- Nov 26, 2006
- 7,628
- Boat Info
- 2008 44 Sedan Bridge
- Engines
- Cummins QSC-500's
Straight Drives
Two of my A/C units share one pump. One line travels 5 feet to the salon. The other travels 30 feet to the forward stateroom. We have done a lot of medium-term living aboards and travels, so, I didn't keep up on my line maintenance. I have since used acid twice to clean the lines, and though I get black gunk and foam out of the forward line, the flow is a slow trickle. I have even shoved 1/2 (lengthwise) of a wine bottle cork into the outflow of the salon A/C to force pressure forward, and I've shot 2 corks a pretty good distance into the bay doing it.
Yesterday, I took the lines off of the A/C unit and the pump after trying the acid wash. I taped a water hose to the forward end and tried forcing water backward followed by hooking it back up and forcing water forward several times. I opened every bilge from the ER to the forward stateroom and used pliers to gently squeeze the line together. I got a couple of crunching sounds along the way after which more crap (including small shell creatures) came out into the bilge. There is even some sand in there. I checked for kinks - there are some restrictions, but nothing too significant. After 3 hours, I had intermittently good flow, so I re-assembled all and still have just a trickle. Flow through the A/C unit is good. Flow from the unit out of the side of the boat is good. It is definitely the line from the pump to the unit.
Come to think of it, those little critters look like some I've seen on Lake Michigan, maybe Zebra Muscles? This boat was on the Lake at the dealer for 2 years before I bought it. Maybe they're coming loose and creating a log jam.
I intend to buy a 25' 1/4" plumbers snake and snake the line next. This line is extremely tough - I don't think I'll hurt it, but even if I did, it doesn't really matter because the next step is to replace it.
Yesterday, I took the lines off of the A/C unit and the pump after trying the acid wash. I taped a water hose to the forward end and tried forcing water backward followed by hooking it back up and forcing water forward several times. I opened every bilge from the ER to the forward stateroom and used pliers to gently squeeze the line together. I got a couple of crunching sounds along the way after which more crap (including small shell creatures) came out into the bilge. There is even some sand in there. I checked for kinks - there are some restrictions, but nothing too significant. After 3 hours, I had intermittently good flow, so I re-assembled all and still have just a trickle. Flow through the A/C unit is good. Flow from the unit out of the side of the boat is good. It is definitely the line from the pump to the unit.
Come to think of it, those little critters look like some I've seen on Lake Michigan, maybe Zebra Muscles? This boat was on the Lake at the dealer for 2 years before I bought it. Maybe they're coming loose and creating a log jam.
I intend to buy a 25' 1/4" plumbers snake and snake the line next. This line is extremely tough - I don't think I'll hurt it, but even if I did, it doesn't really matter because the next step is to replace it.