A/C ???s
 

Have a gentleman that may be interested in my boat; a question he asked was whether air conditioning could be added, to which I did not have the answer.

I don't believe it is possible, but does anyone know for sure? Boat is a 1992 303 SR1.

Thanks.

Anything can be done with a big enough check book. I considered adding it to my 311, couldnt justify it when resale time comes.

I'm not real familiar with that interior but I added A/C to my 312 a few years ago (and sold the boat 6 months later). I removed the pumpout head and used a portable one that sat on the floor in front of the A/C return vent. Plumbed the lines to the engine compartment thru-hull for water pick-up and discharged the cooling water out the side. The cabinet I built had a vent blowing air to the back AND the front with the controls on the front side so you could reach them without even getting out of bed.

Look up cruisair.

That is a cool set-up! (I'm the guy looking at Matt's boat, thanks for looking into it for me! :) )

What unit did you use?

Not sure about teh 303 layout .. but I saw a setup where they removed the fridge and put the AC there ....m

I'm looking at doing the same thing with a portable a/c. does yours use lake water to cool? or a compressor and refrigerant? where do the hot exhaust air go? thx.

It was a permanent install Cruiseair 5,000 BTU heat/air unit. It is water cooled. I used a thru-hull under the engines, mounted the pump there and discharged the water out the side of the hull. I gained access to the side of the hull under the starboard bench seat.

For a portable AC, buy a $100 window unit at Home Depot. In front of the cabin door set a towel and 2 2x4's. Place the AC unit on that lined up and facing in the door. Buy some cheap 4-5 inch thick foam and cut to fit the rest of the doorway. If weather is an issue you can put the cockpit cover on 1/2 way but you must leave an opening for the hot air to escape.

We did this for a couple years, even climbed in/out through the deck hatch instead of over the AC unit (which is possible too)

we go in the cabin quite often to make drinks so access there would be important. i am thinking of a portable unit from Home Depot and using an inverter and placing the self contained unit exactly where yours is up on the side of the bed. guess i would have to create an exhaust vent somewhere?

I actually ended up grabbing a window unit and making a shroud that forces the air down through a deck hatch. That way the cabin door is still useable.

As a side note, some of those portable units don't cool worth a damn, and you need to have an easy place to vent the hot air.

Be carefull with an inverter, with a typicall AC unit on a hot day you will kill even the biggest batteries in under an hour.

I was going to do an install like T500's did, but the window unit works so well for $99 i decided against it. My next boat will have AC built in ;)

I don't know of a portable unit that could sit INSIDE the cabin like your asking. I also wouldn't expect an inverter powering a AC with 2 group 27 batteries to run the thing for more than 2-4 hours before starting the motors becomes a real concern. and remember, cooling air creates heat and moisture.....both of those have got to go somewhere.

sorry I missed your post asking what size....I just saw it today and figure it's too late now!!!

It's all good... I took the red-neck air option anyway :lolhit:

yeah, i would only run it for half an hour or so to go in the cabin for lunch or a drink whatnot. Teh cabin on a 32' Fountain is impossible to spend more than a few minutes in ha) if i was going to be in there longer than that, I'd use shorepower at the dock. I would export an exhaust vent for the heat and the portable units have a drip tray that holds several pints of water before needing to be emptied. I have 4, Optima Blue top batteries FYI. some of the portable units I've been looking are are 23" high and pull 650 watts and would sit off to the side like your set up does. I'd run an exhaust hose behind the shelving and outside by the passengers knees under the dash.

If you only plan to run an hour or so on bat you should be fine. Here's another thread on inverters and AC...

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-inverter.html

Good stuff. thx.

Got one in my 311 I just bought. Unit sits under the v berth. Doesn't look stock. I have no clue how it works just know that once I add sure power I'm cool:)