Date: 21 July 2016. Moby-Cool a/c
cover Installed.
This is a long article. You might wish to pour
yourself a beverage before sitting back to read. Thanks for your
patience while I tweaked it. More coming, and soon. I got behind and
even at five knots the times flows quickly. J.
Before Picture:
© janice142
A few days
ago I told you about my
Moby-Cool a/c cover Tweak.
This article will show you how it all came together. Here in Florida
between the heat and the humidity it can be miserable. I am at a
dock right now with access to a power cord. It is cool (read:
comfortable) inside my Seaweed because of the air-conditioner. Thank
goodness I have an interesting view.
Aboard Seaweed I am always looking for storage solutions. With the
Moby-Cool I can use my a/c anytime. That is a huge benefit. Now it
looks nice too.
That wood
thing I had jury-rigged to hold the a/c in place was dreadful. The
air-conditioner in the doorway meant one exit was always blocked. It
was unsafe and ugly too.
The ambiance
was not what I want for my home. Edwin and
Moby-Cool made it all nice again for me.
I have had
my head handed me on a platter for not showing you the finished
product in the last article.
Here is my girl just a couple weeks ago. And yes the air-conditioner
is on the topside. Invisible, eh?
The Moby-Cool is just aft of the pilothouse solar panels on the
overhead of the galley.
It is between the solar panels forward of the wind generator. (A
girl has to have power.)
My cyber friend Noel said "I could use this on top of my
airstream when I want to run it on the
small generator" and he is correct. This is an elegant
solution for those of us who cannot afford to spend $500-plus for a
roof-top RV unit.
I like it.
This is Edwin in front of the mangrove trees.
Screwing together the side pieces was easy because the holes all
matched. Please note the silver insulating foam on the inside. That
should keep my cool air inside Seaweed. It looks great.
Working under the trees helped
Barely with the heat of summertime. I am grateful for friends who can
help. Edwin has been a friend for many years. He knew how heavily
the air-conditioner situation weighed on my spirit.
|
Ugly a/c
→
I absolutely hated having my
air conditioner positioned in the doorway. With the a/c up top
I can run it whenever the temperature or humidity make life
uncomfortable.
This has
made a Big Impact
on my happiness quotient. |
|
|
Truth to tell, I was a bit
afraid of this project. Drilling holes in the overhead gives ripe
opportunity for leaks. And too, I do not have a lot of hand strength.
Edwin was a big part of the successful completion of the cover
installation.
Edwin double checked all the measurements.
Next he added the foam insulation tape to the top of the a/c unit.
The tape came with the Moby-Cool cover kit.
I had in my stash of stuff two pieces of 1" square hardwood. That
wood was used along the inside rim of the cover. The wood fit on the
lengthwise edges along the bottom of the cover. I wanted a backing
plate of sorts (not just the fiberglass cover) and the mahogany
served that purpose. Holes were predrilled so when installation time
came it was an easy matter to line things up.
Four holes along each side at the bottom edge firmly hold the cover
to Seaweed.
The cover
is thru-bolted using *1/4 20's. Some might opt to have a less
permanent installation. I wanted this item to stay put even in a
hurricane. I have not tested that as of yet. The Moby-Cool cover has
survived Colin [see
Report on Colin
(a tropical storm)
for details] without issue.
Definition
of quarter 20's: 1/4 in diameter and 20 threads to the inch. For
those unfamiliar with "quarter twenties" please take a quick peek at
the
Bolt Sizing Primer
vignette. Thanks.
Side Note: I
tend to prefer to thru-bolt items where others might use screws. On
Seaweed often there is nothing on the other side of the gelcoat/fiberglass to fasten
securely to. That is why I go all the way through the bulkhead using nuts and
washers on the other side.
I always use stainless hardware. After drilling
the holes I stuff them with a sealant.
Sealants
used: Outdoor silicone or
Boat Life Lifecalk Sealant Cartridge, White or
Boat Life Lifeseal Sealant Cartridge, Clear. It all depends on
what I have on hand. I
prefer to use
Lifecalk or
Lifeseal. Both are made by Boat Life. They
are more expensive and when the funds are slim I use what I have and
can afford. Affiliate links provided in blue.
|
The Experts
say "never use silicone"
|
|
I use
it and I am definitely not an expert! If the silicone starts
leaking I fix it again. It is easy enough to rip out what is
loose and add more. For me
silicone is an acceptable solution to leaks well above the waterline.
I
have used outdoor weatherproof
GE Silicone II Clear Caulk Cartridge
to seal a window gap. Buy the brand name. There is a
difference.
Short
Story: The window
over my galley sink started to lean out. After fixing that
(thru-bolting) I still had some space where water would drip
in. A bead of silicone along the top edge solved that issue
while I was anchored in a remote area.
That
was several years ago. Only recently did I remove the
silicone. I replaced it with
Lifeseal.
I did not remove the silicone because it was failing. The
reason was that I had a tube of Life Seal and wanted to finish
using it up.
|
|
I prefer and of late have been fortunate enough to afford Life Calk.
That's what was used to seal the Moby-Cool to my overhead. Here's
the process:
-
Drill holes
to secure the Moby-Cool to the overhead.
-
Next, add a
thick bead of
Lifecalk to the bottom edge of the Moby-Cool cover.
-
Fill
drilled holes with more
Lifecalk.
-
Insert stainless 1/4 20's thru
washer, wooden backing plate, Moby-Cool cover, and cabin top into
the galley.
