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1. We presently have two watermakers a 35 and 40E in addition to a water cooled refrigeration system I ve changed our intake configuration to a dedi cated thruhull and an auxiliary booster pump to supply both watermakers and the refrigeration condenser unit t To produce 1 4 gal hr product water the PowerSurvivor 35 pumps approxi mately 10 x 1 4 14 gals of seawater per hour The specifications for the will not make a significant difference in the amount of water getting to the main engine In other words the watermaker is not likely to make the engine overheat If it does you should conclude that the existing sea water flow to your engine is marginal and needs to be increased On the other hand our watermaker has never had any problem drawing all the water it needs even when our Westerbeke 27 diesel engine is running at full cruising rpms The thruhull is 3 4 with a seacock and coarse raw water strainer at the inlet The intake hose is the standard 3 8 reinforced plastic For the larger models the 80s and 160E it is more important to install a separate thruhull The intake flow requirements for a PowerSur vivor 80 are twice that for the 40E and the requirements of the 160E are four times as great as the 40E Whether an existing inlet is shared or a new thruhull installed con sider the location carefully The lower on the hull the closer to the keel it can be located the less the chances it will intermittently suck
2. Figure B 9 The membrane tube plug Remove the o ring 920 from the groove in the membrane tube plug Carefully line up a knife blade preferably dull with the inside edge of the white plastic membrane tube plug With a slight wiggling motion press down on the knife blade just until it wedges between the lip of the membrane tube plug and the fiberglass membrane housing see Figure B S After the knife has wedged between the two edges wiggle the knife sideways without pressing down to work the tube plug out of the membrane housing At this point a flat bladed screwdriver is better for working the tube plug the rest of the way out When it s off remove the remaining three o rings on the tube plug two small 012 and one larger 920 In the PUR documentation the membrane tube plug is only illus trated as inserted into the check valve plate i i i exploded view of the whole membrane tube plug To aid the installer in understanding what is involved in removing the part Fig ure B 9 shows the membrane tube plug in all its naked glory with o rings installed Note that the stem of the membrane tube plug and the two smaller o rings insert into one end of the membrane itself while the upper large o ring lives between the plug and the fiberglass membrane housing Only the lower large o ring lives Figure B 8 Removing membrane tube in the check valve plate It s not hard to see why the membrane tube plug stays with the pu
3. Power Laws A very useful equation derived from Ohm s Law is that for calculating the power dissipating in the load part of an electrical circuit The unit we use for power dissipation is the watt and it is a unit of rate The watts being dissipated in a load is found by multiplying the voltage across the load in volts times the current flowing through it in amps If we use a W to represent watts and retain our previous symbols for current voltage and resistance the equation for watts is Eq 4 W VXI If we substitute the right hand member of Eq 1 for the V in Eq 4 we obtain another interesting formula Eq 5 W I X R XI Combining the two current factors we have Eq 6 W I XR Finally we can calculate watt hours in the same way we calculated amp hours by multiplying the watts rate of consumption times the length of time they are being consumed Eq 7 watts X hours watt hours Interestingly enough just like the amp hour unit the watt hour does not contain any embedded time unit and for the same reason The watts term in Eq 7 has time as a divisor When it is multiplied by the hours term which is also a time unit the time units cancel out The watt hour is a measure of total energy used a quantity If you followed these derivations closely you may nave noticed that there is a close relationship between amp hours and watt hours watt hours amp hours X voltage Now let s pull th
4. re about to become an expert on an important piece of equipment Good luck 41 42 A Servicing the Model 35 Disassembly Most people wishing to install a PowerSurvivor 35 repair seal kit will start out with a mounted watermaker I find it easiest to dismount the entire watermaker and get it to the work area before beginning the disas sembly The seal replacement procedure involves only the pump and mem brane assemblies not the drive motor or gearcase The latter could be left in place Unfortunately the pump assembly must be separated from the drive unit by removing the drive shaft coupling pin and the four hex nuts that fasten the drive unit flange to the pump body This is usually diffi cult to do with the limited access available around an installed water maker The following procedure assumes the entire watermaker will be dismounted and moved to a work area Before pro ceeding turn the intake selector valve to its alternate position and run air through the watermaker until it no longer expels reject water This will eliminate residual water pressure in the pump and make it much easier to remove the membrane housing Stop running the watermaker at a point in its cycle when the piston shaft drive shaft have traveled farthest away from the pump or farthest toward the gearbox This will provide matter if you had the foresight to install a terminal strip near the water maker If you used butt splice conn
5. red and return black line A break anywhere in the circuit will stop the electron flow This is the function performed by a switch or circuit breaker I should also point out that for safety reasons every electrical circuit should be protected from excessive electron flow This is accomplished by placing a device in the electron flow path that will break the path of the electrons if the flow exceeds some predetermined safe amount This is the role of a fuse or circuit breaker A circuit breaker actually performs the functions of both a switch and a protection device Since it usually can be reset after interrupting excessive current flow it is more conven ient than a fuse which must be replaced each time it interrupts the elec tron flow The great majority of electrical problems that arise on a boat can be found and corrected with no more knowledge than the basics of electrical circuits and how they work Before discussing the relationship between the elements of an electrical circuit we need to establish a few defini tions Electrical Units of Measurement There are at least five primitive units of electrical measurement that every skipper should understand VOLT used to express the voltage or electron pressure between any two points in an electrical circuit The source part of an electrical circuit supplies the electrical pressure which we measure in volts This pressure or voltage is what c
6. As a result the disassembly servicing and reassembly of the Models 40E 80 and 160E are easier than the Model 35 The photos accompanying the following instructions were taken at the Recovery Engineering factory during an afternoon with Rob Lazore a technician with the MROD assembly and repair departments The hands in the photos and some of the good tips below are his Thanks Rob Any errors of course are mine Now it s time to dig in Good luck Disassembly The seal replacement procedure involves only the pump assembly not the drive motor gearcase membrane or system plumbing The latter can be left in place Before proceeding I suggest turning the intake selector valve to its alternate position and running air through the watermaker until it no longer expels reject water This will eliminate residual water pressure in the pump and make the disassembly job less messy Step 1 Disconnect plumbing to watermaker R pump ae o Using the 11 16 wrench disconnect the two high pressure lines coming from the membrane housing at the pump check valve plate and at the prime clean valve assembly Depending on the model these lines piston shaf i may be flexible hoses or rigid metal tubing prime clean p valve A rn 4 Inlet hose barb N Loosen the hose clamp and remove the plastic seawater intake i af Figure C 1 Model 80E before disassembly MROD Marine Reverse Osmosis
7. At the present time PUR is also promoting a generous upgrade offer for current owners of a PowerSurvivor 35 Contact the factory for details Only time and many users will tell us how good the new generation of PUR watermakers is In the meantime there are many cruisers with PowerSurvivor 35s who expect them to work well for years to come This book should prove useful to anyone owning a new PUR model an old Model 35 or even another brand Any watermaker on the market will provide years of service if it is properly installed and maintained A Sea Story about Watermakers 7 Some Technical Issues A Look at the Product Berorr DIGGING into installation issues in the next chapter it will be helpful to examine more closely just what it is we want to install PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers are precision engineered equipment de signed to intake clean seawater and produce potable fresh water utilizing reverse osmosis RO technology All models despite different specific configu rations are comprised of the same basic functional units Using the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 as an ex ample see Figure 1 the major components of any system are A an electric motor B a drive gear box assembly C a high pressure hydraulic pump D an RO membrane and an intake sea water prefilter unit Except for the prefilter unit all the components of the Model 35 and Model 40E are bolted together into a single assem bly The larger capacity
8. Performing a membrane cleaning process is a little more involved than the biocide treatment but it is essentially the same for both the alkaline and the acid cleaners Follow the instructions in the owners manual for using these two chemicals Take extra care when removing the regular membrane housing and installing the special membrane cleaning housing on the PowerSurvivor 35 Avoid any sideways torque on the membrane itself It is very easy to crack the narrow stem on the pump end of the membrane It is also easy to damage the membrane brine seal the large lip seal around the pump end of the membrane Be certain to lube the brine seal and the inside of the housing which mates with the brine seal with silicon grease before reassembling them The cleaning process is rarely required especially if the watermaker has been run in relatively clean seawater and run often Under such cir cumstances an annual or cruising seasonal cleaning with at least the alkaline cleaner is probably a good idea although not likely to be greatly needed The purpose of both cleaning processes acid and alkaline is to remove stubborn deposits that have accumulated on the working surfaces of the membrane Most often these are organic deposits like bacteria and small organisms The likelihood that such deposits will form is increased by extended periods of watermaker non use without biociding especially in warm environments The alkaline cleaner is best f
9. Step 1 Disconnect electrical wiring Turn off electrical power to the watermaker at the switch or circuit breaker panel If there is any possi bility that someone might turn_on_the_watermaker while you re working secure the switch or circuit breaker handle in the off position and or attach a note indicating that the circuit is being serviced The exposed area around the drive shaft and coupling is dangerous This is a very powerful mechanism that can cause serious personal injury if the watermaker starts running while your fingers or tools are in that Figure A 1 Damaged hose barbs event do not put any serious strain on the hose barb as sembly while attempting to remove the hoses it is easily damaged Take a look at the rounded unsquare ends of the damaged hose barb assembly in Figure A 1 Such damage can easily be caused by pulling on the barb assembly while attempting to remove the reinforced plastic in take and reject brine hoses There s a much easier and safer way to handle this challenge Don t bother trying to remove the hoses at all Instead use the 5 32 allen wrench to remove the manifold fastener nearest to the hose barb assembly This fastener is the one labeled number 6 in the PUR instructions see Figure A 2 Note very early PowerSurvivor 35s did not have this sixth fastener there were only five manifold fasteners After the 6 manifold fastener has been remo
10. rock the cylinder from side to side The sideways movement will be slight but eventually you should be able to walk the cylinder out of its cavity See Figure A 11 Before applying the rocking force identify the top or manifold side of the pump back This is the side with the protruding rectangular plastic tab and the threaded brass inserts for the manifold fasteners Apply the rocking force in a direction parallel to the top side i e sideways not up and down Trying to rock the cylinder toward the top side is not effective because one of the threaded brass inserts extends into the interior of the pump back body and usually limits cylinder movement in that direction After removing the cylinder inspect it for damage The inside bore should be smooth and polished Any scores or pits inside the cylinder will cause rapid wear of the piston seals and premature failure of the pump Remove the o rings on each end of the cylinder Wipe the o ring grooves clean and use a magnifying glass to examine them carefully What you are looking for is evidence of pitting or crevice corrosion es pecially at the right angle corner between the bottom of the groove Plastic tab and the thin lips at the ends of the gt cylinder I have encountered sev Screwdriver eral instances of large sections of Cylinder Rubber the thin lip having broken off Cavity from the cylinder Step 15 Remove piston rod seals from pump back Since it is diffi
11. you will have gained much valuable knowledge about the internal organization and operation of the watermaker Perhaps more important is the self confidence to be gained Therefore my first recommendation for those who really want to be able to keep their wa termakers operating is install a seal kit As I ve indicated elsewhere replacing the seals in your watermaker should be considered a regular maintenance task something to be done after every 1000 hours of use more or less Resist the temptation to con sider your watermaker a turn key install it and forget it piece of equip ment It is not It requires maintenance just like any other piece of mechanical equipment on a sea going vessel Occasionally despite the best efforts to properly install and maintain a watermaker things will go wrong Even the best of equipment can fail from time to time regardless of the diligence of the owner It is my goal in this section to familiarize the reader with some of the more common problems I ve run into and offer some suggestions for diagnosing and dealing with them Armed with the knowledge and confidence you will gain from disas sembling your watermaker inspecting it installing a seal kit and reas sembling the unit you will be able to tackle most problems as they arise with reasonable expectations of success Knowledge is power The Motor and Drive Assembly There is little to go wrong with the motor and gearbox assembly If the d
12. 2000 price tag for a watermaker and extended cruising kit As it turned out our watermaker quickly became an indispensable component of the free lifestyle we were able to develop During the next three winter spring seasons of cruising Mexico we spent only two days in a marina and never once took on a drop of water A Sea Story about Watermakers Trouble in Paradise Sometime in the late spring of 1996 as we were preparing to sail back up the coast of Baja California to wait out hurricane season in the northern latitudes I stumbled across a letter to the editors of Latitude 38 written by Christian Johnson then product manager for PUR watermakers at Recovery Engineering Inc Johnson was responding to a letter critical of PUR watermakers and Recovery Engineering s customer support Among other things he stated his concern and his company s desire to support their products The Latitude 38 editors appended a lengthy com ment to Johnson s letter in which they listed a series of problems they had encountered with their PUR PowerSurvivor 80 and complained of poor factory support I remember being surprised that there seemed to be many people with complaints against PowerSurvivor watermakers That was the brand of our watermaker We were just finishing a six months tour of the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico and had used our PowerSurvivor 35 for all of our water It was still performing well Sometime in June while anchored at Cabo San
13. 80 160E complete installation 59 65 description 59 disassembly 60 62 reassembly 63 65 resistance intake water flow See seawater intake reverse Osmosis description of 7 8 utilization of 7 73 rotten egg smell See hydrogen sulfide S Safe Drinking Water Act SDWA 10 salinity high effects of 19 22 42 68 low 8 testing 9 automated 23 by taste 24 29 with TDS meter 6 23 70 71 San Blas 4 30 Santana magazine 6 Schaaf Tim iii 1 2 seacock 21 seal kit See Repair Seal Kit sealant pipe joint 20 seawater desalination of 7 8 intake cavitation 20 for manual operation 26 quality of 9 resistance to flow 15 18 21 24 sources 21 69 thruhull 11 21 volume of flow 25 strainers 21 cleaning 22 seminar California coast 6 La Paz 5 Puerto Vallarta 5 Race Week 5 sewage 8 10 shuttle valve See valve spool silt See contaminants silt Silt Reduction Kit 24 25 sodium chloride 8 membrane rejection rate of 9 75 sodium metabisulfite See biocide sodium metabisulfite solar panels 27 28 specifications watermaker See PowerSurvivor watermakers spool valve See valve spool Spool Valve Kit 62 survey watermaker 1 Sydney Australia water contaminants in 9 T TDS meter See salinity testing with TDS meter Index 87 Time Changers Restaurant 5 tool list Model 35 35 Model 40E 49 Model 80 160E 59 Tres Mariettas Islands 4 tropics watermaker use in the 1
14. Between the spacious anchor ing spots and two large marinas there are usually several hundred boats in the vicinity Out of all the cruisers responding to my VHF offer I sorted out the few who actually had problems to report It was a relief to discover that most of the responses were from people interested in more information about their watermakers and only a few had real problems I helped a couple of cruisers with some unusual self produced prob lems and soon decided that the cruisers in the Banderas Bay area would benefit from a visit by some people from Recovery Engineering I pro posed to Christian Johnson that he consider coming to Puerto Vallarta to give a seminar and personally meet some of his customers He agreed and on March 15 1997 Christian and one of the company engineers Dan Pierstorff hosted a well announced gathering at Time Changers Restau rant in Marina Vallarta Approximately thirty five people attended the seminar There were many questions about installation and maintenance issues One especially vocal boat owner insisted that his PowerSurvivor 35 was no good It had quit producing product water Upon questioning we learned that he had been running his watermaker for the previous six months while in a slip in Marina Vallarta He was surprised to learn that his RO membrane was probably ruined due to harmful impurities in the dirty harbor water That piece of information is in the owner s manual which the man with
15. I usually install a heav ier gauge wire than the equipment actually requires For example if the manual recommends that wire runs of under fifteen feet should be 16 ga there is absolutely nothing wrong with using 14 or even 12 ga wire Larger wire is physically more robust and further reduces DC volt age drop Don t be afraid to use it if your budget allows Consider the wire sizes recommended in the Owner s Manual for your model of wa termaker as the minimum adequate gauges Going a size or two larger won t hurt anything Watermaker specifications indicate the average current drawn by the model The actual instantaneous current at any given time varies over a much wider range As an example the average current demand of the PowerSurvivor 35 is about four amps while the actual current varies from very little to 6 8 amps during each complete cycle of the pump A 10 or 15 amp 12 VDC circuit breaker is normally appropriate protection for the circuit In general a circuit breaker with a current rating of 11 4 to Installation Issues 27 2 times the average current required by the watermaker will provide ade quate protection Be aware that there are two main kinds of circuit breakers found on boats thermal and hydraulic Hydraulic breakers are the best but they are expensive and uncommon Thermal breakers operate by sensing the heat generated as current flows through them They are the least expen sive and most commo
16. L x 2 5 dia The Model 160E membrane module measures 25 L x 3 5 dia Take all the dimension specifications with a grain of salt Recovery Engineering publishes slightly different numbers in various brochures and documentation All data is from published specifications not from actual measurements Notes TT Treatment Technique required LS Lime Softening RO Reverse Osmosis IE Ion Ex change CO Coagulation FT Filtration ED Electrodialysis GAC Granular Activated Carbon The maximum contaminant level for arsenic applies only to community water systems Proposed stan Data on permissible levels of exposure to various kinds of radiation and other more exotic types of contaminants may also be found on the World Wide Web Use search engines on reverse osmosis and desali Table A 4 Specificati Paar Surri k nation Not surprisingly much of the available research material has its Table A 4 Specifications for PowerSurviver Watermakers sources in middle eastern countries The reader should also be aware that new chemicals are created daily Power req d amps 4 4 8 16 21 and microbes are constantly evolving Laurie Garrett s excellent book The Coming Plague documents many new types of viruses and bacteria that have emerged within recent decades including HIV dengue fever and ebola She also discusses new resistant strains of traditional threats like TB malaria Hanta virus and
17. Manufacturing Inc 25 Marina Vallarta 5 marinas iii 10 23 31 in Mexico 1 4 8 pollution in 11 Mazatlan 5 membrane brine seal 10 11 32 37 47 55 69 72 chlorine tolerance to 11 cleaning acid 10 32 33 69 alkaline 10 18 32 33 69 damage to 10 11 drying out 19 37 flaws in RO 7 maintenance 31 33 operating specifications 75 plugged 10 31 42 pore size 9 rejection rate of 7 9 75 semipermeable 7 9 35 troubleshooting 69 Microdyne 11 Milwaukee WI water contaminants in 9 molecular weight 9 motor electric drive brushes 33 68 current demand 10 15 16 19 22 resistance to water 19 servicing 33 temperature maximum ambient 18 troubleshooting 68 N noise minimizing 19 O Ohm s Law See electrical concepts Ohm s Law o ring prefilter housing 11 saving old 36 osmosis See reverse osmosis overtightening fittings in prefilter housing 20 flange bolts Model 80 160E 65 Model 35 mainfold fasteners 46 47 pump body distortion from 4 46 P patents Recovery Engineering 7 permeable See membrane semipermeable pickling See biocide treatment for membrane Pierstorff Dan iii 5 power laws See electrical concepts power laws PowerSurvivor electrical calculations 27 hoses 21 new models 6 watermakers general description 7 modular 7 specifications 8 74 prefilter 5 micron 24 cleaning 17 element 17 29 cleaning 30 cost of new 30 swapping 30 housi
18. PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E with an average current of 4 amps we get 165 amphours 4amps 41 25 hours Thus theoretically the PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E can be run for over 40 hours on a 220ah battery system before the battery drops below 25 charge assuming no other concurrent loads on the battery knowledge able skippers avoid discharging their batteries below 25 charge and it will produce approximately 1 2gal hour X 4lhours 49 2gals The careful reader might wonder about the 1 2 gal hour production rate used in the last calculation Why not 1 4 gal hour as stated in the manual I used this figure as a reasonable average As the battery dis charges the DC voltage available to the watermaker motor will decrease and the pump will run slower producing less output 1 2 gallon hour is a more realistic average output over the entire discharge cycle of the bat tery It is also a more realistic output figure for vessels running their wa termakers without any charging devices e g solar panels generators alternators etc constantly replenishing the batteries and keeping the DC voltage high We can derive another useful set of values from our data To produce for example five gallons of water we would need to run the PowerSur vivor 35 watermaker for 5gal 1 2gal hour 4 2 hours and use 4 2hours X 4amps 16 8 amphours In other words for every five gallons of water we produce we must run the watermaker for app
19. Repair Seal Kit 1 the version that is in the Service Manual that came with the 80 IT watermakers This manual was separate from the Owner s Manual 2 the version that is in the Owner s Manual that comes with the 80E watermakers This manual combines the material from the original Owner s Manual and Service Manual into one volume 3 athird version that accompanies the Repair Seal Kit itself There are some differences between these versions For example the Repair Seal Kit instructions specify needing a 5 32 allen wrench for the disassembly while the Owner s Manual for the 80E contains an explicit list of needed tools including a 1 4 not a 5 32 allen wrench The Service Manual for the Model 80 II has no explicit list of tools but a 1 4 allen wrench the correct size is mentioned in the text of the in structions For the most part the instructions in this book are the same and in the same sequence as those to be found in the PUR documentation I ve added comments and tips on procedures where appropriate I ve also tried to identify potentially confusing errors in the factory instruc tions 67 68 C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 All of the current watermakers from PUR reflect a number of engi neering advances especially in comparison with the older PowerSurvi vor 35 The advances include a simplified sturdier design and a substantial reduction in the number of internal seals and working parts
20. a couple of accidental exposures of the membrane to such water are not likely to do excessive harm So don t panic if you forget and flush with dock water Just don t do it again I think it s worth noting that chlorine is but one of a related group of chemical elements known as halogens They include chlorine bromine iodine and fluorine They are all very active chemicals and I suspect that the precautions about exposure to chlorine apply to these other chemicals as well In particular Microdyne the popular water treatment chemical is based on iodine Water treated with Microdyne or other halogen containing products probably should not be used to flush or treat an RO membrane Pump Damage The hydraulic pump is a precision device designed to develop 800 1000 psi efficiently In performing this task it relies on the integrity of rubber seals and o rings to seal and protect moving parts These seals have a limited life Over time the o rings lose their resiliency and the seals on moving parts will wear The ultimate outcome will be reduced output and a leaking pump indicating the need for installing a new seal kit The major threat to the pump and its delicate seals are the suspended particulates in the intake water stream Assuming a prefilter in good 14 Some Technical Issues condition only particles smaller than 30 microns will reach the pump surfaces In clean open ocean water this is no problem However if the inta
21. absolutely nothing to remove any substances that are dissolved in the water which includes a large range of undesirable chemicals Cleaning the Prefilter Housing The best solution to the problem of decomposing debris in the prefilter housing is simply to clean the prefil ter unit frequently While first learning how often this is required I rec ommend removing the housing and filter element after each time the watermaker is run Perform this service after a run instead of just be fore to eliminate the debris before periods of idleness Unscrew the housing and examine the trapped debris Learn to esti mate its quantity and type by look and smell Then dump it out and clean the inside of the prefilter housing Exchange the filter element for a clean one and reassemble the housing That s all there is to it If care was Be careful not to dump the large prefilter housing o ring overboard with the foul water it s very easy to do and those o rings are hard to replace A re placement is not included in the Repair Seal Kit taken during the installation to mount the prefilter assembly in an easily accessible location this should be no more than a five minute job If you start out cleaning the prefilter more often than is needed as I ve suggested you will become intimately familiar with the rate of de bris accumulation in your system in a surprisingly short time This rate can and will vary widely from a minimum
22. advertise the lowest possible electric power consumption to potential customers We ll rec ommend a below the waterline installation Eventually the original and minor technical reason for preferring a low installation became lost and the non technical customer support people knew only that the company recommended a below the waterline installation They did not know why It quickly became an easy answer to people with problems who had their watermakers located above the waterline Customer technical sup port people reported that some customers who called with problems when told to move their watermaker to a location below the waterline never made a second call The tech support people presumed the problems were solved Eventually the waterline story became a treasured myth handed on in an oral tradition at the great company that had grown up around the engi neer or so my story goes See Figure 3 where it is readily accessible about three feet above the waterline My experiences have convinced me that there is absolutely no need to limit installation plans to a below the waterline configuration for any of the PUR PowerSurvivor or Endurance watermakers period With air tight intake plumbing there should be no problem mounting the pump and prefilter even four or five feet above the waterline On a related point don t ever believe anyone who tells you that you have a problem because your PUR watermaker is mounted above
23. agent before cruising You majored in drama while in college Your neighbor was a plumber and your nephew an electronics whiz They used to help you out with those kinds of problems Well there s no denying that the cruiser who intends to install and maintain his or her own equipment would benefit from a basic knowledge of hydraulics and elec trical theory After all a watermaker system consists of a hydraulic pump powered by an electric motor Furthermore if an installation includes air leaks in the plumbing some knowledge of pneumatics would be handy Nevertheless there are a few basic concepts that are not difficult to understand and will go a long way toward helping the non or semi technical skipper achieve an efficient trouble free watermaker installa tion The tasks of planning routing and assembling the plumbing and components of a new watermaker system include three major goals listed here in decreasing order of importance 1 Make absolutely certain that all connections and fittings are air tight 2 Chose locations for the prefilter and pump that are readily ac cessible 3 Design the system to minimize the work the motor must do to pump water through the system If these three principles are followed there s about a 95 chance that the installation will be a success I always predict a 5 failure rate to account for defective materials Murphy s Law and just plain dumb mistakes Achieving the first goal is the
