Cheap work is not good and good work is not cheap. You don’t always get what you pay for, but you’ll never get more than what you paid for.

Yacht-HQ was hired by a very frustrated yacht owner to fix a number of air conditioning problems aboard his motor yacht. Every single problem that we fixed was caused (directly or indirectly) by a residential/commercial HVAC technician who had absolutely no business working on yachts.

Marine HVAC systems are very different from typical residential and commercial systems. The lesson here is simple: Yacht-HQ does not provide HVAC services to “residential” or “commercial” (land-based) customers. We are yacht specialists. Conversely, land-based residential and/or commercial HVAC contractors are NOT yacht specialists – so buyer beware.

In this case, the repairs that Yacht-HQ performed were more expensive than what we would have charged to install ALL of these systems in the first place. However, all of the HVAC systems and related sub-systems aboard this yacht are now (finally) working flawlessly and reliably with virtually zero ongoing repair and maintenance requirements.

FYI – Yacht-HQ has found that a good “rule of thumb” is that the High Quality installation of an HVAC system is typically around 40-60% of the cost of purchasing all the parts & supplies… and that number includes a reasonable contingency budget for unknown & unexpected issues. Please see our recent Case Study for details.

Here are a few examples of what we found (and fixed) aboard this ONE customer’s yacht.

Note: It is NOT Yacht-HQ’s intent to criticize or embarrass anyone in particular. The purpose of this post (and pictures) is to educate and inform. We have “sanitized” these pictures to obscure the identity of the HVAC technician that performed this installation (see the black rectangle below).

---

First Things First: “Are You Kidding Me?!?”

Those were literally the first words out of my mouth when I saw this HVAC systems installation (below).

I could not believe that someone who calls themselves a “professional” could perform such a sloppy installation… Let alone on an expensive motor yacht. It’s hard to see in this picture but there are multiple problems:

1. Some units do not have condensation catch pans – so water is dripping all over the units (and electrical boxes) below.
2. Even those units with condensation catch pans do not all have proper drain lines – so water is dripping all over the units (and electrical boxes) below.
3. Refrigerant lines were not properly insulated – so condensation is dripping all over the units (and electrical boxes) below.
4. Seawater lines are leaking because: (a) the installer used “cheap” hose clamps; (b) the installer did not “double clamp” the hoses; and (c) the installer never checked to make sure that the clamps were tight enough. So – yep… you guessed it… salty sea water was leaking and dripping all over the units (and electrical boxes) below.
5. The electrical work is NOT to marine standards – so the wiring was NOT protected (not even a little) from all the water and salt that was leaking on it.
6. These systems were not properly evacuated (to <500 microns) when they were first installed. The residual moisture that remained in the system was causing some of the compressors to fail (seize-up) prematurely (as evidenced by compressor bearing corrosion & failure).
7. Some of the units were significantly over-charged with refrigerant – so excessive refrigerant pressure was causing compressors to operate inefficiently and to fail (burn-out) prematurely.
8. Some of the compressor cooling fans had not been connected – so compressors were overheating and causing compressors to fail (burn-out) prematurely (as evidenced by discolored paint on compressors).
9. Two of the units had refrigerant leaks which required us to open the systems in order to repair refrigerant lines & fittings.

---

Problem: Improper Seawater Pump Selection & Installation

Plumbing is an issue that most HVAC technicians don’t have to think about on a daily basis (or ever). However, plumbing is an integral part of marine (yacht and boat) HVAC systems and it is something that Yacht-HQ’s HVAC specialists deal with every day.

Furthermore, most HVAC technicians don’t have any knowledge of (or experience with) marine corrosion science. Does this really matter? Yes, it really does.

There are several problems with the following “Before” picture.

1. Even though this is a stainless-steel pump, stainless steel is NOT “corrosion proof”. The customer had to replace this pump TWICE in the past two years because it is not a “marine grade” (corrosion proof) pump.
2. Somebody threaded a BRONZE fitting into a STAINLESS STEEL pump housing. Dissimilar metals corrosion (at the threads between the pump and the 90 degree elbow) caused a seawater leak which very nearly became a catastrophe. Imagine what would have happened if the corrosion had progressed to the point where the elbow became separated from the pump. There could easily have been hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage as sea water flooded the engine room.
   • I’m going to stop right here for a second for a quick seque into marine corrosion. You might be thinking that this corrosion issue could be solved by installing a sacrificial anode (aka “zinc”). Theoretically this is possible, but it is a non-starter from a practical perspective.
   • In order for a sacrificial anode (zinc, magnesium, etc) to protect marine metals from galvanic corrosion there are two conditions that must be met: First, the anode would have to be physically in contact with the metal(s) that it will protect. Second, the anode would have to be submersed in the electrolyte (sea water) which is responsible for completing the “battery” circuit.
   • Therefore, in order for an anode to protect these metalic parts, a hole would have to be drilled & tapped (and an anode installed) in the pump housing, the elbow, or the hose barb adapter. It should be fairly obvious that this is not a practical solution. The solution is to select the proper pump for the application – and then install it properly.
3. This pump was “always on” which required frequent (weekly) cleaning of the sea strainers.
4. This pump was installed ABOVE the vessel’s water line. Centrifugal pumps are NOT self-priming. This pump had to be manually re-primed every time that any air got into the suction side of the pump… which happened every time the sea strainer was opened for cleaning. What a PITA!

