My COOL Boat!

[JoLin]

Took weeks of planning, a month and 60-70 hours of work and pretty much every skill I have, but my Carver is now air conditioned! I did it all by myself with no template to work from. I spent a year trying to get some info from Carver and 2 owners of air conditioned boats (Yachtworld) to get a clue how the factory did it on the later models of my boat, with no luck at all. Yesterday afternoon I turned on the breaker, opened the seacock, crossed myself, flipped the t-stat to cool... and it started. Pumping water like a champ and blowing cold air from the ducts.

From adding a new dedicated 30-amp shorepower circuit, to cutting the thru-hull, to building the plumbing, to making a home for the unit under a dinette seat, to cutting holes for and running ductwork, I did the whole job myself. I even modifed the air plenum and ran 2-inch duct and an adjustable/closeable air vent right up to the v-berth.

Today I'll secure (zip tie) the breaker box wiring and close that up, then start building the trim panel for the 2 supply air grilles. Right now it's just raw ductwork sticking out through the cabin wall.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm pretty pumped and annoyingly proud of myself. :joyous:

 

[smokeonthewater]

Oh chill out.......... Lol

Congrats!

 

[sasto]

No pun intended.....but that's cool! Enjoy your new environment.

 

[southkogs]

In case you couldn't tell, I'm pretty pumped and annoyingly proud of myself. :joyous:

LOL ... sounds like me. I change an alternator and you'd think I just figured out perpetual motion

Congrats on the chilly-boat.

 

[cptrick3]

I helped a friend do that to a 32' Bayliner. Congratulations that's quite an undertaking.

 

[GA_Boater]

I'll be waiting for the "My Too Cold Boat" post. LOL That's if you leave her at all this summer.

I know you're happy as a clam and should be!

 

[NYBo]

I did a vessel safety check on a brand new Chaparral 310 on Friday. Weather was hot and very humid. We concluded the visit in the air conditioned cabin. I understand your pride and enthusiasm completely!

 

[NHGuy]

Oh yeah! That's great. What a good feeling when your planning works as conceived!

 

[JoLin]

Thanks, all. It really was quite an undertaking. Planning is everything, and when I ran into a snag during the install I just took a step back and rethought that piece of it. I ended up with a really efficient installation that's completely accessible, serviceable and (IMO) much nicer than the factory job that was done on my previous 27' Four Winns. Except for the (almost inaccessible anyway) storage area directly under the rear dinette seat, nothing else was compromised or looks any different from what the factory built. I also routed the condensate water outboard instead of dumping it into the bilge.

The trim panel for the ductwork is about half finished. Can't wait to wrap that up