switch with no luck. I eventually pulled the unit completely out so that I could have a good amount of room to bang on the thing. No luck.
Eventually I had to pull the entire unit out and take it to my service guy. He replaced the switching valve and all total it cost me about $450. I got new freon in the replacement so that's a good thing. The unit cools like crazy now.
Comments:
I pulled and replaced the unit myself to try to save some cash. Mistake. It took many many hours and lots of frustration in an attempt to save the $80/hr charge for labor. In total, I ended up saving about $50 by doing the removal/install myself. The hourly charge was not much less than the original estimate. There was maybe something shady there but I am not going to argue it. It's fixed and over with now.
Pulling the unit is not extremely hard. Just a very tight compartment and it is tricky and time consuming to disconnect everything. Plus I rewired it wrong on the reinstall which cost me many hours.
The bottom line for this switching valve problem is this: If you can't hear an audible 'click' when you switch from heat to cool, you have a switching valve problem. The compressor might run but you have to hear that click. But.. be careful. If it is too hot in the boat, the thermostat won't be able to go into heating mode so make sure it's relatively cool inside the cabin or you might not be able to cause it to click.
If the valve is stuck, you can try switching from heat to cool off and on. Have someone do the switching for you while you bang on the switch. If that does not work, then call your service guy.
If you are going through this AC problem, I'm very sorry. I know that it can be very frustrating. But for the most part, these things are fixable. Just have some patience and think through the problem very clearly. Look for problems with the cooling water pump, this switching valve, and if you have all those ok with a running compressor, you might be out of freon.
Best of luck. Feel free to contact me if you want to ask questions. I will do what I can to help.
Michael
I figured that I would post a summary of my recent experience with a Marine Air air conditioning unit on my 1989 340 Express Cruiser. Hopefully this will be a benefit for someone in the future. I know that I scoured these forums when I was going through the problem so maybe this will help.
Original problem.
Started up the AC after winter storage. Fan would blow but the air would not get cool.
Checks:
I checked the water flow and the pump was running and pumping water out the side of the boat with good flow.
When I turned the thermostat from warm to cool, I could hear the compressor kick on. The water flow out the side of the boat would correspond with the compressor being on.
In general, the unit would not cool in spite of the compressor and fan and pump running.
Solution:
The switching valve was stuck. The compressor was unable to heat or cool because the valve was stuck in between settings.
I tried banging on the switch with no luck. I eventually pulled the unit completely out so that I could have a good amount of room to bang on the thing. No luck.
Eventually I had to pull the entire unit out and take it to my service guy. He replaced the switching valve and all total it cost me about $450. I got new freon in the replacement so that's a good thing. The unit cools like crazy now.
Comments:
I pulled and replaced the unit myself to try to save some cash. Mistake. It took many many hours and lots of frustration in an attempt to save the $80/hr charge for labor. In total, I ended up saving about $50 by doing the removal/install myself. The hourly charge was not much less than the original estimate. There was maybe something shady there but I am not going to argue it. It's fixed and over with now.
Pulling the unit is not extremely hard. Just a very tight compartment and it is tricky and time consuming to disconnect everything. Plus I rewired it wrong on the reinstall which cost me many hours.
The bottom line for this switching valve problem is this: If you can't hear an audible 'click' when you switch from heat to cool, you have a switching valve problem. The compressor might run but you have to hear that click. But.. be careful. If it is too hot in the boat, the thermostat won't be able to go into heating mode so make sure it's relatively cool inside the cabin or you might not be able to cause it to click.
If the valve is stuck, you can try switching from heat to cool off and on. Have someone do the switching for you while you bang on the switch. If that does not work, then call your service guy.
If you are going through this AC problem, I'm very sorry. I know that it can be very frustrating. But for the most part, these things are fixable. Just have some patience and think through the problem very clearly. Look for problems with the cooling water pump, this switching valve, and if you have all those ok with a running compressor, you might be out of freon.
Best of luck. Feel free to contact me if you want to ask questions. I will do what I can to help.
Michael
