Condensator Problems

[ThirdCoastSailor]

I've recently installed a condensator to pump out the AC condensate. I have two evaporators and the condensator works well when plumbed to one or the other but I cannot get it to pump out both drip pans when I 'T' them together. Has anyone else had this problem???

[deniseO30]

Pretty difficult to guess what you have without names of equipment and pictures. But! based on experience with much large equipment. If the evaporators have negative air pressure. (means the blower is pulling the air through) the water will be retained in the drain tubes. 2 Tee'd together with a common drian will be even more likely to retain the water. try a "trap" in the line before the pump. Any kind of dip or elbow that will fill with water should work the same way a sink trap works.

[svHyLyte]

The pressure drop through the venturi on the Condensator really isn't very great and may not be sufficient to overcome the head that develops in two evacuation lines similtaneously, particularly if they have substantial vertical components. Moreover, as soon as one pan clears, the vacuum will be lost entirely to the open line in that pan. The Condensator is very sensitive to the flow-rate through the discharge line such that if your pump is throwing much less than 390GPH, it's not likely to work particularly well at all. One solution would be to drain both units to a collector below deck and then have the condensator drain that. Another advantage of that is the fact that condensate will have a place to go, other than your bilge, once the A/C units are shut off. Otherwise, go with two units.

FWIW,,,

[RichH]

The "condensator" is a simple eductor (in chemical engineering speak) ... and typically they cant handle multiple 'inputs', without 'flow regulation' (same mass flow from 'both' inputs). If an eductor 'sucks air' it will 'stall'.

[deniseO30]

I do believe he means "condensation pump"

[r.furborough]

The condensator will only pull water until one of the condensate trays is empty, it will then pull air from the empty tray in preference to water from the full tray. You will need one condensator for each tray.

[sidmon]

When I installed my Condensator a few months back, I was more than a little perplexed when it pumped water back into the boat when oriented with the direction of flow correctly per the BIG RED ARROW.

When I reversed it (after sucking on the thing and realizing that the little pickup nipple was sucking on my thumb with a backwards flow) the little puppy sucked like a hungry baby.

I called Mermaid, and sure enough there was a batch of the eductor bodies that were milled backwards.

The defective ones are stamped with an "05 09" under the stamped arrow.

[sidmon]

Originally Posted by RichH

The "condensator" is a simple eductor (in chemical engineering speak) ... and typically they cant handle multiple 'inputs', without 'flow regulation' (same mass flow from 'both' inputs). If an eductor 'sucks air' it will 'stall'.

Rich, as an FYI, mine (the new one) sucks nealy all of the condensate out of the tray, sucks big pleny air until the takeup tube fills again, and then laps the water up just fine...

There are only brief moments when its actually picking up solid water.

As a matter of fact, the manual says to expect a milky appearance to the output due to air entering the stream.