-----Original Message-----
From: amelyachtowners@...
[mailto:amelyachtowners@...] On Behalf Of amelliahona
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:24 AM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Dessalator Water Maker Issues & New Photos

--- In amelyachtowners@..., eric <kimberlite@...> wrote:

24 Feb 2006

Eric:

I purchased 3/8 inch quick connect fittings at Home Depot (white plastic,
push together
fitting that are good to 100 psi) and cut the blue 10 mm product water line.
There is
virtually no pressure on this line . The sensor for the EC system that I
mentioned
previously plumbs into a 1/2 in pipe thread fitting. I bought a 1/2 inch
PVC pipe "T"
fitting, and plumbed it with the quick connects. So the sensor is just
immersed in the
product water as it flows by. I'll post photos after my next trip. I took
220 volt 50 Hertz
Power from the circuit breaker for the water maker.

I have noticed that upon startup the EC briefly goes to somewhere above 2000

microsiemens but then within 30 seconds it comes down to about 350. If you
run the
watermaker below green range pressure the EC is actually higher than if run
in the normal
operating range. I don't quite understand that but it is consistent. I
inquired of the Wafer
Fire and Ice people that I bought my membranes from and they tell me that
this is normal.
They call it TDS creep. Evidently when the system is shut down the high TDS
on the sea
water side draws the product water back across the membrane by osmotic
pressure. This
then concentrates the solulte in the product water side as more and more
water is drawn
back across the membranes. The longer the system sits idle the more TDS
creep there is.
So the initial minute or two of product water will be high in TDS (EC).
Perhaps that is why
the Dessalator system had a timer. I have spent hours corresponding with
Dessalator and
they will not provide me with schematics or a logic diagram for the system.
I plan to take
detail digital photos of the circuit boards next month when I get on the
boat and reverse
engineer the electronics. It doesn't appear to be that complicated.
Dessalator says that
they do have spare logic circuit boards for sale and will install one if I
ship my system to
them but they at the same time make no guarantees that the system will
behave as
advertised even with a new board installed. This is about the goofiest
company policy that
I have ever run across.

Regards, Gary

Gary,
How did you hook the salinity sensor into the watermaker output?
Fair Winds,
Eric
Amel Super Maramu #376 Kimberlite

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