Marine air Vector Compact AC electric heater coils

[phorvati]

I am trying to find where to buy electric heater coils for Vector Compact Marine Air.

Reverse cycle still works good, seatemp is 47F at the moment. but I suspect as winter sets in, it seems like a good option to add electric heat option.

[ranger58sb]

Vector Compact units are kind of old, but I'd guess any Marine Airrrr dealer may have either whatever they used originally for resistance heat options, or some other part that could be made to be compatible with the system.

Annapolis Cruisair, for example, although they're not all that close to you...

Some dock neighbors were living aboard for a while, and they had Annapolis Cruisair completely replace their (really!) old system, and they added resistance heat at the same time... for those times when our marina is frozen in. Said it worked well. That was a whole new Vector Turbo-based system...

Since Dometic has acquired both Cruisair and Marine Airrrrr, servicing dealers might be listed as Dometic folks, these days.

FWIW, our Vector Compact reverse-cycle units will still push heat when outside water temps are about 43°F.

-Chris

[Outlaw7]

Flagship Marine offers resistive heat in their units and I believe they have a kit that other people have used on their dometic units.

[phorvati]

Here is what i was able to find...
HMDL Series Auxiliary Heat Modules | Beard Marine Group


In reading the Passport I/O manual, looks like contactor arms are rated to 10A. So the most i would be able to install is the HMDL1-5 module. And it looks like the shape of opening might work as well.

I'll call one of the dealers to confirm all this.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by phorvati

I am trying to find where to buy electric heater coils for Vector Compact Marine Air.

Reverse cycle still works good, seatemp is 47F at the moment. but I suspect as winter sets in, it seems like a good option to add electric heat option.

Phorvati,

We also have the option of reverse-cycle heat or resistance coils in our 3 air conditioners, and use them for heat when at the dock in cooler weather. [We are currently at 56°N in SE Alaska.]

We are lucky in that the Pacific waters usually stay warm enough tor the reverse-cycle heat to work well. But we also have the resistance coils as a back-up [Along with a forced air diesel Espar heater.]

However, we also venture to higher latitudes with colder waters...

One trick we have successfully deployed with our A/C [and our combination air/water cooled refrigeration system] is to use one potable water tank for the cooling water loops— instead of raw water. [Our potable water tanks— 110 gallons each— are low in the hull, but stay warm enough for efficient reverse-cycle heat— even in freezing water.] We dedicated one potable tank to this use. It is also still a back-up potable tank in case the watermaker malfunctions...

The cooling plumbing can be easily switched back to raw water again if needed [via 3-way valves.] Doing so necessitates a recleaning/sanitizing of the raw water loop before switching back to potable... [More below...]

The advantages of a fresh water cooling loop include:

• Greatly reduced maintenance [eliminated really...] on the cooling water loops with consequent longer lifespan of those components [fresh vs. salt water]
• One less through-hull open
• Reverse-cycle heat works [more efficient than resistance heat] when it otherwise wouldn't when in cooler raw water temperatures

Some disadvantages are:

• Raw water coolant loops need to be hyper cleaned/sanitized before switching to potable water [if the dedicated tank is also a back-up potable tank...]
• Spare potable tank is now emergency only back-up for potable water. [To keep the water fresh in this recirculation tank, we routinely pull water from, and immediately refresh this tank when doing laundry while running the watermaker— or when at a dock with potable water.]

This set-up works well for us.

Cheers! Bill