Coastal Climate Control

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We empower BOATERS with the tools, inspiration and know-how to get the job DONE!

Pissing in the Harbor

Air Conditioning

The objective of the cooling water discharges on these sailboats seems to be quite the opposite to the powerboats. Now the trend appears to be to install mini cowlings over the discharge thru-hulls in order for them to be noticeable in various ways, ...

Power Basement

Battery

With these six transfer switches set at Mains, power is diverted from the main Breaker Panel, through these transfer switches, then back to the Breaker Panel and on to the circuits. With the transfer switches set for Inverter, the mains power is deli...

A Re-Volting Thought

Battery

In theory, as the 12v battery is depleted it will be recharged from the traction battery, and when the traction battery gets low the built-in generator will kick in and charge it up. So, in theory if I leave the Volt switched on I could have 110v AC ...

High From Amsterdam

Ramblings

I wish flights could be quicker though, but there is no supersonic service any more now that Concorde has been mothballed, and Coastal Climate Control couldn’t afford that luxury anyway. So, we’re stuck with flying commercial airlines at subsonic spe...

Off to the Moon? Don’t forget the Sextant!

Ramblings

In the lead-up to the Apollo 11 moon landings, the Apollo 8 mission has been described as the most dangerous while carrying the most risks of the unknown. Apollo 8’s mission was to get to the moon, orbit it ten times, and return the astronauts safely...

Gauge Talk

Air Conditioning

The following refers specifically to MarinAire products, but the principles apply to all marine air conditioning units. There are two actual gauges; one connected to the high pressure side of the compressor, and one to the low pressure side, and they...

Charge of the Lightweight Brigade

Battery

LiFePO4 batteries exhibit very different charge characteristics to lead-acid types. They can accept a very high charge current, and will do so for the entirety of the charge, and then effectively switch themselves off when full. You can see the diffe...

What a Wallop!

Solar

So that’s that. Until further notice, Coastal Climate Control will no longer be offering Solara Standard Series panels, from 12 watt through 80 watt. It’s a shame really. We only saw a small return on these small panels as they were quite expensive t...

Diodes DeMystified

Solar

Although some specialized large panels may incorporate a number of By-Pass Diodes in an attempt to mitigate some effects of total shading, that is not their primary purpose. They are there as a safety device to prevent heat damage to cells if those c...

Opps My Mistake!

Ramblings

Back in 1999, after a journey lasting 10 months, the $125m Mars Climate Orbiter which, as its name implied was supposed to orbit the red planet and gather climate and other information, was seen to venture a little too close to the planet surface for...

Current Affairs - Making the Right Connections

Battery

For my testing I connected five brand new Group 31 batteries in parallel with equal length straps. The first set of tests was with Firefly AGM’s, followed by identical tests with RELiON lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries, as I was curious to ...

My Mate Chris

Ramblings

Now, I am as much an admirer of Jimmy Buffett as any other boatie, but there was a time when you couldn’t set foot on a beach or tie up at a dock without hearing the strains of Margaritaville and other favorites. Quite frankly it all got a bit too mu...

Ay Caramba!

Ramblings

The turning point came as I was working on the side of the engine and could not banish the image in the corner of my eye of the owner sitting on the settee, leaning forward and scrutinizing every move I was making. This couldn’t continue, and soon it...

A Walk on the Wild Side

Ramblings

England in November can be a tad cold and claggy, but walking in the beautiful countryside at this time of year proved be a pleasant experience, having donned suitable attire and being prepared for a drenching without warning. However, it was soon ev...

10 Signs it’s Time to Replace Your Boat’s Refrigeration

Refrigeration

3. It’s using too much energy The older DC powered systems using the Danfoss BD3.0 and earlier compressors (or even the humungous, clunky holding plate systems that pre-date the 12v revolution) were great in their day, but their day has passed. Syste...

Sun-Day Racers

Solar

By connecting a solar panel to a battery (for simplicity this blog will ignore the presence of a controller/regulator or blocking diode) we create an electrical circuit, which by definition suggests something that starts and ends at the same place. A...

Flexible Solar Panels - Are They Any Good?

Solar

But what all those people are saying in effect is, unfortunately, that the flexible panels they bought were of a lesser quality than desired for marine use. At some point we all have succumb to advertising claims that make a product sound too good to...

