rslifkin
Guru
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2019
- Messages
- 7,975
- Location
- Rochester, NY
- Vessel Name
- Hour Glass
- Vessel Make
- Chris Craft 381 Catalina
I'm coming up on needing to replace all 3 of my dying A/C units. 2x 10k and a 16k. Sizing will need to stay about the same, but which units should I buy?
The current units are Marine Air Vector Turbos, around 10 - 12 years old (so after they were owned by Dometic and basically the same as the current Dometic Turbo). The newer versions of the same are not an option for replacement, as these units have been absolute crap in terms of reliability. All 3 are dead or dying from 1 or more refrigerant leaks. And all 3 have had leaks fixed previously and 2 of the units were replaced under warranty for refrigerant leaks early on. I think only one of them has gone more than 2 or 3 years without needing attention from an A/C tech, which is far worse than the original Marine Air units from 1986 (worked great for 20-ish years with minimal attention before they started to have issues).
At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Webasto FCF Platinum as replacements, although the MarinAire units look decent as well, just with limited reviews. Flagship supposedly makes great units, but they don't do reverse cycle, so I don't want them. The electric coil heat is way too power hungry for the amount of heat they produce, so I'd rather avoid it. The Velair variable units are a very interesting option, but too expensive and limited reviews, so I'll pass for now.
In this situation, what would the rest of you buy?
The current units are Marine Air Vector Turbos, around 10 - 12 years old (so after they were owned by Dometic and basically the same as the current Dometic Turbo). The newer versions of the same are not an option for replacement, as these units have been absolute crap in terms of reliability. All 3 are dead or dying from 1 or more refrigerant leaks. And all 3 have had leaks fixed previously and 2 of the units were replaced under warranty for refrigerant leaks early on. I think only one of them has gone more than 2 or 3 years without needing attention from an A/C tech, which is far worse than the original Marine Air units from 1986 (worked great for 20-ish years with minimal attention before they started to have issues).
At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Webasto FCF Platinum as replacements, although the MarinAire units look decent as well, just with limited reviews. Flagship supposedly makes great units, but they don't do reverse cycle, so I don't want them. The electric coil heat is way too power hungry for the amount of heat they produce, so I'd rather avoid it. The Velair variable units are a very interesting option, but too expensive and limited reviews, so I'll pass for now.
In this situation, what would the rest of you buy?