Best Aftermarket Air Conditioning?

jitts3

jitts3

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
1,374
Freedom, WI
Boat Info
1989 Sea Ray 268 Sundancer
Engines
454 Bravo 2
This winter I plan on rebuilding my engine in my '89 Sea Ray 268. While she's out I plan on installing Air Conditioning in her. Who makes the better units and where has the better prices.
Keep in mind despite us living in Wisconsin, we plan on towing her to Florida yearly.
Thanks in advance.
 
Webasto, almost every boat in our marina is replacing broken units with them. We now have 2 on our boat. They are very quiet and do a great job cooling in this NC heat and humidity. No I dont work for Webasto. :):)
 
We looked, shopped, read reviews and in the end, we put an 11k BTU MarinAire in our 31' Chaparral Signature at the beginning of this summer. Easily holds 72 degrees on the water in the Texas heat all summer. Really happy with it.
 
I replaced my 12k CruiseAir with a 9K MarineAir last summer and its been great. Plenty of size for my 330DA even earlier this summer when we had a couple of weeks in the mid 90s with high humidity. The sizing is different though, with the MarineAir being taller by a couple of inches. Luckily Sea Ray built up a platform in the compartment that I was able to remove to get the clearance I needed. Also had to re-align the inlet water line on the boat (I made up a 45 degree adapter using some 1/2" pipe and a copper fitting and 4 hose clamps) but other than that it was a pretty easy job.
 
I just replaced one 6K BTU unit, and have the second 16K unit in the garage ready to go. I replaced the old Crusiars with the "upgrade" Dometic EDC units. Pretty happy with them, including the ease of the swap out. I primarily chose these because they were compatible with my existing SMX display panels which made it simple.

Since you going to install from scratch, all the above mentioned are good units.

So my endorsement isn't so much for which brand, but I had a great purchasing experience with https://citimarinestore.com/en/ ... they carry all the above.
 
2 marinaire units, 16K and a 12K. Gets hot down here. I like the built in gauges.
 
So switching to another unit other than a Dometic, how easy is it to run the wires to the control panel? Or does it use the same phone type cable?
 
Plug and play. You get a sound shield,
thermostat and a remote My old cruise air was 70 lbs new one 30lbs. For a 6000 btu.
46E60217-1353-42E7-800D-E97286B64E19.png
Shipping is very reasonable
 
carterchapman said:
So switching to another unit other than a Dometic, how easy is it to run the wires to the control panel? Or does it use the same phone type cable?
Click to expand...
Comes with a new control panel. Wires are different. On mine it was not "horrible" to wire the new panel in but I needed a wire fish tape to do that last part.

The Marinaire panel is different shape from the SMX. Its smaller and horizontal. I made a starboard panel as a backer board to cover the hole. The screws to mount the new thermostat were in a place that they hold the starboard to the wall as well (no exposed screws). It looks pretty decent. I used white starboard because that is what I had. I could have used something else to match with wood trim or maybe black. I will take a picture this weekend and post it.
 
Also very quiet unit for me under the v berth and don’t hear it or feel it. I have to look at panel to make sure it’s on.
 
Creekwood said:
Comes with a new control panel. Wires are different. On mine it was not "horrible" to wire the new panel in but I needed a wire fish tape to do that last part.

The Marinaire panel is different shape from the SMX. Its smaller and horizontal. I made a starboard panel as a backer board to cover the hole. The screws to mount the new thermostat were in a place that they hold the starboard to the wall as well (no exposed screws). It looks pretty decent. I used white starboard because that is what I had. I could have used something else to match with wood trim or maybe black. I will take a picture this weekend and post it.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have 5 units on Reward that are 14 years old. I know I'm on "borrowed time"!!
 
I installed a webasto in forward cabin 3 years ago and works great. I just added another for my main salon this past January. Both are great and I like that on AC the compressor will cycle off and the air keeps blowing. When you use the heat and it satisfies the room, the whole unit including the fan will cycle off. Super smart tech!
 
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