Time is Now for Lithium Batteries on Your Boat

Battery

Lithium batteries have far more useable capacity than lead acid; charge much, much faster; offer better support for heavy loads; are about half the weight; and have a cycle life many times that of lead acid equivalents; to name just a few attributes....

Decisions: Smoked Phish or Byrned curtains?

Ramblings

1) it has only four strings,2) you plonk along playing only one note at a time, and 3) if you make a mistake no one notices! Perfect. The choice was made. So, now that I’d settled on being a plonker, I needed to see some live action in order to analy...

Well Blow Me Down!

Refrigeration

This bit may be a tad difficult to comprehend, but whereas the heat that the evaporator removes from a fridge or freezer is very cold, that very same heat magically transforms to become very warm at the condenser. That’s why I love this stuff ...

Frozen Dreams

Air Conditioning

For those of you snowbirds currently basking in warmth and lathered up with sunblock, this will serve to reinforce the notion that you shouldn’t start heading north anytime soon. In the years leading up to 2019 BC (Before Covid), boats would be sold ...

Full Speed Ahead!

Air Conditioning

While perusing the promotional material published by what appears to be the sole manufacturer of marine variable speed self-contained air conditioning units, the claim of 50% energy savings leaped out at me right away. But on reading the small print,...

10 Steps to a Perfect Refrigerant Charge

Refrigeration

2. Do not have someone attempt to asses refrigerant charge level by weight. These small systems contain a ridiculously small amount of refrigerant, and it is impossible to weigh in refrigerant accurately, especially if the boat is rocking. Moreover, ...

I Think, Therefore I Am ... I think

Ramblings

Just imagine: a glob of air is sitting there in the sky, just enjoying life and looking at the clouds, when all of a sudden it is assaulted by a blade travelling at high speed and is split into two air masses. The lower air mass sees the wing passing...

Making the Most of Bank Charges

Battery

Charging Diodes. Many vessels have separate battery banks for the house supply, engine start, thruster, etc. Shore power chargers typically have multiple outputs, each isolated from the other so that separate banks can be charged simultaneously, but ...

Parallel Thinking Blown Sky High

Battery

In “traditional” flooded batteries, two lead plates, one positive and one negative in each cell, are suspended dangling in a bath of electrolyte with nothing but liquid between them. In this type of battery, there is indeed the possibility that the p...

Beware of the Speedy Meanie!

Refrigeration

Observing these two got me to thinking how this speed disparity relates to the variable speed compressors we have now in both refrigeration and air conditioning systems. If there’s not much work to do, then why not slow the compressor down and run it...

Mummy, the batteries have melted!

Battery

Apart from greatly reducing their life-span, storing and/or cycling batteries in elevated temperatures can greatly enhance the possibility of a thermal runaway situation in AGM batteries, as can using incorrect charging parameters. But thermal runawa...

Start 'Em Up!

Air Conditioning

Part 1 Electrical motors powered from single phase alternating current (AC) have one big dilemma, and it’s because the current is alternating between positive and negative. If no provision is made to encourage it to do otherwise, the rotor of the mot...

Solar Myth Busters - Revisited

Solar

MYTH 1 - Glass solar panels with aluminum frames are the most efficient. BUST - No, no, no! The type of cell determines how efficient a solar panel is, not how it is constructed. Coastal Climate Control offers three types of panels: aluminum-framed g...

Magnetic Personalities

Ramblings

Outwardly, the only sign of anything untoward was a small blister in the top foil, but an autopsy revealed a connecting track beneath the blister reduced to cinders, and two tiny zap holes in the aluminum backing plate. Where the lightning went from ...

A Burning Desire to Help

Ramblings

On one such occasion the tranquility was interrupted by the sound of emergency vehicles; mainly fire trucks judging by the sirens. Something was afoot close by, and human nature being what it is, I searched the internet for a means to listen in to th...

Fake News in The Pipeline

Ramblings

There were all sorts of strange war-related artifacts left around after the second world war in the area of south east England where I grew up. This was in southeastern Kent, which was given the nickname of Hellfire Corner due to its proximity to the...

Something's Bugging Me

Ramblings

In my first season running a sailboat in The Caribbean I was faced with the dilemma of an approaching hurricane out in The Atlantic. It was September after all, so not unexpected, and it was forecast to eventually veer northwards and again not bother...

