Marine Air Conditioning Service Intervals
The short answer
Strainer monthly through summer, more often in silty water. Filter monthly. Condensate drain flushed annually. Condenser descaled every year in the tropics and every two or three further south. A full service check annually, before the season rather than during it.
Boat AC Service Intervals — Requirements and Limitations
The strainer is the one that matters. A blocked strainer is the commonest cause of a warm cabin in Australia, and in the Brisbane River it can pack in weeks rather than seasons.
Almost everything on this list is an owner job. The one exception is anything involving refrigerant, which needs an ARCtick licence.
This page is about deciding the inspection frequency. The annual service checklist describes the work; the maintenance log records what was actually done. Start with the manufacturer’s schedule and shorten inspection intervals when debris, operating hours or observed condition justify it.
Steps for Boat AC Service Intervals
- Monthly in summer: open the seawater strainer and clean the basket.
- Monthly: wash the return-air filter and let it dry properly.
- Annually: flush the condensate drain before it blocks rather than after.
- Annually in the tropics, every two or three years in the south: descale the condenser.
- Annually: check the pump, the mounts, the hose clamps and the seacock.
- Before a lay-up: flush the seawater loop with fresh water.
Related Sizing, Installation and Service Guides
Each of these answers a different part of the same problem.
- all fourteen maintenance jobseach written as a procedure
- the annual checklistthe whole list in one place
- if the boat is up northa different interval entirely
- what neglect leads totwenty faults, most of them preventable