24. air in a heavy seaway As with every thruhull a seacock should be installed im mediately inside the hull and the location should allow easy access to it Although 3 8 intake hose is supplied with the PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E installing a larger 1 2 thruhull and matching hose should be con sidered during a first time installation Among the new Endurance line of watermakers only the Model 40E comes with 3 8 hose The Model 80E and 160E both use 1 2 hose I ve suggested that the manufacturer standardize on 1 2 plumbing for all their watermaker models It would simplify their lives and ours especially if an owner decides to upgrade to a larger capacity watermaker and wants to use the existing plumbing One problem I ve encountered is difficulty in finding additional 3 8 hose in marine supply stores Many stores only stock 1 2 and larger If a 1 2 thruhull is installed in the beginning you can either install a 3 8 hose barb at the seacock and use the 3 8 hose shipped with the water maker or you can run 1 2 hose to the prefilter and adapt the larger hose to the intake selector valve The latter method involves more cost and a little more work but it has several advantages 1 Water flow resistance is less with larger hose This becomes more important as longer hose runs are considered 2 materials are easier to locate in standard retail stores PowerSurvivor 40E state 20 gallons per hour By comparison even the small e
25. and the rest of the staff were eager to help any customers who were having problems At the same time he d been frus trated in recent attempts to deal with negative rumors about the company and their product especially among cruisers in remote parts of the world like Mexico The main problem was one of communications between the support staff of a small company in Minneapolis and their customers on cruising yachts thousands of miles away in the distant reaches of the world I thought I could be of some help It wouldn t be hard to contact other cruisers in each area we visited All that was needed was an announce ment on the local VHF nets saying that I was available to help people with their PowerSurvivor watermakers I could learn what kind of prob lems cruisers were having and relay that information back to the factory However before I made such a suggestion I decided to fathom Christian Johnson s sincerity I told him that several people had trouble with their poppet springs breaking Was there a problem there Yes he admitted early pumps and seal kits had springs made of a material that could corrode Newer springs were made from a different alloy He would provide replacement springs for free O K I thought That seems reasonable and up front Engineering mistakes do happen such problems are normal and to be expected If the errors are few in number and a reasonable effort is made to track and correct them there is l
26. as a source of known good parts and swap them out with a defective unit one assembly at a time For exam ple if servicing a Model 35 I would swap manifolds and then test run each of the watermakers The next exchange might be pump body backs or membranes and housings I continue with the swapping until the problem is transferred to my good watermaker and disappears in the defective unit Then I ve isolated the problem to a sub assembly an important step Individual parts of the sub assembly can then be examined and or swapped in a further attempt to identify the cause of the failure At worst this technique identifies a replaceable component which can be ordered from the factory or the nearest repair facility That s a lot better than having to ship the whole watermaker to and from the factory Good luck My own most trying instance of using the swapping technique in volved a PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker that leaked and did not develop enough pressure to produce product water A seal kit job didn t reveal or solve anything I began swapping components from my own watermaker I finally isolated the problem to the pump back body which looked just fine but simply failed to work with either watermaker The whole proc ess took most of an entire day I completely disassembled and reassem bled both watermakers seven times Since I had a spare pump back body I installed the new one and the unit was returned to service The owner
27. been accomplished however another question arises should the pump be left full of biocide solution or should most of the so lution be pumped on through and out of the pump Does it make any difference Probably not With either technique the bacteria in the membrane will be killed and their growth inhibited Un less fresh seawater with new live bacteria is run through the system it should make little difference whether the system remains full of biocide or has some air inside as far as the bacteria are concerned Nevertheless there is a possible advantage in pumping the bulk of the biocide on through and thus drawing air into the pump It has been suggested that the biocide which is an anti oxidant may have a detri mental effect on the stainless steel parts inside the pump particularly the poppet valve springs and the main piston cylinder Stainless steel is pro tected from corrosion by oxygen in the environment The concern is that leaving the stainless steel parts in an oxygen starved environment the biocide may contribute to crevice corrosion In my opinion the jury is still out on this one The issue was raised for me by another cruiser with a knowledge of chemistry My suspicions were further aroused after encountering three PowerSurvivor 35 water makers with damaged cylinders Portions of the narrow lip of metal on each outside end of the cylinders had chipped off The lips retain the cylinder o rings and backup se
28. centrifugal pump is not self priming If there is air in its intake line it may fail to pump It also depends on the fluid it is pumping for lubrication and must not be run dry for very long The March Model 893 04 pump shipped by PUR can tolerate no more than thirty minutes of dry running before damage is likely For both of the foregoing reasons the centrifugal pump in the Silt Reduction Kit must be installed so that it meets the following condi tions 1 It must be installed so that it is at least one foot below the wa terline of the vessel at all times Sailboat owners need to con sider both starboard and port tacks under sail 2 The pump should be mounted with the inlet horizontal and the outlet pointing either up or sideways 30 Installation Issues 3 Both the inlet and outflow hose runs should be slanted upwards from the inlet to the pump and from the pump to the prefilter It is especially important to avoid loops or sags that would allow air to become trapped in the intake hose Recovery Engineering informs me that the same pump is shipped with the Silt Reduction Kit for all their watermaker models Be advised that the input to the pump accepts a 3 8 FPT nipple and the output is a 3 8 hose barb For PowerSurvivor 80 and 160E models this will require adapting the stock 1 2 hoses to the pump The booster pump manufactured by March Manufacturing Inc of Glenview Illinois is a sturdy unit that is subm
29. cruiser The greatest care must be taken to insure a supply of uncontaminated drinking water ade quate for the passage Think carefully about how you will handle the product water output from your watermaker Most watermakers currently available for cruising boats automate the routing of product water A typical system involves some type of quality testing device installed in the product water output line The device monitors the quality of the fresh water output and electronically controls a three way solenoid valve to direct the product output to either a storage tank or a reject line If the water quality is unacceptable to the testing device the solenoid valve is shuttled to a position to direct output flow to the reject line Once acceptable product water is detected the solenoid valve is moved to an other position in which the product output is directed to storage In theory the automatic handling of the product water is very attrac tive turn it on and forget it In practice however certain problems can arise What would happen if the quality testing device or the solenoid valve failed At least one major manufacturer has designed a system in which the unenergized position of the solenoid valve is the position that directs water into the potable water storage tank The advantage which probably impressed the design engineers was the lower overall electric power de mand of that configuration Typically the solenoid would on
30. enjoyable experi ence being a cruiser I m reminded of a story about a personnel manager at an engineering company When conducting job interviews he asked each candidate a simple question If your electric razor suddenly quit working one morning what would you do spend a few hours taking it apart to see how it works and if you could fix it or would you walk down the street and buy a new one on sale Implicit in the interviewer s question is the fact that the cost of a new razor is considerably less than several hours wages for an engineer at the company Nevertheless the engineer who admits he would waste time tearing into the broken razor is the one the personnel manager adds to his short list for the job Most successful cruisers I ve met are the kind who would tear apart their razor I ve included these comments for a specific reason As I stated in the first chapter of this book there were some derogatory rumors about PUR watermakers circulating within the cruising community a couple of years ago trumors that peaked my curiosity about their source and validity I also indicated that as a result of my travels and inquiries I discovered these rumors have their source in a few highly vocal individuals whose talent for complaining far surpasses their interest in the proper installa tion use and maintenance of their watermakers Not surprisingly many of these individuals also have problems with their auxili
31. for most people at this point is to tighten the hex nuts with a dying strain because the nuts are large The reason they are large is because they must hold the entire pump assembly together under an internal pressure of 800 psi The threaded rods and hex nuts don t seal anything They simply keep the parts of the pump from flying apart under high pressure If your watermaker pump develops a leak you will not be able to cure it by tightening these fasteners a little more Leaks are caused by seal failures or damaged pump body components On the contrary you are very likely to cause a leak by overtightening these fasteners It is easy to distort the plastic parts of the pump body making it impossible to prop erly seat the manifold o rings and possibly cracking one of the plastic body parts So how tight should they be Here s what works for me after bring ing the four hex nuts up finger tight give them each another quarter or half turn with the 1 2 wrench Then hold the wrench at its middle using only your thumb and one finger don t grip it at the end with your fist Tighten each nut in turn using only the force you can exert with the wrench held in the manner I ve just described Strive for a modestly snug even torque That s all that is needed Step 11 Install manifold on pump body This is perhaps the most critical step in the whole assembly process Stop for a moment look at the top of the pump body
32. force If you have trouble try pushing the ring part way down and then backing off to get a feel for the elasticity of the PIP ring and the force that is required You should ob serve that the purpose of the insertion tool is to spread the seals wide enough to slip over the outside perimeter of the piston From there it s an easy trip to snapping the PIP ring into its seat in the piston groove After the PIP ring has been installed repeat the same procedure to install the cup seal The cup seal should be slid on with its ribbed side facing down facing the PIP ring The secret to success with installing these seals is the lubrication of the seals the piston and the insertion tool with silicon grease Take your time do it right and it ll happen Step 8 Install piston in pump body Set the piston on a clean flat surface with the plunger rod pointing up ward Lower the pump body cylinder over the piston assembly with the membrane housing pointing up Gently slide the pump body cylinder down and over the piston until the piston face is approximately flush with the bottom side of the pump body cylinder At this point the piston and piston seals should be just inside the pump body cylinder Note that a thread locking compound is needed here This is not the same as a thread sealant A sealant only seals a joint to prevent it from leaking e g pipe joint compound teflon tape A thread locking compound glues the joint
33. good friend of mine a very experienced delivery captain once commented They don t realize that cruising is hard work My friend didn t mean that the rewards are not out there if they weren t very few of us would make that second trip or even keep going the first time He meant that many first time cruisers are blissfully igno rant of the wide range of practical skills and knowledge the cruising skipper needs in order to keep the vessel s support systems functioning When things break or go wrong and Murphy s Law assures us they will the inexperienced mariner s freedom can become a prison the adventure turn to travail and the romance metamorphose into thoughts of divorce and selling or even abandoning the boat at the earliest op portunity The reader should not misconstrue my comments as a diatribe against novice cruisers or skippers who decide to abandon the cruising life There are many good reasons for not continuing family emergencies lack of funds a desire to do other things And even the most experienced skipper was a novice at one time or another My intention here is only to identify not condemn a specific type of personality or attitude In short if you are the kind of person who is accustomed to hiring or asking others to solve problems that are outside your particular area of expertise and you are unwilling to change that attitude it s unlikely you will succeed at or have an
34. have an edge into the groove work the rest of the seal into the bore until it snaps into place Slide the wiper block over the plunger shaft with the seal side facing up It should slide easily into its cavity in the back plate Step 10 Install o ring seals in back plate As with the o ring for the check valve plate early Model 80 watermakers used different sized o rings in the back plate One set of o rings was used in units with serial 0854 and lower and a different set for units with serial 0855 and higher Both sets of o rings are shipped with gure C 13 Back plate and pump body the Model 80 Repair Seal Kit ready for assembly Determine which seals your watermaker uses before proceeding If in doubt compare the new ones with the old o rings you removed during the disassembly They are different enough to be easily identified For the back plate two o ring seals are used a smaller diameter o ring 32 for C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 73 the small circular groove and a much longer o ring 31 for the large pear shaped groove Generously lubricate the two o ring grooves in the back plate with silicon grease Apply enough grease to hold the o rings in place during the assembly Then press the two o rings into their respective grooves They should stick in place Step 11 Attach back plate to pump body Be certain that the relief valve spring is still in position It should be projecting out of the pump b
35. if mounted higher When we look at the manuals accompanying the newer Endurance models 40E 80E 160E we get a very different set of directions For example on page 12 of the 80E owner s manual we are told that the 80E is a gravity fed pump therefore it must be installed at or below the Installation Issues 21 waterline I think that statement can be safely ignored The pumps in PUR PowerSurvivor Endurance watermakers are not gravity fed pumps and all will work just fine mounted above the waterline given a quality and airtight intake system I don t know why there are so many people including some PUR staff who think the watermaker should be installed below the waterline I have a theory on the matter I ll call it The Great Waterline Myth and hope it suffices until a better explanation surfaces The Great Waterline Myth Once upon a time an engineer designed a special water pump to make good water out of bad The pump was driven by an electric motor When the design was developed well enough to sell on the market the engineer hired a marketing expert The marketing expert designed an owner s manual He asked the en gineer where the best location was for installing the pump on a boat Well said the engineer it really doesn t make a lot of difference except the motor will require a little less electric power to run if it is mounted close to or below the waterline Good thought the marketing expert We want to
36. intake plumbing this is a very poor way to handle such a problem At the very least the leak will cause an accumulation of water in the bilges and more ominously it may be a symptom of weak or faulty plumbing that is likely to fail catastrophically at some time in the future I believe any responsible skipper would agree that such an installation should be corrected I discussed the waterline issue with several people at Recovery Engi neering during my 1997 visit The technical staff including Dick Hem bree the head design engineer quickly agreed that a PUR PowerSurvivor watermaker could be mounted above the waterline It was the non technical customer and product support people who seemed to persist in their belief that below the waterline installations cured certain evils The latter were never able to explain to me in rational technical terms what advantages would accrue to the proud owner of a below the waterline installation or why the pump couldn t be mounted above the waterline successfully What does the official literature say Interestingly the Technical Manual for the earlier PowerSurvivor 35 is not forceful in its recom mendations Install the PowerSurvivor 35 close to or below the water line if possible And concerning the prefilter assembly Mount it close to or below the water line These are very weak recommendations at best and there are no cautions to the effect that the watermaker will not work
37. is evidence of leakage around them In fact I ve yet to see one that leaked and I would concur with Recovery Engineering on this one If it ain t broke don t fix it On the other hand replacing them is not a difficult task Gently pry them out of their holes Each plug has a small o ring around its middle Remove the old o rings correctly identify and lubricate the two new o rings install them on the rubber plugs and push the reconditioned plugs back into their holes The Over pressure Relief Valve The PowerSurvivor 35 pump is designed to develop approximately 800 psi across the membrane under normal operating conditions Cold water high salinity a partially plugged membrane and certain other pump de fect modes can cause the pressure to rise higher than 800 psi The over pressure relief valve is factory set to limit the maximum pressure to which the membrane will be exposed It is adjusted to relieve the pressure when it exceeds 1000 psi This is an important safety feature designed to protect the membrane against excessive pressure which can cause permanent damage The relief valve itself is a simple sturdy design and rarely causes any problems In effect it consists of a small piston working against a robust spring The pressurized water developed by the pump is routed through a chamber where it forces the piston outward against the spring The spring compression is adjusted by screwing the plastic adjusting cap nut cloc
38. is seated in the check valve plate Set the check valve plate assembly aside Step 3 Install end cap in membrane housing If the membrane housing end cap was removed reinstall it now Clean and lube with silicon grease the o ring on the end cap Since there is no replacement in the Repair Seal Kit for this o ring the old one should be reused Note however that this is the same o ring 920 that is used on the membrane tube plug at the other end of the membrane housing If you save your old o rings you will have an emergency replacement for the end cap o ring in case it is ever damaged Look inside the membrane housing and identify the inside surface of the fiberglass housing where the end cap o ring will be sliding Use a dab of silicon grease on a finger to lubricate those surfaces Remove the nylon product water hose barb fitting from the end cap if it isn t already out Slide the end cap into the membrane housing until you encounter resistance Then stand the membrane housing end cap down on a flat firm surface and press down hard Continue inserting the end cap by pressing down until the end cap is flush with the membrane housing You should feel the end cap slip into its bore in the housing tube It will be necessary to tap the end cap farther in with a soft mallet or the plastic handle of a screwdriver Continue driving it into the mem brane housing until its outside face is just below the groove for the spiral retainer ri
39. is to tighten the nuts finger tight and then about a quarter turn more with the wrench and you re home free Tightening much more than that like the cruiser had done will distort the plastic pump body and greatly increase the chances that the manifold o rings will not seat properly Then the manifold would leak like a sieve In a worst case the pump body could be permanently deformed or cracked In the morning I delivered the reassembled watermaker to their boat and soon heard that it was working fine and not leaking I admit to feeling good about that first experience with a cruiser in trouble Pd solved his problem for the moment and gained a valuable piece of infor mation to echo back to the factory And echo I did I faxed Christian Johnson the serial number of the watermaker and told him what I d found Would their QA Quality Analysis system be able to isolate this error One disgruntled assembler could cause a lot of bad product I leaned on Christian pretty hard and I m certain he took it seriously I was troubled by the fact that the very first watermaker problem I encountered in Mexico appeared to be a factory assembly error The cruiser s rebuilt watermaker worked well for the rest of the cruising sea son and then failed again When the owner contacted me from Mexico via SSB radio I recommended to the factory that he be given full credit for his PowerSurvivor 35 against any new watermaker he wanted He elected to get
40. models 80E and 160E because of their physi cally greater dimensions are available in a modular configuration in which the membrane housing is separate from the motor drive pump assembly The modular models facilitate installation of the larger water makers in the usually limited spaces available on a small boat The pre filter assembly is installed separately for all models At the heart of every RO watermaker system are the high pressure pump and the RO membrane The PUR positive displacement hydraulic pumps are designed to produce about 800 psi pounds per square inch of seawater pressure against a semipermeable RO membrane About 10 of the pressurized water passes through the membrane leaving viruses bacteria and most salts behind On the other side of the membrane it is collected as product fresh water The remaining 90 of seawater flowing across the membrane continues on as salt enriched waste brine and is rejected PUR claims that utilizing patented technology their watermakers recycle approximately 90 of the energy used to drive the high pressure pump The result is a significant reduction in the power required to pro duce useful quantities of water e g the PowerSurvivor 35 will produce 1 4 gallons of water per hour while drawing an average of only 4 amps of current at 13 8 volts DC The other models have a comparable power to output ratio Reverse Osmosis There are a number of useful technologies for purif
41. of Arsenic 0 05 R Envi 3 I Asbestos 7 Million 7 Million CO FT Direct and Diatomite FT covery Sacer ne Fibers liter gt 10 mm Corrosion Control 9300 North 75 Avenue Barium 2 2 RO IE LS ED Minneapolis Minnesota 55428 Beryllium 0 004 0 004 RO Activated Alumina CO FT IE LS Phone 12 315 Cadmium 0 005 0 005 RO CO FT IE LS oneg Ole ye T00 Chromium 0 1 0 1 RO CO FT IE LS BAT for Cr III 800 800 PUR LINE 787 5463 Only Fax 612 315 5505 Cyanide as free Cyanide 0 2 7 RO IE Chlorine MROD Product Manager Fluoride 4 Nate Mueller 800 845 7873 Ext 5561 Mercury Hg 0 002 z RO CO FT GAC LS Nickel 0 1 A i i Nitrate 10 RO IE ED Watermaker Specifications Here is a table comparing the Nitrite 1 RO IE relative sizes output and requirements of the PUR Power Total Nitrate and Nitrite see Nitrate and Nitrite Survivor watermakers including the discontinued Model 35 as Nitrogen 10 10 All specifications are for modular configurations using 12 Selenium 0 05 0 05 RO Activated Alumina CO FT BAT for Selenium IV Only LS ED VDC 24 VDC and enclosed models are also available Salt Sulfate 400 500 400 500 rejection is 98 4 typical 96 minimum for all models The Thallium 0 002 0 0005 Activated Alumina IE Turbidity TT dimensions for the Models 80E and 160E are for the pump and drive assemblies only Dimensions of the prefilter as sembly are the same for all models 12 H x 6 dia The Model 80E membrane module measures 31
42. of cruisers I ve met who think their PowerSurvivor wa termaker will wind up in the liferaft if they ever have to abandon their vessel at sea At a seminar I met one skipper who asked me how much strain could be exerted on the membrane housing It seems he wanted to design a mounting bulkhead for his watermaker out of lightweight plywood In the event that he had to abandon ship he planned to grasp the watermaker by the long membrane housing and rip it from the bulkhead Of course he didn t want to make the bulkhead too weak That s why he wanted to know how much strain he could exert on the membrane housing He would design his bulkhead to be just a little bit weaker than that I m afraid I couldn t give him any firm figures and I didn t inquire as to how he planned to handle the quick release of the hoses and electrical wiring It sounded like he would be taking the pump and drive motor assembly with him a heavy proposition when trying to abandon ship in a nasty seaway Was the manual handle stowed conveniently nearby Would he grab the 1 2 wrench he d need to separate the pump from the drive gearbox later in the liferaft He d have to do that before he could attach the handle Let s be real about this In planning your abandon ship drills do not even consider stopping to disconnect and unmount your PowerSurvivor Installation Issues 31 watermaker There will be many more important things to do first Of cour
43. of product water output When you re sure everything is working well pat yourself on the back for a job well done and kick back Before You Begin Berore COMMENCING to work on your watermaker read the first few paragraphs of the earlier chapter A Servicing the PowerSurvivor 35 Then at least skim through the rest of the present chapter to get an over view of the entire process and what to expect We ll be learning how to disassemble a PUR PowerSurvivor 80E install a Repair Seal Kit and reassemble the unit This is the best way I know for an owner to gain confidence about how the watermaker works and how to attempt fixing it if it doesn t work The hydraulic pumps in the new PUR Endurance watermaker mod els PowerSurvivor 80E and 160E and the older Model 80s with all stainless steel pump bodies are virtually identical in design For this reason the following instructions for the installation of a Repair Seal Kit in a Model 80E should be sufficient for servicing the new Endurance 80E and 160E or any of the older configurations of the Model 80 It is assumed that the reader has the Owner s Manual and other original documentation for the specific watermaker being serviced The latter will best document the overall system configuration Configuration differences e g modular vs enclosed models of the PUR PowerSurvi vor 80 do not affect the installation of a Repair Seal Kit since the pump assembly is the same in
44. of the pump body I asked if he was sure it had never been taken apart and he assured me it hadn t been It looked as if rd stumbled on a factory assembly error The uneven pressure that would be applied to the gland plate when the drive unit flange was recoupled to those four studs and the nuts tightened would be considerable and very likely to distort the plastic pump housing We continued with the rebuild and I had him put only a single washer under each nut during the reassembly Then he tightened the large hex nuts down on the studs with the 4 wrench and man did he tighten It was quite natural to want to tighten down on such large nuts However as I watched him lean on the wrench I thought I saw the pump body flex It was done before I could say anything so I let it go and the reassembly was soon finished I left him to reinstall and check it out An hour later he called on the VHF and said it leaked worse than before I told him I thought I knew what was wrong and had him bring the pump assembly back to me That evening while listening to Jimmy Buffet I carefully took apart and reassembled the defective watermaker I worked slowly cleanly and with gentleness especially on those large hex nuts I realized that all they do is hold the parts of the pump body together under the strains of developing 800 psi They don t seal anything by their compression when tightened the rubber seals and o rings do that All that is needed
45. on the piston shaft will cause rapid wear of the shaft seals and cause the pump to leak If the piston shaft is damaged the piston should be replaced Step 14 Remove cylinder from pump back This step can be a little difficult especially if the watermaker has been in service for a long time and the cylinder has not been removed before Take a look at the o rings on the exposed end of the cylinder and the Figure A 11 Removing Cylinder from Pump Back cavity in the pump front where they live The other end of the cylinder is identical and its cavity in the pump back is similar There is substantial clearance between the outside diameter of the cylin der and the inside diameter of the cavity in the pump back The cyl inder is held in place by its com pressed o ring seal The secret to removing the cylinder is to take advantage of the clearance by rocking the cyl inder back and forth sideways thus slowly walking the cylinder out of its cavity in the pump back Usually this can be done using only your hands However some times it is necessary to use more force than can be applied with bare hands If the cylinder won t budge when you attempt to remove it with your hands wrap a cloth around the outside of the cylinder and grip the cylinder with a set of channel lock pliers Grip it by the main body do not grip it near the fragile lip of the o ring groove on the end Then while exerting a constant upward force
46. order replacement parts for boat equipment Recovery Engineering was on my list We needed a new seal kit having just used the existing one On an impulse when the receptionist answered I asked to speak with Christian Johnson then product manager After a couple of rings he answered Much later I discovered how lucky I was to catch him in Christian Johnson was a dynamic manager who wore many hats and spent little time at his desk I explained that I had called to order some replacement parts and thought I d offer my comments on the letter he d written to Latitude 38 Yes he was interested in hearing my thoughts I told him I thought his letter to Latitude 38 was well written and convincingly sincere I thought the magazine s editors had been too one sided in their comments that we had used a PowerSurvivor 35 for the whole cruising season with excel lent results that I knew others who had used their watermakers for years with no complaints and finally that as a professional technician experi ence led me to suspect most problems were caused by user errors Christian Johnson had probably braced himself for a diatribe when he took my call I sensed relief in his voice when he said something like Thank you We think so too The problem he went on to explain was what to do about it It was clear to me that he believed in Recovery Engi neering s products and was willing and able to defend them He also convinced me that he
