Good day to all Sharki owners,

I have made the following additions to Zephyr that may be of interest to some of you. As all three projects took some thinking and design time I will be pleased to share what information I have.

1) Fit additional autopilot drive. Raymarine Type 2 short linear drive fitted to rudder with changeover switch.

2) Fit 2 x 80w solar panels on swivelling/sliding clamps to rails aft.

3) Fit cockpit enclosure with folding stainless steel framework.

Regards
Graham
Sharki 181 Zephyr

Hi Kent:

Do you have the original Dessalator control board or the new board? You can tell as follows; the original board doesn't work to measure salinity and doesn't have auto flush, whereas the new board has an auto flush feature and actually will shut the system down if there is high salinity in the product water. You need to verify which board you have (the one depicted in the photos section is the original. The new board has a different component layout. Additionally you need to verify if the brochure you downloaded was for the original or new control board as I assure you that there are no circuits on the original control board that sense pressure. As originally configured the only indication of pressure are the two gauges on the control panel, one measuring feed pump pressure and the other measuring membrane housing pressure. I don't know if the new control board incorporates a pressure sensor or not since I don't have that board. If you have the original board, it sounds like it is time to upgrade to the new board (About $750 last time I checked). On the original control panel, the amber lamp is an LED and so doesn't make any sound when blinking. The clicking you are hearing is undoubtedly one of the relays on the control board (located behind the control panel and accessed via the cockpit port lazarette, see photos section) that is opening and closing from some faulty circuit. Try recycling the system a couple of times and if it doesn't correct itself I would spring for the new board. The blinking and clicking has nothing to do with salinity or pressure, it is a faulty circuit (in my opinion). There are three relays on the control board. One controls the low pressure pump by controlling a large control relay in the control box, one controls the high pressure pump by similarly controlling a large relay in the control box, and one controls the bypass solenoid that sits on the top of the plumbing next to the fresh water flow tube (see pictures in the Photos Section under my file on the Dessalator Water Maker). If the pumps are operating normally then the most likely relay clicking is the relay that controls the bypass solenoid. Gently tapping on the bypass solenoid or the relay might be a trouble shooting possibility. CAUTION, there are both 24 VDC and 220 VAC electricity in the control box, don't kill yourself if you aren't comfortable and knowledgable working on these types of circuits.

By all accounts the new board actually works as it is supposed to, whereas the original control board was totally bogus and didn't do anything other than sequence by a timer the start up sequence of the various pumps.

Gary Silver
s/v Liahona Amel SM 200 Hull # 335
Farmington UT

--- In amelyachtowners@..., "Kent" <karkauai@> wrote:

Hi Amel family. KRISTY (1999 SM 243) has been idle in Brunswick, GA for the last 3 months. I've been flushing the watermaker membranes weekly as I have done in the past without problems. I finally got to take her out into some clean water this weekend, and when I turned on the watermaker the amber light on the control panel started blinking and clicking. All info I had at the time didn't tell me what the problem was, but since then I have downloaded the brochure from Dessalator's website. It says that a blinking yellow light means low pressure and that I should just crank up the pressure. I've always turned the unit on with the pressure reading zero and have never gotten this blinking light before. It's always run for two minutes with the solid yellow light, then switched to "good" with solid green light.

The brochure I downloaded just says to turn up the pressure, but since I wasn't doing anything different I was concerned that it might be something else. I checked the sensor on the fresh water side of the membranes and it seemed to be clean.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Kent Robertson
S/V KRISTY 1999 Amel SM #243

Hi all, I would like to change the oil in the gearbox of the desalator duo HP pump. Does anyone know what grade of oil to use? The gearbox of a similar pump I had in a different application used quite a light oil, SAE 20 if I remember correctly.
Regards
Danny
SM 299 Ocean Pearl
Currently near Denerau Fiji  

Hi Amel family. KRISTY (1999 SM 243) has been idle in Brunswick, GA for the last 3 months. I've been flushing the watermaker membranes weekly as I have done in the past without problems. I finally got to take her out into some clean water this weekend, and when I turned on the watermaker the amber light on the control panel started blinking and clicking. All info I had at the time didn't tell me what the problem was, but since then I have downloaded the brochure from Dessalator's website. It says that a blinking yellow light means low pressure and that I should just crank up the pressure. I've always turned the unit on with the pressure reading zero and have never gotten this blinking light before. It's always run for two minutes with the solid yellow light, then switched to "good" with solid green light.

