[C320-list] Cool!

[Jack Brennan]

Well, after weeks of moving methodically (slowly?), I have fully functional AC while the temperature is still in the 90s here in western Florida. Many thanks to the listers who digitally held my hand with answers to my questions as I tackled this project.

I’ll write something longer later on to help anyone who wants to do a similar project in the future, but here are some thoughts on doing a fresh install on AC.

The total bill came to a little over 4K, including 1K to a friend who is a contractor. He built the box to house the AC unit in the cockpit locker, did all of the fiberglass cutting, installed the ducting, wired the electric and fashioned a really nice wooden panel to hold the vents in the galley.

That saved me a bunch over what marine contractors wanted and, frankly, Mike did a much more professional job than they would have been capable of. I installed the seawater pump and strainer, cut the above-the-waterline through hulls, ran the hoses and wiring and moved electrical items in the cockpit locker to make room for the AC.

I went with a Webasto 12,000 BTU Platinum for about 1.6K at Defender. I discovered it’s important to ensure that there is strong local tech support for whatever unit you buy. Some manufacturers want you to uninstall the 70-pound unit and ship it back to them for any service.

I bought the Webasto accessory kit for about $500, and I thought it was worth it. It included two AC vents, a teak return vent, transition boxes and high-quality ducting. I might have saved a little money buying individually, but the convenience was appreciated.

We entirely removed the breadbox over the fridge so we would have plenty of room for the ducting and AC box. Looking at what we could have saved of the breadbox, we decided it wasn’t worth it. The panel covering the hole holds the two AC vents and a large spice rack underneath.

Lastly, I took the advice of Jeff Hare and bought a Saurmann si-30 pump to drain the condensate from the pan. It works perfectly. I cut two through hulls near the propane drain, one for the cooling water and the second for the condensate. There is no noise in the aft cabin from the water.

The Webasto is everything I hoped for. I live in one of the hottest, most humid areas of the U.S., and 12,000 is fine. I chilled the boat to 76 degrees in about 30 minutes today. It was cloudy, but still hot as hell. There are no problems with cooling the aft cabin, even though the AC vents are in the galley.

Now, if only I can whittle down my jobs list and get back to sailing …

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.













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