Get used to it

Ramblings

When backing up I’m nonchalantly expecting a radar device to start beeping if I get too close to anything, a luxury that’s usually non-existent in the level of rental car I’m lumbered with. The first sounds of contact I’d hear would be the scrunch of...

On the Road Again

Ramblings

Interest was high, but the level of customer participation, the actual act of making a purchase, is too early to gauge. There were many “oohs” and “ahs” for the Solara walk-on panel that we had laid flat at the foot of the steps on our display, and a...

Air Conditioning + Your boat + Batteries = Great Summer!

Air Conditioning

Any air conditioning unit can run from lead-acid or lithium batteries through an inverter. The issue is whether this is practical and economical considering batteries will need to be recharged at some point. For overnight use in sleeping cabins, wher...

Trouble in Paradise

Refrigeration

A capillary tube (cap tube) refrigeration system contains a very precise amount of refrigerant. There is no reservoir or holding tank for excess refrigerant, and over-charging will inevitably result in poor performance. The system will be either perf...

Holiday Spirit

Ramblings

If past years are anything to go by, this office will soon be awash with requests to supply parts and organize repairs to systems on moving-targets of vessels that are flitting from island to island day by day. Our efforts will no doubt be exacerbate...

Breaking News!

Refrigeration

These bills would also require manufacturers of high-end appliances to allow any service company to repair their products, not just those sanctioned by the manufacturer. This sort of regulation will be welcomed wholeheartedly by geeks like me who jus...

What a Week

Ramblings

Commissioning Week is a week of events, almost entirely within the Academy grounds, that culminate with the Midshipmen 1st Class graduating and receiving their commissions as Ensigns in the US Navy, or 2nd Lieutenants in the US Marine Corps. For the ...

A Good Whacking

Refrigeration

The Frigoboat Keel Cooler refrigeration system is a case in point. The actual Keel Cooler component is a condenser/heat exchanger that is the external component of a thru-hull fitting and is mounted on the exterior of the boat, under water, and is de...

Introducing RELiON Lithium batteries

Battery

We are proud to offer RELiON Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, dedicated to high performance energy solutions for serious yacht and RV owners. They are available in standard industry sizes. Custom sizes available upon request. These batteries ar...

Air It Up!

Air Conditioning

We can break down the process into three stages: Application – Installation – Operation Application: Do you want it to be a meat locker down below at noon on a 100° day? Or do you just want a bit of cool, dehumidified air for sleeping at night? Hopef...

Solbian Solar Panels on Hylas 54 Genevieve

Solar

So, we had a curved frame of stainless rail welded to the top of the Simpson Davits which matches the existing Hylas rails. Over that is a GRP [fiberglass] panel color matched to deck GRP to act as structure to attach the semi flexible solar panels (...

RIP Holding Plates

Refrigeration

Holding plates are basically a tank containing a solution that is designed to thaw at a particular temperature. Included also is a coil of tubing through which a refrigerant circulates at very low temperatures when the refrigeration system is running...

Shining Some Light on Lithium Battery Systems

Battery

Prismatic cells with lithium iron phosphate chemistry (LiFePO4) come in many shapes and forms, but a popular size is of around 100 amp/hours with a voltage of 3.2 volts or thereabouts, so four are required wired in series to make a nominal 12 volt 10...

Won't Get Cooled Again

Air Conditioning

This article will focus on small air-conditioning systems that are suitable for sleeping cabins or for small boat applications. With a small air conditioning unit, the DC current draw is low enough that they can usually be powered by an engine altern...

Love Hertz

Air Conditioning

Typically, onboard generators are synchronous devices. In other words, they must run at a fixed speed to be able to maintain the correct frequency of alternating current (AC). That’s 60 Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second, in North America, and 50 Hz in...

Hurry Up and Wait

Ramblings

And that is what I got, a long wait, only realizing the joke when the sniggering reached a level that triggered my suspicions. Another long wait back then was at Easter each year preparing to launch for the yacht club’s first dinghy races of the year...

Pissing in the Harbor

Power Basement

A Re-Volting Thought

High From Amsterdam

Off to the Moon? Don’t forget the Sextant!

Gauge Talk

Charge of the Lightweight Brigade

What a Wallop!

Diodes DeMystified

Opps My Mistake!

Current Affairs - Making the Right Connections

My Mate Chris

Ay Caramba!