47. range from mere inconvenience e g your favorite cabin light quits working to threatening the running lights go out as you re passing under the Golden Gate Bridge or immediate danger you smell smoke from an electrical fire There is a plethora of books explaining electrical theory and basic electrical systems for mariners Unfortunately judging from advertise ments I ve seen it would appear that even some vendors of marine equipment don t understand the concepts I ve seen such meaningless phrases as 1 gallon of water per amp in advertisements from two major vendors of watermakers As much as I would like to assume that every reader has a working knowledge of basic electrical theory I m afraid I In all fairness such technical mistakes in advertising are usually the work of marketing personnel at the company who often lack any technical comprehen sion of the product whatsoever Figure 2 Main electrical circuit componeints can t So let s pause here for a brief review of Ohm s Law and a few of the other fundamentals you ll need to know in order to understand the electrical part of a watermaker What is Electricity For our purposes we may consider electricity to be quite simply the flow of electrons Electrons are extremely small charged components of atoms that exist in layers or shells on the outside of the atom Under the right conditions they can move or flow from one atom
48. ranty period of one year We can infer that a proper installation is critical to the success of an on board watermaker system Unfortunately the PUR manuals don t offer the new owner much help in understanding many of the problems that arise during an instal lation The PUR PowerSurvivor 35 Technical Manual MAN 5 12 93 begins its installation section with a packing list of parts shipped with the watermaker and a couple of brief notes on mounting locations This is followed by a similarly general discussion of plumbing storage tanks and electrical connections The information in the manuals for the other models is equally sparse Of course the instructions cautions and tips found in the PUR manuals are very important but they are only a small part of what the informed owner installer should know That PUR would write their installation instructions in rather general terms is understandable Boats are quite diverse in their characteristics and layouts Virtually every watermaker installation will require custom work and unique on site considerations PUR provides excellent sche matic level descriptions of installations that are known to work and a list of important cautions and considerations in their manuals but they left the driving to the installer They made little effort to educate the reader on basic hydraulics and electrical theory and they shouldn t I ve mentioned some technical subjects Perhaps you were a real es tate
49. rate of accumulation when making blue water passages to a much higher rate when making water in shallower near land waters Soon you will know your system and it s likely you will be able to increase the period of time between prefilter servicings You will have learned that you can go for days even weeks without cleaning or changing the filter during a passage from California to Hawaii On the other hand you will know to check it daily when making water in the estuary at San Blas Mexico You will know to check the prefilter when ever you ve processed unusually brackish or murky water or water with marine flora or fauna obviously present You will also know when you can kick back and not worry about it Knowing these differences knowing when to worry and when not to is guaranteed to be a comfort to the concerned cruiser Swapping Prefilters The alert reader will note that I recommend ex changing the filter element each time the filter housing is cleaned If the reader has also investigated the cost of replacement filter elements from PUR the thought of going through so many filters will raise an immedi ate red flag PUR has a suggested list price on their replacement filter elements of approximately 10 per element This seems a high price to pay for what guaranteed quality Such high prices for important after market supplies are powerful incen tives for users to seek alternate sources and they do I know of no rea
50. sin qua non of the whole installation One small air leak can ruin your entire day and if left uncorrected can frustrate an entire cruising season Accomplishing the second goal will go a long way toward ensuring a good experience with your watermaker Since the required maintenance will be easy to perform with the major units in accessible locations it is much more likely to be performed A properly maintained system can be expected to work well for many years The last and least important goal involves understanding that the less work the watermaker motor has to do in pumping water into and through the system the lower the electric current requirements will be This is primarily an efficiency issue A small part of the load placed on the watermaker motor is caused by the resistance to flow in the intake plumbing The resistance to flow in turn is determined by the following factors 1 Height of the pump above waterline the higher the pump the farther it must lift water and therefore the harder it must work 2 Inside diameter of fittings and hoses smaller diameter hoses and valves restrict flow more than larger sizes 20 Installation Issues 3 Length of and bends in the hose runs resistance to flow in creases in direct proportion to hose length Fluids like to flow in a straight path Curves bends increase resistance to fluid flow Sharp bends and elbows cause more resistance than gradual bends 4 Pref
51. stances some of which an RO membrane does a 30 35 rather poor job of removing includes some common 32 25 chemicals More important the substances listed are typical of a much wider range of other chemicals of similar molecular weight that are also likely to pass through the membrane For example the molecules of the three alcohols listed methanol wood alcohol ethanol the kind in Jack Daniels and isopropanol rubbing alcohol are composed of 1 2 and 3 carbon atom chains respectively The number of other chemicals based on just three or fewer carbon atoms in a chain is overwhelming A great many of them are extremely toxic or harmful substances Some of these chemicals are also potential threats to the integrity of the membrane See data on more substances in the Appendix 12 Some Technical Issues As a specific example the Environmental Protection Agency EPA has listed formaldehyde as a cancer causing substance What is important to understand is that it is possible for a large number of chemicals to pass through an RO membrane chemicals that are known to be harmful to human beings Fortunately clean open ocean water does not yet con tain significant amounts of such materials We are now in a better position to appreciate the narrow PUR speci fication for the source of input water to their watermakers It is clearly the user s responsibility to assess the quality of any water intended as an
52. that trip I was able to learn more about and document the Endurance series of watermak ers The result the present book includes therefore information on the entire current line of PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers This is the more appropriate because production of the popular PUR PowerSurvivor 35 has been discontinued If Recovery Engineering can be faulted it is surely for the shortcom ings in both the accuracy and content of their support documentation Although PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers come closer to being turn key systems than many competitors products they still require intelli gent use and some periodic maintenance to keep them working well With a little additional knowledge about the equipment and RO technol ogy most problems encountered by users of watermakers can be solved if not avoided altogether Practical and affordable RO watermakers are among the many new technologies that are revolutionizing the cruising lifestyle Although this book describes PUR watermakers in specific detail much of the infor mation is of a general nature and should be useful to anyone using a wa termaker regardless of the brand When properly applied reverse osmosis is a marvelous and dependable technology and a very wel come addition to the cruising sailor s on board equipment It is my hope that by taking the extra time to make this book more inclusive I have extended its usefulness well into the future In addi
53. the problem hadn t bothered to read Over dinner I discussed the seminar and my experiences with Chris tian and Dan I informed them of the problems I had found They assured me they would support me with repair parts and an open communications line to anyone I needed at the factory They also arranged to have Dave the owner of Time Changers Restaurant and a diesel mechanic handle warranty repairs in Mexico One of my recommendations was to have repair parts stocked at key locations on the coast of Mexico e g Puerto Vallarta La Paz Cabo San Lucas Mazatlan and perhaps Acapulco Getting replacement parts shipped into Mexico from the United States in an economical and timely manner is very difficult if not impossible By the time Christian and Dan A Sea Story about Watermakers 5 flew back to the United States they had gained a lot of valuable insights through their efforts to meet some cruisers on the latter s own turf The Sea of Cortez Crowd With Christian back in Minneapolis the rest of the cruising season in Mexico was up to me I continued to announce my mission everywhere we went After a few months people began to know me as the PUR watermaker guy and the word was out on the grapevine that Recovery Engineering had someone in Mexico investigating problems and helping cruisers by giving seminars As I gained experience in dealing with problems and questions I was becoming even more convinced that most probl
54. the membrane After separating the membrane from the pump body pull the reject tube from the center of the membrane Remove the two o rings on the membrane stem and the three o rings on the reject tube Do not remove the large brine seal on the pump end of the membrane This brine seal is easily damaged and is not included in the PUR seal kit although I think it should be see my list of recommended additional spare parts in the last chapter Wash the membrane in non chlorinated fresh water and stow it temporarily in a safe place away from sun or heat The_ membrane should not be allowed to dry out while removed from the pump If you expect to leave the watermaker disassembled for a considerable period of time e g while waiting for repair parts store the mem brane in an airtight container or plastic bag to keep it from drying out Check the reject tube for signs of rust or corrosion Use a wire brush with bristles made of stainless steel or a softer metal to clean up any discolored areas Step 7 Separate pump from drive unit Using the 1 2 open end wrench remove the four hex nuts that secure the drive unit flange to the pump Slide the rubber boot covering the drive shaft coupling toward the pump to expose the connecting pin which 44 A Servicing the Model 35 couples the drive shaft to the pump piston shaft see Figure A 4 Push the coupling pin out of the shaft using the 5 32 allen wrench In fact it
55. the water between the probes The digital display at the other end of the TDS meter provides a numeric readout which is nothing more than a measure of the conductivity of the water i e how much current is flowing through the water Pure water is a very poor conductor of electricity and will produce a very low reading on the meter Ions on the other hand are electrically charged particles and excellent conductors of electric current The amount of current that will flow through the water sample is directly proportional to the number of ions dissolved in the water At this point it should be clear that the TDS meter provides a meas urement of the level of ions present in the water sample Since dissolved salt consists of ions a TDS meter does an excellent job of indicating how much dissolved salt is present in a water sample That s all it does Limitations of a TDS Meter We ve learned that a TDS meter provides an accurate measurement of the quantity of ions in a water sample In general this is quite useful for testing the product water from an RO wa termaker with clean open ocean seawater as an input source There is however a widespread misconception that a TDS meter provides a meas urement of the level of total contaminants in the sample water This is absolutely wrong and in certain circumstances could lead to a false sense of security There are two edges to this sword Miscellaneous Topics 79 First a T
56. the waterline If there is a real problem I assure you the cause will be something else You can quote me on this one Recovery Engineering makes a better pump than some of their customer support staff are willing to acknowledge Prefilter Installation The installation location and later servicing requirements of the prefilter assembly are intimately related and should be considered at the same time There is no single component of the PowerSurvivor systems that will require more attention during actual use than the prefilter The most important decision you will make during installation of a watermaker is the choice of prefilter location Stop for a few minutes and think the matter over very carefully The PUR owner s manuals might lead you to think that cleaning the prefilter assembly often enough to prevent significant clogging is adequate Well it is not Long before enough detriment accu mulates in the prefilter housing to cause significant blockage of water flowing through the filter element the trapped material will begin to decompose This decomposition will produce among other things some small molecule gases that will easily pass through the prefilter element through the mem brane and into the product water The most notice able is hydrogen sulfide which produces a familiar rotten egg smell A testimonial is in order Our own PowerSurvivor Figure 3 An Easy Access Prefilter Installation The solution
57. to another Such movements constitute an electric current Lightening is a dramatic example of electric phenomena in which enormous quantities of electrons jump suddenly from the surface of the earth into the sky Al though lightening is impressive and involves awesome amounts of power it is an uncontrolled current All of the electrical devices that we use involve close control of the flow of more limited quantities of electrons An Electrical Circuit Practical electrical devices have CIRCUIT BREAKER black 12 BATTERY PUMP MOTOR several properties in common They all require a source of electrons at least one complete path along which the electrons travel to and from the source and a load in which useful work gets done Despite the obvious complexities of most electrical devices every one of them can be analyzed and reduced to an equivalent model that is comprised of only these three elements source connections and load If these three elements are present we may call the overall arrangement an electrical circuit See Figure 2 for an example appropriate to the present discussion In the illustration the battery is the source of electrons the pump motor is the load and the red and black lines are the connections between the source and load Note that the flow path for the electrons must be com plete in order for the flow to occur a useful electrical circuit must have both a send
58. to keep it from working loose Loctite 272 red is recommended although 242 blue would also probably work Inserting the piston from the described direction is relatively easy If it had been first assembled to the back plate and then inserted from the other side of the pump body cylinder the flared lip of the cup seal would catch on the pump body cylinder and be quite difficult to work into the cylinder Step 9 Install back plate plunger rod seals backup washers and bushing Lower the back plate onto the plunger rod using the previously installed backup washer to guide the plunger rod through the middle of its hole in the back plate Slide the back plate down the plunger rod until it is al most flush with the mating surface of the pump body Take care that the large 137 o ring doesn t fall out of its groove in the process Slide one of the plunger shaft seals over the end of the plunger rod and down to the hole in the back plate The seal should be installed with its flared side facing down Be careful when sliding the two seals over the coupling pin hole at the end of the plunger rod The sharp edges of the hole can cut a seal A good technique is to squeeze the seal between thumb and forefinger on an axis perpendicular to the axis of the hole and then slide the seal past the hole Squeezing the seal in this manner will cause it to bulge slightly outward on the sides that pass over the hole lessening the chance of damage f
59. us little about what the watermaker can reasonably be expected to do in any number of real life situations Based on the foregoing criteria I seriously suggest that the vast ma jority of watermakers in use are not operated in clean open ocean wa ter Most cruising sailboats spend the bulk of their time at anchor moored or in a marina When anchored or moored they are often close to a surf line with its churning silt and sand kelp beds shedding micro scopic plankton rain run off and sewage outflows This is hardly clean open ocean water Even when underway miles offshore the water may not meet this strict criteria For example Coal Oil Point on the southern California coast west of Santa Barbara approximately N 34 24 Lat W 119 53 Long has long been known for its natural seepage of petroleum and tar into the seawater The aboriginal Indians used it to caulk their canoes Vast slicks of this threatening material covering many square miles are frequently encountered well out to sea Let s take a closer look at what we can learn from the specification A sample of ocean saltwater obtained far out to sea will normally contain a known range of dissolved and suspended materials most notably sodium chloride There are of course a rich mixture of other trace elements and compounds in seawater That s why seawater can be evaporated and the residue packaged and sold as exotic organic sea salt at several times the
60. use a 7 8 wrench to loosen the large high pressure tube fitting that is screwed into the check valve plate see Figure C 2 It must be removed later to access the discharge poppet valve and it is easier to apply the necessary torque while the check valve plate is still bolted to the pump body Loosening it after the check valve plate has been separated from the pump body is much more difficult Step 4 Separate check valve plate from pump body Use the 1 4 allen wrench to remove the six flange bolts holding the check valve plate to the pump body see Figure C 3 When the check valve plate separates from the pump body remove the large o ring seal between them Step 5 Remove intake check valve The intake check valve assembly is accessed from the inside of the check valve plate i e the side that was facing the pump body It is the valve assembly that is behind the plastic intake hose barb You should note that Figure 36 in current versions of the Owner s Manual for the Power Survivor 80E incorrectly shows the discharge poppet valve assembly for this process If the intake valve retainer did not fall out when the check valve plate and pump body separated lift it out of its cavity using the needle nosed pliers Beneath it you should find a small spring and the poppet itself Remove both of them At the very bottom of the intake valve cavity is the seat for the valve It is a circular piece of plastic with an o ring around its per
61. was it Manifold Servicing The PUR Repair Seal Kit instructions state If the manifold requires service other than replacement of the O rings provided in the seal kit either replace the complete assembly or return it to the factory for re pair In almost every case I would agree that this warning should be heeded One of the best definitions of cruising I ve ever heard is Cruising is the art of repairing boat equipment in exotic locations One of the implications is that it is usually difficult if not downright impossible to obtain repair parts in many areas of the world Even if it is theoretically possible to order parts from or send defective equipment to original vendors the cost is typically exorbitant the time delay prohibitive and the chances that the parts or equipment will mysteriously vanish somewhere along the line are discouragingly high Watermakers 48 A Servicing the Model 35 where along the line are discouragingly high Watermakers are not ex empted from this common state of affairs Successful cruisers those who manage to continue for years and keep their equipment functioning are usually quite handy at maintain ing troubleshooting and repairing diverse types of equipment Faced with a broken watermaker in the middle of nowhere many seasoned cruisers are likely to tear it apart in the hope of finding and fixing the problem before subjecting themselves to the expense inconvenie
62. will store about twice as much energy as a 200 amp hour 6 VDC battery i e twice as many watt hours Nominally the 12 VDC battery would hold 200 amp hours x 12 volts 2400 watt hours of energy It could run a 40 watt reading light for 2400 watt hours 40 watts 60 hours or it would run a PUR PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker for 200 amp hours 4 amps 50 hours We ll use Ohm s Law in later chapters to calculate some very useful data for a watermaker system and as an aid to basic electrical trouble shooting These figures are both rough and nominal In actual practice a battery should not be discharged below approximately the 25 charge level i e only about 75 of its rated capacity can be used before irrevesible internal reactions take place that can significantly shorten the life of the battery Some Technical Issues 17 Installation Issues The Importance of the Installation The OWNER of a very popular marine supply and outfitting business in San Diego and a PUR warranty repair station recently complained to me Almost every PUR watermaker that comes to me for warranty servicing was bought at West Marine and installed by the owner That was an interesting observation from a dealer and experienced outfitter who had seen more than a few watermakers and watermaker problems Implicit in his complaint was the fact that very few of the wa termakers installed by his outfitting company had failed during the war
63. work if the seats are reversed Step 3 Install o ring seal in check valve plate There have been two different o rings used in the PowerSurvivor 80 for Figure C 10 Check valve plate and pump body prepared for reassembly the main seal between the check valve plate and the pump body Very early models serial 0854 and lower used a different size than later models serial q 0855 and higher Be sure you know which model you have There are re placement o rings included in the Repair Seal Kit for both models If in doubt compare the old one you removed to the new ones The sizes are different enough to be obvious Once the correct o ring has been identified generously lubricate the large pear shaped o ring groove in the check valve plate with silicon grease Press the new o ring into the groove The object here is to have enough silicon grease in the groove to hold the o ring in place while it is bolted to the pump body in the next step Step 4 Attach check valve plate to pump body During this step don t let the intake check valve retainer fall out and be careful not to disturb the large o ring See Figure C 10 Position the check valve plate against the pump body and screw in the six flange bolts finger tight When they ve all been screwed in check around the gap between the check valve plate and the pump body for any indication that the large o ring has slipped out of its groove 72 C Servicing the
64. 2 GAC Trichloroethylene 005 GAC PTI otal Trihalomethanes for disinfectant residuals Ok 0 PTA Vinyl chloride 0 002 0 PTA Xylenes total TO 10 GAC PI Granular activated carbon GAC nacked tower aeration PTA OGO O GOGO uty tU 34 r q pl s6 075 sal 005 ty to wW JHH q to J Woy SPP SD yD DD DDD DD q pl 07 005 dei FI ta to DU tO ee rey d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J 0 0 0 0 0 it 0 0 0 0 0 Oo OOOO BO OOO Ors Note that reverse osmosis is considered a Best Available Technol ogy for the removal of many of the inorganic chemicals in Table A 3 In contrast RO is not listed as a technology for any of the organic chemicals In most cases activated carbon is the preferred technology Many of the organic chemicals contain halogens chlorine fluorine bromine and iodine and other components that will quickly damage RO membranes 81 82 Appendix Table A 3 Maximum Contaminant Levels for Some Inorganic Chemicals Recovery Engineering Inc Just for the record here is a Maximum Contaminant Levels MCL Maximum Contaminant Level Goals MCLG list of information about Recovery Engineering Inc that and Best Available Technology BAT treatment techniques might be of use to the owner of a PUR PowerSurvivor wa Contaminant MCL mg l MCLG mg l BAT termaker Antimony 0 0006 0 006 RO CO FE o PUR is a Division
65. 9 22 28 31 troubleshooting comments on 68 70 U ultra violet light 74 V valve over pressure relief 10 31 38 42 69 72 servicing 42 solenoid 23 spool servicing 42 62 three way intake 20 32 three way product water 24 viruses new kinds of 74 removal of 7 10 size of 9 W warranty repairs in Mexico 5 70 return 4 15 return rate 6 water emergency supply 24 municipal dockside 11 processing fresh 8 10 tanks storage 24 28 waterline issues 16 17 18 for centrifugal pumps 25 Waterline Myth The Great 17 wet stacking in diesel engines 29 wiring electrical See electrical concepts wiring 88 Index Y Yelapa 4
66. DS meter will record any substances that separate into ions in solution This includes acids muriatic acid battery acid vinegar ox alic acid bases lye potash cigarette ashes and other soluble salts baking soda nitrates sodium metabisulfite The second conclusion is the more alarming a TDS meter will give no indication whatsoever of any substances that do not disassociate into ions when dissolved This includes a vast array of interesting materials and chemicals e g sugar starches alcohols chlorinated hydrocarbons petroleum products and byproducts In particular it will not indicate the presence of bacteria and viruses A Useful Experiment You needn t take my word about this In fact I encourage readers to perform their own Dr Science experiment Ob tain a glassful of product water from a watermaker Use a TDS meter to get a baseline reading for the sample Then add a pinch of sugar to the water and stir it up with an uncontaminated chopstick until it is dis solved Take a second reading You should see no change in the readout Next simulate the presence of a lethal dose of toxic bacteria by adding a pinch of bread yeast Again stir the sample water and take a reading Again there should be no change Finally just to convince yourself that the TDS meter is still working add a slight pinch of table salt The reading should double more or less depending on the size of the pinch Guideline Readin
67. Depending on your and your crew s level of tolerance for the noise you may want to consider a mounting location that is a comfortable distance away from the main salon and berths Lo cating the watermaker in that empty compartment directly under the head of your bunk in the master stateroom is probably not an inspired idea Look at available spaces in aft lazarettes and compartments Cut a rubber pad from an old inner tube to place between the motor mount and the mounting surface This will go a long way toward damping sound transmitted through the mounting bulkhead to other areas of the boat Orientation The primary caution for mounting all PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers is to make sure that the pump and the gear box are in a horizontal line and in the case of the larger modular units that the membrane housing is not directly above the drive motor The first goal of this caution is to protect the electric motor from sea water leaks at the pump or membrane housing If the membrane and or pump are directly above the motor a leak could drip onto the motor and cause damage The electric motors on PUR watermakers are not water proof The second goal is to minimize the possibility of gear box lubri cant working its way downward into the pump and then the membrane which might happen if the drive unit were to be located directly above the pump Note that the gear box lubricant is not silicon based Having thus rigidly restricted one axis
68. Device check valve plate Dai Figure C 2 Loosening large tube fitting hose from the check valve plate Disconnect the plastic reject hose from the prime clean assembly This step will be slightly different in the modular vs enclosed configurations but the disconnect points should be obvious Step 2 Disconnect pump from drive assembly Use the 1 2 wrench to remove the four nuts holding the pump to the drive and motor assembly Then pull the pump away from the drive unit to expose as much of the piston shaft as possible Slide the rubber boot on the piston shaft toward the pump to expose the shaft connecting pin Be careful that the pin doesn t fall out and get lost It is not a press fit and should either fall out or be easy to remove by pushing on it with a small screwdriver or allen wrench Occasionally the drive shaft and connecting pin become rotated far enough that the connecting pin does not appear within the small access opening in the gearbox housing In that case after pulling the pump as far as possible away from the gear box rotate the pump or gearbox until the connecting pin appears in the opening and can be pushed out Once the four hex nuts and the drive shaft connecting pin have been removed the pump unit should be removed to a clean work surface See Figure C 1 Step 3 Loosen the high pressure tube fitting Before proceeding to the next step of dismantling the check valve plate from the pump body
69. For a method to avoid such a develop ment see the discussion of routing product water under Installation Is sues Note It is curious that PUR does not include a replacement membrane brine seal in their repair seal kit Adding this item along with a new o ring for the prefilter housing to their repair seal kits would be a welcome improvement While small molecule toxic chemicals in the input water source are a real threat to the user the membrane is also vulnerable to strange sub stances There are two common cautions to observe First the membrane should not be exposed to any petroleum based oils or chemicals Second exposure to chlorine can rapidly destroy a membrane Included among the petro chemicals are all engine oils and fuels varnishes paint removers resins etc A watermaker is most likely to be exposed to such substances while being operated within enclosed harbors or marinas I ve heard some people suggest that there is no threat of damage to the membrane from fuel spills in a marina since fuel floats on the water s surface while the intake thruhull is well below the waterline Many times this is true However the quiet fuel spill a few boats away which is quickly and discretely taken care of with a squirt of liquid detergent is the one to worry about The fuel vanishes from the surface of the water but it doesn t go away Instead it drifts slowly as a cloud through the water finally reaching the intake t
70. GAC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Endothall 0 1 0 AR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 OV OVOr OOOO OF O5 OVO OV Ol OV OF OVO OOO OVO OF OF OF OF OFOr OO OF OO water Of special concern is information about those substances which reverse osmosis is ineffective at removing Table A 1 is a list of some relatively common contaminants and Table A 2 lists some common or ganic chemicals Table A 3 lists some typical inorganic contaminants This information was obtained from various Internet sites after a search on the term reverse osmosis Much more is available on the net The author has no way to assure the accuracy of the information in these ta bles Use them only as a general guide to indicate when further informa tion should be obtained Table A 2 Some Organic Contaminants Maximum Contaminant Levels MCL MCL Goals MCLG and Best Avail able Technology BAT Treatment Techniques Contaminants MCL mg l MCLG mg l BAT Benzene 005 GAC Carbon tetrachloride x005 GAC cis 1 2 Dichloroethylene SOT OF GAC 1 1 Dichloroethylene 007 007 GAC 1 2 Dichloroethane x005 GAC Dichloromethane 2005 PTA 1 2 Dichloropropane 005 GAC Ethylbenzene GAC onochlorobenzene GAC o Dichlorobenzene GAC para Dichlorobenzene GAC Styrene GAC Tetrachloroethylene GAC Toluene GAC trans 1 2 Dichloroethylene gL GAC 1 2 4 Trichlorobenzene JOT GAC 1 1 2 Trichloroethane 003 GAC 1 1 1 Trichloroethane 2 v
