thatboatguy wrote in
oups.com:
What size generator would be needed to run this unit?
Isn't it interesting that no matter how I put that model number into
Google....it only finds the Ebay listing...JUST THE ONE!
I find that a bit "unnerving". I don't want to own the only one in
existance. I might want PARTS for it!
To answer your question, though. Marine air conditioners NEVER have
"easy start kits" so we can assume this one I can't find any information
on is similar. According to Marine Air:
http://www.aquaair.net/80706-MINI_KOOL.pdf
on page 2, a 16Kbtu AC draws 1296 watts. (11.7A). It'll take double that
to start it, so 2600 watts should crank it (23A). Of course, this
assumes NOTHING ELSE IS RUNNING, which it won't be on any boat I know
of....of course.
So, assuming you also have a compressor fridge (with twice the starting
current it runs on for the same reason) and other loads, you must load
them all up to a "worst case scenario" when planning what genset you'll
need to pull the beasts, including this AC unit. Whatever load you DID
have, just add 3KW more power to the load to figure out what you'll need
when you get it, so it will start, reliably. It all adds up, quickly.
I'd shoot for 8KW-10KW to allow you a little breathing room for future
expansion, something that always happens. It's also a great idea to
NEVER run a genset over half load continuously. You'll just wear it out
too quickly with the throttle wide open most of the time...just like your
car. It wouldn't last long, either, that way.
Now, we have no idea what kind or size of boat you have. In a cuddy
cabin Bayliner, 10KW is going to be its own problem. In a Hatteras 58,
not so bad, it already has two diesel gensets, an 8KW and 15KW, usually.
Personally, before you all go eating great holes in the cabinetry for the
ductwork, losing lockers/cabinets/STORAGE you all really need in any
small boat, go look closely at this new jewel from Carrier, one of the
most respected names in air conditioning:
http://www.airv.carrier.com/Files/AirV/Local/US-
en/customer_service/11037.pdf
This little 13.5Kbtu, easy starting rotary compressor AC unit could
EASILY replace that leaky skylight in the main cabin under the boom!
It's ONLY 7.5" HIGH! That's an inch LESS than a sheet of printer paper
is wide! Take a sheet of printer paper and place it on top of the open
hole under your boom. IT FITS!...that's easily an inch of clearance!
Inside the boat, usually where it doesn't matter over the table, anyway,
it takes only 2.5" sticking down into the cabin! That's TINY!
Now, why in hell would anyone want to put an RV AC on a BOAT?! You must
be CRAZY!.....
No, not at all. There's NO PLUMBING TO CLOG, NO STRAINER, NO SEAWATER
PUMPING marine wigglers into the hull. There's NO DUCTWORK! You don't
lose a single cc of usable storage space! You don't have to live INSIDE
the boat with a NOISY COMPRESSOR AND FAN! In the RV unit...all the NOISE
and HEAT produced by fan motor and compressor are OUTSIDE THE AIR
CONDITIONED SPACE! Wow! Ingenious! You don't have to spend 3000 Btu of
heat pumping capacity pumping out the stupid marine air conditioners OWN
heat....it's ALREADY OUTSIDE! Duhhh...(c; The little rotary compressors
on these little RV units is SO quiet!....
Before blasting away at me for even suggesting we put something on the
boat that doesn't cost $5000 and have pictures of ship wheels or anchors
on its case...I want you all to visit an RV dealer that sells these
little Carrier AIRV Low Profile (LP) units. Crawl up into one of his
RVs, without the sarcastic RV remarks, and RUN ONE! Compare it to ANY
marine water pumping noisy beast in any boat YOUR SIZE. Just try
it....costs nothing. I bet, if you want, the RV dealer will send his
boys down to install it where that leaky plastic hatch was for ya, if you
like. All I'm asking you to do it look. 7.5" above the deck under the
boom? 2.5" hanging down in the cabin is all?? 13,500Btu of ALL USABLE
heat pumping capacity....and Quiet? The wife won't have to sleep on top
of it??
Larry
--
I got one guy in a sailing catamaran to try a regular unit this size
13.5Kbtu from Coleman. It wasn't this tiny physical size. It was 95F in
Charleston, in the sun. I asked him how it was going (to see if he was
mad at me, mostly). His only complaint was they had it set too cold the
first night and like to froze to death....(c; Sleeping cool with low
noise, he got used to it being an RV unit quite quickly...(c;