Carver Owners Forum

This may be a duplicate post. Submitted 11/19/18 but it did not appear. I have a Marine Air 16,000 BTU A/C unit with reverse cycle heat on my '95 Mariner 330. At the beginning of the '18 season it ran fine, after not being used for the previous 10 years. Mid season it started to turn off the cooling, and displays a CLF error code on the control panel. Seems intermittent. The heating works just fine. The manual for the unit defines this code as "no compressor load fault". The manual goes on to say " A CLF occurs when the compressor has been on for 1/2 second and no current is flowing in the compressor circuit, such as when the head pressure switch is open. This fault is cleared the next time the compressor tries to turn on and no other faults exist." What does this mean in regular guy talk? Could it be from low water flow? There is a filter with two wing nuts holding the top down. I cleaned that out. The metal filter in there was real muddy, so I am thinking maybe the hose on either side of the filter could still have some residue. But again, the heat works fine. Maybe the heat takes less water flow to operate? Anyway, no info in manual to tell me how to prevent or remedy the situation. Any A/C techs out there that can break this down for me? Any help from anybody is appreciated.

Have you tried goggle it and see what's out there. One thread suggested clogged water flow another low Freon and another bad board?

I did try to google it. I do not believe it is a Freon or board issue. The manual shows specific error codes for those conditions. Where did you see the clogged water flow thread? Thanks again. Cooler

I really dont know much about these things, but I do remember something about issues that cropped up when the reversing valve is sticky. Maybe nothing to it.

Thanks. I am hoping someone with some A/C knowledge will see this, or someone who had this same hiccup can chime in. There had to be thousands of these units out there across a number of models. Wish I knew what that head pressure switch was all about. Then I may be able to find the source of pressure.

Did you check to ensure the evaporator is clean? Looks like a radiator. It usually collects a lot of dust and needs to be cleaned periodically.

I assume you're getting good raw water volume out the discharge?

Saw the water flow issue in another forum. Did the code come back after you cleaned the strainer?

mjk1040 - yes, the code returned after cleaning out the strainer.

viper - thanks for the evaporator info. I believe the unit is mounted under that galley counter top. Have to figure out how to access to check that evaporator out. That could very well be the issue because I know the previous owner never looked at that unit. Chances are, the unit was not cleaned since new. When I had water coming out of the discharge during cooling, it did seem to be a good volume. When the CLF code is on, no water. When the heat is on, the discharge seems fine and normal. Thanks all!

Any advice on how to access unit?

Did it say "head pressure" or "high pressure"?

There is a high pressure switch on the output side of the compressor. If the water flow is clogged, then the temperatures in the freon go way way, and the output pressure on the compressor goes way up. Eventually it would lock up the compressor, so there's a high pressure switch on the output side of the compressor. This will open up, shutting off the compressor. There is also (usually) a temperature-sensative breaker mounted directly on the compressor. If the compressor gets too hot, then this will open up shutting off the compressor..

Usually the high-pressure switch will trigger it's own fault code and you will have to reset it to get the A/C unit to work. The temperature breaker (I want to say it's called a "Klixon" but I may not have that spelled correct) will reset itself when it cools down.

I believe the clf is a compressor load fault.
Please note, this info is based on knowledge of commercial heating / cooling systems, NOT the marine airre, but it should help.

The control looks for amperage of between X & X (differs depending on unit size) when the compressor should be running if no or low amperage, you get a CLF fault, if over amperage you get a HFC fault. Codes may differ depending on manufacturer of control board.

Sooo, I believe you are drawing low or no amperage. Does your compressor run? If so you are most likely low on refrigerant. if not either the compressor is bad, or if your lucky the start capacitor.

Good luck.