71. It should travel a small distance downward and spring back into place smoothly If the poppet valve doesn t appear centered in the seat or it can t be operated with the probe pull the poppet valve and seat out together and start over After the lower poppet valve seat and spring have been successfully installed lubricate the valve retainer and the other valve spring Press the spring into the small circular land that is in the center of one side of the re tainer Make sure the spring stays in place and is pointing straight up Then lower the spring and retainer combina tion into the bore on top of the first pop pet valve assembly The spring should remain pointing upward Gently lower the second poppet valve Figure B 12 Assembled check valve plate on top of the spring with its cross shaped side facing up Finally lube and install a new o ring on the inside end of the inlet valve seat fitting and screw it into the bore after the poppet valve Note that the inside end of the fitting is the seat for the second poppet valve Screw the fitting all the way in until it bottoms The outside shoulder of the fitting should be ap proximately flush with the top of the hole in the check valve plate Do not use any pipe joint compound or tape for this inlet seat fitting The o ring on the end of the fitting creates the seal Use the pencil or chopstick probe to reach into the inlet seat opening and operate the second poppet v
72. Lucas for a few days before starting the long sail back to San Diego I had the opportunity to discuss PURwatermakers and the Latitude 38 let ters with several other watermaker owners including Tim Schaaf on S V Casual Water Tim had owned and used a PowerSurvivor 35 for several years while sailing his boat in the Cabo San Lucas La Paz area and it was still turning out good water More important Tim was highly intelligent well educated and wanted to thoroughly understand every piece of equipment on his boat He knew more about those watermakers than anyone else I had met It was Tim who filled me in on the content of some earlier letters published in Latitude 38 I never read any letters prior to Johnson s apologia I understand that a particularly damaging one was from a cruiser who claimed to have conducted an informal survey of other cruisers with PUR watermakers In summary his results indicated that a substantial number of Power Survivor owners were very dissatisfied with their watermakers Whether or not the author of that letter intended any malice toward Recovery Engineering is a moot point but as a direct result of their comments there were many derogatory rumors circulating among cruis ers during the winter of 1996 as to the functionality of PowerSurvivor watermakers By early summer of the same year almost every cruiser I 2 A Sea Story about Watermakers met had read or more often heard of that infamous
73. Model 80 and 160 If the o ring is still properly seated in its groove tighten the flange bolts with the 1 4 allen wrench Tighten each a little at a time using an alternating sequence The object is to draw the check valve plate against the pump body evenly and avoid squeezing the o ring out of its groove on one side Use only moderate force during the final tightening round The faces of the check valve plate and the pump body should appear to touch but it is the o ring that seals the joint not the power in your wrist If you have a torque wrench tighten the flange bolts to about 120 in lbs If not tighten until the fasteners are snug Remember that the bolts and cast ings are stainless steel which is a relatively soft metal It is not too diffi cult to overtighten them and strip the threads Then you have another kind of problem Step 5 Reassemble the piston assembly not recommended If you disassembled the piston and plunger rod assembly in Step 11 of the disassembly procedure you should now rebuild it If not skip this step Clean the parts and lubricate everything with a thin coat of silicon grease Install the new o ring on the threaded end of the plunger rod and then slide the piston on Clean any silicon grease off the plunger rod and coat the machine threads on the end of the plunger rod with Loctite Install the locknut and washer if your piston has one finger tight Using a drift pin or similar tool to hol
74. This is a mesh so fine that only certain atoms and small molecules can pass It seems obvious that a quality RO membrane in Substance good working condition will not only reject a very high percentage of sea salt i e sodium chloride and larger ions and molecules but it will surely Isopropanol prevent passage of viruses and bacteria The size of Urea pathogenic bacteria is on the order of 0 5 microns Ethanol 500 times larger than the membrane pores Small viruses are about 0 004 microns in size As small as bacteria and viruses seem to us they are mega molecules on an atomic scale Trying to push bacte ria or viruses through an RO membrane seems a lot like trying to squeeze an elephant or cat through a chain link fence Therefore the good news about RO membranes goes something like this as far as I ve been able to determine if the product water is not salty it is almost certainly also free of viruses and bacteria I know this is something of growing concern among all users Major contamination of water supplies such as those occurring in Milwaukee 1993 and Sydney Australia in August 1998 have greatly heightened public awareness of Thanks to Nate Mueller at REI for this information Calcium Chloride Sodium Chloride Formaldehyde Methanol Tahlia 1 Camnla Raiartinn Ratac Some Technical Issues 11 the quality of their water supplies In this context it s worth pointing out that RO membranes re
75. Watermaker A Mariner s G ntenance and Service very Engineeri 1998 1999 by Gary E Albers Second printing June 1999 Published by Gary E Albers and Indian Sailor Productions All rights reserved Except for brief excerpts for purposes of review no part of this document may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the author s prior permission Composition digital photos and illustrations by the author Tus BOOK is offered on an as is basis I do not warrant that the in formation contained in the text and illustrations is fit for any purpose whatsoever except perhaps as conversation topics for boat skippers in anchorages marinas and cantinas around the world In a nutshell this is what has and has not worked for me it may not be appropriate for your situation I also want to make clear that this book is not officially endorsed by Recovery Engineering Inc the manufacturer of PUR watermakers or any other organization or business concern It is the product of a sailing cruiser using a word processor somewhere at anchor or underway off the coast of California and Mexico It is not endorsed promoted subsidized or coveted by anyone else Caveat emptor With all that said I want to thank those cooperative souls whose in put to my knowledge base on watermakers made this book conceivable First by a mile is Christian Johnson recent product manager at PUR for the PUR watermaker line He supported
76. a new PowerSurvivor 160E Endurance model 6 7 gal hr and has subsequently installed it It s running well in the Sea of Cortez I suspect the initial distortion of the pump body by the extra washer caused enough misalignment of other parts to result in damage to the piston and or cylinder assemblies inside the pump For that reason I rec ommended and PUR granted full credit under the factory warranty The following summer when I visited Recovery Engineering I had a chance to describe the extra washer problem to the assembly workers and foremen They agreed that it sounded like an assembly error and would be likely to cause damage and a malfunction They were also chagrined at the thought that such a unit had slipped out of the factory When I left it was with renewed confidence in the PUR assembly staff Recovery Engineering Inc Meets the Cruisers We spent a few days in Cabo San Lucas seeing old friends and then sailed across the Sea of Cortez to San Blas Nayarit on the Mexican mainland Again I announced my evangelical mission for PUR and got no responses However as usual there was only a handful of boats in San Blas It was not until we reached Banderas Bay that we drew a crowd When I first announced my mission on the local VHF net in Banderas Bay there was a chorus of responses Banderas Bay includes many popular cruising areas Puerto Vallarta Yelapa La Cruz de Huanacaxtle the Tres Mariettas Islands Punta de Mita
77. acing down Everything is now ready for the big push Referring to Figure C 11 use your fingers to press the PIP ring and piston seal on down the insertion tool over the piston and into its groove This will require a fair amount of force If you have trouble try pushing the seals part way down and then backing off to get a feel for the force that is needed You should observe that the purpose of the insertion tool is to spread the seals wide enough to slip over the outside perimeter of the piston From there it s an easy trip to snapping them into their seats in the groove The secret to success with this step is the lubrication of the seals the piston and the insertion tool with silicon grease Take your time do it right and it ll happen If you encounter difficulty try installing the PIP ring and cup seal one at a time Step 7 Insert backup washer and plunger rod in back plate I deviate slightly from the factory directions for this step To prevent pos sible nicking or scoring of the shaft seal bore when inserting the plunger rod first press one of the new white plastic backup washers into the shaft bore from the outside of the back plate Push it all the way into the bore until it bottoms Now insert the plunger rod into the pump back through the center of the previously installed backup washer The washer will keep the plunger rod centered so it won t mar the inside of the shaft seal bore Step 8 Install plunger shaft s
78. all configurations Of course parts and tool sizes may differ somewhat for the 160E The Tool Kit Very few tools are needed to completely disassemble and reassemble the PowerSurvivor 80E watermaker The following is a list of tools and materials you should have at hand Piston Seal Installation Tool supplied with the Repair Seal Kit 1 4 allen wrench 7 16 socket wrench 1 2 open end wrench 11 16 open end wrench 7 8 open end wrench straight bladed screwdriver needle nosed pliers 10X magnifying glass or loupe C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 silicon grease small stainless steel wire brush clean rags old clean towel for work surface good lighting Seal Kit and Documentation As shipped from PUR the Repair Seal Kits for the PowerSurvivor 0IL 80E and 160E consist of a set of in structions and one plastic bag of parts Refer to the PUR documentation for exploded parts drawings part numbers actual size seal and o ring drawings and similar information Quite naturally the documentation shipped with PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers and optional kits e g the Repair Seal Kits has undergone changes over the years This is especially true of the different Model 80s Most of the changes have been minor corrections but they can be con fusing during a first time effort at working on the watermakers In par ticular you are likely to have at least two of the following three different sets of directions for installing the
79. alled on a boat leads me in a different direction Realisti cally I suspect that adding a second prefilter may bring many installation configurations uncomfortably close to the point of cavitation If short runs of over sized intake hoses are used if the watermaker is at or not far above the waterline and if the filter elements are kept very clean I have little doubt that the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E would operate well with both filters in line and no booster pump Given another system with long runs of standard hose a watermaker mounted high above the waterline and a moderate accumulation of detriment in the prefilters I would not be surprised if problems developed With this said it would be my recommendation that one should first seriously consider whether a 5 micron prefilter is really needed If it is determined that the extra filtration is needed a booster pump should also be installed at the same time Installing a Booster Pump The auxiliary booster water pump provided by PUR in its Silt Reduction Kit is a centrifugal water pump A cen trifugal pump has certain advantages It can be dead headed have its output blocked without damage and it adapts well to the variable flow rate requirements of a watermaker On the other hand the installer should be aware of the potential problems with improperly installed cen trifugal pumps In stark contrast to the capabilities of the positive displacement pump in the watermaker a
80. als They appeared to have corroded at their base I took a damaged cylinder with me during my first visit to Recovery Engineering and asked one of the design engineers about this problem He admitted that the cylinder might have been a victim of crevice corro sion On the other hand he had not seen enough occurrences of this problem to suspect detrimental effects from the biocide I was told that parts at the factory had remained in biocide solution for years with no apparent harmful effects Although I have encountered three instances of damaged cylinders with what looks like the pitting of crevice corrosion I have been unable to detect a pattern or any clear correlation with exposure to biocide I have carefully inspected the cylinder of every watermaker I ve disassem bled and almost every one has been in excellent shape regardless of its biocide history The few cylinders I ve found with pitting at the base of the seal lips may have been flawed during the manufacturing process In summary to date I ve looked for and not found any clear evi dence that the biocide damages either the stainless steel pump compo nents through crevice corrosion or the rubber o rings and seals On the other hand when biociding my own watermaker I continue pumping air through the pump until the reject line spits air thus assuring a small supply of oxygen inside the pump I suspect that it really doesn t make much difference Membrane Cleaning
81. alt ions and many other chemicals are screened out because of their size This would be the perfect analogy were it not for a problem that oc curs in the manufacture of the semipermeable membrane material It is impractical if not impossible to make a perfect membrane material Real membranes have a few pores that are larger than normal Larger sized contaminants can get through such pores In practice the small water molecules pass rather easily through the membrane while the larger salt ions and other contaminants can only get through when they confront the larger pores Since there are very few of the large pores little of the contaminants get through and the product is almost pure wa 10 Some Technical Issues ter e g the rejection rate for common salt ions sodium and chloride is about 98 but it is not 100 The next step in the development of our concepts involves the two liquids on either side of the membrane material Imagine one to be pure water and the other to be saltwater On the pure water side water mole cules are constantly hitting the membrane and trying to slip through the pores The same thing is happening on the saltwater side but since it isn t pure water not as many water molecules are hitting the membrane as on the pure water side there are other competing molecules and ions in the way The result is more water pressure pressing from the pure wa ter side than there is pressing in the op
82. alve It also should operate freely Step 2 Install tube plug and o ring in check valve plate PUR documentation never shows the membrane tube plug removed from the check valve plate and gives no instructions for replacing the second large 920 o ring installed on it Nevertheless the Repair Seal Kit drawings indicate there are two of these o rings included in the kit pre sumably to replace both large o rings on the membrane tube plug Since our disassembly procedure describes complete removal of the tube plug replacing both o rings is no problem and that s what we will do Install both large o rings 920 on the membrane tube plug Also install the two smaller o rings 012 on the stem of the membrane tube plug Insert the wide end of the membrane tube plug into the cavity of the check valve plate and line it up square Using firm finger pressure press the tube plug into the check valve plate until the o ring snaps into place and the plug bottoms in the cavity Generously lubricate the pear shaped o ring groove on the inside face of the check valve plate with silicon grease Press a new o ring 137 into this groove and work it around until all of it lays smoothly in the groove The o ring may seem almost too large for the groove but once it has been evenly distributed around its path the silicon grease should hold it in place The assembled check valve plate should now look like Figure B 12 Notice how deeply the membrane tube plug
83. and reject tube Wash the membrane housing with a mild detergent rinse in clean water and lay it aside If the watermaker has been run recently and you did not remove re sidual water by pumping air through it there may be considerable water pressure remaining inside the pump and membrane housing This can make it very difficult to unscrew the membrane housing If you encounter this problem carefully unscrew the five manifold fasteners see Step 8 far enough to relieve the pressure inside the pump To avoid causing se vere uneven forces on the manifold body unscrew each fastener about a Rubber Boot covering the Coupling Pin A Servicing the Model 35 43 half turn at a time in rotation At some point during the loosening of the fasteners the pressure will relieve suddenly spraying water out the sides of the manifold Once the pressure has been relieved the membrane housing should be easy to unthread from the pump body Step 6 Remove membrane element and reject tube Remove the membrane by grasping it at the end farthest away from the pump and pulling it straight out with a twisting motion It is very im portant to avoid putting any sideways stress on the membrane when re moving it It is easy to crack or break the plastic stem at the pump end of the membrane Grasping the membrane at its far end minimizes the chances of applying lateral forces The reject tube runs through the center of the membrane and will be removed along with
84. and the mating side bottom of the manifold and listen to what I have to say about this pro cedure It is not a difficult task if certain precautions are observed Study the bottom of the manifold see Figure A 7 and notice how little surface area there is that will actually be touching the mating side of the pump body when the two halves are joined In fact if you look closely you should see that the only surfaces that will be touching each other are the o rings and the circular seats around them and the oppos ing lands on the pump front and back There are two things to realize before attempting to fasten the manifold to the pump body First it will only be necessary to tighten the manifold fasteners just enough to compress the six rubber o rings to the point where their seats in the manifold and the mating land areas on the pump body just touch Tightening more than this can distort the plastic bodies of both the manifold and the pump and introduce a real possibility of o ring failure It is also possible to damage the threaded inserts for the fasteners by overtightening Note that the two threaded recesses in the pump front body are plastic and are easily stripped Second it will be necessary to draw the fasteners down evenly in or der to assure equal seating of all the o rings Don t continue any further until you understand this O K it s time to do it Because the stainless steel fasteners tend to bind a little when b
85. ant support and encouragement there is little doubt in my mind that this book would never have seen the light of day Good women good friends and good first mates are hard to find she has been all of these and much more Although I have written this book with the cruising sailor foremost in my mind I hope it also satisfies a felt need among watermaker owners in general Much of the information is of interest to anyone concerned with the use and maintenance of small scale reverse osmosis desalinators Finally regardless of the help ve received from many other people any errors in the following pages are entirely my own original and un intentional creations For these I profoundly apologize Gary E Albers S V ISHI La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Banderas Bay Nayarit Mexico iii To my parents William and Naomi Ramsay who undoubtedly have wondered from time to time why their son upon whom they lavished such care turned out to be a sailor Table of Contents Disclaimer and Acknowledgments ssscccsssssssescsssssseseees iii Table of Contents cccssssccssssssssecsssscesssceescseesscseessceseesseees v Preface to the First Edition 2nd Printing sccssssseeees vii A Sea Story about Watermakers esssesssssoooccccsssssooocececssssoooeee 1 INANE BC BINNING a e aai 1 Trouble in Paradise cccccccecccceeesscceeseneceeeeeneeeeceaeeeceseaeeeensnneeeeeeneasees 1 The PUR Co
86. ary engines boat electrical systems outboard engines etc In summary what I ve found is that people who are not inclined to understand and maintain their equipment are typically the most adept at whining about their problems and problems they surely have For these individuals projecting blame is much easier than seeking realistic solu tions to challenging situations as and before they arise 75 76 Miscellaneous Topics With that said it s time to turn our attention to the kinds of problems the responsible owner of a PowerSurvivor watermaker is most likely to encounter along with some general approaches to dealing with them The following discussion and indeed my comments throughout this book are based on the premise that PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers are in fact well engineered products If properly installed and main tained they can reasonably be expected to give their owners many years of useful and trouble free service Comments on Troubleshooting Troubleshooting defective equipment is an acquired skill To be success ful at it requires some basic understanding of how the equipment oper ates along with an ability to logically analyze what can be observed about that operation The best preparatory training available to the average owner of a PowerSurvivor watermaker is to perform a Repair Seal Kit installation as documented in the PUR manuals and this book After performing this procedure at least once
87. assembly procedure than it was during disassembly Step 1 Install poppet valves in check valve plate Lube the inside of the valve bore with silicon grease Lube a new poppet valve spring and lower it into the valve bore in the check valve plate Press it into the indent at the bottom of the bore It should snap into place and stay upright without falling out You may have to play with it a little to get it right After the spring is in place and pointing straight up lower a poppet valve on top of the spring with its cross shaped side facing up away from the spring The PUR instructions refer to this part variously as poppet poppet and o ring and poppet o ring combination Note that each poppet valve has an o ring around its widest perimeter For the PUR PowerSurvivor 40E these o rings are pre installed These o ring poppet valve combinations are what PUR is referring to in their documentation You needn t be looking around for another o ring to in stall with the poppet valve Next lube the plastic poppet valve seat and push it down the bore and over the poppet valve with its beveled edge facing down i e facing the poppet valve Push down hard with your finger to make sure it is fully seated Look down the bore to see that the cross on the poppet valve is centered in the hole in the valve seat Insert a chopstick or the eraser end of a pencil into the bore and press the poppet valve up and down a few times
88. atermaker where it can be easily unmounted and moved to a nearby location for manual operation During in REI sells a strictly manual version of the PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker called logically enough the Survivor 35 The latter model is still available stallation allow sufficient service length for the intake and re ject hoses to permit use of existing plumbing without discon necting any hoses This is usually the best compromise and the design we used in our installation Completely remove the watermaker and use different hoses for intake and reject lines I suppose the third approach renders the watermaker truly portable for use in some imagined emergency Unfortunately when operated without an adequate prefilter system the watermaker membrane is highly vulnerable to fouling plugging up and other serious and sometimes permanent damage I do not recommend the use of the watermaker with out a prefilter for any reason whatsoever If some bizarre situation arises in which you feel you must use the watermaker without a prefilter or die don t let me or this book stop you Short of that kind of situation it s not a good idea This is an appropriate place to consider just what kind of emergencies the manual feature of the PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E is designed to ad dress We ve already looked at one important type of emergency power supply failure How about the big one Abandon Ship There are a sur prising number
89. auses the electrons to flow through the circuit AMP ERE used to express the rate of electron flow through an electrical circuit OHM used to express the amount of resistance to electron flow in an electric circuit The load in an electrical circuit will exhibit a certain resistance to the electron flow WATT used to express the rate at which power is being used by a load in an electrical circuit The watts being used is found by multiplying the voltage across a load times the current flow ing through it AMP HOUR a unit used to express the total amount of electric current used over time It is calculated by multiplying the cur rent in amps times the number of hours the current flows Some of these units of measurement are misused in common practice even in commercial product advertisements In particular the meanings of the amp and amp hour are frequently misunderstood and confused The amp is used to describe the rate of current flow In simple terms it is a measure of how many electrons are moving past any point in an Some Technical Issues 15 electrical circuit at a specific time If we are interested in the total quan tity of current flow over time we must multiply the rate of flow the amps by the amount of time that it has flowed hours The result of this simple arithmetic is the amp hour which is almost a measure of the total energy used To represent a quantity of energy amp hours must be fur th
90. bly aside for the moment Step 6 Install membrane housing o ring If you removed the metal spacer from the pump front for cleaning see Figure A 9 make sure it is back on the pump front before installing the large membrane housing o ring The spacer will not slide over the o ring Note that the spacer will slide on only if it is oriented correctly it is impossible to install it upside down After the spacer is on install the membrane housing o ring on the membrane end of the pump front see Figure A 8 It is the single large o ring with the fat cross section in Bag A of the seal kit Step 7 Install check valves in pump front All of the components for the two check valves are in Bag C of the seal kit Locate these parts Notice that there are two pairs each of valve seats poppet valves and poppet valve springs If you happen to notice that the A Servicing the Model 35 51 poppet valves in your seal kit have the numbers 1 and 2 embossed in their bodies you can be proud of your attention to detail However the poppet valves are identical and those designators can be safely ignored Place the pump front body on a flat level surface with the check valve cavity facing up see Figure A 10 Lower one of the springs into the dis charge valve cavity and stand it on end in the small circular recess at the bottom of the cavity This is easier to do if you use the needle nosed pli ers Carefully balance one of the poppet valve
91. ccccdisesccceiial fevaisateetdenene ini E R 71 Miscellaneous Topics ssccsssssscsssssseccsscssescsscssesessscssesessees 75 A Parting Sermo hanse eneee sean Bede ante bea Gabe Mina ads ees a e ERGE ES 75 Comments on Troubleshooting cccccccececccceeeesseeeeeeesseecesenseeeeeeeeneas 76 The TDS Meter nacera E a shes ds a tnd a T 78 Recommended Spare Parts cccccccccsscccesseceeseneeceeeeeneeeeeenseeeeneeeesnaees 80 APPCNGIK 2 5 05 ccccesceceascssonescssonescstenesscoseeasecsoesasoasossonvossesonces tess 81 TNO so scncsiscasecessscecasesesascsanossecasecenasesonsesecasesenasesensesesacesenasesonoess 85 Preface to the First Edition 2nd Printing In RESEARCHING and writing this book my initial focus was on issues involved in the proper installation use maintenance and servicing of the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker manufactured by Recovery Engi neering Inc of Minneapolis Minnesota What began as a personal quest for more information on an important piece of boat equipment soon evolved into a much broader inquiry into the general subject of small scale reverse osmosis RO watermakers and in particular their use on cruising boats The first chapter of this book details many of my experi ences and observations during that quest In August 1997 Recovery Engineering treated me to a one week visit to their factory and headquarters in Minneapolis During that trip I re ceived some training on the new PUR Endurance seri
92. cel out AMP S electrons tt me X HOURS time AMP HOURS electrons to produce an answer that is a simple scalar quantity with no embedded reference to time whatsoever I hope this digression helps the reader to have a clearer understanding of what amps and amp hours really mean in spite of their potentially misleading names Ohm s Law Early in the nineteenth century a man named George Ohm developed a mathematical equation that describes the relationship be tween the quantities of current voltage and resistance in an electrical circuit The equation is as simple as it is powerful Perhaps the most common form of Ohm s Law is voltage volts current amps X resistance ohms We can greatly simplify the law by substituting single letters for each of the quantities It we represent voltage with a V current with an I and resistance with R we can re state Ohm s Law Eq 1 V IXR Using the rules of transposition we can create several other useful forms of the equation Eq 2 I V R Eq 3 R V I These three equations Ohm s Law describe the very useful rela tionships that hold between voltage current and resistance in any electri cal circuit It holds for both 12 volt DC direct current e g the ship s battery and 120 volt AC alternating current e g household outlets circuits With these equations if we know the values for any two of the variables we can find the third
93. changed at the same time a seal kit is installed i e after about every 1000 hours of use During this servicing I recommend that the motor and drive unit be inspected for chipped paint If necessary use some standard enamel paint to touch up exposed metal areas on the motor and drive unit The Membrane As vulnerable as it is the membrane seldom causes problems unless it has been abused Almost every damaged membrane I ve seen has been the result of poor maintenance or mishandling A membrane s susceptibility to damage from certain kinds of con taminants e g chlorine or petroleum products has already been dis cussed and adequate cautions are included in the owner s manuals Most people I ve met who have experienced this kind of problem have not bothered to read the manual and therefore are not likely to be buying and reading this book There s little I can do for them so I won t try There are instances however of accidental damage beyond the con trol of the responsible owner These things happen If the product water becomes salty it could be the result of a damaged membrane although the more likely cause would be a failed seal The other failure mode pos sibly caused by a bad membrane is leaking of the over pressure relief valve which may indicate a plugged membrane If the latter situation arises over pressure valve relieving try clean ing the membrane first with the alkaline and then the acid cleaner Be
