Catalina 350 International Association

Hi everyone,

My AC works and cools, but runs for a while then stops (water pump still running), like it needs a rest, and kicks back on. No error messages. Some boat neighbors suggested that I should clean the lines with barnacle buster stating that maybe there is poor flow and the compressor is overheating and shutting down a bit until it cools and starts again.

I do not leave the AC on all the time, and use only when at the boat from time to time.

Question 1:Anyone have similar problems? thoughts?

I have had this boat for two years+ in Florida and I have not cleaned the AC lines in any way. I do not know the history of cleanings prior to that.

Question 2: has any one used barnacle buster? The suggestion (supported by some Youtube videos) suggest closing seacock, blowing out the water with exhaust side of vaccum cleaner, hooking up a garden hose with funnel to raw water intake (prior to the pump), and filling with Barnacle Buster until you see the barnacle buster start coming out of boat, letting it sit for 4-6 hours, then flush with freshwatar. Reattach hoses, open seacock and turn on AC and off to races.

I am little leary about setting barnacle buster in the pump, But the guys at the dock say they do it all the time.

NormSail 350 - 2003 Hull 41 (if I recall correctly).

I think you’re on the right track looking at the water cooling system. Take a look at the water discharge when the unit it running and gauge the amount of water flow. When the system stops the compressor has a chance to cool down and the system recycles.
I’m in fresh water so no experience with Barnacle Buster.

Check your strainer on the pump in your bilge. If it’s clogged, this will be a 5 minute fix.
High sea water temperature could cause your system to “stall”. Increase the temp on your thermostat and this could also be a fix. If it continues to run, this could cause your coil to ice up.

Thanks for the input. Flow was not really bad, but used barnacle buster and the flow is really good now. A noticeable difference.. Unfortunately, it still has a little pause. It was too dark by time I finished to really see if there was a change in flow. I bet there is no change in flow. The AC is cooling well other than the pause every once in a while. I want to say it happens once an hour before I cleaned with barnacle buster. I will need to run the AC more tomorrow and see how frequent it occurs after the cleaning.