RV air conditioner on a Mac?

[Dubraque]

Some time ago I mentioned a 4000 BTU "portable personal cooler and dehumidifier" AC by Freecom, something to take the edge of a muggy July and August at the slip on the Potomac. It appeared ideal: a rectangle on casters (yes, they would have to come off) measuring 10.6" X 14.6" X 25.8" high. Venting is through a dryer-type hose in the back which could be attached to a vent. The whole thing weighs 36 lbs., has a condensate tank, vertical automatic louvers with a 70 degree range, and uses 3.7 amps. The major problem at the time seemed the price I had gotten off a website which I had either misinterpreted or was entirely too high. Well, I gave up and called them, and the person I talked to gave me a price of $199.00 Needless to say, I ordered it.
While the company is in Hawaii, apparently they drop ship from, among other places, Michigan. On talking to them later (they called to make sure a shipping snafu had been corrected and the unit was working well) I discovered the person had misquoted the price, that it should have been $299.00, and hence the $299 price and $100 credit appearing on my invoice. I did say thank you. I also mentioned that other sailors might be interested, and what price should I say, $199 or $299, and was told I could state either! So if anyone is interested enough to call tehm, do mentioned to Mai Li (I think that's her name) that you heard about it from a fellow who paid $199 for it.... nothing ventured nothing gained.
I will likely store it in a dock box until needed, or in the head if underway to another marina. Set up will likely be in the unused V berth(my wife tells me the location is yet to be decided....ummmmmm), with the exhaust hose attached to either a flat cover fitted between the open forward hatch and its frame, or with an installed vent. Specs in PDF format are at their website, at http://www.freecomac.com/products/rcs-m1000t.html
Interesting alternative. Nice unit. Ensures wife will go sailing in Juy heat.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Thanks for the tip, I may be interested. I would also be interested in hearing about your experiences when you get down to using it (assuming you haven't used it much yet). Are you planning to mount it somehow, like over the battery box next to the galley?

[Dubraque]

Dimitri, not sure where, but not over the battery box: there are two of us and we tend to use the V for storage, so possible across from the head or in the V just behind the bulkhead. Boat's at the marina, AC is here at home, once we have her in her slip we'll play around with options before doing anything semi-permanent.

[midget]

DLT- shouldn't your barrel bolt be inside the hatch door so that some meany can't lock you in at night from outside the cabin!

[DLT]

I actually have a barrel bolt on the inside too...

I'm not too concerned about being locked in, as they'd also have to secure the sliding companionway top, which I image they'd do using the hasp, the risk of which exists even with the stock hatch board.

Besides, to really lock me in, they'd have to somehow secure the front hatch too...

[Scott]

DLT, Didnt you post something about locking yourself in your car once?? Hmmm?

[DLT]

DOH!

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

locking yourself in your car??

How do you lock yourself in your car?

Was it a convertible, with the top down?

[Scott]

I believe it was a convertable. Youd have to ask D

[yahoojj]

Hi,
Live in central fl and travel to the keys so it's hot and not swamp cooler or fan fixable. Installed the suitcase KK right behind the ladder and ran the cooling hose out the back via a hole I cut above the waterline on the stbd side. can send pics if you like, [email protected]. good luck Jeff

[Frank C]

Hi Jeff - welcome!

Your pix would be welcomed too, and maybe a write up in Mac Mods.
Your AC install would be a great addition. If you'd like any assistance with that, please contact me, using PM or EM (see bottom of post).

[RandyMoon]

I dock in a marina slip and go out in the lake and sail.

What I am thinking about is mounting a dock box on the port side of the slip and mounting a window type air conditioner within the dock box. The exhaust of the window unit would stick out through a square hole in the dock box.

From the dock box I would run a 12" flex duct to the front hatch of the boat and pipe the cold air into the boat while I am sitting there surfing the net on my wireless, or drinking beverages.

I have struggled trying figure a way to fit an air conditioner inside the Mac. If you want to cool the air while sailing you need a power generator. So I have settled on an idea to cool things down while at the dock. Rather than crawl around an AC unit inside the Mac, I am thinking about keeping the unit outside the boat on the dock (next to the 110v power supply) and piping the cool air inside.

[DLT]

You'll want two ducts. One for air from the boat to the dock box and one from the dock box to the boat.

If you only have one duct, you will be doing one of two things:
1 - constantly trying to cool 90+ degree air - which won't work well at all.
2 - just cooling the air in the dock box end of the duct - which will work great, but won't cool the boat down...

This was really not that hard to do...

[Greg]

Dubraque
Curious how the A/C worked for you this summer??

[Catigale]

How do you lock yourself in your car?

Was it a convertible, with the top down?

Ive done that too, at 14 mph..

Seriously, Toyota had a bad bunch of electronics on a model some years back (which was rapidly fixed of course) that would, in failure mode, take out the central locking fuse, the power windows, and start a fire...