Hello Roy.

the later SM's don't have the water tap on the water maker control panel. It
has been relocated to the high pressure pump to make draining the oil easy.
A good idea. I never did find the tap on the control panel that useful, much
as I would have like to use it to fill the kettle with taste free water. It
s position was just too awkward. I got around this by installing a Seagull
water filter with it's own tap at the sink. There is space to drill the
fixing hole in the sink top just to the right of the existing tap, and once
fitted, water from the keel tank tastes wonderful, even when the boat is new
and the smell of the tank lining has not worn off. The filter is so fine
that even Giardia bacteria are prevented from getting through should be
unlucky enough to upload some from a shore supply.

Today I took Crusader to sea and did a test. I ran the water maker normally
then shorted the salinity sensor. Nothing happened! So it looks as if what
you said below is true. The sensor may have been deactivated in the quest
for easy maintenance. This I find quite extraordinary and if true,
irresponsible. Why disable a 'belt and braces' system for the sake of trying
to make the system appear to be trouble free?

Imagine this scenario. You are on a long ocean crossing and your membranes
go bad. The water maker keeps running as the salinity tester is deactivated,
and in the meantime you are polluting your good, and maybe only source of
drinkable water. It just not make sense to me. I just hope that my test was
not done properly, but I did try it several times. Maybe the terminals
needed to be shorted for a minimum period of time?

Surely all Amel needed to have told it's customers is that if the unit shuts
down for reasons other than over pressure or overload of the genset, check
the sensor for dirty contacts. It's extremely easy to get to and a cinch to
remove.

Roy, if you do know how to wire the salinity tester back into the circuit
board, then please let me know. I want to do this right away as I rely 100%
on RO water to fill my tank. I forgot to bring the circuit diagrams back
home with me. Maybe it's obvious what to do, but any help would be welcome.

Finally, I am glad that I have a water testing instrument. It's the only way
of being sure that your water is safe and that the membranes are in good
order.

Best Wishes

Ian Shepherd