Just one additional note.  I completely agree will Bill's description and will add the following.  On my Amel SM 2000  SN 335, 160 l/hr Dessalator water maker, the high pressure valve on the control board will occasionally seep a little salt water.  Left unattended, this seep, yields salt crystals below the knob.  This valve has a small packing or "gland" that surrounds the valve shaft along with a "packing nut" to adjust the pressure of the packing around the valve shaft.  This can be adjusted (assuming your system is the same) by removing the valve knob (unscrew the knob retaining screw and simply pull the knob off the shaft), then clean all the salt up by irrigating the area using fresh water.  Next SLIGHTLY, VERY SLIGHTLY, torque the packing nut.  It will require, in my experience less than 15 degrees of rotation.  Replace everything and operate the system.  If the seep continues, repeat the process incrementally until the seep ceases.  This doesn't mitigate the possibility that you need a new valve, but it is cheap and easy and should be the first step. 

Sincerely, 

Gary S. Silver

Amel SM 2000  Hull # 335

s/v Liahon

On the hard in Antigua

---In amelyachtowners@..., <kanalmamman@...> wrote:

Thanks Bill and Ian!

Will follow your advice

/Ann-Sofie

Skickat från min iPad

15 nov 2013 kl. 08:50 skrev "Ian & Judy Jenkins" <ianjudyjenkins@...>:

 

Hi Ann- Sophie,
                             We have had both problems on Pen Azen. A new tap can be bought from the Desalator agent in the UK --I will send on his details. We use this tap to check on the quality of water and after a while the washer on the tap perishes and it drips. We haven't found a way to replace the washer.
  The drip from the pressure knob is indeed salt and it will corrode the knob. If you detach the knob ( undo the small nut in its centre and it pulls off ) you will find a nut behind it. If you gently tighten that nut it presses on a rubber washer that acts as a seal and the seal will work once more.
   Are you about to cross the pond ?
  Fair winds,
Ian and Judy,  Pen Azen, SM 302, Ragusa, Sicily

---

To: amelyachtowners@...
From: yahoogroups@...
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 02:09:48 +0000
Subject: Re: [Amel] RE: Desalinator D50 from 1998

Ann-Sofie

I am fairly certain that the salt under the knob is from a slight leak from the pressure regulator, when the system is off...from the looks of accumulation of salt, I believe it is leaking one drop at a time. I do not think it is leaking when you are making water. The fact that you have a small leak here is not important, but you should look at this valve from the back side to see if the valve is OK. On my 160l in #387 you can see the watermaker control unit from the back by removing a piece of plywood in the cockpit lazarette, then the back cover of the Dessalator control unit. It might be easier to remove yours from the front...I am not sure. 

If the pressure regulator (the valve that the pressure control knob is on) is leaking on the back side while making water, you need to replace it soon. If not, the small leak that you have on the front, under the knob, is not significant and could probably continue without a problem for years.

I hope this helps you.

Bill

BeBe, SM2k, #387

Currently Fethiye, Turkey

On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 2:11 PM, <kanalmamman@...> wrote:

 

I had to put the photos on our blog
http://sailinglife.se/2013/11/14/desalinator-d501998-watermaker/
 
Don't answer on the blog, place your answer here on the forum instead. More easy to follow then.
 
/Ann-Sofie
S/Y Lady Annila SM #232
still at the Canary Islands..... 

---In amelyachtowners@..., <kanalmamman@...> wrote:

Sorry I was to fast to click on "send"......
 
I am Ann-Sofie on Lady Annila SM232
 
But I have to solv the photo thing because I can't up load to the album. I will come back with an address where you can watch the  pictures.
 
/Ann-Sofie
S/Y LadyAnnila
SM 232
present at the Canary Islands

---In amelyachtowners@..., <yahoogroups@...> wrote:

OK, I thought that kanalmamman looked familiar...I checked my email for kanalmamman"at"hotmail.com and found that it belongs to 

Jonas Svanberg and Ann-Sofie S/Y Lady Annila an Amel Super Maramu,#232 and the last I heard, they were in Spain.

Jonas, if you are still in Spain, there are 5 distributors of Dessalator in Spain. Go to http://www.dessalator.com/ and click on Agents for a list.

Hope this helps,

Bill

BeBe, SM2k, #387

On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 12:43 PM, Bill & Judy Rouse <yahoogroups@...> wrote:

First, I do not know who you are. 

Second, I do not know your boat model or hull number, nor do I know your current location. 

Third, I paged through all of the photo albums and could not find an album named Desalinator D50 1998. I did look at the album we set up for Dessalator and found no photo there. If you could copy and paste a hyperlink in your message, it will save those trying to help you some time.

We all try to help each other, but we all need to help the helpers by trying to give accurate and complete information.

Now that I have all of that off of my chest, let me see if I can help you.

1. Dessalator has a fairly good website in 5 languages at http://www.dessalator.com/. If you have not already checked their website, you should do so.
2. You can ask Dessalator any question directly by clicking on the contact tab on their website, or you might try this link to that page: http://www.dessalator.fr/en/contact/?PHPSESSID=but1skluq01a7aautbg541f2j7
3. I think you may be referring to salt under the pressure regulator knob. If so, the pressure regulator is probably leaking...this may be a problem, or not...

How the water maker works and the role of the pressure regulator:

The Reverse Osmosis salt water membrane looks like a very thick pipe; as water passes through from the outside of the membrane to the hollow inside, it loses most of the disolved solids (salt).

The pressure regulator causes the increase in pressure in the water at the outside of the membrane by closing off some of the outlet of salt water. The more you close off the outlet, the higher the pressure gets going to the outside of the membrane. Water passes through the membrane from the outside to the inside shedding about 99% of the dissolved solids...these dissolved solids wash off of the outside of the membrane inside pressure tube with other water and it all passes through that pressure regulator. 

Simply stated, the pressure regulator is much like a water tap. When it is wide open, water flows through unobstructed and no significant pressure builds up in the membrane pressure tube. When you start closing the pressure regulator, the flow of the water is restricted and pressure builds on the outside of the membrane forcing water through the membrane (Reverse Osmosis). 

Always turn the pressure regulator completely anti-clockwise when you finish making water, and always  increase and decrease the pressure slowly.

I am not familiar with the D50, but I have seen a Dessalator pressure regulator assembly made out of dissimilar metals which eventually corroded enough to leak on the pressure side. If you have pickled your watermaker each year since 1998, the pickling solution is caustic enough to have deteriorated that pressure regulator valve enough to create a leak.

I would remove the panel from the front or look at the panel from the rear...(again, I do not know what boat you have, but suspect it is a Super Maramu). With the system running and making water, look for leaks.

You can buy parts from Dessalator and repair it yourself, or you can use their website to locate one of their reps.

BTW, I have had a very slight leak at the pressure regulator for 3 or 4 years. When it dries, only the salt is evident.

Hope this helps you and that you will be making water soon.

Bill

BeBe, SM2k, #387

Currently Fethiye, Turkey

On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 11:50 AM, <kanalmamman@...> wrote:

 

Look at the pictures in the Album Desalinator D50 1998.
 
What can that pile of salt-looking thing be that appears under the nob that we use for managing the preassure on the watermaker.

(The pipe you can see to the left, or almost see, is our not-permanent solution for the tap where we test the water quality. It works, it is not nice but better than a tap dripping while we try to get a new one. )