michael winand
I would like to point out that the pipe is not pvc. These are a polymer that is heat welded. I would not recommend pvc in the engine room. It's ok for a drain. Regards Michael Nebo sm251
On Sat, 29 Aug 2020 at 12:37 am, CW Bill Rouse <brouse@...> wrote: Porter,
This is a photo of the Amel 50 saltwater manifold. If I were you, I would do something like this in PVC: |
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CW Bill Rouse
Amel Owners Yacht School
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Address:
720 Winnie, Galveston Island, Texas 77550
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Paul. We concerns of a plastic manifold... Or a plastic sea chest with a fire! Wow. There are critical concerns with every boat for sure. Or a crack in the Seachest lid! We have replacements. The boat did not come with one. After sailing for a while and letting the mind wander I think of all kinds of scenarios. The sea chest lid threads get screwed up.... Extra o rings? We got some but... One can go on and on. You’re line of questioning is a good one. What would Amel say?
Lets hope we never have an ER fire!
Porter Porter McRoberts S/V IBIS WhatsApp:+1 754 265 2206On Aug 27, 2020, at 1:27 PM, Teun BAAS <teun@...> wrote:
Last paragraph Porter’s Email: attached is the part.
April/May 2018 it broke off completely on AMELIT; this is the replacement part I got from AMEL.
I noticed the new unit “sweating” & oxidizing rather quickly; it almost looked like 2 different metals were used. In July/August 2019, in VANUATU, checking & prepping
the boat for the trip to the SOLOMONS, my local mechanic Matthieu & I decided to remove this unit completely and replace with a plastic (PVC???) self built unit which has been doing great with no “sweating” at all.
When I asked Thierry (AMEL SAV) this was his reply:
QUOTE
To answer your question this manifold is custom made by Amel . The welding between brass fitting and copper pipe is carefully done and there is no risk of leakage.
UNQUOTE
I have also been planning to redo everything along the A50/60 concept with individual shut off valves for each downstream line.
Best Regards Teun
SV AMELIT A54 #128
I am stuck & bored
☹ and have been cruising on my motorcycle (March/April) all over BAJA CALIFORNIA
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AMELIT is in storage on the hard in COOMERA (near BRISBANE) QLD AUSTRALIA and now watched by fellow AMEL owners Sue & Brian MITCHELL (SV LOLA)
August 27, 2020
16:20:07
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This is indeed a serious issue.
We had the initial bronze manifold on IBIS. Looked horrible and so when we ordered our arch from Turkey had a stainless replacement manifold constructed. About 2 years ago I changed the bronze one, with significant corrosion to the stainless
replacement. One year after replacement upon inspection in NZ I found a small pit and a leak. It was in NZ that I had the resources to build a new manifold out of plastic. I had reservations about the material (plastic vs metal) but recall from an A55 that
I believe the stock manifold is plastic on the A55. Encouraged by the chandlery in Opua I built a plastic one. It took a couple of days, a lot of measuring and 5200. I put in isolation valves. I think it is far better than the original. I’d encourage any others
who have the resources of a nearby good plumbing chandlery to think about it. One of the very cool parts of the A55 is the ability to isolate and turn of seawater to specific downstream applications. (Don’t have to turn off the refrigerator to work on the
AC pump)
I think we’re a lot safer now. I repaired the stainless manifold and keep as a spare, but would be lothe to return to it.
Keep in mind there is another smaller manifold (of which we also keep a spare) starbord of the seachest that distributes to the main engine, and then to the distribution manifold via a (formerly iffy) looking hose. That manifold could also
easily fail. Amel has replacements.
On Aug 27, 2020, at 3:38 AM, Paul Dowd and Sharon Brown <paul.dowd@...> wrote:
Jamie,
I built a new one from off-the-shelf bronze fittings and a short piece of reinforced hose in the middle. Two years on and no problems, and it will be much easier to repair next time as it can be taken apart in
the middle before pulling the parts out which is much easier than getting the original out.
I would also be interested if anyone else has adopted this solution and how long it has lasted.
Cheers,
Paul
S/Y Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98 - Grenada
I want to report a serious issue regarding the raw-water manifold that feeds the refrigerator, anchor wash, AC, and watermaker pumps on my A54. As I was servicing the sea chest strainer and cleaning out the clogged hoses, the nipple connection
feeding the refrigerator pump broke off from the manifold. It actually appears to have been cracked already and was essentially sucking in some air with the cooling water. You can tell that when you hear a slight gurgling sound at the discharge thru-hull -
initially I thought it was a pump problem related to insufficient cooling water through the main system strainer. Luckily I was on board at the time - if not, seawater may have poured into the engine room relying on only the automatic bilge pump to keep the
water out. If the water ingress had been more than the bilge pump could discharge, the boat might have sunk (a very scary thought!).
I removed the manifold - no easy task, as it is buried behind the hoses, wires, and the cockpit scupper. The manifold appears to be made of bronze, but there was some external corrosion evident at the joint between the refrigerator connection and the main manifold
tubing. It is likely that the corrosion is far worse inside the manifold, and that is hard to see when there is a lot of muck building up in the tubing. Very probably, the other nipples have similar corrosion issues inside.
So, I am now in the process of trying to replace the seawater manifold. I have 2 options: the first is to replace in kind, either custom built in a local fab shop or ordered through Amel; the second is to build one out of bronze fittings, pipe, and hose sections.
I am not sure if any local shops can work with bronze, but I am investigating that possibility first. I am certain that Amel had these things built specifically for the A54 and maybe the SM or even the A55 - I am not sure if it is common to all models, but
I question whether Amel could still source a replacement. The advantage to an in-kind replacement is that it would be a drop-in and also be smaller and lighter. The advantage to a manifold built from fittings is that I can install shut-off valves for each
feed circuit, allowing me to isolate if there is a problem with one of the systems and retain the other systems in operation while I service the failed system. I like that concept the best, as many times I have to work on one of the feeders, while having to
shut down everything to do it via the main in-line valve. By the way, that valve also looks suspect to me and I will be replacing it.
So, I am passing on my experience to the group as a reminder to check this manifold on a periodic basis. It is hard to see internal corrosion, but it is clear that even bronze will eventually fail. Phantom is now 13 years old, so maybe I was due for replacement.
Has anyone else had this failure, and if so, what was your best solution to replace? Has anyone attempted to source from Amel?
Thanks,
Jamie Wendell
Phantom, A54 #44
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Cheers
Paul
Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98
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