94. complex devices A good work en vironment and careful attention to detail make all the difference Before attempting to install a new seal kit in your watermaker take the time to choose a good location for the job somewhere out of the way where you can work undisturbed Spread out an old towel or large rag for a work surface Arrange for good lighting you ll be inspecting some small parts Make a cup of coffee or have refreshments preferably non alcoholic on hand while you work Relax and count on taking your time There s a lot to learn Now for the good news PowerSurvivor watermakers are actually not very complicated devices Following the instructions in the next few pages or the PUR manual you should have no trouble completing the job Better yet after you ve done it once I guarantee you ll have few res ervations about doing it again it s a piece of cake The Tool Kit Surprisingly few tools are needed to completely disassem ble and reassemble the PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker Following is a list of the tools and materials I recommend having on hand 5 32 allen wrench 1 2 open end wrench needle nosed pliers straight blade screwdriver channel lock pliers adjustable crescent wrench silicon grease 10X magnifying glass or loupe small stainless steel wire brush clean rags old clean towel for work surface good lighting wooden toothpicks Seal Kit and Documentation As shipped from Recovery Engineering the r
95. cult to remove the piston shaft seals from the pump back without damaging them only do so if you intend to replace them and have new seals at hand You will be removing the two shaft seals backup washer and shaft bushing all at one time by pushing down on them from the e cylinder side of the pump back secas Place the pump back on a solid a hollow etd base surface with its rectangular plastic tab pointing up Next you must Figure A 12 Removing Piston Shaft Seals create at least an inch of open space beneath the pump back body to allow room for the parts to fall out Two pieces of wood of the same thickness placed under opposite sides of the pump back with a gap between them under the center of the pump back will do the trick The previously removed pump cylinder can also be utilized as a prop Stand it on end centered beneath the pump back see Figure A 12 Now locate the hole for the piston shaft in the middle of the cylinder cavity Around the inside of the hole you will see about 1 16 of the in side lip of the innermost shaft seal just below the end surface of the cyl inder cavity What is required is to push firmly and straight downwards on the exposed seal with a blunt object The ideal tool would be a socket wrench with an outside diameter slightly smaller than the hole in the A Servicing the Model 35 47 pump back mounted on a socket extension A medium sized straight bladed screwdriver wi
96. d additional lubrication In fact there is so much grease in the gearbox that it tends to ooze out onto the drive shaft This grease will try to work its way along the drive shaft and into the pump If this happens and the grease finds its way to the mem brane the latter is likely to be damaged Therefore once or twice each year wipe up any grease that has appeared on the drive shaft outside the gearbox housing and lubricate the drive shaft coupling pin and rubber boot with silicon grease That s not much to ask The gearboxes on the new Endurance line of PURwatermakers the 40E 80E and 160E are completely new designs They are lubricated with a special gear oil instead of the grease used in older models The gear oil should be changed seasonally or every 1000 hours at the same time a repair seal kit is installed Motor Servicing The electric drive motor is probably over spec d for its application The motor is beefy its duty cycle is reasonable and it should last for many years of normal use Although the manual doesn t mention the fact the motor brushes are expected to last about 5000 hours which is a long time For extended cruises carrying a spare set of motor brushes is probably a good idea contact Recovery Engineering On the other hand new brushes and electric motor servicing are usually obtainable even in underdeveloped countries Note that early versions of the PowerSurvivor 35 did not have removable brush caps
97. d pliers Wash it down with fresh water and put it aside until reassembly Do not let it dry out Alternate method The membrane can be removed without tearing down the entire pump via the end cap end of the housing In this case the end cap needs to be removed To do this remove the stainless steel retaining ring on the end of the membrane housing See Step 1 for tips on doing this Note Although the membrane can be removed from this end I ad vise against inserting it from this end for reasons cited elsewhere see Step 4 of the reassembly procedure Trying to remove the end cap by pulling on it with the weak nylon product water fitting in the end cap the method described in the PUR instructions usually will not work The nylon fitting is too weak and is quickly deformed by vice grips or any similar tool The method I ve devised for removing the end cap requires a 3 8 NPT pipe nipple at least a couple inches long Unscrew the nylon product water nipple from the end cap and screw the pipe nipple in its place Se cure a tight grip on the pipe nipple close to the end cap with a pair of vice grips Then use a flat bladed screwdriver to lever the vice grips away from the end cap as illustrated in Figure B 11 working the end cap out at the same time You might be surprised at the force required to pull the end cap out of the membrane housing When it does come out the membrane may come out as well Be careful not to break the membran
98. d reassembled our PUR PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker I bolted the pump onto the drive assembly and returned the entire unit to its designated home under our cockpit combing A few minutes later the hoses and electrical connections were restored and our PowerSurvi vor 35 was running better than ever Since we were inside the Santa Bar bara harbor I ran it only long enough to be certain that it was again producing good potable water Tim Schaaf had told me I would have to replace the seals periodi cally perhaps every 500 to 1000 hours Beyond that with proper atten tion to the condition of the prefilter element there was virtually no other maintenance involved We had made all of our water for the last six months and I quickly calculated that at a consumption rate of 5 6 gallons per day we were well beyond the 500 hour mark for watermaker use Replacing the seals in the pump once or twice a year was not an un reasonable price to pay for the luxury of having a dependable water sup ply New poppet valves and springs were part of the seal kit The broken spring was obviously a part that wears and would need replacing periodi cally On the other hand I had talked to another cruiser who also had discovered a broken poppet spring Was that just a coincidence The PUR Connection Later in the summer of 1996 we were preparing to leave for Mexico again in November Included in that process was an afternoon spent calling distant vendors to
99. d the other end of the plunger rod tighten the lock nut securely with the 7 16 socket wrench You don t want this assembly to work loose Read the instructions for the thread lock compound and allow adequate curing time before running the watermaker Step 6 Install PIP ring and piston seal Even some Recovery Engineering factory technicians warn that this step is difficult I ve had no problems installing the PIP ring and piston seal using the following procedure surface with the piston down and the plunger Place the piston assembly on a firm flat rod pointing up Slide the insertion tool sup Several torque values for these fasteners have beer A Owner s Manual 80 120 in Ibs The older Mode 80 150 in lbs A factory technician told me that 1 i sounds like at least 120 in lbs is about right and Figure C 11 Installing piston seals plied with the Repair Seal Kit over the plunger rod with its wide end facing the piston Thoroughly grease the outside surfaces and seal grooves on the piston with silicon grease Also generously grease the outside surface of the insertion tool This step is the key to having the seals slip easily down the tool Lubricate the PIP ring and piston seal with silicon grease Slide the PIP ring over the insertion tool with the ribbed non smooth side of the PIP ring facing up Then slide the piston seal over the insertion tool with its ribbed side facing the PIP ring i e f
100. damage the RO membrane Step 1 Install discharge check valve in check valve plate Locate one of the check valve seats in the seal kit Identify the side with the bevel on the lip of the center hole Press this seat down into the dis charge hole the larger one from the outside face of the check valve plate Use your finger to push it all the way into the hole until you feel it bottom Next lower one of the poppet valves into the valve seat The poppet valve should have its cross side facing the valve seat and should settle flat into the valve seat Lower a new poppet valve spring into the hole and position it in the recess in the center of the poppet valve Finally C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 71 lower the white plastic check valve retainer into the hole on top of the spring Screw the high pressure tubing fitting into the hole finger tight You will tighten it later after securing the check valve plate to the pump body Step 2 Install intake check valve in check valve plate Repeat the sequence of operations given in Step 1 to install the intake check valve components which are identical to the discharge check valve parts The valve for the intake circuit is installed from the inside face of the check valve plate the side which faces the pump body in the hole for the intake seawater Again be certain that the valve seat is installed with the beveled side facing the poppet valve facing outward The valves will not
101. depth sounder seawater temperature gauge autopilot 1000W inverter 1000W generator bread machine recreational electronics and a PUR PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker With the possi ble exception of the bread machine this was a fairly typical selection of equipment found on many modern cruising sailboats The watermaker was nowhere near the top of our priority list as we doled out thousands of hard earned dollars to outfit the boat with the things we wanted or thought we needed Our many years spent as full time liveaboards and sailors guided our choice of gear for the boat As an FCC licensed marine electronics technician I evaluated our electronics purchases with confidence We both agreed that radar was a priority item having experienced some near misses with freighters in the fog Radar also allowed us to consider more night landfalls We felt com pelled to install ham and SSB long distance radio communications to lessen the concerns of parents and relatives some of whom believed we were about to sail off the edge of the earth To be honest we didn t give a lot of early thought to the problem of obtaining water while cruising When we finally discussed the issue a machine that could make all the water we needed from seawater seemed like a very useful device and we added it to our list of items to install At the time we considered it to be a luxury something we could do with out but would be nice to have We balked a little at the
102. des Although the adjustment may not return to precisely 1000 psi it should be close enough Later when it is A Servicing the Model 35 49 more convenient I suggest returning the unit to the factory for adjust ment During the interim your watermaker will be producing water again Reassembly For the most part the reassembly of the PowerSurvivor 35 is the reverse of the disassembly process already described I will be referring to the illustrations in the disassembly procedure for identification of parts ex cept for those steps that require illustrations unique to the reassembly procedure During the reassembly procedure it is assumed that all components have been thoroughly cleaned and all seals and o rings without excep tion have been lubricated with silicon grease before being assembled A clean well lighted workspace is even more important for the assembly procedure than it was during disassembly When installing the various o rings and seals during the assembly process make certain you are working with the correct parts If you have any doubt compare each part with the real size drawings of the compo nents found in the last few pages of the PUR instruction set For the most part the seal kit components are easy to distinguish Step 1 Install cylinder o rings and backup washers Before proceeding first coat the inside of the cylinder completely with a thin layer of silicon grease Also apply a little silic
103. ding much time in remote locations far from ac cess to the factory or a warranty repair station needs to consider a wider range of potential problems and plan ahead for some of the less common failures that can occur To address this need I suggest purchasing and carrying on board the following additional spare parts You may never need them but if and when you do you ll be glad you included them in the ship s stores Several of the following parts are not listed in PUR s standard parts price list Therefore I cannot at this time provide either part num bers or retail prices It is also unlikely that most warranty repair stations would stock some of these parts as discrete items If you decide to purchase these parts I suggest you call the factory direct Ask for the MROD Marine Reverse Osmosis Device Product Manager Tell him you re interested in JSHI s Super Extended Cruising Kit and he ll take care of you Membrane Membrane brine seal Piston Cylinder PS 35 Pressure relief valve o ring PS 35 Prefilter housing o ring Spare set of electric motor brushes Intake reject hose barb assembly PS 35 In the meantime I wish you fair winds and pleasant sailing I don t par ticularly like following seas I hope to see you somewhere down the line Appendix I ve included in this Appendix an assortment of tables and information of possible use to owners of watermakers and those interested in the
104. e coli Some of the new strains of mi Pump width in 14 75 15 5 14 13 5 crobes are resistant to traditional purification techniques including chlo Pump height in 5 75 6 75 6 6 rine exposure boiling water and ultra violet light exposure Appendix 83 Pump weight lbs 21 25 34 36 membranes used in PowerSurvivor watermakers Construction pump body plastic 316SS 316SS 316 SS Here s an example of using the rejection rate table From the table the rejection rate for sodium chloride NaCl is 98 If a solution is normal seawater it will contain about 32 000 ppm NaCl The membrane will remove 98 allowing only 2 640 ppm of the salt to pass through with the product water Membrane Data Information from PUR on the performance character istics of their reverse osmosis membranes is not to my knowledge pub lished elsewhere Here are the general operating specifications for all of their RO membranes Membrane Type thin film composite polyamide Maximum operating pressure 1000 psi 6 8 MPa Maximum operating temperature 113 F 45 C Free chlorine tolerance lt 0 1 ppm pH range continuous operation 2 11 pH range short term 30 min 1 12 cleaning Rejection Rates Here is a short list of some common chemicals their molecular weight and their rejection rate in by the reverse osmosis Table A 5 A Selection of Molecular Weights and Rejection Rates Solute Molecular Weight Reject
105. e feared that an excess of fish oil in the seawater would foul his mem brane I doubt this is a problem with which we need be concerned If it is I m not sure how we could know when there are fish in the area In any case every watermaker user must calculate the risk factors for the loca tion and make an informed decision about whether or not to run the wa termaker Experience is the best teacher Performing regular maintenance on the prefilter will tell most of the story about the quality of your intake water Ask other cruisers about their experiences in spe cific localities The watermaker can also be used in processing fresh water but again one must be careful about the source Are you interested in treating water from a babbling brook high in the Sierras or are you looking at utilizing water from an old well at an abandoned mining camp near a favorite hunting site If in doubt about the source find out more before expecting an RO watermaker to do something it wasn t designed to do The World Wide Web is an excellent source of detailed information on the suitability of RO systems for purifying water contaminated by various types of chemicals Literally hundreds of articles are available by searching on keywords like reverse osmosis and desalination One of the best known references for the average citizen is the text of the Safe Drinking Water Act SDWA as passed by Congress in 1974 and amended in 1986 Of particula
106. e for a cruiser If it isn t im practical for you then do it by all means If the first option won t work you are stuck with the second To the extent that you already possess major replacement parts for your water maker you can proceed However most cruisers do not carry a spare manifold pump piston and body parts membrane etc What is really needed is a second watermaker in known good condition Used PowerSurvivor 35 watermakers in good condition can some times be purchased at marina swap meets and marine used equipment stores usually at quite reasonable prices The long range cruiser with this model of watermaker should seriously consider buying one for backup parts Redundancy of critical equipment is not exactly a new idea Lacking the components or a second watermaker the last resort is another cruiser If you are lucky enough to meet another cruiser in the fleet with the same model of PowerSurvivor someone who is familiar with the disassembly procedure and not afraid to swap parts you could exchange components in a patient effort to isolate the problem to the lowest possible level of sub assembly Realistically however finding someone who would be willing to let their installed and functioning wa termaker be disassembled to troubleshoot another unit may be expecting too much On the other hand it never hurts to inquire I ve used this troubleshooting procedure with good results many times I use my own watermaker
107. e greatly in creased wear and tear on the watermaker s seals and moving parts More and larger particles will cause more rapid and significant damage to the pump The fewer smaller particles that are passed when the 5 micron prefilter is added will continue to cause wear but at a substantially re duced rate Under such conditions there is little question that the op tional 5 micron prefilter will extend the life of the watermaker On the other hand if the watermaker is used to process silty water for extended periods of time the owner should plan on replacing the seals at more frequent intervals Also the watermaker should not be expected to live as long as one that has been used only in clean open ocean seawater When is a Booster Pump Needed I seriously question the common assumption that adding a second prefilter in the seawater intake line nec essarily means adding an auxiliary booster pump especially with the smaller watermaker models like the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E The volume of water flow through these watermakers is so low ap proximately 15 20 gallons per hour or one quart per minute that in most cases cavitation should not rear its ugly head even with both filters in line Under optimum circumstances the watermaker can draw enough water to work without the need for a booster pump I have a lot of faith in those pumps Nevertheless my penchant for imagining worse case scenarios for everything inst
108. e plate Step 11x Reassemble back plate and plunger rod seals optional If you inadvertently pulled the piston out of the pump body cylinder while working on the piston back plate assembly you have two ways to pro ceed 1 Push the piston away from the pump back to provide some working room Insert the piston back into the cylinder until the piston cup seal is stopped by the pump body cylinder wall Then use a smooth thin tool e g feeler gauge blade chopstick etc to gently work the lip of the cup seal into the cylinder Start at one point and work around the perimeter of the seal pushing down lightly on the plunger rod This technique is the easiest but requires patience and a steady hand 2 Pull the piston out of the back plate and repeat Steps 8 10 of the preceding instructions Unfortunately the plunger rod should not be pushed back through the back plate while the plunger rod seals are still installed The coupling pin hole is almost certain to damage the seals in the back plate if pushed in this direction The plunger rod seals backup washers and bushing must first be removed Then Steps 8 10 can be repeated Step 12 Install capscrew bolts Insert the two 3 4 sockethead capscrew bolts through the ears on the check valve plate and screw them into the pump body fingertight Slide the two 3 capscrew bolts through the ears in the middle of the check valve plate and screw them into the threaded holes in the back plate fi
109. e removed retrieve the valve spring that is underneath them Take a moment to study the two check valves Notice that they were assembled and operate in opposite directions Pay particular attention to the springs They are especially prone to corrosion and failure If either of the springs is broken be sure to retrieve all of the broken portions If a piece of broken spring is left inside the pump it is likely to work its way into the cylinder bore where it is certain to damage the polished cylinder walls and the piston seals If this happens you will also need to replace the cylinder Step 12 Remove membrane housing o ring Remove the large membrane housing o ring at the membrane end of the pump front see Figure A 8 In most cases this will be the final step in the disassembly of the pump front Inspect the metal spacer on the pump front for corrosion and or salt residue see Figure A 9 If necessary the spacer can be slid off the front end membrane end of the pump front body for cleaning after the mem brane housing o ring has been removed Step 13 Remove piston from cylinder Remove the piston from the cylinder which should still be seated in the pump back body by pushing the piston shaft into the pump back The piston should slide easily out of the cylinder Using a magnifying glass carefully inspect the two piston seals for wear and or damage Also examine the piston shaft for signs of scoring or pitting Pits or scratches
110. e stem while it is em bedded in the end cap If the membrane has stayed inside the housing pull it out carefully with some pliers If the membrane came out with the end cap pull the end cap off the membrane stem If you ll be replacing the membrane remove the brine seal on the other end Be aware that a new brine seal has not been in cluded with any Model 40E Repair Seal Kits ve seen to date but may be included in current kits Check your kit Step 14 Take a break You have now completely disassembled a PUR PowerSurvivor 40E wa termaker Clean all the parts stow the old seals in a bag of used parts and have a refreshment Next we ll put it all back together again 60 B Servicing the Model 40E Reassembly For the most part the reassembly of the PowerSurvivor 40E is the re verse of the disassembly process already described I will be referring to the illustrations in the disassembly procedure for identification of parts except for those steps that require illustrations unique to the reassembly procedure During reassembly it is assumed that all components have been thor oughly cleaned and all seals and o rings without exception have been lubricated with silicon grease before being assembled You should also lubricate all seal bores in the back plate pump body and check valve plate including the piston cylinder check valve bore and wiper block hole A clean well lighted workspace is even more important for the
111. eal Grasp the inside lip of the seal firmly with needle nosed pliers and pull the seal out Pull it sideways first and then up It is seated in a groove in the inside of the hole in the wiper block backup washers Step 9 Remove plunger rod seals backup washers and bushing plunger rod hole in the inside face o ring seal Fee sd p screwdriver blade against the white backup washer just inside the plunger y ward with the screw driver and both backup washers both shaft seals back plate see Figure B Figure B 6 Wiper block back plate and seals 6 A socket wrench just Insert a flat bladed screwdriver into the 5 wiper block side of the back plate Align the tip of the rod hole see Figure B seals 5 Push straight down and the bushing will fall out the other side of the slightly smaller than the plunger rod hole also works well to push out the shaft seals and washers 58 B Servicing the Model 40E Step _10 Separate check valve plate from pump body and membrane Use a 1 4 allen wrench to remove the remaining two sockethead bolts 3 4 still holding the check valve plate to the pump body At this point the instruc tions from PUR simply say the Check Valve Plate will come off the Membrane Housing and Pump Body Well The check valve plate doesn t simply fall off Even with the two capscrew Figure B 7 Rotating check valve plate bolts removed the check
112. eals backup washer and bushing Turn the back plate over so the piston is on the bottom and set it on a firm surface The plunger shaft should be protruding upward out of the back plate Since one of the backup washers was already installed during the previous step we can proceed to installing the shaft seals Note that the two shaft seals are identical and are flared outward on one side Slide one of the seals onto the plunger shaft with its flared side facing down toward the back plate Then slide the second seal on fac ing the same way flared side down Slide the insertion tool over the plunger rod with its narrow end toward the back plate Carefully press both seals into the hole in the back plate until they are flush with the surface of the back plate Installing the seals together avoids the possibil ity of creating an air pocket between them Slide the second backup and then the larger white bushing onto the plunger rod Again slide the insertion tool over the plunger rod with its small end toward the back plate see Figure C 12 Using a firm pressure press the second backup washer and the bushing into the hole in the back plate with the insertion tool Continue pressing them inward until the bushing is flush with the back plate surface Remove the insertion tool Step 9 Install wiper block and seal Pinch the new wiper block seal into an oval and work an edge into its seat in the bore in the wiper block Once you
113. ectors you Il have to cut the wires and re splice them during the reinstallation Hopefully you left enough serv ice loop in the electrical wires to allow for future removals of the water maker the wires will get a little shorter each time you cut the splices If you are using butt splices this is a good time to consider replacing them with a terminal strip and ring terminals Step 2 Remove product water hose Carefully pull the small diameter product water hose from the hose barb on top of the pump manifold This should not be difficult Step 3 Disconnect intake and reject brine hoses Removing these two hoses from the manifold is the single most difficult challenge facing anyone following the fac tory instructions for installing a replacement seal kit The PUR instructions tell you simply to remove the hoses from the barbs At best getting the hoses off the hose barbs is not easy What is more important and more difficult is getting them off without damaging the hose barb assem bly and or its o rings If you feel you must proceed this way consider cutting the hoses or dribbling boiling water on them to soften them before attempting removal In any ample room for sliding back the rubber shaft coupling boot in the following procedure I suggest you save the old o rings and seals as they are removed They could be reused later for emergency repairs if needed Put them in a separate bag and mark it as used parts
114. eel wire brush clean rags old clean towel for work surface good lighting Seal Kit and Documentation As shipped from PUR the Repair Seal Kit for the PowerSurvivor 40E consists of a set of instructions and one plastic bag of parts Illustrations detailing the overall system configura tion for the Model 40E can be found in the Owner s Manual Installation instructions for the Repair Seal Kit are in the kit and also in the Owner s Manual Both versions of the documentation include actual size drawings of all the seals in the kit Both sets of seal drawings show a membrane brine seal However there have been no brine seals in any of the Model 40E Repair Seal Kits I ve seen On the other hand all of the kits I ve seen were early issues Perhaps PUR currently ships a brine seal in their kits as per the docu mentation They definitely should The membrane brine seal is one of the most often abused and easily damaged seals in the whole system espe cially with the PowerSurvivor 35 the membrane brine seal is the same for both the Model 35 and 40E Be sure to check your Repair Seal Kit to see if you have a replacement brine seal before manhandling the old one Fortunately it is not necessary to remove the membrane from its housing for a standard seal replacement procedure For the most part the instructions that follow are the same as those to be found in the PUR documentation But as Cannonball Adderley once said sometimes thin
115. eing tightened I always prepare the threaded recesses by lubing them with silicon grease Coat the threads of one of the fasten ers with silicon and screw it in and out of each of the threaded holes a couple of times before attempting to tighten down the manifold After prepping the threaded holes in the pump body position the manifold over the pump body line up the fastener holes in the manifold with the threaded holes in the body and screw the five manifold fasteners into their respective holes Note Remember that fastener 6 has nothing to do with seating the manifold we ll install it later when attaching the hose barb assembly Insert the Jong arm of the 5 32 allen wrench into each fastener in turn and screw them in until you just begin to feel a little resistance Then begin to tighten each one a little bit at a time following the sequence shown in Figure A 15 Over pressure Relief Valve A Servicing the Model 35 53 Use only the short arm of the allen wrench to apply torque to the fasteners Remember that all you re really trying to accomplish here is to compress the rubber of six small o rings and that doesn t take a lot of torque Gripping the short arm of the allen wrench will allow sufficient torque while minimizing the chances that you will tighten too much I ve assembled many PowerSurvivor 35s over the last several years using only the torque I can apply with the small arm of the allen wrench None ha
116. ems were caused by bad installations and or poor maintenance or misuse of the equipment Finally in April I was ready for the big test La Paz La Paz is one of two major areas where cruisers intending to spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez congregate in the spring Mazatlan is the other The Sea of Cortez Race Week in La Paz is another strong at traction in April We managed to be there I got a chance to meet quite a few cruisers with questions when I gave a seminar at the Barba Negra Restaurant a few days before Race Week began We attended the Race Week activities at Caleta Partida and gave a second seminar there aboard a trimaran I demonstrated the rebuild proc ess working on two cruisers watermakers A couple of the people at tending owned a different brand of watermaker and had come for general information Almost 150 boats took part in Race Week and all were ad vised of the seminar There were many who were accustomed to spending their summers in the Sea of Cortez I began to wonder where all the dis gruntled owners of PowerSurvivor watermakers were hiding About a dozen cruisers attended the Race Week seminar Back in La Paz after Race Week I held a final seminar at the Barba Negra attended by another dozen cruisers In addition to answering questions I used one of the cruiser s watermakers to demonstrate how to replace the seals Then it was off for Cabo San Lucas and the long sail north to the United States We had c
