ASHP + Maritime Location

[Jon Glanfield]

We have been asked to install an ASHP in a maritime location in North Wales. We have some concerns about the humidity levels at low ambients which may increase defrosts, and also the effect of the saline environment on the outdoor aspect of the installation.

We have spoken to manufacturers who are recommending a Blygold coating on the HX and a lacquer spray application to any PCB along with extensive globs of grease on any obvious moving parts (ie fan motor).

We have also spoken to Environ about their enclosures, which they believe would assist, but are still la bit nervous, has anyone got any real life experiences to share?

Cheers

Jon

[Tradewinds]

Hi Jon,

My background is Oil & Gas Industry which comes up against some pretty harsh conditions. Ambient temperatures anywhere from -50'C to +40'C and a very harsh saline environment. All marine systems that I come across are made of stainless steel with treated HX fins (either coated or electro-tinned). If it's water cooled condensers then the end plates must be made of CuNi Copper Nickel or they simply wont last. Electrical components are generally standard off the shelf items but the stainless steel enclosure would protect them from the environment.

I would question how long a standard ASHP would last before it was corroded by the salt environment and leaked refrigerant to atmosphere. You might be lucky to see that HX last for more than 1 year.

Another problem I have faced is when standard flexible "annaconda's" are install they always seem to leak where the copper, brass and stainless mesh connect. I think the marine ones come plastic coated.

Globs of grease come as standard for all move parts.lol

[Bigfreeze]

We have units running about 50m from the atlantic coast for the last 6yrs without problem, with just a coated coil. Depends on the manufacturer

[mad fridgie]

Most of the population of NZ live within 2km of the sea, which the manufactures call marine zone, and can limit warranties, With japanese brands, we tend to find only the ones with 500m tend show significant short term corrossion. We have founda product called Nylex, a clear lacker used in the aircraft industry. (quite expensive) and not found at the hardware store. Even the shyte chinese units do not rot away when sprayed.
Stip down prior to install, spray all. After install spray access areas and joints between the sheet metal casing.
Defrosting, not an issue, there maybe a biggish difference in RH levels at lower ambinets, but the actual amount of moisture change is fairly minimal (actually is an advantage in many conditions, high SST, due to better heat transfer)