Cruisair 12-volt Air Conditioning Unit
 

Does anyone know anything about these units. I would think that 3500BTU would be plenty for the cabin of my Bullet.

http://www.cruisair.com/self.html

http://www.cruisair.com/sheets/L-2425D.pdf

The Cruisair unit is a 115-volt 3500btu unit that comes with an inverter.

Or, would I be better off with a true 12-volt system like the DB Breeze unit?

also check http://www.cruisencomfortusa.com/mescompressor.html

They had a small write up in the latest powerboat mag. You will probably need a extra battery or two just to run these.

Yes, I plan to add two more batteries in my Bullet to run the A/C unit.

However, would I be better off getting a true 12-volt system, or buying a 115 system and an inverter. I know the inverter would add to my costs, but I would be able to also use the 115-volt outlets that currently only work when I am connected to Shore Power.

I doubt if a 3500 btu unit will keep your cabin cool in the Texas sun. You would probably need about a 7000 btu unit.

hmmmm.....dont know. Somebody smarter than I will hopefully chime in. I would like a full 12 volt system with its own batteries and a charger that i could plug in when back on my lift. I guess something w/o an inverter would be best so you have less complication. But if you want to use your outlets than you kinda need the inverter.

you're better off installing a regular unit and running a portable 4 stroke generator. my honda 2000 plugs into my shorepower with an adapter, and will run my a/c, fridge, and battery charger for 7+ hours on 1 gallon of gas.

non-diesel generators make me a little nervous around gas fumes in an engine compartment.....I think thats why most will install a diesel gen in a gas boat.

How much your honda weigh?

I can get a 9000btu unit for $1075 HERE, I believe that 9000 btu's for my cabin is overkill. :(

Yes, that is a option for over-nighting, but not a very workable solution for daytime rafting up in the cove. :(

I would think you would want YOUR cabin VERY cold, if you know what I mean. :D :D

Note: There are only 1 of each in stock at that price>

Tough to run AC on 12v alone that is why most have them hooked to shore power.

However if you go that road (12v) I would add some batteries and run them through one engine (might want to get a bigger alternator) so you can idle it to charge the battery. If you gen up a Bullet space might become an issue. I know a v8 is overkill to charge batteries but the AC will suck up any battery set up you have then you need to run an engine anyway, be it gen or V8.

On my pig the two Cruiseair AC's run on shore power or on the diesel generator only. Trying to run them on an inverter through the house batteries would be to demanding on them and I have huge battery banks.

Just my opinion.

That is 100% backwards logic. ALL Marine gas generators have spark protection just like the gas engines do. Almost all diesel gen sets do not (I've only seen one that meets the USCG regs but I've never seen one actually installed)

A stand alone Honda Gen set won't have the protection... plenty of people use them, it isn't 'safe' but if you are careful I guess you can get away with it.


On the A/C note, I have looked at them and the one thing that kills the deal is the lack of being able to use them when the boat is on the trailer. Does anyone make a unit that would work without water?

Seems like getting the cabin cooled overnight before you run then just keeping it cool would be better than dropping the boat in the water with a hot cabin and trying to get it to cool down.

Here is another one that will run on DC power.

http://www.marineair.com/pdfs/L-2425C.pdf

Oh yeah...i think I recall a long thread about this some time ago.

would you rather have a diesel gen that had spark protection over a gas unit...on a gas boat? or would you never mix and match no matter what?

I would be tempted to engineer a self contained water reservoir system with a radiator to connect to the a/c water lines so you could run the a/c on the trailer. Just roll it out of the garage and hook it up.

This would be great..that way you can use your cabin on the way to Poker Runs at the rest areas:ernaehrung004:

not sure of the weight of it, but i put my honda generator on the tip of the bow when running...with exhaust pointed outward. You can't even hear it running when it's up there.

Says the 12V unit is 48 amps - that is a pretty heavy draw to sustain for hours.

My HVAC friend says that he never heard of a 12-volt compressor, and that fact would make it nearly impossible to get parts for a 12-volt AC unit. Also the drain on the batteries would be greater than any I expect.

So, I think my best bet is to find and install a true 115-volt system and connect it to my Shore Power wiring. I will be able to use it at my dock or connect a portable generator to the Shore Power outlet.

Thanks all! :D

The new gas gen sets with the catalytic converters are so good I'd go with gas to leave the fuel the same. It's less thing to have to deal with

I'm surprised the AC manufacturers don't have some sort of add on already. I thought about using an inboard flush kit along with some sort of water collection but what a total PITA. And probably not possible for anyone that has a boat on a lift.

They are becoming more popular now because hybrid cars use this technology.

If anyone has any questions regarding our 12 volt system, or the benefit from using a true 12 volt system over a 115 volt a/c system fire away.
Thanks
Chris Frye

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