117. epair seal kit for the PowerSurvivor 35 consists of a set of instruc tions and three plastic bags marked A B and C The parts in each bag are used at different stages of the rebuild process Leave the seals in their respective bags until needed This will minimize the chances of getting them misplaced or mixed up The directions accompanying the seal kit are important because they are complete so make sure you have them Almost identical directions for a complete overhaul are included in the PowerSurvivor 35 Techni cal Manual PUR Form MAN 5 12 93 For some unknown reason the Technical Manual I received with my watermaker does not include the directions for disassembly and reassembly of the piston and cylinder sec tion of the pump nor does it include the full size drawings of the seals which are very useful for identifying the parts in the kit With the seal kit tools and directions before you on a clean work surface you re ready to dig in My directions for each step of the proce dure are numbered For the most part they parallel the steps outlined in the PUR instructions Each numbered step includes a single instruction followed by an elaboration on the instruction and directions for inspect ing the involved parts Special cautions or tips are also noted To avoid needless repetition it will be assumed that each part will be thoroughly cleaned and inspected as it is disassembled Take your time You
118. er multiplied by the voltage from the source See the discussion of the Power Laws later in this chapter Fuel consumption in an engine provides a useful analogy We speak of the rate at which an engine burns fuel as so many gallons per hour similar to the amp electrons per second We express the length of a trip in hours the same as the time current flows hours We can then cal culate the total amount of fuel used in gallons amp hours by multiply ing the rate amps times the time hours e g 5 gallons per hour X 7 hours running time will give us a total fuel amount of 35 gallons Simi larly an electrical device that draws current at a rate of 5 amps and is switched on for 7 hours will consume 35 amp hours of battery capacity I m quite certain that much of the confusion about amps and amp hours derives from the names of the units In most other situations when we speak of ratios rates are ratios we explicitly state the units being used miles per gallon feet per second speed feet per second per second acceleration or rate of change of speed pounds per cubic inch density a ratio of mass to volume Unfortunately when we speak of the rate of electric current flow we do not use a descriptive term like electrons per second Instead we use the name of a much respected and long deceased French physicist and mathematician the Ampere or amp for short The fact that an amp is a unit that actually exp
119. er of disassembly I take issue with these factory directions for two reasons When the membrane in inserted into the housing from the end opposite the pump the delicate brine seal must travel the entire length of the membrane housing with its flared side pushing first If the seal is working correctly when pushed in this direction it should be sealing all the way This long travel greatly increases the chances of rolling or damaging the brine seal during insertion The second reason I avoid the PUR method of membrane insertion is my experience with replacement brine seals I ve seen in the field Some are significantly larger in diameter than others The larger brine seals are sloppy loose on the membrane and so large that they can barely be coaxed into the housing without damage They want to roll and pinch Although they can be made to work if sufficient care is exercised in their installation they are a problem Trying to slide one of these larger o rings up the entire length of the membrane housing is in my opinion an invitation to disaster If the membrane is inserted as I ve directed i e into the pump end of the housing the brine seal can be coaxed into the membrane housing if necessary and then need slide only a short distance down the mem brane housing tube Further it will be trailing its flared edge as it slides a much more natural direction of travel and one that is much less likely to result in a p
120. er pump is added to boost water flow to the watermaker Installing the silt reduction kit especially the centrifugal pump is not as simple an undertaking as it might seem Before rushing out to buy one consider whether you really need to go to the trouble and expense When is a 5 micron Prefilter Needed The standard 30 micron prefil ter does an adequate job of filtering the intake water under normal cir cumstances A filter element in good condition will be removing everything larger than 30 microns from the intake stream This assures that anything passing through the prefilter will be smaller than 30 microns This is a sufficiently small size to allow the particles to be flushed on through the pump interior and membrane passages with the reject brine flow There is really no need for finer filtering under such circumstances A problem arises when the intake water contains silt or other hard abrasive substances Potential problem areas include estuaries tidal plains coral reefs and river mouths to name just a few If the water maker will be used to process water with significant amounts of such contaminants the owner should seriously consider installing the optional 5 micron prefilter It is important to realize however that the finer pre filter merely reduces the size of the particulate contaminants that are passed through the watermaker it does not eliminate them completely The problem with such contaminants of course is th
121. er reassembly of the piston and plunger rod than by a failed o ring Unless the watermaker has been malfunctioning and there is reason to suspect failure of the plunger rod o ring the piston and plunger rod should not be disassembled If it is necessary to take them apart use a 7 16 socket wrench on the piston lock nut Insert a drift pin or screwdriver through the coupling pin hole to hold the other end of the plunger rod Loosen and remove the lock nut Slide the piston off the plunger rod and remove the o ring seal on the plunger rod Step 12 Remove wiper block and seal Lift the large plastic wiper block out of the back plate cavity Around the inner bore of the wiper plate will be a black seal Grasp the inside lip of the seal with a pair of needle nosed pliers and pull it out See Figure C 7 Step 13 Remove plunger rod seals washers and bushing gency use In most cases all of them will still be usable Step 9 Remove piston assembly Pull the piston out of the back plate If necessary tap the other end of the piston plunger rod to drive it past the seals in the back plate Step 10 Remove piston cup and PIP ring seals Make certain you have replacement piston seals before performing the following procedure for removing the cup seal and PIP ring from the piston The following procedure involves destroying the old seals If there are no replacement seals at hand the old seals should be left in place Attempting to remo
122. ersible It may be mounted anywhere below the waterline without fear of damage from bilge water It is warranted for 3000 hours or 12 months by the manufacturer Emergency Use A unique and very attractive feature of the PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E watermakers is their capability of being operated manually if necessary This is accomplished by removing the drive motor and gearbox and at taching a long aluminum handle that is used to operate the pump Manual operation is a highly desirable feature It is a comfort to know that water can still be produced in the case of a failure in the watermaker motor and or drive unit or more seriously in the ship s electrical supply Those are the kinds of problems this feature is designed to address If this feature is important to you give some thought to how you would operate your watermaker manually Remember that you will still need access to intake water which will require a hose run from the inlet hose barb to a seawater source A second hose to route the reject water overboard would be useful although not absolutely necessary There are several ways to accomplish all of this Mount the watermaker in a location where it can be manually and comfortably operated without moving it This is usually not easy to accomplish especially in smaller boats Of course in order to install and operate the pump handle the motor drive as sembly still must be separated from the watermaker pump Mount the w
123. es of watermakers and was allowed to discuss freely any issues I thought were of interest to users of PUR equipment Following that visit I wrote the first version of this book while cruising and giving seminars in California and Mexico during the winter of 1997 8 It dealt exclusively with the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 I fin ished the manuscript in May 1998 and printed a limited number of copies for distribution among the cruisers attending Loreto Fest at Puerto Escondido B C S Mexico Fewer than a dozen copies were produced at that time Later while we sailed back to Santa Barbara I decided to de lay further publication of the book until I could incorporate information about the PUR Endurance series of watermakers the PowerSurvivor 40E 80E and 160E The PUR PowerSurvivor 35 has been without doubt the most popular watermaker for cruising boats during the last decade It s rela tively low price low electric power demand small footprint easy instal lation minimal maintenance manual operation when required and perhaps most important of all lack of competition within its size class have made it the only logical choice for many cruisers It is to be hoped that it s successor the PUR PowerSurvivor 40E turns out to be an even better product Shortly after our return in June 1998 Nate Mueller the new MROD Marine Reverse Osmosis Device product manager for Recovery Engi neering treated me to a second factory visit During
124. est solution is to tee into an existing intake line This eliminates the necessity of adding yet another thruhull to the vessel Many skippers believe that every hole in the hull of a boat is a potential catastrophic leak Whatever your philosophy about thruhulls tapping into an existing facility for the intake seawater supply to the watermaker is a valid and much used approach Some existing thruhulls will clearly not be good sources For exam ple many sailboat owners have tapped into the water inlet for their ship s head only to discover later that the thruhull is relatively high on the hull and often out of the water when under sail in a seaway on a particular tack If it s the starboard tack that s vulnerable and the vessel is sailing from Mexico to Hawaii such an installation could present a real prob lem If while sailing your boat you ve discovered that you have to tack when you want to flush the head the inlet for the toilet is not a good choice to reliably feed your watermaker at all times Often the best seawater intake source for the smaller watermakers 35 and 40E is the line for the seawater intake to the vessel s auxiliary en gine It is typically the lowest thruhull on the vessel thus almost elimi nating the likelihood of sucking air when the vessel is heeling This is the path we initially took on our boat The volume of water flow required by a watermaker is actually quite small The demands of the watermaker
125. etainer plate with the needle nosed pliers and lower it gently into the pump front cavity with the spring facing down What you need to do here is line up the spring directly over the intake poppet valve keeping the retainer plate level and lower the retainer plate care fully so that the spring mates with its matching circular recess on the intake poppet valve If this last step is performed correctly the retainer plate will lie al most horizontal deep in the pump front cavity When you press it gently with your finger it will compress the intake valve spring and become exactly horizontal If when you press down with your finger the valve 52 A Servicing the Model 35 retainer plate remains tilted you ve done it wrong Play with it if need be until you get it right You know when you ve succeeded Once you have the check valves and valve retainer plate correctly installed leave the pump front in the same position If you turn it over the retainer plate and intake poppet will fall out and you ll have to repeat the process Proceed immediately to the next step Step 8 Join pump front and back This step is similar to Step 2 You will be inserting the other end of the cylinder into a mating cavity in the pump front The same technique and cautions apply Lubricate the inside walls of the cylinder cavity in the pump front above the valve retainer plate with silicon grease Being careful not to tip the pump front too far
126. f the back plate and save them in your bag of used parts Be careful not to lose the large spring for the pressure relief valve Set the pump body aside Re i iper block seal i f Older PUR instructions that accompany most Model 80 Repair Seal Kits caution the installer to save the large 31 o rings for reuse during the reassembly procedure Check your Repair Seal Kit carefully there should be two 31 o rings one for each side of the pump body Both should be replaced during a seal kit installation and neither need be reused Of course you should save the seals in your used parts bag for emer Figure C 7 Removing wiper block seal The easiest way to remove the cup seal and PIP ring from the piston is to squeeze the seal hard from one side of the piston to form a slack loop on the other side Use a small screwdriver or similar tool to wedge under the seal if needed and cut the seals with a small pair of scissors or a razor blade Discard these damaged seals Step 11 Remove plunger rod o ring seal not recommended At this point in the disassembly process the instruction sets with the Re pair Seal Kit and the older Model 80 II Service Manual direct the in staller to disassemble the piston from the plunger rod This allows access to the small o ring seal between the rod and the piston As a matter of fact the o ring seal seldom fails or needs replacement More problems have been caused by improp
127. for the shuttle valve assembly are in cluded in the Repair Seal Kit Do not remove the shuttle valve assembly unless you intend to install a Spool Valve Kit or a complete Pump Re build Kit and have the kit on hand The latter kits are available as special options from PUR If these kits are ever ordered special instructions should be obtained from PUR on their installation Reassembly Before beginning to assemble the watermaker pump clean and carefully inspect all parts for wear and damage This should be done with a mag nifying glass if possible Pay particular attention to the o rings and seals Examine the plunger rod surface for scratches or nicks that could dam age the shaft seals Inspect the inside cylinder surface for smoothness Deposits of black sludge inside the pump are usually a mixture of silicon grease and pulverized rubber from the worn seals Large amounts may indicate abnormal wear on nearby seals However a certain amount of black sludge should be expected due to normal seal wear over time When all parts have been inspected and cleaned break open a few ampoules of silicon grease supplied with the Repair Seal Kit identify and organize the new seals and put the pump back together It is as sumed in the following instructions that all parts and seals will be lubri cated before assembly Be sure to use only silicon grease do not use petroleum based grease of any kind on the watermaker pump Doing so will
128. general subject of reverse osmosis desalinators Drinking Water Contaminants The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 contains some important information on known harmful contaminants of Table A 1 Partial List of Pesticides PCBs and Semivolatile Synthetic Organic Contaminants Maximum Contaminant Levels MCL MCL Goals MCLG and Best Available Technology BAT Treatment Techniques Contaminant MCL mg l MCLG mg l BAT Acrylamide TT Alachlor 0 002 Aldicarb sulfoxide 004 Aldicarb sulfone 002 Aldicarb 003 Atrazine 003 Benzo a pyrene PAHs 0002 Carbofuran 04 Chlordane 002 2 4 D 07 Dalapon a Di 2 ethylhexyl phthalate0 006 Di 2 ethylhexyl adipate 4 Dibromochloropropane 0002 Dinoseb 007 Diquat 02 GAC 001 GAC 001 GAC 001 GAC 003 GAC GAC GAC GAC GAC GAC GAC GAC PT GAC P1 GAC GAC GAC GAC Endrin 002 Epichlorohydrin Ethylene dibromide Glyphosate Heptachlor Heptachlor epoxide Hexachlorocyclopentadiene Hexachlorobenzene Lindane ethoxychlor Oxamyl Vydate Pentachlorophenol Picloram a Polychlorinated biphenyls 0 0005 Simazine 0 004 2 3 7 8 TCDD Dioxin 3x10 8 Toxaphene 0 003 GAC 2 4 5 TP Silvex 0 05 05 GAC Notes Granular activated carbon GAC packed tower aeration PTA or oxidation OX TT Treatment Technique required 00005 na 0004 0002 05 001 0002 04 S2 001 GAC PT OX GAC GAC 05 GAC PT GAC GAC 04 GAC lt 52 GAC GAC es GAC GAC 004 GAC
129. ger or pencil eraser until it will go no further and is lying flat at the bottom of the hole The reason for installing a single backup washer at this time is to have a guide for later insertion of the plunger rod through the back plate This technique minimizes the chances of damaging the inside surfaces of the back plate hole by hitting it with the plunger rod during assembly Finish preparing the back plate by generously lubricating its pear shaped o ring groove Install the large o ring 137 into the groove working it around until it is evenly distributed and is held in the groove by the silicon grease If necessary use more silicon grease The back plate is now ready for assembly Lay it aside Step 6 Assemble piston and plunger rod optional The installation of a standard Repair Seal Kit in the Model 40E does not involve separating the plunger rod from the piston This step will only be necessary if the plunger rod and or piston need to be replaced If disassembly is required use a 1 2 socket wrench to loosen the hex nut on the end of the plunger shaft The hex nut should have been assem bled using a thread locking compound It will be necessary to apply mod erate force to loosen it Secure the other end of the plunger rod by inserting a medium sized Phillips screwdriver through the coupling pin hole Remove the hex nut washer and piston from the plunger rod Behind the piston at the base of the threads on the plunger rod is a
130. ges from one marina or anchorage to another you will have less need to be concerned about contamination of your potable water supply At any time you are likely to be within one or two days sail of a water supply Or if you have multiple water storage tanks that are religiously kept isolated the threat may not be as great On the other hand many boats especially smaller ones make do with a single water tank In my mind one of the most important advan tages in having a watermaker is the possibility of reducing water tankage thus freeing up critical space for other storage items On our boat we eliminated one of the two original thirty gallon water tanks and used the liberated space for stowing food However reducing our tankage to a single tank has forced us to re think the whole concept of potable water storage A vessel with only one potable water tank is the most vulnerable to potable water contamination In particular vessels that are being outfitted for long distance blue water cruising have additional concerns They expect to be far from land and potable water sources on some occasions and must take extra pre cautions to guard the potable water supply carried aboard the vessel Again this is especially true if there is only one main storage tank The system we adopted for our boat has worked well For about five minutes after starting up the watermaker we reject the product water Then I manually taste test the product wate
131. gs don t lay the way they re supposed to lay To address that issue I ve added my comments and tips on procedures where appropriate 55 56 B Servicing the Model 40E Refer to the PUR documentation for exploded parts drawings part numbers actual size seal and o ring drawings and similar information Disassembly The seal replacement procedure involves only the pump assembly not the drive motor gearcase membrane or system plumbing Before pro ceeding I suggest turning the intake selector valve to its alternate posi tion and running air through the watermaker until it no longer expels reject water This will eliminate residual water pressure in the pump and make the disassembly job less messy The following procedure assumes that the entire drive pump and membrane housing will first be removed as a unit With some installa tions where there is ample working room around the watermaker it may be possible to separate the pump from the drive unit without dismounting the latter Step 1 Remove membrane end cap not recommended If the membrane does not need to be removed and a standard seal re placement servicing does not require it do not perform this step To remove or replace the membrane it is not necessary to remove the end cap on the end of the membrane housing The membrane can be accessed from the pump body behind the check valve plate The end cap is often quite difficult to remove The easiest way is t
132. gs for Potable Water Now that we have an under standing of how a TDS meter works and what it can and can not do it would be useful to know what kind of readings to expect when testing the product water from a watermaker processing uncontaminated seawater A little simple arithmetic is all we need A typical sample of open ocean seawater contains approximately 3 salt This is equivalent to 3 parts per 100 or 30 000 ppm parts per million PUR specifications for their watermakers claim a 98 rejection rate This means that the product water will still contain about 2 of the salt that was originally present i e 2 of 30 000 ppm Multiplying 0 02 2 times 30 000 ppm gives us 600 ppm Therefore any TDS meter reading of 600 or less for product water will mean that the water sample falls within the claims of the PUR specifications In fact the TDS meter readings I ve obtained from numerous tests of several different PowerSurvivor watermakers have ranged from 150 to about 400 Slightly higher readings should be expected if the intake water is higher than average salinity 80 Miscellaneous Topics Recommended Spare Parts The standard seal kit provided by PUR contains all the components nec essary for regular seal maintenance of the PowerSurvivor watermakers In addition replacing the seals is often all that is needed to repair many of the most common problems that can arise Nevertheless the owner who expects to be spen
133. he cylinder with its o rings and backup washers already installed lubricate the inside surface of the cylinder cavity in the pump back with a thin coat of silicon grease Cen ter the cylinder over the cavity and make sure it is square to the opening not tilted in any direction Then push it into the cavity gently taking care to keep it square to the opening as you press It should take only light pressure to start it in As soon as the o ring has just entered the cavity stop and carefully examine all sides where the cylinder meets the cavity Look for any part of the o ring that has rolled out of its groove during the initial insertion If this has happened a loop of the o ring will have rolled up between the outside of the cylinder and its plastic cavity in the pump back If you ha ven t pushed the cylinder all the way in you should be able to see the rolled portion extruding out of the cavity If this happens remove the cylinder re seat the o ring and try again if the o ring wasn t damaged examine it carefully If the o ring has rolled it will become a wedge between the cylinder and the cavity and it will be difficult to press the cylinder any further into the pump back If you continue to press on the cylinder after the o ring has rolled you are certain to damage the o ring and it will have to be replaced On the other hand a cylinder that has been inserted correctly will be easy to push smoothly all the way to the botto
134. he o rings and seals Be aware that flaws are sometimes small and not obvious I ve seen o rings that looked normal until they were squeezed between two fingers to reveal a slit in the rubber A small nick in an o ring is sufficient to produce a substantial leak and cause the watermaker to fail Look for flaws in the pump body parts Pay special attention to the inside surface of the cylinder and the cylinder o rings and backup seals in the Model 35 the piston seals and the plunger rod seals Is anything scored chipped or cut The poppet valve springs are known to be vulner able Are they whole and in good shape Field Parts Swapping The tips I ve mentioned up to this point are suf ficient to troubleshoot most of the problems I ve seen arise On several occasions I ve failed to identify the specific cause of a problem but have 78 Miscellaneous Topics returned the units to working order by replacing the seals This is a cate gory of problem and repair which experienced technicians sometimes refer to as FM If it works it ain t broke What about a problem that isn t fixed by installing a seal kit and where no defective or damaged parts were found This gets a little tougher Frankly there are two alternatives Return the watermaker to the PUR factory Swap pump parts with known good ones Neither choice is an easy one In the first case returning a watermaker to the factory is often impractical or impossibl
135. hruhull for your watermaker If that happens get out your checkbook You ll probably need a new membrane Some Technical Issues 13 I suspect that most cases of chlorine damage occur when membranes are exposed to municipal water Water at the dockside and or municipal water taps is likely to contain chlorine and should not be processed in the watermaker A common error is to flush or biocide the watermaker with dockside fresh water after arriving in port in preparation for an extended period of non use Another common source of chlorine exposure is the practice of add ing chlorine to the product water in the main holding tank s just as a precaution If such water is subsequently used to flush clean or biocide the watermaker the membrane may be exposed to chlorine How serious is the chlorine problem An informed source told me that membranes are expected to tolerate 1000 ppmh parts per million X hours exposure to chlorine before suffering significant harm This seems to mean they could be constantly exposed to water with 100 ppm chlorine for 10 hours or water with 20 ppm chlorine for 50 hours etc before being damaged Another specification provided by Recovery Engineering indicates less than 0 1 ppm exposure to free chlorine See Membrane Data in the Appendix This spec would seem to place a severe limit on the rate of exposure to chlorine Since the ppm concentration of chlorine in municipal water supplies is fairly low
136. ial of some skipper under a Mexican palapa At the same time I ve made a substan tial effort to explore the real situation by visiting both the company and the customers I hope what I ve learned will be of value to other owners of PowerSurvivor watermakers The comments in the following pages are a composite of some in side knowledge lots of actual experiences with cruisers and my own practical and technical take on matters I disagree with the company position on several important issues and make no bones about it Here and there I will also make suggestions for improvements in their prod ucts that some may label criticisms I m convinced that Recovery Engi neering will listen to such comments with a view toward improving an already excellent product line In fact at the time of this writing the PowerSurvivor 35 and original Model 80s have been discontinued by Recovery Engineering Replacing the PowerSurvivor 35 is the new PowerSurvivor 40E the Model 80 has been supplanted by the PowerSurvivor 80E and a new larger capacity model the PowerSurvivor 160E 6 7 gal hr has been added to the product line The engineering changes across the entire line of PUR wa termakers have been extensive I was able to see and discuss them with the technical staff at Recovery Engineering The changes all look like great improvements and in support of the new designs the warranty period is being increased from one to three years
137. ies with the pump or the plumbing is to use a separate hose to temporarily feed the intake thereby bypassing all of the intake circuit Run the hose directly into a seawater source e g a bucket of seawater If the pump now works look for the problem in the intake plumbing If it still fails turn your attention to the pump itself If there is evidence of leaking from the pump there is definitely a problem with the pump itself In some cases the watermaker may leak and still produce product water Nevertheless a leak indicates a problem that should be addressed before it becomes more serious With the PowerSurvivor 35 before tearing into the pump examine the intake reject hose barb assembly that connects to the pump at the manifold This is a common source of leakage and air ingress The latter can cause failure to produce product water by admitting air into the pump Remove the hose barb assembly and check for damaged o rings or deformation of the barbs especially near the ends that are hidden within the manifold Make sure there are no strains on the two hoses connected to the hose barbs Because of new designs air ingress at the intake hose is less likely with the newer watermaker models If the hose barb assembly and o rings are in good condition the next step is disassembly and careful inspection of the pump components seals and o rings Follow the procedure described in the preceding chapters Use a magnifying glass to examine t
138. if possible Accumulations of salt deposits are usually good clues to the origin of a leak With the PowerSurvivor 35 a common source of leaks is the in let reject hose barb assembly that couples the inlet and reject brine hoses to the pump manifold This assembly is easily damaged and is a potential site of both water leaking from the system and air ingress into the pump Use amp Maintenance Issues 37 If a leak appears to be coming from the pump body itself the source is likely to be a failed o ring or seal inside the pump The first attempt at a fix is to install a new seal kit see the following chapters On the PowerSurvivor 35 it is instructive to observe the small white indicator shaft projecting from the over pressure relief valve on the manifold while the watermaker is running see Figure A 6 Under nor mal conditions it should move in and out in pace with the strokes of the pump While watching it note its normal range of travel The pattern of travel of this pressure indicator can be valuable troubleshooting informa tion Among other things one can get an estimate of the pressure being developed by the pump by noting the distance through which the indica tor shaft moves If it moves at all some pressure is being produced If it moves too far exposing the red band at its base and possibly leaking wa ter it indicates that too much pressure is being developed e g from a plugged membrane If the indicator moves within i
139. ilter cleanliness Accumulation of contaminants in the pores of the prefilter element will gradually increase resistance to flow over time The last factor will be discussed in a later section on prefilter mainte nance Factors 2 and 3 are I hope fairly obvious It s time to discuss factor 1 an important and controversial issue the location of the wa termaker and prefilter assembly relative to the waterline of the vessel Location Location Location There is much confusion and inexpert opinion surrounding the subject of whether or not a PUR PowerSurvivor watermaker needs to be or even should be mounted below the waterline of a vessel The manufacturer has done little to clarify the situation In fact there are rumors that cer tain factory technical support people have told owners that failure to mount their units below the waterline was the probable cause of their problems It s time to shed some light on this subject Let s begin by recalling that the pumps in the PowerSurvivor water makers are positive displacement pumps designed to develop 800 psi of pressure They have no trouble at all pulling the input water up just as high as any other simple positive displacement pump e g an old hand pump servicing a water well Its construction and principles of operation are quite simple and well known Zf there are no air leaks or serious re strictions in the intake plumbing the PowerSurvivor pumps are capable of lifti
