Keel Cooled Condensing Units
Using a Keel Cooler is the logical step up from a pump-fed water cooled system, as now the condenser is outside the boat. The only moving part of the system is the compressor. This makes for the quietest, most reliable, and most efficient system of all.
Choosing Your Keel Cooler
There are 4 differant choices of keel coolers: Studs or Threads and Zincs or No Zincs.
The threaded version requires a very large wrench to tighten it against the hull and lots of wrench swinging room. It also requires a helper outside of the boat to hold the keel cooler while it is being tightened. This version is typically installed professionally.
The studed version has two smaller bolts as the attachment mechanism. These, of course, require a much smaller wrench and can be installed by one person.
Whichever version is right for your application, the installation hole is the same size, 1 1/2".
The keel cooler is also available with or without sacrificial zincs, which is not necessary in normal applications, but may be required if the boat has a “floating ground” system. It is a requirement of any installation that the keel cooler be connected to the battery negative as a safety measure, and this normally will connect the keel cooler to the bonding system and also the shaft or hull zinc which will protect the keel cooler. In this case the zinc version is unnecessary. |
Boat Outfitting