Yacht-HQ selected and installed two (2) new corrosion-proof pumps (as seen below). They were properly plumbed to prevent seawater leaks and to allow the pumps to reliably self-prime. You can see rust stains where the previous plumbing had been leaking. Yacht-HQ uses those “blue paper towels” to check for leaks so that we can easily see problems when we return the next day for our post-installation quality inspection. You can see the stainless steel control boxes (at the top of the picture) that allow the pumps to turn on and off as needed. This saves wear and tear on the whole system – and now the sea strainers only need to be cleaned a few times per year (instead of every week).

---

Problem: Premature Compressor Failure Is Expensive (and Avoidable)

Two condensing units had to be removed from the yacht for repair. We’ll call these “Unit A” and “Unit B” in order to keep track of which one is which. There were actually so many problems that we ended up completely rebuilding both units with new pressure switches, reversing valves, base valves, service ports, filter dryers, cooling fans, etc. If we had only repaired the immediate problem(s) then there would have been more problems down the road. It turned out that rebuilding the units was MUCH less expensive than completely replacing them.

Note: In a split system configuration, the “condensing unit” consists of a compressor, heat exchanger, and associated sensors & controls. The “evaporator/blower unit” consists of an evaporator (like a car radiator), centrifugal air blower, and associated sensors & controls. The two units are connected by electrical wiring and copper refrigerant lines.

---

Before: Condensing Unit “A”

This condensing unit developed a massive refrigerant leak due to a cracked high pressure refrigerant line which could not be repaired without recovering the refrigerant and removing the unit. The cracked refrigerant line was caused by the residential HVAC installation technician who did NOT follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions which SPECIFICALLY state that the vibration-dampening rubber compressor mounts MUST be loosened (because they are tightened at the factory for shipping) during installation.

Please note that the black rubber mounts under the compressor are completely squished flat. This compressor literally shook itself to death as a result. Also, the installer removed the factory-supplied condensation drip pan – which caused this unit to drip condensation all over the unit below it. There’s absolutely no excuse for this total lack of attention to quality.

Fortunately, we were able to re-use this compressor after we repaired all the other damage.

---

Before: Condensing Unit “B”

The compressor in this unit completely failed due to a combination of issues:

• The compressor had overheated (repeatedly) because the cooling fan had never been wired up.
• Residual moisture in the refrigerant loop contaminated the compressor oil and caused corrosion on the compressor bearing(s) which in turn caused the compressor to seize-up and burn-out.

---

After: Condensing Unit “A”

---

After: Condensing Unit “B”

---

Problem: Bad Electrical Wiring MUST Be Repaired/Replaced.

Most HVAC technicians are NOT electricians… but they really should be.

Yacht-HQ’s HVAC specialists are ABYC Certified Marine Electricians… and that’s a very good thing because we had to re-terminate just about every single wire that we touched on this particular job. How many problems can you find below?

• “Spade” (fork) type terminals ARE NOT appropriate for use on Yachts – and particularly NOT for High Voltage applications.
• Nylon insulated terminals ARE NOT appropriate for use on Yachts – and particularly NOT for High Voltage applications.
• Uninsulated terminals ARE NOT appropriate for use on Yachts – and particularly NOT for High Voltage applications.
• Unterminated (bare) wires ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT appropriate for use on Yachts – and DEFINITELY NOT for High Voltage applications.
• Heat Shrink terminals MUST be crimped with the proper crimp tool to avoid damaging the protective heat shrink tubing. The butt connectors in the bottom-right corner were NOT crimped properly (the installer used a “dimple” type crimp tool) and the connections have therefore failed due to corrosion.

---

Problem: “I Think I’ll Just Leave This Tubing Cutter Here”.

There is no rational explanation for this… a previous HVAC technician left a tubing cutter firmly attached to a refrigerant line… Possibly because the technician began cutting the line (for unknown reason) and then changed his mind? If you look carefully you can see that the refrigerant line is partially cut.

---

In conclusion – It’s hard to believe that one person could make SO MANY costly and/or dangerous mistakes on a single (simple) HVAC installation… but we see (and fix) examples like this every day.

It’s up to YOU to select qualified marine service providers to work on your boat or yacht. Please remember to call Yacht-HQ if you want your next boat/yacht HVAC installation, maintenance, or repair job to be done right the first time.

---

If you are a “residential” or “commercial” HVAC Technician (or business owner) please note that Yacht-HQ’s hourly labor rates are probably less than the rates that you charge your customers. That means that you can afford to hire Yacht-HQ (as a subcontractor) to perform your next Marine HVAC installation and you will STILL make money. Several big name companies already do this. That’s smart business.