I expect this would happen to anyone in a major refit. When you hit a wall and look around and see how much work this to go and get discouraged. So on my spare time yesterday, I took a gander on the 'net on boats forsale that I would love to take, right now, and go voyaging, instead of putting about in the dank dark cold interior of Sarah Claire. It was a nice interlude. But fantasy, so back to the grind.
This week finds me installing 2 marine air, air conditioning units. What a difficult job this is proving to be.
The boat when purchased, had 1 16500 btu air conditioner installed in it. This might have worked out ok, or as the PO (previous owner) stated "works great" (NOT!) if it had been installed correctly, but of course it was not. You cannot install a ac unit on a boat with 2 ducts, both less than a foot from the unit. Just doesn't work. The cold air just recycles around itself causing the unit to freeze and the rest of the boat to stay hot. AC in name only.
So last year 2 marine air vector turbo units were purchased. Finally got around to attempting to install them this week. Boats just are not meant to have duct work in them like a home. It is very difficult to place a 6" hole in a bulkhead that you can hardly get your hand into to cut. Most of them have fiberglass tabbing as well, which ruins the cutting edge on my tools. Cutting one hole can take hours. Then there is the plumbing.
Oh how much fun it is when these marine supplies give you stuff that just doesn't fit right. Like a pump that has a 1" in and a 3/4" out, neither of which they supplied with the unit. Or the duct connector that fits to the top of the ac unit that the duct attaches to, but then of course the screw holes do not line up... not even close.
Or many other such examples. In fact I find that the more involved I get the more ticked off at these companies I get. They must not install their own products, cause if they did they would supply a extra screw or two, make sure the places where things are put like wires, bolts screws etc, are large enough for it and more. Its impossible not to drop a screw now and then installing this stuff in places where access is quite difficult. And once dropped, forgetaboutit. I now have in my bilge a few screws, washers, and a very nice ratching wrench that I know I will miss.
