How can I go digital on A/C that doesn’t cost half as much as a new A/C?

[g36]

Look at mermaid units. They have no proprietary parts. They are good units i have had 3 on 2 different boats. They pride themselves in this and any ac person can repair. They also have a 5yr warranty made in florida..
..https://www.mmair.com/marine-division/m ... ditioning/

[Midnightsun]

Qr Bbpost Are the color codes for the three wire controls proprietary to Marine Air/Dometic or are they standard t-stat wire code?

I have been looking into this as well as I am about to purchase some new Air Conditioning units and I don't want to be locked into proprietary codes, proprietary t-stat, proprietary circuit boards, etc.

I want regular old "standard" HVAC stuff with relays instead of pcb's wherever possible. I want to be able to fix it with off the shelf stuff.

I have been eyeballing the BraeBurn BlueLink WiFi T-stat. Lotsa whiz bang features and half the pain of proprietary units.

Incidentally, it is also the model that Flagship Marine sells as an upgrade and their ethos is along my lines - K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Sailor)

I think the only one out there that is non proprietary everything is Flagship Marine. I did have one and everything is easy to replace with common AC parts. Things may have improved however mine was noisy and went through relays at least 1 per season. Kept spares on board!

Personally I would give MarinAire a hard look. They are quiet, use Toshiba compressors and you can call them and somebody knowledgable will answer the phone from their Florida location. Have had 4 of these over the years, no issues whatsoever. https://www.marinaire.com/Marine-air-co ... ba16k2.htm

[vineyardgray]

Hans - I talked to Marinaire and they DO NOT ship to Canada. I even suggested a freight forwarder and told them I would handle the customs nonsense myself and they told me no. They said they don't have warranty in Canada, nor spare parts and it was too troublesome for both the customer and them. They suggested I find another brand. Too bad, too, they look like nice units.

[Midnightsun]

Hmmm, never mentioned this to me when I originally bought my first unit on the previous boat nor the 3 units I bought for the present Carver. He knew I was in Canada shipping to the states as I have my Brother in TAX free NH. Business must be too good for them to not ship to Canada. If you really want one just have it shipped to a Kinek point at the closest facility. I use this ferquently as it gives you a US shipping address for those many items that do not ship to Canada for what ever odd reason. https://www.kinek.com

Pretty darn sure Pepmyster bought a unit and installed on his previous boat and he is in Canada. Maybe they changed their policy or he also delivered to the US.

[bud37]

So this may be a little off topic, but, if someone ( Canadian ) was to order to a drop ship, how would you cross the border to bring it back now. I did this with car parts for years but we crossed to Niagara falls to pick up.

Just another question,I don't know myself, what is wrong with Dometic ?

[Midnightsun]

Qr Bbpost So this may be a little off topic, but, if someone ( Canadian ) was to order to a drop ship, how would you cross the border to bring it back now. I did this with car parts for years but we crossed to Niagara falls to pick up.

Just another question,I don't know myself, what is wrong with Dometic ?

That is a problem right now, completely forgot about that one.

[vineyardgray]

I use a freight forwarder (FreightBoy.com) and they accept my package on the US side of the border and bring it over to their CA warehouse. They're still running

I don't know for sure that there is anything wrong with Dometic, necessarily, just have heard one too many stories about failed units and cost cutting in manufacturing. Plus I wanted a unit with electric heat and I don't think Dometic do that.