Cruisair 7000 BTU - seawater pump not kicking on with AC

[Royal Lichter]

I have a 7000 BTU Cruisair in my 260DA. It has the SMX ir controller. My heat works just fine. The seawater pump functions as it should when I put the heat on and the results are fairly good.

However, if I try to switch to AC, just the fan runs, no seawater pump, and I am not sure if the compressor is kicking on or not. Is there any quick and easy diagnosis I can do before calling out a marine HVAC guy? Keep in mind I do not need the air conditioning right now, I just wanted to test it as a matter of routine.

Also, could this be anything to do with the weather? The seawater is probably 42-45 degrees at my harbor and the outside temperature has been in the 50s. My HVAC guy for my rental properties has said that AC shouldn't be run unless it's above 65-66 degrees. Does that apply here with a water-cooled unit?

I have reset the unit twice on the controller, cleaned the seawater strainer, and also both filters in the rear berth. The controller does not show any faults/error messages and the system has not powered down. My air conditioning worked just fine last year by the way. Hoping I don't have a real problem, but...

 

[Stee6043]

Silly question...but when you switch it from heat to cool are you also dropping the set temp to the lowest possible temp? Are you also sure it's not colder than that in your boat already?

I think you should be fine with the water temp. I've had my AC running in sub 50 degree water a number of times.

 

[Royal Lichter]

It goes down to 55, I think I had it at 56. I was regularly leaving it at 58 last year continuously.

The “inside” temp registering on the screen was 48, but it was warmer than that on the boat for sure - so that reading was inaccurate. Maybe that’s why the air conditioning isn’t kicking on? Is there a sensor for the “inside” temperature that I can check or replace?

 

[Stee6043]

If this were me I'd let the heat run for an hour at max and then try the air.

Something seems amiss on your temp regardless. 58 is COLD....I can't imagine you could live like that in the summer without thermal underwear and a small bonfire amidships? Might have an issue with your control pad/sensor as you mentioned...

 

[bbwhitejr]

Your water pump will not run unless your compressor pulls in. If you inside temp is incorrect, google and search until you find the operating manual. There is a way to calibrate your inside temp sensor. Another thing that I did on my 260 HVAC was to reset it to the factory defaults. Get the instructions and it is very simple.

Bennett

 

[Royal Lichter]

Well, at least we know the compressor isn't bad since the heat works! That's good news. Thank you!

 

[Little Ducky]

Once you find your manual do a factory reset and see if that fixes your problem.

There is a change over/reversing valve that can get stuck in one position or another.

If you still have issues after a reset I would look at the valve.

 

[Royal Lichter]

I did the reset. No dice. I want to look at the temperature offset first. I assume the valve is near the unit?

 

[Little Ducky]

I did the reset. No dice. I want to look at the temperature offset first. I assume the valve is near the unit?

Yes.... should be connected to the coils somewhere. I sent you a little paragraph I found on tapping it with a wrench to try to free the valve if it is stuck.

 

[Royal Lichter]

Responding to document what was going on, hopefully this helps someone in the future.

My A/C works just fine. The interior temperature of the boat was lower than 55 (which is the lowest the A/C will kick on at). As suggested I turned on the heat for about an hour or two. The interior temperature rose to about 68 and I was able to confirm that the A/C kicked on just fine. The system is actually very intelligent. Crisis averted and I learned something in the process, how about that.