Hot day working in the engine room? Crank up some air conditioning!
LaRea
Member, Moderator Posts: 7,744 mod
I can't believe I never thought of this before today. Are you tired of working in a hot engine room? Run a cheap piece of 4" dryer ducting from your cabin AC vent into the engine room!
Today, I worked in the engine room from 6AM until 10AM. It was already miserable at 6AM. I got back around 2PM to start the task of replacing my 4" blower hoses. Said to myself, "Self, what if you used a binder clip to connect this ducting to the HVAC?"
My life as a boat mechanic will never be the same. And I hate the world for never informing me that this could be done.
Today, I worked in the engine room from 6AM until 10AM. It was already miserable at 6AM. I got back around 2PM to start the task of replacing my 4" blower hoses. Said to myself, "Self, what if you used a binder clip to connect this ducting to the HVAC?"
My life as a boat mechanic will never be the same. And I hate the world for never informing me that this could be done.
Comments
The air flow wasn't perfect, but it was enough to make an awful day tolerable. I cleaned a major spill of hydraulic oil, changed both raw-water impellers, and took care of some other deferred maintenance. All on a 103-degree day.
I am permanently adding this to my bag of tricks. Gonna keep a 20-foot section of 4" duct on the boat at all times.
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
I normally use a fan, but having actual cold air was a huge improvement.
Works pretty nicely... Also realized that this could come in handy on the 270 to get the cold air to the rear bed room at night...
One other thing is that with the vent redirector thing pulled off it barely makes any noise and seems to blow a whole lot more air.. might have to just 3D print something that would make the edges look nicer and leave almost a complete hole in the center... Don't need that junk in there that allows you to slow down the air flow at all...
My 370 has an AC vent in the mid-cabin. It's on the port side right above the vacuflush pump. There's easy access by removing a service panel attached with velcro:
It turns out to be immediately below a settee in the cockpit, and behind the settee is a straight shot to the engine room. So I got a 4" y-fitting and a 4" blast gate normally used for sawdust collection systems:
Y connector $8 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VRJIW8
Blast gate $7 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VRPQ92
I screwed them to a piece of scrap plywood:
Then I mounted it to the bulkhead next to the vacuflush pump. Boom -- AC in the engine room whenever I want it. Just close the mid-cabin vent, open the blast gate and get to work.
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express