-
The bolts protruded about 1/2"
into my cabin. I added fender washers then Nyloc nuts to each.
-
To permanently secure the a/c
cover to the overhead, tighten bolts.
Call it good. Done.
On the
inside this is what I see:
We made use of the
Fan-tastic
Vent Fan Garnish. Garnish is what that company (Fan-tastic) calls the white
part shown above. In any event that piece was sealed above deck so
that no water could come in. The air conditioner fits right up to
the edge of it. I believe it looks spiffy there.
Added
information, circa June 2023:
Affiliate link to a spiffier overhead fan model than my own:
Fan-tastic
Vent fan. These fans have tripled in price since I purchased
mine. The ones that only have one direction of air movement seem to
have been discontinued. "Improved version" no doubt, however
much more costly. I positioned my
Fan-tastic
Vent fan in the pilothouse between the two
Renogy 100 watt panels.
Having the
air conditioner mounted has made a huge difference in my happiness
quotient. If I wake up in the morning and it is a bit humid I can
turn on the a/c for an hour or so to cool off the boat.
In the heat of the day the a/c never shuts off. I am comfortable and
that means the world to me. Roughing it is for kids. I am into
Decadence at this point in my life. The Haier 5000btu air
conditioner cools my boat and me. Life does not get much better.
|
Same picture, for your
convenience→
You will note a surge protector power strip in the photograph
on the right. That power strip is direct wired to my a/c panel
at breaker #1 using *10 gauge sheathed triplex wire.
*10 Gauge sheathed
triplex wire: 10 gauge is the diameter of the wire. Triplex
means three wires: hot, ground and neutral. Sheathed means
there is a plastic cover over the three wires.
|
|
|
The a/c plug is plugged into a
Kill A Watt meter.
I'm checking that the stated wattage (455) is accurate. It's
close enough. I've seen 475 at a peak. Currently it's reading
462 watts.
|
|
The reason I wanted a power strip is twofold. My concern was that
when the air conditioner quits I want to be able to simply remove
and replace it with another cheap a/c unit. [My Haier with a full
two-year warranty was bought at
NewEgg
for less than $200.]
The second
reason is Christmas. I anticipate hanging lights from the overhead
using that outlet. Christmas is my favorite holiday. Bing Crosby sings to
me. Frank-be-still-my-heart Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and Dino
brighten my days. Life is good. It is most excellent to be on a boat
at Christmas time.
Edwin did a Wonderful job in making the a/c
installation
pretty for me. I am beyond thrilled. Thank you Edwin.
From the forward starboard quarter looking aft:
As you can see it neatly fits between the solar panels. The
Moby-Cool cover allows me to have an inexpensive small
air-conditioner topside without the boat looking shabby.
From the aft quarter, the air-conditioner:
Seaweed is not a fancy yacht. I am thrilled with my home. The
addition of this air-conditioner has made my life quite comfortable.
I love that the Moby-Cool cover allowed me to mount the a/c unit out
of the way yet easily accessible.
Underway I
do not believe folks notice the air-conditioner there. You
did not!
This picture ↓ was posted in the
Boat Buying Decisions (what is
important?)
article.
For those
of us on a tight budget I believe the Moby-Cool is an option to
consider. This item keeps my boat looking ship-shape. I love it.
Details: A friend told me
about the
Moby-Cool cover. He'd seen it advertised in
Southwinds Magazine. I phoned 407-435-9733 and left a message.
The next day the owner/designer called. His name is Scott.
No affiliation,
etc. |
Thanks again for your patience. Congratulations for making it to the
end of this article. In the end for me having air-conditioning is a
key component to my comfort. I am happy leading this life of
decadence in 23'.
Life is
great afloat. Remember if you spot Seaweed along the waterways to
give a call on Channel 16. I am always listening.
|
Addendum. 20
August 2016. A new friend, Tex, asked how
specifically I attach the air conditioner to Seaweed. I missed
that part in the article. Oops! Thanks for catching that Tex. |
|
SCREWS HOLD
A/C TO COVER →
TEAK BACKING PLATE
→
I took a piece of teak one
inch by 1/2" thick the width of the cover. That hardwood was
used as a BACKING PLATE. Four
SCREWS go through Moby-Cool cover,
then teak and finally into the air-conditioner.
I was also concerned that
the unit might slide back in rough seas. Thus I finally found a
use of that 1" aluminum angle iron (is it called iron when it's
aluminum?!?) The ALUMINUM BRACE is
thru-bolted into my cabin. That a/c is going no where. |
↑
- 1" ALUMINUM BRACE |
|
When the air conditioner
does finally quit on me, I'll simply remove those four screws
and lift up the unit while pulling it aft. Then I will buy another
$100 air conditioner and call it Good Enough.
|
|
I'd love to hear what your cooling solutions are for
summertime.
And, are how do you power your solution?
Regarding the Comments Section,
found at the end of every article:
-
Before you type in each block be
sure to hit the backspace key. Coding inserts a space in every box.
Your email address will come back as malformed unless you remove
that space. (You don't have to include your email address.)
-
The capcha is case sensitive.
|
COMMENTS:
© 2016, 2023
Categories:
Boat Talk,
Characters,
Gear,
Moby-Cool a/c cover Tweak ~
Previous Post ...
... Next Post
~
Bolt Sizing Primer
|
A favorite aphorism: There are thousands and
thousands of people out there living lives of quiet, screaming
desperation who work long, hard hours, at jobs they hate, to enable
them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.
Nigel Marsh. |