83' 3207 AC question

[Paul407]

Hello all. I'm straightening out some rigs on a recently purchased 3207 aft cabin. My boat AC water feed has a single seacock with one pump. After the pump the plumbing tee's into two, each feeding one AC unit. Should there be two pumps or is this the OEM set up? Seems the forward unit gets most of the water.

[waybomb]

That's normal. Usually there is a contractor panel that both ac pump signals go to, so when either is running, the pump runs.

[Paul407]

I believe I have that panel, a small black box behind the port side wall near the fresh water fill. I ask because a second identical pump was given to me when I bought the boat and thought it may have been removed at some time. So it's normal to have a better flow at one AC unit than the other? Like I said, the aft unit only has 1/3 the water output at the forward unit.

[Paul407]

And that's for the quick response.

[waybomb]

My 36 Mariner has one pump for two a/cs with reverse heat, and my 4207 had one pump for 3 reverse cycle a/cs.
I think total BTU was 45,000 or so on the 4207 and one pump handled it all. The water being discharged doesn't get too warm either.

[Paul407]

Sounds good. Thanks for the help.

[CYO Admin]

My last boat had one pump for 4 units. 2 x 16's a 10 and a 5.

[tinbanger00]

my 83' 3207 also has 1 pump,,,,,,had a problem last year of the pump getting hot and shutting down everything....I took it apart and blew it out with an air compressor and some stuff came out ...seems to work fine now.....mayby you also have some crud in the rear unit?

[waybomb]

My boats all had a strainer as well. You may want to check it by closing the sea cock, opening the strainer, pulling the basket band cleaning it. Reverse assembly. Sometimes the basket looks clean through the sides of the strainer, but could be fouled.

I had an odd situation once on vacation - I sucked a plastic grocery bag into the through hull pick-up and my a/cs quit running on overheat. I pulled the hose, with water gushing in, trying to free the bag. That didn't work. So I took it back out on the lake thinking that would remove it. That did not work, so I had to have somebody jump in the water and dig it out of the through hull grate.

[Tempus Fugit]

When the system is designed the hoses/pump are sized so the water flow is about the same to each unit. If you see a noticeable difference in water flow from one unit to the other there is a restriction (some type of growth or buildup of something).
If you can get to the units and feel the outlet hoses they should both feel about the same temperature; if one is much hotter you have a restriction.
As others have said one pump for multiple units is very common the system just needs to be maintained and flushed from time to time. NOTE: in the Galveston bay area my system needs to be flushed twice per year.

Dan