Marine A/C reviews and recommendations

[john61ct]

Wow that's nuts if true, super efficient.

Pricing?

[Outlaw7]

Wow expensive to buy and I bet the control boards cost a fortune to replace, when a lightning strike hits the boat.

[rourkeh]

The 16,000 btu unit is $3,500 each.

[Typhoon]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Wow that's nuts if true, super efficient.

Pricing?

16000 btu unit takes 9.6 amps at 115v AC .

http://www.frigomar.com/images/PDF/F...tainedUnit.pdf

Regards John.

[rourkeh]

So I have ordered the 16,000 btu units. Ended up paying $3,399 including shipping to my freight forwarder in Miami. Bought them from Mabru Marine in Ft Lauderdale, good experience. I'll keep updating as I get around to installing and running them in the next week. It will be interesting to see if Frigomar's claims of reduced power consumption, and efficiency are true.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine

16000 btu unit takes 9.6 amps at 115v AC

So galynd got their math wrong, by a lot

Originally Posted by galynd

So if I'm reading the specs correctly this unit, 16000 btu, could easily be run by a honda 2000 generator.

[rourkeh]

The idea that a Honda generator could run one of these Frigomar units is possible. The problem has been the start-up serge of a compressor. My Flagship Marine 16,500 btu units would draw 17-20 amp when the compressor started which a Honda 2000 could not provide. The Frigomar when turned on starts at 20hz and draws about 2 amps then cycles upwards until it is at 60hz and is drawing 9.2 amps, at this point it maxes out at 16,000 btu, the Honda could provide this many amps as it is rated at 18 amps.. There is a video of one of these units doing just this hooked up to an amp/herz meter on the web site.

[john61ct]

I see, like a soft start unit functionality built in

[malbert73]

Seems like a good idea. My old cruisair 16K BTU kicks in so hard I definitely hear my 5.5 KW genset struggle for a second each time compressor cycles on. Like dropping the clutch on a car

[rourkeh]

I received the A/C units yesterday. First thing I did was inspect them, and these things are really well made. Every aspect of the construction is extremely solid and reassuring. The compressor is completely wrapped in a sound isolating blanket, the interior of the blower motor housing is insulated with sound deadening foam. I needed to buy new hoses and fittings from my pump to the water intake on the condenser coil as the Frigomar uses 1/2" intake and discharge which is smaller than the old units. The condenser is huge and has twice as much tubing as the old units. Typical of the Italians there is no manual, but luckily there is a wiring diagram on the cover of the electrical box, took about an hour to wire it up. It comes with a remote panel that is only good for turning on and off and displaying the temp setting, but there is a remote control like a home unit to control all functions. When I got it all sorted I turned it on and I could not even hear it running with the front cover of the compartment it is mounted in. I have a Blue Seas Systems vessel systems monitor so I was able to watch the effect of the electrical load as the unit started and it was true to the hype as it only pulled a little over 2 amps at start-up. The unit has a very controlled start up process similar to a soft start unit but more complex. The compressor is a brushless direct drive and spins up very slowly on both the amps, Herz, and output so it takes a couple of minutes to spool up and produce any cold air. Again I got to say these are VERY QUIET. Finally it gets to around 9 amps and 60 hertz and runs full speed. So far so good it has been running all night and produces a lot of very cold air for a 16,000 btu unit. Now on to the second install today. One other upgrade I am making at the same time is to remove all the old grey plastic ducting and replacing with Thermaflex R8 insulated flexible ducting to maximize the cooling efficiency of the system. It will be interesting to see the real world effects of these more efficient inverter A/C units on my electrical bill next month. Other than the high cost, which I think is offset by the 2 year warranty and construction quality, Frigomar seems to be a good product.

[Dwain]

Hi rourkeh,
How have your Frigomar been working since your post a year ago? I am very interested in Frigomar and running with my Honda 2000. Maybe run the Honda in eco mode.. would be nice.

Anyone else used Mabru Marine to get these? How's it going?

Thanks!
Dwain
Catalina 36
Corpus Christi Bay

[rourkeh]

I have had the Frigomar A/C units for about a year now and I can say not a single issue other than about a 30% reduction in the electrical usage. I bought a 61' Hatteras motor yacht a couple of months ago and it had 7 marineair split A/C units onboard. six of them are working now but I decided to get rid of them and put in a chilled water system with two of the frigomar 60,000 btu chillers and Frigomar air handlers / evaporators. I spoke with Alain Mabru in Ft Lauderdale and got a very good price for the equipment so I will be ordering and installing in a month or so. Frigomar is a very good company and builds an excellent product that is far better than the competitors offerings. it may cost a little more up front but if you want reliable A/C that will not be a pain in the ass every year this is it.

[wefleenor]

Do you really feel you need 120,000BTU for that 61ft Hatteras? That seems a bit extreme. Thanks.

[Bunji]

Household split system inverter type airconds are still the best bang for your buck option, these big company’s make millions of them they also spend millions on r&d. All u need is a flaring tool and a map gas gun and u can install yourself it’s not rocket science. We currently have a Fujitsu 2.5 kw cooling only system powered by a 22i honda inverter generator, when the price of lithium batteries comes down we’ll swap over. Cheers

[john61ct]

batteries are just energy **storage**

the "replacement" for a generator might be an alternator, or solar panels, but isn't any kind of battery bank