Some of the top-selling marine air conditioners come from Dometic, such as the Dometic Turbo DTU, Stowaway and Envirocomfort units, so we are quite familiar with the line (for a full comparison of best marine air conditioners, see here).
If you currently have one of these self-contained units, or are interested in purchasing one, we encourage you to watch this video to get for proper marine air conditioner installation.
Steps For Dometic or Cruisair Self-Contained Marine Air Conditioner Installation – From 6,000 to 16,000 BTUs. Also U-Board Installation.
Warnings: Remember to turn off the A/C power supply on your boat before opening the electrical box. Double check that the voltage on your unit is the appropriate one for your boat (115v or 230v).
Neither Citimarine Store, nor any of it’s employees, shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein, and Citimarine Store assumes no responsibility for other’s use of the information. The information found below is not intended to replace information found in the installation or service manuals provided with the equipment.
From a 115V power source, you should have 3 wires: black, white and green. From a 230V power source you should have 3-4 wires: black or brown, red or orange, and green/yellow or bare.
115V:
- Black (active)
- White (neutral)
- Green (ground)
230V:
- Black or Brown (L1)
- Red or Orange (L2)
- Green / Green/Yellow or Bare (ground)
Once the unit is in the location you’d like, remove the cover, slide the wires through the bottom of the electrical box and proceed to make the following wire connections:
Connect the Black (115V) or Black or Black/Brown (230V) wire to L1. Screw into place.
Connect the White (115V) or Red or Orange (230V) wire to L2. Screw into place.
Connect the Green (115V) or Green or Green/Yellow or Bare (230V) wire to Ground
Connecting Pump’s Power Supply
Same rules for 115V and 230V wire insulation color apply to the pump’s wires. First slide the wires through the bottom of the box:
Connect the Black (115V) or Black or Brown (230V) wire to Pump LI.
Connect the White (115V) or Red or Orange (230V) wire to Pump L2.
Connect a 6-Pin Cruisair Display here (panel view flipped):
Connect an 8-Pin Marine Air Display here (panel view flipped). *Marine Air displays come with an integrated temperature sensor. You can remove the sensor already placed on your DTU unit (all the way to the left of the phone jack plugs here), or leave it.:
Water Hose Connection
Inflow: Line hose up towards opening at bottom of unit, tighten screw. Check the water flow labels
Outflow: Line hose up towards opening at top of unit, tighten screw. Check the water flow labels
As you can see, Dometic’s self-contained systems are not all that difficult to set up and install.
- You can find our complete line of marine AC units, including split A/C systems and water chiller systems, here: Marine Air Conditioners
Have a good one!