Quote:
Originally Posted by River Cruiser
Has anyone used these if yes have you been happy with how they perform? What about routine maintenance what is involved, if you shopped for them where did you find the best price? Thank you for any help
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We installed a Condensator in our system about 3 years ago. When it works it does a rasonably good job of suctioning condensate out of the collection pan. Unfortunately, however, the device requires rather a lot of maintnence--more than is merited given the application. Our
water pump">raw water pump passes roughly 390 GPH through our system which is, in theory, quite sufficient for the Condensator. However, it does not take much sediment in the
raw water to foul the Condensator and interefere with its operation. The system is also dependent upon a small check-valve in the suction line to the condensate pan to prevent
raw water back-flow to the pan when the
pump isn't running. While the cracking pressure on this valve is quite low, it doesn't take much debris to interfere with the operation of the valve and debris will be sucked into the valve despite the
screen mesh filter included with the Condensator. The ball in the valve is also subject to
corrosion which eventually prevents its proper function. When I first contacted Mermaid about obtaining a replacement valve they quoted me $10.00 each. Close
inspection of the valves revealed they are made by US Plastics. Contacting that company revealed that the valves are available for...$0.80 a piece--but must be purchased in "bulk", i.e. 10 units at a time ($8.00). Frankly, on many occassions I simply pulled the check-valve out of the system, in which case the Condensator works quite well, but that is a dangerous proposition if the
pump isn't running as back-flow, even from a 1/4" line, can create quite a flood.
I have just reworked our system and removed the Condensator. As an altenative, I am installing an Aquarium "Dosing Pump" that will operate whenever our
raw water pump is running and will suction out a moderately sized Tupperware box that we will be using to accumulate condensate as it drains from the pan under the A/C evaporator coils. We have had that pan fitted with two drains, one each to port and starboard, to ensure the pan drains into the collection box (rather than the bilge). The Dosing Pump will discharge condensate into the
galley sink drain through a 1/4" tube--fitted with one of our US Plastics check valves (as we have plenty!) to ensure we have no back-flow issues while we are sailing.
FWIW...
PS: If you have an iterest in our Condensator, send me a PM. I'll make you a deal!