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| The source of all problems |
It’s been awhile since
I last wrote a post in the blog. This task has been more on NaE.
I think the last time
I wrote we were still in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Since then we’ve been through a
lot, good and bad, but mostly good.
Right now we are still
in St Thomas, USVI, where we returned after a brief passage through the BVI and
St Martin. We returned to American land for several reasons, documents for the
dog (Noel) and because we are here without visa problems. NaE, due to Thai
passport, has problems in European territories, despite being married to a
European and having a daughter with European passport. Anyway, that’s how the
world is!
But this text aims to
address a problem that has plagued us since the beginning of the trip and
finally I was able to solve it. The watermaker unit never functioned as it
should be and several times we had “experts” from the brand on board
to try to solve the problem, always with diagnoses that led us to think about
buying a new one! As that was out of the question for the next few months due
to the lack of funds, I continued to insist on repairing the existing one.
This is a unit with
several years from the brand PURR (now Katadyn) that produces 80 gallons (about
300 liters) of drinking water every 24 hours. When we started the journey I did
the normal treatment that these units need after long periods of storage,
replace all the seals of the pump and did the cleaning of the two membranes.
Everything should then be ready to produce water under normal conditions.
However, the machine did not produce as it should and, from time to time, with
evidence of overheating, was stopping. The “experts” pointed to the
pump, the most expensive part of the whole set! Only here would the 3-4 thousand
dollars. But I always believed that the pump was good, no leaks and, when working,
did good quality water and with a flow within expected parameters. Water
quality also indicated that there was no problem with the membranes, another
possible cause, and each one costs $ 600! There was another element in the set,
an electric motor, similar to a starter. This, only to be sure, I decided to
take it off and take it to a workshop to check, and it came with a positive verdict
and without any failure. But even then it would stop from time to time and often.
There was always an excess of heat in the switch area and in the electric
motor, and I always suspected that was the source of all the problem, however I
didn’t know the reason why.
 |
| Unit similar to the one on S/V Dee |
After dismounting the
machine i saw a small piece that I had never noticed that was part of the
electrical system, located between the power cable coming from the batteries
and before reaching the switch. It is nothing more than a circuit breaker that
prevents overcharge, thus protecting the electric motor. I tried to remove it
and replace it with a similar, slightly stronger but still within the limits of
the electric motor, and the problem disappeared! After all was the ShortStop
15Amps that was damaged.
A possible bill of
thousands of dollars settled with 20US$! After wasting 200 or 300 with the
so-called “experts”.
Another thing I
learned was that watermaker from Katadyn (or PURR) don’t really need to use only
parts supplied by the brand at a premium price. In the replacement and attempts
to repair I ended up also replacing some of the high-pressure hoses. In the
original version they are shapped to perfectly fit the space but I tried using
hoses purchased at HomeDepot and they worked perfectly. I think they even work
better because they adjust the angles avoiding opposing forces that eventually,
over time, give place to leaks in the system.
The membranes
themselves, which Katadyn charge $ 600 each may be substituted by the standard
HomeDepot membranes, whereas high pressure pipes fit. This will be the next
step!
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Resolving Our Watermaker Problems
I last wrote a post in the blog. This task has been more on NaE.
I wrote we were still in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Since then we’ve been through a
lot, good and bad, but mostly good.
in St Thomas, USVI, where we returned after a brief passage through the BVI and
St Martin. We returned to American land for several reasons, documents for the
dog (Noel) and because we are here without visa problems. NaE, due to Thai
passport, has problems in European territories, despite being married to a
European and having a daughter with European passport. Anyway, that’s how the
world is!
address a problem that has plagued us since the beginning of the trip and
finally I was able to solve it. The watermaker unit never functioned as it
should be and several times we had “experts” from the brand on board
to try to solve the problem, always with diagnoses that led us to think about
buying a new one! As that was out of the question for the next few months due
to the lack of funds, I continued to insist on repairing the existing one.
several years from the brand PURR (now Katadyn) that produces 80 gallons (about
300 liters) of drinking water every 24 hours. When we started the journey I did
the normal treatment that these units need after long periods of storage,
replace all the seals of the pump and did the cleaning of the two membranes.
Everything should then be ready to produce water under normal conditions.
However, the machine did not produce as it should and, from time to time, with
evidence of overheating, was stopping. The “experts” pointed to the
pump, the most expensive part of the whole set! Only here would the 3-4 thousand
dollars. But I always believed that the pump was good, no leaks and, when working,
did good quality water and with a flow within expected parameters. Water
quality also indicated that there was no problem with the membranes, another
possible cause, and each one costs $ 600! There was another element in the set,
an electric motor, similar to a starter. This, only to be sure, I decided to
take it off and take it to a workshop to check, and it came with a positive verdict
and without any failure. But even then it would stop from time to time and often.
There was always an excess of heat in the switch area and in the electric
motor, and I always suspected that was the source of all the problem, however I
didn’t know the reason why.
machine i saw a small piece that I had never noticed that was part of the
electrical system, located between the power cable coming from the batteries
and before reaching the switch. It is nothing more than a circuit breaker that
prevents overcharge, thus protecting the electric motor. I tried to remove it
and replace it with a similar, slightly stronger but still within the limits of
the electric motor, and the problem disappeared! After all was the ShortStop
15Amps that was damaged.
thousands of dollars settled with 20US$! After wasting 200 or 300 with the
so-called “experts”.
learned was that watermaker from Katadyn (or PURR) don’t really need to use only
parts supplied by the brand at a premium price. In the replacement and attempts
to repair I ended up also replacing some of the high-pressure hoses. In the
original version they are shapped to perfectly fit the space but I tried using
hoses purchased at HomeDepot and they worked perfectly. I think they even work
better because they adjust the angles avoiding opposing forces that eventually,
over time, give place to leaks in the system.
themselves, which Katadyn charge $ 600 each may be substituted by the standard
HomeDepot membranes, whereas high pressure pipes fit. This will be the next
step!
Email This
BlogThis!
Share to Twitter
Share to Facebook