The brochure I downloaded just says to turn up the pressure, but since I wasn't doing anything different I was concerned that it might be something else. I checked the sensor on the fresh water side of the membranes and it seemed to be clean.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Kent Robertson
S/V KRISTY 1999 Amel SM #243

Hello Stefano, Sorry, no I have not posted any pics and now cannot do so as we are in Malta and the boat is in Marina di Ragusa, Sicily.
However there is nothing complicated about it. I just took the passerelle to a workshop dealing in aluminium welding and told them what I wanted, i.e. a two step extension put into the centre maintaining the curved profile. I think that they may have inserted some short aluminium rods or pipes inside the tubes to add strength The original steps were put into the new centre steps and I made new ones to go at the top of the ladder so that they do not go in the water when in use.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes, Anne and John, Bali Hai, SM2K 319

From: stefano biffi
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2012 2:22 PM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: Re: [Amel] boomerang davits and longer passerelle/gangplank

hi john did you post any picture of your smart/longer passerelle? I tried to find in the web,no bingo done. thanks
stefano

N'EVEREST
SM185 in Bocca di Magra

________________________________
Da: Anne and John Hollamby <mailto:annejohnholl%40gmail.com>
A: mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com
Inviato: Domenica 16 Settembre 2012 12:19
Oggetto: Re: [Amel] boomerang davits and longer passerelle/gangplank

Hello Attilio and Maria,
Thanks for your message. One thing I forgot to mention was that we made a
new board to fit the longer passarelle. It is marine ply and to make it long
enough we added another piece attached with brass hinges on the underside
and fixed with countersunk machine screws and and nuts. Thus it folds back
and opens up when fitted in place so it is slotted in at both ends. It is
made non slip with two strips of white non slip adhesive tape running the
full length We have an elastic line to hook over the board as the first one
we made blew away one night never to be seen again.

Regards, Anne and John, Bali Hai, SM319

-----Original Message-----
From: Attilio Siviero YAHOO
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 6:06 PM
To: mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com
Cc: Buttignol ssa
Subject: Re: [Amel] boomerang davits and longer gangplank

Hello, Anne and John, extremely grateful for the help and the very accurate
explanation.

The matter to extend the passerella (gangplank) was already in my mind. Also
the matter to use dyneema and a spacer, that I already got.

Also useful the suggestion to use the red line to hoist dinghy+motor, but
normally we hoist the motor by a separate small davit on stern starboard
side. We have a 2.7m Honda dinghy and a 5hp 4-strokes Honda motor, some 30kg
weight.

Thanks a lot again, fair winds

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila"

Il giorno 15/set/2012, alle ore 15:06, Anne and John Hollamby
<mailto:annejohnholl%40gmail.com> ha scritto:

Hello Attilio and Maria,
The gangplank is not really long enough for mooring stern-to possibly
because it was not updated when the tube size on inflatables was increased
in the late eighties/nineties. The owner of SM Galaxie increased the
length
by two steps and I copied him. It is supported by what we call the red
line
which is the one attached to the mizzen mast at the spreader on a block.
The
red line is dyneema and 8mm which is more than strong enough. The red line
is attached to a spacer so that there are two lines going down to the end
of
the gangplank via a piece of wood to open the gap between them. These
attach
to the gangplank on U-bolts a piece of teak which is wider than the plank
and secured with saddle clips.
Our dinghy is a Honwav 30 and weighs 45 kg and this is secured to our
davits
on 4 part blocks with a jam cleat welded on to the davit. The davit itself
is supported on 6 part tackles on blocks with jam cleats on the deck. It
is
hard to hoist the dinghy on these but it becomes impossible if we want to
hoist it with a 15 HP 2 stroke motor in place. However it is lifted with
great ease by by using the two red lines from the gangplank and shackling
them on to the ends of the davits which are then lowered right down to the
the blocks on the tackle and then lifting everything on the red line
either
by winding it up by hand on the mizzen outhaul winch or, as I am in my
eighties, on the main sheet winch.
We also use the mainsheet winch to hoist the dinghy on the red line so
that
we can clean the dinghy or let it down on the aft cabin top for longer
passages or over wintering. We hope this helps!

Best wishes, Anne and John, Bali
Hai, SM2K 319

-----Original Message-----
From: Attilio Siviero YAHOO
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2012 5:47 AM
To: mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Amel] boomerang davits

Thanks Richard, not useful but encouraging ;-)

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila" in Monfalcone IT

Il giorno 11/set/2012, alle ore 20:34, Richard03801
<mailto:richard03801%40yahoo.com>
ha scritto:

We have those on our SM with 4:1 blocks thay work very well

Regards

Richard Piller

Cell 603 767 5330

On Sep 10, 2012, at 12:47, Attilio Siviero YAHOO
<mailto:attilio.siviero%40yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi all,

I am just thinking to fit on my Santorin a couple of davits similar to
the ones made by a workshop in La Rochelle, and called Boomerang.

I have seen several SMs with those davits, and I know that also some
Santorins has been fitted with same davits, obviously adapted to the
different size of the stern.