140. imeter and it will remain pressed into the cavity There are two methods for retrieving it 1 lower the head of a small ma chine screw into the cavity hook the flat edge of the screwhead under the lip of the valve seat seal and pull the seat poppet straight up and valve out or 2 remove the retainer plastic hose Figure C 4 Intake poppet valve assembly barb for the removed seawater intake i and push the seat out using a screwdriver blade from the l barb side of the check valve Figure C 3 Removing check valve plate plate C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 69 Either method should enable you to retrieve the intake valve seat If you elect to access the seat by removing the intake hose barb you can rein stall it later using some Permatex non hardening gasket sealer When you have finished you should have retrieved the parts shown in Figure C 4 Step _6 Remove high pressure tube fitting Now is the time to completely re move the high pressure hose fitting on the outside of the check valve plate next to the intake hose barb You may need the 7 8 wrench This is the large fitting that was loosened in Step 3 Underneath it is the discharge check valve assembly Figure C 5 Removing discharge valve seat Step 7 Step 7 Remove discharge check The parts comprising the discharge check valve assembly are identical to those in the intake valve assembly Using the needle nosed pliers re trieve the
141. inched or rolled seal For these reasons I recommend partial disassembly of the PowerSur vivor 40E watermaker pump whenever a membrane is to be inserted All that is required is removal of the back plate piston and check valve plate Once the check valve plate has been removed the membrane tube When I brought up the problem of over sized brine seals at REI during a recent visit I was told by the customer support staff that indeed there did seem to be a substantial variation in the size of brine seals they had seen Nevertheless they assured me the brine seals are all within specifications and should work Personally I don t believe that Industrial seals and o rings are manufactured to tight often critical specifications My guess is that REI received a batch of close but wrong sized seals that slipped by QA In any event be espe cially careful when installing membrane brine seals 62 B Servicing the Model 40E plug and membrane can be removed per the instructions earlier in this chapter An added benefit to this approach is the lack of need to remove the troublesome membrane housing end cap Step 5 Prepare back plate for assembly Prepare the back plate for assembly by lubricating the hole for the plunger rod and its seals and the cavity for the wiper block Insert one of the new white plastic plunger rod backup washers into the plunger rod hole from the outside face of the back plate Press it down with a fin
142. input source for an RO system especially any water that is less than the optimum clean open ocean water If there is any question about the suitability of a particular source of input water with known contaminants the prudent user is well advised to contact Recovery Engineering or some other source of expertise for further information The bottom line here is that it is the sole responsibility of the watermaker user to deter mine the contaminants likely to be found in the input water With that understood it will be discovered that RO watermakers actually work quite well in a wide range of situations Known Threats to RO Systems Having explored the meaning and limitations of the PUR specifica tion for input sources for their watermakers and realizing that actual use situations frequently depart from that high standard it would be useful to examine a few instances of operating situations that are already known to cause problems The problems can be categorized into 1 those damag ing to the user and 2 those damaging to the watermaker Unsafe Product Water Regarding input water that might yield unsuit able or unsafe product water the basic rule of thumb is easily formulated any water which differs in makeup from clean open ocean water should be regarded as suspect It is the responsibility of the user to be aware of what the intake water might contain and therefore what needs to be re moved For example
143. ion Sodium fluoride NaF 42 98 Sodium cyanide NaCN pH 11 49 97 Sodium chloride NaCl 58 98 Silica SiO2 50 ppm 60 98 Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3 84 98 Sodium nitrate NaNO3 85 93 Magnesium chloride MgCl2 95 98 Calcium chloride CaCl 99 Magnesium sulfate MgSOu 99 Nickel sulfate NiSO4 99 Copper sulfate CuSO4 99 Formaldehyde 35 Methanol 25 Ethanol 70 Isopropanol 90 Urea 70 Lactic acid pH 2 94 Lactic acid pH 5 99 Glucose 98 Sucrose 99 Chlorinated pesticides traces 99 A Acapulco 5 air leaks 15 16 20 at Model 35 hose barbs 20 causes of 20 22 31 troubleshooting 69 alcohols membrane rejection of 9 amp hour calculations 27 antioxidant See biocide bacteria e coli 74 in RO membrane 28 31 32 new kinds of 74 removing 7 9 10 size of pathogenic 9 Barba Negra Restaurant 5 Big Stick Philosophy 28 biocide and crevice corrosion 6 32 sodium metabisulfite 31 treatment for membrane 11 19 28 31 booster pump See pump centrifugal bromine 11 73 C Cabo San Lucas 1 3 4 5 8 calculations electrical 27 cavitation 18 20 25 description of 20 chlorine 11 73 damage to RO membrane 11 69 the halogen 11 Coal Oil Point 8 contaminants concentration of 8 cryptosporidium 9 fish oil 10 giardia 9 in open ocean waters 8 21 near shore 10 silt 11 30 coral 24 30 Cortez Sea of 4 5 6 8 cruising definition of 41 offshore 3 23 24 cryptosporidiu
144. ir techs the guy who has the job of shipping parts to remote areas of the world I asked questions listened and learned a lot in a short week They listened too My background in engineering environments allowed me to sidestep what I call marketing issues and get to core technical questions e g does the biocide an antioxidant cause crevice corrosion of the internal stainless steel components of the pump Does the watermaker really need to be mounted below the waterline How long does a membrane live What can a user expect in high salinity water How long do seals and other working parts last Is a TDS meter needed I was particularly edified to learn that since my seminars in La Paz in April problem calls to the factory from the Sea of Cortez had dropped to almost zero This seemed to confirm my belief that many problems were due to poor installation and or improper use and maintenance Given a threshold level of information about the product and its proper utilization problems tended to disappear I was able to get a frank answer to almost every question I could think to ask while at Recovery Engineering In the end we reached an agree ment on a future relationship I would be available to PUR personnel as a cruiser consultant on their watermakers I would also give a series of seminars and demonstrations at marine stores along the California coast from September to November 1997 After that I would continue my evangelical
145. ires to allow for future removals of the watermaker the wires will get a little shorter each time you cut the splices If you are using butt splices this is a good time to consider replacing them with a terminal strip and ring terminals Step 3 Remove three water hoses Carefully pull the small diameter product water hose from the hose barb on the end of the membrane housing This should not be difficult Loosen the hose clamps on the seawater intake and reject hose barbs and pull the hoses off the barbs Step 4 Move watermaker to work area After removing the three hoses and disconnecting the electrical wires undo any fasteners securing the watermaker to its mounting surface and move the entire unit to your work area When handling and transporting the watermaker be mindful of its weight and awkwardness Avoid carrying it by the membrane housing A good balance point for the unit is about where the drive unit is connected to the pump Grasp the watermaker by the heavy drive unit flange and it will be easier to handle and balance Step 5 Disconnect motor drive assembly from pump Use a 1 2 open end wrench to remove the four hex nuts securing the gearbox flange to the pump back plate A 1 4 allen wrench may be re quired to loosen the two 5 sock ethead capscrew bolts running through the check valve plate and back plate Remove the two cap screw bolts If necessary pull the pump away from the drive unit to ex pose more of the plu
146. is a relatively loose fit and may drop out by itself when the rubber boot is moved so be careful not to lose it Clean the coupling pin inspect it for significant wear and lay it aside You may discover that there is not enough space to slide the rub ber boot far enough toward the pump to expose the coupling pin This will occur if the watermaker was last turned off at that point in its cycle when the piston is at or Hex Nuts vivor 35s The sixth fastener was previously re moved during Step 3 and is not present in early PowerSurvivor 35s Pump Remove the remaining five manifold fasten ers with the 5 32 allen wrench See Figure A 6 for their locations Figure A 7 Manifold and Pump Separated near the end of its stroke towards the membrane end of the pump If this is the case grasp the pump body and pull it in the direction away from the drive unit If the four hex nuts have been removed and there is no residual pressure remaining in the pump this will cause the internal piston to slide back toward the drive end of the pump thus exposing enough of the piston shaft to enable you to slide the rubber boot away and access the coupling pin After the hex nuts and coupling pin have been removed the drive unit is easily separated from the pump body Slide the rubber boot off the piston shaft and set it aside see Figure A 5 Examine the drive shaft coming out of the gearbox and clean
147. is somehow damages the unit The truth is more comforting there is nothing at all wrong with running a PowerSurvivor watermaker for long continuous periods of time The only negative con sequence is that you will wear it out sooner rather than later Like any other machine PowerSurvivor watermakers have a certain life expectancy before needing parts replaced or other servicing If you find that you are running your PowerSurvivor watermaker more than 50 of the time i e more than twelve hours per day on average to keep up with your water needs you should seriously consider investing in a watermaker with greater output In my opinion aside from accelerated wear running the watermaker too much is less a potential problem than not running it enough When ever the watermaker is idle decay and bacterial growth develop and the byproducts of these processes accumulate in the system Frequent periods of use keep the system flushed and prevent the buildup of distasteful or damaging contaminants A good use pattern for a PowerSurvivor water maker is to run it at least several hours each day it is used and use it at least every other day With a PowerSurvivor 35 or 40E and a typical consumption rate of 5 or 6 gallons per day this schedule is easy to maintain We try to run our watermaker at least every other day According to this idealized use pattern if your water needs are less than a dozen gallons per day you should be using a PowerSurvi
148. is together into some concepts that a boat skipper can relate to The watt hour is probably more familiar to most readers in an other guise the kilowatt hour The kilowatt hour is the unit of meas urement for electrical energy consumed in a normal household A kilowatt hour is 1000 watt hours The term power is another that is frequently misused by laymen and I will not attempt to clear up the mess in this short essay The reader is referred to a good primer on physics where it will be learned that power is the first deriva tive of work with respect to time e it is the rate at which energy is used or work done The lay world little distinguishes between power work and en ergy The present discussion is for those who think a big battery has more power than a smaller battery In this context to explain why potential en ergy is the more accurate terminology would extend the discussion unneces sarily and seems a lot like trying to teach a pig to sing The amp hour is used to express the energy capacity of batteries Without voltage factored in to give us watt hours it is not a measure of the total energy available from the battery All it gives us is a measure of how many hours it will provide current at a given current rate For ex ample a 200 amp hour battery theoretically will provide 5 amps of cur rent for 40 hours or 20 amps of current for 10 hours etc On the other hand a 200 amp hour 12 VDC battery
149. ith a little bit of luck you will have succeeded in returning your Pow erSurvivor 35 watermaker to near new working condition In fact if you ve been diligent in following the instructions in the preceding pages you can rest assured that you ve done as much for this valuable piece of equipment as many repair stations would do probably more And you ve done it with more love and care than most strangers would have given After all you re the one who depends on the watermaker to make your life a lot easier Finally you now know what it s all about It s not that hard If you encounter any problems down the road you II have a lot more confidence in your ability to handle the situation Your watermaker is no longer a black box it s an old and familiar friend Before You Begin Berore COMMENCING WORK on your PowerSurvivor 40E watermaker read the first few paragraphs of the previous chapter A Servicing the PowerSurvivor 35 Then at least skim through the rest of the present chapter to get an overview of the entire disassembly process It is assumed that the reader has the Owner s Manual and other original documentation for the PowerSurvivor 40E All of the current watermak ers from PUR reflect a number of important design engineering advances This is especially true when we compare the Power Survivor 40E with its predeces sor the PowerSurvivor 35 In this case the advances inc
150. ittle room for criticism I discussed some other installation and maintenance issues with him and felt I got honest answers I was impressed that he was willing to spend so much time on the telephone with me Believing in Johnson s sincerity and integrity I finally volunteered my plan I told him we were returning to Mexico for a second season and I would inquire among the cruisers about the kinds of problems they really were experiencing and be a kind of evangelist for PUR water makers I felt I could adequately diagnose and correct many of the prob lems I would encounter especially if my suspicions about poor installation and maintenance being major culprits proved correct I said I would let him know what I discovered I felt Recovery Engineering was being unjustly maligned in the cruiser literature and on the rumor grape vine and I wanted to get to the bottom of the story if only to satisfy my own curiosity Before I could ask Christian to transfer my call to the parts order desk he thanked me enthusiastically for my willingness to contact other cruisers If I were willing to do that he asked would I also be willing to take along some repair parts in case they were needed Why yes I said I suppose I could do that He said he d have them shipped immediately They d be in Santa Barbara within two days We agreed to keep in touch When our conversation ended I decided I wouldn t need the order desk I hung up the telepho
151. k the towel frequently for signs of a drip to detect problems early and protect the gear underneath the towel Plumbing Considerations Before discussing plumbing details we should define two quite distinct phenomena that occur as a result of faults in the plumbing installation cavitation and air leaks Cavitation is the occurrence of void spaces in the water flowing through the pump If the pump operates to pull water in and there is not enough water available in the intake lines to fill the empty space created by the piston stroke a vacuum space or air less bubble will be created The net result is lost effort by the pump and reduced product water flow through the membrane The principal cause of cavitation is excessive resistance to the flow of intake water to the pump Intake hose length hose and thruhull inside diameters distance of the pump above the waterline valves and elbow restrictions the prefilter element and other in line strainers all contrib ute to the net resistance to intake water flow At some point if one runs water through a hose long enough and of small enough diameter to a watermaker mounted high enough with prefilters dirty enough cavita tion will occur Note A very easy way to cause cavitation in an existing installation is to operate the pump with the intake seacock closed Fortunately few practical installations push these resistance factors to the extreme For a useful benchmark u
152. ke water contains significant amounts of fine silt or similar sub stances the damage done to the pump especially the cylinder walls and piston seals can be rapid and substantial If the watermaker is to be run in water with questionable silt or other particulate contaminants PUR recommends the installation of an addi tional in line prefilter with a 5 micron element and a small 12 VDC booster pump to compensate for the added resistance in the intake circuit PUR calls this their Silt Reduction Kit Although the addition of an extra prefilter and booster pump will certainly help prolong the life of a watermaker run with silty intake wa ter it will not remove all of the abrasive particles The owner should expect to have to replace seals more frequently Keeping a spare piston and cylinder on hand is also a good idea Some Basic Electrical Concepts One doesn t need to know Boolean algebra to understand the electrical operation of a watermaker system a good understanding of Ohm s Law will suffice If your background does not include a study of the funda mentals of electrical circuits your near term goals should The boat skip per who can t perform basic DC and usually AC circuit tracing and troubleshooting is much like a pilot who doesn t know how to operate a parachute Sooner or later and usually sooner something will go wrong with the electrical system on every boat The consequences of such a failure can
153. kwise to increase the pressure setting or counter clockwise to reduce it The center of the adjusting nut is hollow to provide a path for the re lieved water to follow and also to allow the white indicator shaft which is simply an extension of the piston shaft to be observed The Achilles heel of the pressure relief valve mechanism is a small o ring that seals the relief valve piston shaft If it fails water can exit the pressure chamber When this happens water will leak out of the relief valve and the pump will not be able to develop enough pressure to pro duce product water After adjusting the relief valve spring for the correct compression factory technicians heat fuse a small spot on the base of the plastic ad justing nut to the manifold body Not only does this lock the adjustment but it also serves as an indicator of subsequent tampering with the ad justment A label is affixed to the manifold that warns the user against attempting to alter the adjustment This makes sense because the user has no way to measure and calibrate the pressure adjustment I have encountered only one instance of a failed o ring seal in the pressure relief valve It does not seem to be a common failure mode Since the factory does not include the relief valve o ring in its seal kit and cautions against attempting to adjust the pressure setting there is normally no alternative to shipping the pump or at least the manifold back to the factory in the case
154. l be impossible With the PowerSurvivor 35 a third and often overlooked source of air leaks is the input reject hose barb assembly The o rings for this as sembly are small and easily distorted or damaged by excessive strain on the hose barbs The proper solution to this potential problem involves installing the intake seawater and reject brine hoses so they cause little or no strain on the hose barb assembly To do this will require proper dressing of the hoses as they lead up to the hose barb connections Installation Issues 25 Note The seal between reinforced plastic hose and a correctly sized barb is so snug that it is almost impossible to remove the hose from the barbs at a later time If excess hose a service loop was provided in the original installation the easiest solution may be to cut the old hose off the barb Another technique space permitting is to dribble boiling water over the hose for awhile and try removing it while the plastic is soft It is important to understand the difference between cavitation and air leaks They are quite separate types of phenomena and have different causes symptoms and cures With this understood we are ready to dis cuss the main issues involved with plumbing a watermaker system Intake Source Where will the intake water come from There are two common choices either tee into an existing source or install a new thruhull specifically for the watermaker In most cases the easi
155. l come Slide the black rubber boot over the plunger rod with its flat side toward I m especially fond of the instruction for these bolts that is printed in the Pow erSurvivor 80E Owner s Manual If a torque wrench is used tighten the Bolts until snug That s straight from the horse s mouth 74 C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 the back plate Line up the gearbox flange with the pump back plate and slide the gearbox drive shaft over the plunger rod Adjust them until the coupling holes in the drive shaft and plunger rod line up When they are aligned insert the coupling pin into the hole and slide the black boot over the pin to hold it in place After the drive shaft is coupled to the piston plunger rod push the pump body toward the gearbox The four threaded rods projecting from the pump body should slide through the matching holes in the gearbox flange Install the four hex nuts and tighten snugly If a torque wrench is available tighten these nuts to about 50 in Ibs Attach the two high pressure lines to the pump Reconnect the sea water intake and reject brine hoses Finally run the watermaker to check for leaks and proper operation You re done Miscellaneous Topics A Parting Sermon Truis SEEMS an appropriate place to pull out the soapbox and deliver a brief sermon on watermaker use and abuse This book began as a per sonal quest for more information about the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 wa termaker and p
156. leaning Measure the output rate once more The cleaning process is useful but can not be expected to revive a membrane that has been seriously neglected or abused With regard to the health of an RO membrane an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure If your watermaker is properly maintained and used frequently you should seldom need to clean the membrane Use amp Maintenance Issues 39 Miscellaneous Maintenance Record Keeping As with other types of important equipment requiring a regular maintenance schedule keeping an activities log is an excellent idea At a minimum it should include entries for all servicing biociding and cleaning procedures Ideal would be a log documenting the times the watermaker is run dates of prefilter changes and an estimate of the amount of water produced On the other hand the maintenance require ments for PowerSurvivor watermakers are so minimal and infrequent that it s easy to dispense with a log and get by quite nicely Gearbox Servicing I m often asked about the maintenance requirements for the drive motor and gearbox of the PowerSurvivor 35 since there is nothing mentioned in the factory manual In this case no news is good news The gearbox is virtually indestructible unless water gets inside and probably will not need servicing during the lifetime of the water maker The gearbox of the PowerSurvivor 35 is stuffed with grease before leaving the factory and should not nee
157. ll also work in a pinch Hold the pump back and its riser base in place and push straight down firmly with the tool The seals washer and bushing will fall out the bottom of the pump back Again locate the rectangular tab on the top side of the pump back To one side of it is a small rubber plug about 1 4 diameter see Figure A 12 This plug rarely needs replacing but is included in the seal kit It can be removed using a paperclip or similar small stiff probe Insert the probe into the round opening nearest the plug on the top of the pump back Angle the probe toward the plug and push it out Use care in per forming this procedure the round hole is actually an hydraulic port that mates with one of the six o rings in the manifold Be careful not to scratch its surface with the probe Step 16 Take a break At this point you have finished the standard disassembly of the water maker pump If it hasn t already been done take the time to clean and carefully inspect all parts If this is your first exposure to the inner workings of the watermaker try to trace the major paths of water through the pump Of course you will not be able to determine the flow through most of the manifold but try to become familiar with the flow to and from the membrane and the Six passages between the pump body and the manifold The more you understand the better you will be able to troubleshoot and analyze any future problems Now it wasn t all that bad
158. lude a simplified design and a substantial reduction in internal seals and work ing parts As a result the disassembly servicing and reassembly of the Model 40E is easier than working on the Model 35 The Model 40E has replaced the Model 35 in the PUR watermaker line The PowerSurvivor 40E is available in marine stores and the Pow erSurvivor 35 is no longer sold I ve been assured that Recovery Engi neering will continue to support the Model 35 well into the future At the time of this writing PUR is offering a generous policy for current Pow erSurvivor 35 owners to upgrade to a PowerSurvivor 40E The offer in cludes a complete new PowerSurvivor 40E pump and drive assembly without the electric motor or membrane The latter items are to be sal vaged from the original Model 35 being upgraded Interested PowerSur vivor 35 owners should contact Recovery Engineering about the offer The Tool Kit Very few tools are needed to completely disassemble and reassemble the PowerSurvivor 40E watermaker Following is a list of the tools and materials you should have on hand Piston seal installation tool supplied in kit 1 2 open end wrench Figure B 1 The PowerSurvivor 40E watermaker B Servicing the Model 40E 5 8 open end wrench 1 4 allen wrench 5 32 allen wrench small flat bladed screwdriver needle nosed pliers channel lock pliers small scissors or razor blade silicon grease 10X magnifying glass or loupe small stainless st
159. ly be actu ated and drawing electric current for a few minutes at the beginning of a watermaker run to divert the initial flow of poor quality water Then during the long hours of a run it would not be actuated using no current and directing water into the water tanks Reversing the logic requiring the solenoid to be energized to route water to the potable water tanks would require significantly more energy from the batteries In my opinion such sensor actuator logic is wrong Any failure to actuate the solenoid whether a result of a problem in the electrical sup ply the solenoid valve or the sensor controller module will result in the valve assuming its unenergized position which routes water to stor age regardless of the quality of the product water Such a failure com bined with bad product water will quickly contaminate the potable water in the storage tank Since the product water is typically of bad quality at the beginning of a run the threat of contaminated water from a defective sensor solenoid is very real It s worth noting that the same watermaker model with the faulty logic also had a history of solenoid valve failures A more correct engineering solution to this problem would involve reversing the solenoid logic at the very least The unenergized position of the solenoid valve should route product water to the reject line The energized position should route water to the holding tank That way if the
160. ly easy to remove If necessary use a flat bladed screwdriver to gently pry the gland plate up and get it started Be careful not to exert too much pressure with the screwdriver on the plastic pump back When doing this be aware that the gland plate will only slide off the threaded rods easily if it remains perpendicular to them If you pry up on only one side of the gland plate it will cause it to bind against the rods and become difficult to remove Therefore if a little prying is necessary work your way around the gland plate using the screwdriver to lift it just a short distance on each of its four sides in turn After removing the hex nuts washers and gland plate pull the pump collar away from the pump body It should be easy to remove The pump back and front should remain together at this point Remove any corro sion on the gland plate and threaded rods with the wire brush wipe the plastic collar clean with a rag and set them aside See Figure A 8 Step 10 Separate the pump front and pump back At this stage of the disassembly process the pump front and back are held together only by the compression of the o rings on each end of the cylinder One end of the cylinder is seated in a circular cavity in the pump front and the other end is seated in a similar cavity in the pump back ae Pump Back A Servicing the Model 35 45 The PUR instructions direct the user to use a flat bladed screwdriver to pry the two pum
161. m See contaminants cryptosporidium D design advances 49 59 68 dissolved substances 30 E electrical calculations 27 electrical concepts 12 14 circuit electrical 12 electricity definition of 12 Ohm s Law 12 13 27 power laws 14 protection circuit 12 22 units of measurement amp 13 amp hour 13 ohm 13 volt 12 watt 13 watt hour 14 wiring 22 23 element filter See prefilter element emergency use of watermaker See manual operation energy efficiency 7 15 engine room watermakers installed in 18 EPA Environmental Protection Agency 9 equipment maintenance 67 purchasing used 70 F filter See prefilter element flow resistance intake water See seawater intake fluorine 11 73 flushing with fresh water 28 formaldehyde 9 G Garrett Laurie 74 gearbox servicing the 33 generators portable 1 27 28 wind 28 giardia See contaminants giardia H halogens 11 73 Hembree Dick iii 16 hose barbs intake reject Model 35 31 36 69 air leakage 20 runs 22 25 sizes 21 hourmeter 22 hydrogen sulfide 17 29 iodine 11 73 ions 7 8 9 85 86 Index J jerry jugs use of 24 Johnson Christian 1 2 4 5 L La Cruz de Huanacaxtle iii 4 La Paz 1 5 6 Latitude 38 magazine 1 2 6 Lazore Rob iii 60 manifold pump Model 35 See Repair Seal Kit Model 35 manual operation of Model 35 and 40E 26 watermakers 26 Manzanillo 5 March
162. m of the cavity Take care with this step and at no time use excessive force The key to success is adequate silicon grease on the o ring and cylinder cavity and a gentle straight in pressure with no tilting of the cylinder Step 3 Install piston seals Locate the two piston seals in Bag B and lubricate them with silicon grease Using Figure A 14 as a guide slip them onto the two grooves of the piston Be careful to note the correct orientation of the seal lips The higher sides lips of the two seals should be facing away from each other Step 4 Install piston in cylinder Before installing the piston into the cylinder use your little finger to lu bricate the piston shaft hole in the pump back with silicon grease in preparation for the following step Step 5 After the piston has been installed in the cylinder there will not be enough room to lubricate the hole before installing the shaft seals Also grease the piston shaft Insert the piston shaft into the hole in the pump body back from the cylinder side until the first piston seal contacts the end of the cylinder The lip of this seal will be flared outward preventing the piston from sliding easily into the cylinder While exerting a gentle but continuous pressure on the exposed end of the piston trying to press it into the cylinder run your fingernail or other small blunt object around the seal where it meets the cylinder bore to work the seal lip into the cylinder At