A Walk on the Wild Side

10 Signs it’s Time to Replace Your Boat’s Refrigeration

Sun-Day Racers

Flexible Solar Panels - Are They Any Good?

Time is Now for Lithium Batteries on Your Boat

Decisions: Smoked Phish or Byrned curtains?

Well Blow Me Down!

Frozen Dreams

Full Speed Ahead!

10 Steps to a Perfect Refrigerant Charge

I Think, Therefore I Am ... I think

Making the Most of Bank Charges

Parallel Thinking Blown Sky High

Beware of the Speedy Meanie!

Mummy, the batteries have melted!

Start 'Em Up!

Solar Myth Busters - Revisited

Magnetic Personalities

A Burning Desire to Help

Fake News in The Pipeline

Something's Bugging Me

Get used to it

On the Road Again

Air Conditioning + Your boat + Batteries = Great Summer!

Trouble in Paradise

Holiday Spirit

Breaking News!

What a Week

A Good Whacking

Introducing RELiON Lithium batteries

Air It Up!

Solbian Solar Panels on Hylas 54 Genevieve

RIP Holding Plates

Shining Some Light on Lithium Battery Systems

Won't Get Cooled Again

Love Hertz

Hurry Up and Wait

View All Posts →

Stats &

Fun Facts

Estimated Aquatic Animals in the Ocean

Boats 131' or Longer are Considered "Super Yachts"

Sailboats Manufactured in North America Per Year

Cruising vs. Retirement Home

A 2004 study has confirmed that joining a cruise ship after retirement is cheaper than retiring to a retirement home.

Good Luck and Bad Luck Omens on a Boat...

17th Century Vessel - The Only One of it's Kind

Boats Have a Life Expectancy

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Overview of Marine Refrigeration from Coastal Climate Control Marine and RV refrigeration offered by Coastal Climate Control and made by Frigoboat and Vitrifrigo in both DC and AC/DC power supplies.
Vitrifrigo offers a wide range of Black Cabinets and Stainless Read More

CoastalClimate

Coastal Climate Control offers MarinAire and Climma Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of Marine Air Conditioning.
MarinAire 110v and 230v water-cooled compact air conditioning, from 6,000btu to 24,000btu. Manufactured with great attention to Read More

CoastalClimate

Coastal Climate Control offers Solara and Solbian solar panels Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of solar panels - Solara from Germany and Solbian from Italy. These are both designed for the rugged environment of mobile applications - your boat, car, RV o Read More

CoastalClimate

Coastal Climate Control offers - Firefly and RELiON Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of batteries: Firefly and RELiON
RELiON are LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) Batteries made in standard sizes to easily fit in the space you have available f Read More

CoastalClimate

Frigoboat Keel Cooler demonstration This demonstration rig has been used at many boat shows over the years as well as for training and sales purposes. The water in the fish tank can be set to any temperature, and is cooled by operating Read More

CoastalClimate

RELiON Charging Video This video shows what charging voltages and routines are neccessary when changing to RELiON LiFePO4 batteries. Also includes advice on shore-power chargers, alternators, combiners and battery-to-batte Read More

CoastalClimate

RELiON LiFePo4 introduction from Coastal Climate Control. Introduction to RELiON lithium iron phosphate batteries supplied by Coastal Climate Control.

CoastalClimate

MarinAire 16K Start Load Tests Results of tests to see how a MarinAire 16,000 Btu marine air conditioning unit starts on mains power and from a Honda 2000i portable generator. Tests are done with and without EasyStart compressor so Read More

CoastalClimate

“I must frame this review in light of the pandemic. Jeannette and I drove to Coastal's Office, calling on the phone we were introduced to Maureen. She explained their new policies so we placed our order through the glass, paying over the phone... Maureen was a jewel, helping us every step of the way.“

“These folks will bend over backwards to make things work for your systems. They have the critical parts and they know how they work. Great customer service. Nothing in life is perfect but with integrity, knowledge and patience you can solve the hardest problems.“

“I had a fabulous experience purchasing marine batteries from Coastal Climate Control. Maureen was a pleasure to work with - lightening fast responses, courteous, professional and knowledgeable. When I picked up the batteries, the staff went above and beyond by confirming the charge on the batteries and helping me get them into my car. I will be repeat customer for sure!!“

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