Now I would like to know for a 2.7m tender (Honda) which tackles (with
triple blocks: we are getting old...) are normally used for these
davits? I think that a tackle with blocks of 45mm dia, and 10mm rope
(working load of the blocks 450kg) should be sufficient. Naturally,
one
triple block should be with cam-cleat.

And how long is the tackle completely closed. This is to position
correctly the holding shackle.

If anybody with a SM or a Santorin has these davits, maybe he can give
me this info/opinion?

Thanks for an answer

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila"

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila"



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello Attilio and Maria,
The gangplank is not really long enough for mooring stern-to possibly
because it was not updated when the tube size on inflatables was increased
in the late eighties/nineties. The owner of SM Galaxie increased the
length
by two steps and I copied him. It is supported by what we call the red
line
which is the one attached to the mizzen mast at the spreader on a block.
The
red line is dyneema and 8mm which is more than strong enough. The red line
is attached to a spacer so that there are two lines going down to the end
of
the gangplank via a piece of wood to open the gap between them. These
attach
to the gangplank on U-bolts a piece of teak which is wider than the plank
and secured with saddle clips.
Our dinghy is a Honwav 30 and weighs 45 kg and this is secured to our
davits
on 4 part blocks with a jam cleat welded on to the davit. The davit itself
is supported on 6 part tackles on blocks with jam cleats on the deck. It
is
hard to hoist the dinghy on these but it becomes impossible if we want to
hoist it with a 15 HP 2 stroke motor in place. However it is lifted with
great ease by by using the two red lines from the gangplank and shackling
them on to the ends of the davits which are then lowered right down to the
the blocks on the tackle and then lifting everything on the red line
either
by winding it up by hand on the mizzen outhaul winch or, as I am in my
eighties, on the main sheet winch.
We also use the mainsheet winch to hoist the dinghy on the red line so
that
we can clean the dinghy or let it down on the aft cabin top for longer
passages or over wintering. We hope this helps!

Best wishes, Anne and John, Bali
Hai, SM2K 319

-----Original Message-----
From: Attilio Siviero YAHOO
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2012 5:47 AM
To: mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Amel] boomerang davits

Thanks Richard, not useful but encouraging ;-)

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila" in Monfalcone IT

Il giorno 11/set/2012, alle ore 20:34, Richard03801
<mailto:richard03801%40yahoo.com>
ha scritto:

We have those on our SM with 4:1 blocks thay work very well

Regards

Richard Piller

Cell 603 767 5330

On Sep 10, 2012, at 12:47, Attilio Siviero YAHOO
<mailto:attilio.siviero%40yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi all,

I am just thinking to fit on my Santorin a couple of davits similar to
the ones made by a workshop in La Rochelle, and called Boomerang.

I have seen several SMs with those davits, and I know that also some
Santorins has been fitted with same davits, obviously adapted to the
different size of the stern.

Now I would like to know for a 2.7m tender (Honda) which tackles (with
triple blocks: we are getting old...) are normally used for these
davits? I think that a tackle with blocks of 45mm dia, and 10mm rope
(working load of the blocks 450kg) should be sufficient. Naturally,
one
triple block should be with cam-cleat.

And how long is the tackle completely closed. This is to position
correctly the holding shackle.

If anybody with a SM or a Santorin has these davits, maybe he can give
me this info/opinion?

Thanks for an answer

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila"

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Attilio & Maria Siviero
Amel Santorin#84 "Sisila"

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

Hi All, I contacted desalator as well and asked the question, the reply, slightly misspelled (for us read use) is below

Kind regards
Danny
SM299 Ocean Pearl
Currently Vuda Point Marina Fiji

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Dessalator <dessalator@...>
To: simms@...
Sent: Tuesday, 18 September 2012 10:37 PM
Subject: RE: Contact site web

Dear Sir,

You have to us Multi grade oil 20W40 or 15W40 . Beware: The level must not exceed the middle of the red point on the center of the gauge (see picture of the pump enclosed).

Please read the brochure DUO 60, you can download it from our Web site http://www.dessalator/, click on the English flag, then “Products” and “brochures” and choose the DUO 60 brochure.

Best regards

Secretary Dessalator
Rosyne Castino

De :simms@... [mailto:simms@...]
Envoyé : mardi 18 septembre 2012 10:37
À : contact@...
Objet : Contact site web

Bonjour,
Un visiteur de votre site a rempli le formulaire de contact.
Name: simms
First name: Danny
Email: simms@...
Phone: 0274876368
Subject: grade of oil duo 60
Text: I have a desalator duo 60/l/h. I want to change the oil in the gearbox of the HP pump. Can you advise the grade of oil to use please. Regards Danny Simms

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]