Suction valve on the sea chest and the vetus muffler
|
sailormon <kimberlite@...>
Gary, When I bought Kimberlite from Amel, before I left LaRochelle I bought a spare Vetus muffler. After I melted down the first one as you did, There is a photo under Kimberlite of the melted Vetus. I Had a metal muffler made.
I have been having a problem with the vacuum sensor on the sea chest . It used to work. When it stopped working I ordered another vacuum switch from Amel. That did not solve the problem. When I suck on the hose to at the sea chest that goes to the sensor , the alarm goes off. I replaced the raw manifold years ago and I believe there is a small air leak that prevents the alarm from going off. I just can’t figure out how to find the air leak. Fair Winds Eric Kimberlite Amel Super Maramu #376
From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...] On Behalf Of amelliahona
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2015 6:49 PM To: amelyachtowners@... Subject: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Intake Strainers
Steve & Liz:
My SM has the negative (suction) sensor alarm plumbed into the sea chest. This consists of a small line/tube that comes off of the sea chest, runs upward and forward to a S shaped trap mounted next to the fuel tank near the forward engine room bulkhead, to which a sensor is attached. That sensor is a Parker Hannifen PN S.250002 (that was the PN on the box for the replacement that I received from Amel). It can be tested by closing the sea chest then using the head sea-water-fill switch to create a vacuum in the sea chest. It gives an audible alarm at the head of the companionway. Mine had failed at about the 10 year mark (at least that is when I discovered it). I suspect it had failed earlier. As there is small column of sea water in the hose, there is always a salty humid environment in that hose and rust had occluded the base of the sensor. I treated the replacement sensor with Corrosion X prior to installation but I suspect this will be a repetitive problem.
I suggest: 1. testing the sensor a couple of times a year, 2. dismounting the sensor from its S shaped water trap periodically to treat corrosion 3. installing an exhaust hose temperature sensor such as the Borel item mentioned, just after the turbo sea water injection fitting 4. impeller failures are more common than anything and I have stepped up my impeller inspection program aft the following incident:
We melted the Vetus water lift and burned up the lining of the exhaust hose from the Yanmar main engine to the water trap due to a failed impeller. We had been motoring for only about 5 minutes thru a channel into Gorda Sound on Virgin Gorda BVI, when we smelled something burning. I checked engine gauges and all appeared normal. I shut down the engine, opened the engine compartment and was greeted by a column of black smoke that made entering the engine compartment impossible. I thought we were going to burn down. As the smoke cleared enough to see, I could tell there were no flames, I could also see that the Vetus water lift was distorted and had a whole in it from which was issuing the black smoke. I felt the temp of the hose and it was extremely hot. I cooled the hose from the engine turbo water injection port to the Vetus with water from the cockpit shower, squirting it up into the exhaust hose as far as I could get it and the internal fire went out. At no time did fire penetrate that hose, thankfully. Next came the job of sailing the boat onto a mooring (that tested my skills a bit) and securing replacement parts on Virgin Gorda. Only damage done was to the Vetus and the 3 foot section of hose. However, my wife was badly shaken. It took some time for her faith in the boat to be restored.
Shaken a bit and lot wiser.
Sincerely,
Gary S. Silver s/v Liahona Amel SM #335 on the hard in Puerto Rico
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Eric,
just curious if you ever solved this Sea Chest vacuum sensor problem? Mine isn’t working and I was going to email Maude for a price on a new sensor. Did you ever get it to work properly or did you end up installing a totally different sensor and system? I was hoping to avoid spending $ on a new sensor if it’s problematic to begin with…. any advice is appreciated. -- Kevin & Kristen Schmit KIANA SM #362 |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Kevin, Here is a snippet from page 373 of the Amel Book: 
On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 9:47 AM Kevin Schmit <kevschmit64@...> wrote: Eric, |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Danny and Yvonne SIMMS
Hi Kevin, I would be interested as to how you tested the vacuum sensor
Danny
SM 299
Ocean Pearl
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Danny,
If the alarm doesn't sound, remove the switch, pipe, and hose and check for clogs. Clean everything and reinstall. Through trial and error adjust the sensitivity. Maybe you missed what I posted earlier: 
On Sun, Dec 12, 2021 at 1:35 PM Danny and Yvonne SIMMS <simms@...> wrote:
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Danny and Yvonne SIMMS
Thanks Bill, I have heard the alarm once when I left the sea cock off on motor start up.
Danny
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
What is the method for taking that switch off? I have put two wrenches on it, one on the switch, other on the smaller black nut and neither wants to move. My alarm is not working.
-- Richard May SM 477 Avogato |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
It normally just unscrews: 
On Mon, Oct 3, 2022 at 2:40 PM Richard May via groups.io <airwisrich2000=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote: What is the method for taking that switch off? I have put two wrenches on it, one on the switch, other on the smaller black nut and neither wants to move. My alarm is not working. |
|||||||||||
|
|