163. malfunction and damage Good examples are the impeller in the saltwater pump on an auxiliary engine and the valves in a head pump I personally experienced failures of both these devices before in stalling coarse strainers in both lines On the other hand the watermaker pump is already protected by an in line prefilter unit The prefilter will block everything a coarse strainer will and much more The bottom line if you have a separate thruhull for the watermaker don t worry about including a strainer If you take proper care of your prefilter you ll never miss a course strainer Hose Runs Plan the route your hoses will take from the intake site to the prefilter As much as possible minimize the length of hose and the num ber of bends Where bends are necessary make an effort to create large radius curves instead of sharp bends or right angle elbow fittings No installation should be considered finished until the water hose and electrical wire runs have been properly dressed down and secured A common cause of air leaks and other plumbing problems especially when working with reinforced plastic or other flexible hoses is failure to secure the hose along the runs Undressed hose runs can sag crimp and cause stress at the hose barbs and other connections They are easily kinked or damaged when they shift positions and they are a definite haz ard around the moving parts of an engine or other machinery Once you ve taken the ti
164. me to carefully plan your installation and crawled through the bilges to route the plumbing take the little extra time required to secure the hoses and electrical wiring The first time you proudly show off your installation to another cruiser you ll be glad you made the effort Electrical Considerations The electrical circuit for the watermaker is about as simple as electrical circuits get The minimum electrical re quirements for the PowerSurvivor watermakers are two wires of ade quate gauge diameter a 12 VDC battery and a circuit protection device either a fuse or a circuit breaker See Figure 2 Practical circuits will usually have a few other niceties such as wire terminals and terminal strips An hourmeter for monitoring running time is a nice enhancement Ways to implement the electrical supply for the watermaker vary widely from the bare minimum hookup to a battery e g something like Figure 2 to sophisticated multi battery systems with voltage and current monitoring This is not the place for a treatise on yacht electrical design There are many good books on the subject However the following gen eral comments should be useful Use electrical materials that are designed or optimized for marine use The preferred wire is tinned stranded copper Never use solid copper wire for boat electrical wiring Vibrations and vessel working cause it to fa tigue and fail prematurely Personally for low voltage 12 VDC circuits
165. move giardia and cryptosporidium cysts It also seems obvious that in a functioning system producing non salty product water all impurities larger than bacteria and viruses will be removed This leads us immediately to consider the other end of the size scale What about those atoms ions and molecules that are small enough to pass through the membrane pores We know that water is one What are some others Not surprisingly there is a correlation between the molecular weight of a molecule and its rejection rate by the RO membrane lower molecu lar weights correlate rather closely with lower rejection rates This is simply saying that small atoms and molecules pass through the mem brane more easily than large ones Since there are other factors affecting the actual size of a molecule or atom the correlation between molecular weight and membrane rejection percentage is not exact but it is a very good approximation for our purposes Let s consider just a few examples of substances whose molecules are small enough to pass through an RO membrane For purposes of com parison the molecular weight of sodium chloride is 58 and its percentage of rejection by an RO membrane is 98 Consider Mol Wt Rejection the short list of interesting substances in Table 1 111 99 their molecular weights and percentage of rejection 58 98 60 90 Without wading too deeply into the world of 60 70 chemistry we should note that this list of sub 46 70
166. mp and membrane when the check valve plate is removed Step 12 Remove poppet valves from check valve plate Use a 5 8 open end wrench to unscrew the inlet valve seat fitting in the top of the check valve plate Be sure to loosen the metal hex fitting and not the plastic hose barb that is screwed into it Remove the o ring seal on the inside end of the valve seat fitting Lift the first poppet valve spring and valve retainer out of the check valve plate with the needle nosed pliers Note that the first poppet valve may have already come out with the inlet valve seat The spring and retainer will usually come out together because one end of the spring is lightly pressed fitted into the retainer Beneath these parts is a second poppet valve assembly Removing it can be a problem and almost any procedure is likely to damage the old valve components Removal should only be attempted if replacement parts e g a Repair Seal Kit are available First clean and lubricate with silicon grease the upper part of the valve bore in the check valve plate Get the grease all the way down to the second valve seat This will make it easier for the valve seat to slide out Then try reaching into the hole with Ose oO the needle nosed pliers to grasp the second poppet valve by its cross shaped center Pull straight up with the pliers If you re lucky the poppet valve along with its seat will come out Lastly retrieve the small s
167. mpose and the smelly gases accu mulate once more How much of these byproducts of decay are produced depends on sev eral factors including the ambient temperature amount and type of de bris and length of time between watermaker runs which is when the gases can accumulate Warm environments organic debris and a couple of days of non use are just about guaranteed to produce an impressive brew Now that we know what kinds of problems can be caused by debris trapped at the prefilter we should consider some of the problems caused by contaminants that are fine enough to pass through the 30 micron pre filter i e anything smaller than 0 001 Most small sized soft material will flow on through the system and be expelled in the reject brine flow doing no harm The 30 micron filter is fine enough to assure us of that It s quite another matter with hard abrasive materials Fine sand coral silt and other insoluble minerals are serious threats to the useful life of many of the working parts inside the watermaker pump Inside the pump are several moving rubber seals that slide against smooth metal surfaces Circulating fine silt or other hard contaminants through the pump will cause greatly accelerated wear on the seals and will roughen the stainless steel cylinder walls which will further accelerate the seal wear It is also important to realize that the prefilter only removes solid material of a certain size and larger It does
168. my idea of using a real cruiser to not only instruct and help other cruisers on site but also to gather valu able feedback for the engineers at Recovery Engineering Nate Mueller Johnson s successor at PUR picked up the ball and is continuing to sup port this unique effort My thanks to all the good people at Recovery Engineering for their help especially Tom Amundson Mark Beckenbach Dede Cavanaugh Ron Erickson Dick Hembree Rob Lazore John Lindsay Alan Lizee Matt Martin Dan Pierstorff Chris Schlough Sam Sharpe Debbie Tay lor Mike Trisler and the inimitable Capt Jane Ford By any metric we adopt PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers are suc cessful products Part of the reason for that success is feedback from cus tomers those many sun tanned Spanish learning power battery hungry cruisers roaming the seas and ports of Mexico Among those whose knowledge and experience have been of special value to me are Joe Ba os S V Sea Hope WA5PHO Rob Caruso S V Dream Catcher Dennis Lepak S V Backstreets KE6KKL Tim Schaaf S V Casual Waters KC6GIT and all the cruisers who attended my sun n beer seminars along the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico during the last three years Survivor and PowerSurvivor are trademarks and PUR isa registered trade mark of Recovery Engineering Inc Disclaimer and Acknowledgments I also want to express my deepest gratitude to my cruising partner Teri Damron Without her const
169. n gertight Slide the two 5 capscrew bolts through the check valve plate and back plate ears The pump and membrane assembly is now ready for the final step Step 13 Attach drive assembly to pump Position the pump membrane assembly next to the drive unit with the pump plunger rod facing the slider shaft on the gearbox Visualize how the plunger rod must slide into the drive slider shaft and what the final orientation of the pump to the drive assembly will be Then insert a nar row screwdriver blade through the coupling pin hole at the end of the plunger rod and rotate the rod until the coupling pin hole will line up correctly with the hole in the drive unit slider shaft Lubricate the black rubber boot with silicon grease and slide it onto the plunger rod Its wid est side should be next to the pump Lift the pump membrane assembly and guide the plunger rod into the hole in the end of the drive unit slider shaft Insert the plunger rod until the coupling holes in the slider shaft and the plunger rod line up Push the stainless steel coupling pin through the holes Slide the rubber boot over the coupling pin to hold it in position Install the four hex nuts on the two studs from the back plate and the two 5 capscrew bolts all fin gertight The tightening process is important The object is to draw the check valve plate pump body back plate and drive unit together evenly Start with the four fasteners that are holding the check valve as
170. n In tropical environments high ambient tem peratures can cause premature tripping of thermal breakers especially if the nominal rating of the circuit breaker is not far above the current rat ing of the watermaker If this should occur try using a next larger size breaker or buy an expensive hydraulic breaker It may also be necessary to go up a size in the circuit breaker rating if operating in high salinity water which increases the load on the pump and drive motor Terminate the two wires from your 12 VDC power source the black ground wire and the red wire from the load side of the circuit breaker or switch at a terminal strip near the watermaker motor Then terminate the motor leads with ring terminals run them to the terminal strip and make the power connections there red to red and black to black Using a terminal strip instead of in line butt splices will be appreciated when it comes time to remove the watermaker for any reason It is also an ex cellent test point for monitoring voltage and current at the motor You won t regret taking the extra time to add a terminal strip to your installa tion As with the water hoses in the watermaker system make certain to dress down all electrical wire runs Add extra length to the terminal ends of the wires service loops to bend into drip loops and allow for mainte nance and or re termination in the future Routing Product Water Potable water is a critical resource for an ocean
171. n series with one of the power leads you would notice that the current demand oscillates from about 2 amps to 6 or more This is because the electric motor draws more current during its power stroke and less during the rest of its duty cycle The average should be about four amps A rough estimate of the rate of energy use watts can be found by multiplying the average current times the voltage 4 amps X 12volts 48watts or about 50 watts That is the PowerSurvivor 35 watermaker requires about the same amount of electrical power as a 50 watt lightbulb The 40E requires the same as the 35 The PowerSurvivor 80 requires about twice that amount 100 watts and the 760E about four times as much 200 watts The reader should note that I am using rough calculations A more accurate assessment of current and power requirements can be made by considering the voltage current phase effects of an inductive motor load using 13 8 VDC as per the spec adding accuracy to the amperage factor etc For our purposes such accuracy and technical depth are unnecessary Again using rough figures we can estimate the rate of battery dis charge when running the watermaker If we assume a fully charged 220 amphour battery we can safely utilize about 75 of that capacity or 220 amphours X 0 75 165 amphours Next we obtain the number of hours we can run the watermaker by di viding the available amphours by the watermaker s average current e g for the
172. nce and uncertainties involved in an attempt to return it to the factory It s not that they wouldn t like to have the factory do it it s just usually imprac tical or impossible In an effort to help the PowerSurvivor 35 owner understand what can and can not be done in the field I ve included the following comments They are based on my own experiences in servicing dozens of watermak ers in Mexico over the last several years I hope it helps to draw a more accurate line between what is possible and wasted efforts that are likely to result in expensive or irreparable damage to the equipment Spool Valve Servicing The manifold contains a sophisticated spool valve It is not user serviceable and should never be removed from the manifold Simply stated there is nothing that can be done to this component in the field Servicing of it is limited to replacing the valve stem seal and the o ring on the spool valve retainer using the seals included in the seal kit If it is removed even if only for inspection it is unlikely that it can be rein stalled without damaging its several special o rings To replace the seal and o ring first unscrew the spool valve retainer by grasping its cross shaped section of plastic with a pair of needle nosed pliers and turning counter clockwise until it is completely removed from the manifold Pull the retainer cap off the inside face of the spool valve retainer Remove the small seal from inside the retai
173. ne and thought about who was doing whom a favor in this matter the parts I had intended to order would have cost several hundred dollars Now it seemed like I d be getting them for free In a couple of days a six foot high stack of boxes arrived at our small harbor mailbox from Recovery Engineering Inc I lugged them down to the boat wondering where I could possibly stow so much stuff After unpacking them my concerns evaporated In all those boxes there were a dozen seal kits for the PowerSurvivor 35 a half dozen seal kits for the Model 80 a dozen prefilter cartridges lots of biocide and cleaning A Sea Story about Watermakers 3 chemicals a cleaning housing for the Model 35 and a generous handful of silicon grease ampoules Except for the cleaning housing and prefilter elements I was able to repack all the parts and supplies in one medium sized box As I gazed at the mountain of disused cardboard boxes and popcorn packing I cursed that part of corporate America that does things that way I slit the tape on all the boxes flattened and stacked them in a neat pile near one of the trash bins on the dock hoping that someone else would have a use for them I calculated a very rough estimate of the value of all the parts perhaps a thousand dollars The Return to Mexico We lingered in Santa Barbara just long enough to vote in the elections and took off for Mexico the following day early in November 1996 We d already seen much
174. ner cap and the large o ring on the spool valve retainer Wipe the retainer and its cap clean with a cloth Locate the new seal and o ring Bag A lubricate them with silicon grease and install them on the spool valve retainer and in the retainer cap Press the retainer cap into the retainer and thread the assembly back into the hole in the manifold Finish screwing the spool valve retainer into the manifold using the needle nosed pliers until it is just snug and approximately flush with the manifold body Do not overtighten the re tainer All that is necessary is a firm clockwise pressure Realize that it is the seal and o ring that create the seal not the tightness of the re tainer threads In my experience failure of the spool valve and its associated seals is not a common problem If you are greatly concerned to be able to repair your watermaker in the rare event of a spool valve failure consider pur chasing an extra complete manifold assembly to include with your repair parts kit at a cost of 505 For what it s worth I ve not yet encountered a defective spool valve knock on wood Replacing the Manifold Plugs Also included in the seal kit are replacement o rings for the two rubber plugs one large and one small located approximately in the center of the bottom of the manifold the side from which you removed the six manifold o rings see Figure A 7 The PUR instructions indicate that these need only be replaced if there
175. ng cleaning 30 clearance around 18 hose attachments 20 location 16 17 maintenance 10 29 31 purpose of 29 resistance to water flow 16 17 standard 24 30 pore size 9 29 pressure developed in PUR pumps 7 10 11 16 42 indicator on Powersurvivor 35 31 osmotic 8 watermaker pump maximum 42 problems broken spring 2 3 32 40 69 complaints of 1 corrosion stainless steel 3 6 32 40 cylinder Model 35 32 error factory assembly 4 membrane contamination 5 plunger rod Model 40E 51 product water output calculations 27 33 routing 23 24 unsafe 10 Puerto Vallarta 4 5 Pump Rebuild Kit 62 pump centrifugal booster pump 11 24 25 installation 25 properties of 25 pump gravity fed 16 pump high pressure cylinder damage to 11 damage 11 30 description of 7 16 failure modes 69 height above waterline 15 installation 18 19 leakage 11 19 31 38 69 location of 17 maintenance 31 orientation 19 pump positive displacement 7 16 25 Punta de Mita 4 8 R Race Week Sea of Cortez 5 radio SSB single sideband 1 4 VHF 1 4 VHF nets 2 3 4 Recovery Engineering company information 74 repair parts in Mexico 5 6 Repair Seal Kit and troubleshooting 68 Model 35 complete installation 35 48 description 35 disassembly 36 41 manifold servicing 41 43 reassembly 43 48 Model 40E complete installation 49 58 description 49 disassembly 50 53 reassembly 53 58 Model
176. ng it is much better to err on the side of exces sive attention than to neglect the matter Since the prefilter will need regular frequent attention it is imperative that it be located in a con venient and easily accessible place It is difficult to over emphasize this recommendation If mounted in an out of the way location perhaps be hind piles of gear or supplies it is guaranteed to not get the attention it requires When I first installed our watermaker I mounted everything quite neatly in the far corner of a lazarette I was proud of the way I had util ized some unused space way back in the dark recesses It was not until I needed to change the prefilter element for the first time that I realized what a grand mistake I had made In order to reach the prefilter housing I had to remove large stacks of gear stowed in the lazarette and climb down into a very cramped space After moving some more gear I was finally able to unscrew the prefilter housing scratching my arms during the process on the rough fiberglass of the inside hull After only a couple of prefilter servicing efforts I tore out the whole installation and relocated the prefilter housing on a bulkhead immedi ately inside a lazarette see Figure 3 No gear has to be moved to reach it I have also replaced the original opaque housing with a clear one Now a quick lift of the lazarette hatch and a glance at the clear prefilter hous ing tells me immediately what the status i
177. ng in the housing Install the stainless steel spiral retainer ring Coat the threads of the nylon product water nipple with a thread sealant or teflon tape and screw it into its hole in the end cap Step 4 Install reverse osmosis membrane Clean and inspect the two small o rings on the membrane tube stem and the larger brine seal on the opposite end of the membrane Be especially careful when handling these seals as replacements are not included in the Repair Seal Kit If you are installing a new membrane it should have arrived with a new brine seal and stem o rings already installed Lubricate the membrane brine seal and stem o rings and slide the membrane stem first into the pump end of the membrane housing Con tinue pressing until the brine seal is about to enter the membrane housing tube While continuing to press gently inward on the end of the mem brane make sure the brine seal enters the housing smoothly and com pletely After the brine seal has entered the housing press the membrane all the way in until it will go no farther B Servicing the Model 40E 61 In my opinion the preceding procedure is the best way to install a membrane into the membrane housing When servicing or installing only a membrane the PUR instructions direct you to remove the end cap and pull the membrane out from that end of the housing Their directions for re installing the membrane are at best amazingly succinct Reas semble in reverse ord
178. ng intake water well over 10 feet With that understood one wonders why anyone would want to mount a watermaker below the waterline Suitable space there is usually at a premium and working areas are cramped and difficult Eventual exposure of the equipment to seawater from the bilges is much more likely What are the possible motives for wanting such an installation I can think of only two questionable advantages to a below the waterline installation 1 Electric current demand should be slightly less due to a lighter pumping load on the motor 2 Minor air leaks in the intake plumbing might not cause water maker failure due to the positive water pressure in plumbing below the waterline Such air leaks would certainly cause prob lems in above the waterline installations In my opinion neither of these advantages is of much importance to a responsible skipper The amount of work done by the pump lifting its intake supply a few feet above the waterline is very small compared to the work required to pump 10 of that water through the membrane at 800 psi In other words the amount of electric power saved by mounting a watermaker below the waterline as opposed to a more convenient and practical location above the waterline is hardly worth considering The second advantage I don t consider an advantage at all While it is true that a watermaker might run successfully if mounted below the waterline when there is a leak in the
179. nger rod Slide the black rubber boot away from the coupling pin toward the pump body and push the pin out of its hole in the drive shaft Set the motor and gearbox as Figure B 2 Pump separated from drive assembly sembly aside See Figure B 2 Step 6 Separate back plate from pump body and remove piston Using the 1 4 allen wrench re move the two 3 sockethead cap screw bolts holding the back plate to the pump body Separate the back plate from the pump body Remove the large o ring from the inside face of the back plate Grasp the plunger rod and pull the piston out of the pump body It may be necessary to wiggle the piston back and forth to get it out See Figure B 3 Step 7 Remove cup seal and PIP ring from piston Carefully work a small flat bladed screwdriver or similar tool under neath the PIP ring on the piston Pry the ring up far enough to cut it off with a small pair of scissors or a razor blade Repeat this procedure for the cup seal Discard the old PIP ring and cup seal While you have the piston assembly in your hands inspect the plunger rod carefully Look for any signs of rough ening or chipping of the dark ceramic Figure B 3 Back plate separated from pump chipped coating looking coating on the surface of the plunger rod Early in the history of the PowerSurvivor 40E a small number of watermakers were shipped with defective coatings The coatings begin to flake off af
180. nnecnom eea neate en N RNA RANT 2 The Return to Mexico csccccccccceeesseceeeseeeeeseeseeceuseeeeesaceeeeeeasecenenenneeens 3 Recovery Engineering Inc Meets the Cruisers 4 The Sea of Cortez Crowd sssssssssseeseseseserererersesersersrersressressressrsesrees 5 Backinthe UaScAs vice cssien orks cake wine ded sshennddesbistevetiet a n a 6 A Lesson to be Learnea cccccccccecceesseceesesseceeceesceeeeseeeesaaeeeeesaseeeeenenees 6 Some Technical Issues sscscsccsssscsssseessscesssseesscceessceesssseees 9 A LOOK at the Product sor eriei ee e eaei 9 Reverse OSMOSIS iisi insa auai E esana ine neki p esir Eie Epaia eiia 9 SCM WALET I i erica sate EE E A E a a E a r a a bla hea eet 10 Known Threats to RO SyStems ccccccsccssecseeeeesseeceeesenseeeeeneeeeseseess 12 Some Basic Electrical CONC PHS s cccecesseeeeceeeeeeneceeeesenseeeeenneeeens 14 Installation ssues ssccscscssssccsssscessseesscseessseesscseessssessseeees 19 The Importance of the Installation s e 19 Location Location Location ceeeseseeeccceeensnceeeceeeeeeeeeesnnnneeeeeeeeees 20 Prefilter Installation ccccccccscccceessseeesceeceeceeeceseeceeeeseneeecesseeeeensaees 21 Pump Installation sicci nt ii 22 Plumbing Considerations cccccccccceceseceeesseecceeeeeeeeesaseeeesnusensnnseees 24 Routing Product Water cccccccccsesscccesseceeeseeceeeeeececesenseeeeeeneeeeneaees 27 The Optional Booster Pump s sseessseesssessssseeessssse
181. nted contaminants that will find a large pore and pass through the membrane Seawater Recovery Engineering explicitly states in their literature that their wa termakers are designed to process clean open ocean water This specification is extremely narrow Not only must the water be clean it must be open ocean Does clean mean no bacteria vi ruses plankton or dirt Does open ocean exclude open anchorages like Cabo San Lucas or Punta de Mita and if so how far out to sea must one go to find open ocean Does it exclude waters near icebergs due to re duced salinity Does this specification mean the watermaker won t work in fresh water situations lakes rivers ground water etc or semi enclosed oceans like the Sea of Cortez in Mexico The easy answer to these questions is also the least gratifying in a court of law the specification probably would be interpreted to exclude all of the aforementioned situations Intuitively one can imagine a scale of water quality ranging from hospital grade saline solution to a waste sump behind a chemicals factory On such a scale the PUR specification would represent a narrow band of acceptable quality input water located very close to the pure 3 saline end of the scale The official specifica tion is probably the best the company can do considering it is a U S cor poration with all the product liabilities entailed by that status However it tells
182. o pump it off while the watermaker is still installed To do this remove the stainless steel spiral retaining ring at the end of the membrane housing Work it out of its groove with a small flat bladed screwdriver or grasp the end with needle nosed pliers and pull toward the center and up After the retaining ring has been removed turn on the watermaker It should require no more than a couple of strokes to develop enough pres sure to push the end cap out of the membrane housing After the end cap has emerged turn the watermaker off and continue with its removal and disassembly Step 2 Disconnect electrical wiring Turn off electrical power to the watermaker at the switch or circuit breaker panel If there is any possibility that someone might turn on the watermaker while you re working secure the switch or circuit breaker handle in the off position and or attach a note indicating that the cir cuit is being serviced The exposed area around the drive shaft and cou pling is dangerous This is a powerful mechanism that can cause serious personal injury if the watermaker starts running while your fingers or tools are in the area Disconnecting the electrical wiring is a simple matter if you had the foresight to install a terminal strip near the watermaker If you used butt splice connectors you ll have to cut the wires and re splice them during reinstallation Hopefully you left enough service loop in the electrical w
183. o take your time and do it right the first time If the o ring does roll stop and pull the cylinder out before you damage the o ring When done correctly you will feel the cylinder snap into its cavity and you ll be able to smoothly slide it in the rest of the way with little effort Continue to press the pump front and back together until the rec tangular plastic tab on the pump back completely fills its notch on the pump front Step 9 Install pump collar Slide the collar over the pump front back assembly It will only go on one way Push it on far enough that the membrane housing o ring on the pump front passes completely through the large hole at the membrane end of the collar and can be seen protruding slightly out of that end of the collar This is a snug fit and you may need to look into the membrane end of the collar and align the end of the pump front and the membrane hous ing o ring with the large hole in the collar to complete the job Step 10 Install gland plate washers and hex nuts This is another critical step The gland plate should slide easily onto the four threaded studs Install it with its flat side facing outwards i e the side with the circular recess in the middle should be facing inwards to ward the pump Slip the four washers over the threaded rods followed by the four large hex nuts Screw the nuts down finger tight Now stop and pay close attention to what I m about to tell you The temptation
184. odic attention required However resist the urge to tuck it too far away When access is required you ll need room to work For example with the PowerSurvivor 35 an alkaline cleaning proce dure will require enough room to change membrane housings A good installation would allow extra clearance for this to be done comfortably and without having to dismount the entire pump assembly For all mod els adequate working room and comfortable access minimize the chances of damaging a costly membrane when removing or installing it Minimize Intake Resistance To help the watermaker be as efficient as possible choose a location to minimize the drag on the water coming into the pump Toward this end a lower location is better than higher to minimize the distance the pump must lift water shorter hose runs with bigger ID inside diameter are better than long runs and small ID hose having a separate intake thruhull for the watermaker is better than teeing into a supply that is already serving another device like the seawater intake for the auxiliary diesel engine I hasten to add that one has a lot of latitude in juggling these factors In the first place the amount of electric current saved by optimizing all the above factors is very small Secondly unless hoses are so long and or small as to cause cavitation at the pump the system will work And of course there is the skipper who is loath to punch another hole in the Installation Is
185. ody facing the back plate Also make sure the o rings on the back plate remain in place P W v R ER Ln ne Figure C 14 Sliding back plate towa pump body Line up the mating sides of the pump body and the back plate see Figure C 13 Gently guide the piston into the pump body The piston seals and the cylinder walls in the pump body should be well lubricated with silicon grease After the piston has started into the pump body bore carefully push the back plate against the pump body see Figure C 14 Install the four flange bolts and bring them up finger tight Inspect the joint between the back plate and the pump body Make sure the o rings have not slipped out of their grooves Finally tighten the flange bolts with the 1 4 allen wrench Tighten each a little at a time using an alternating sequence As with installing the check valve plate the object is to draw the back plate against the pump body evenly and avoid squeezing the o rings out of their groove Torque the bolts to about 120 in lbs If a torque wrench is available Otherwise tighten them snug Do not overtighten the flange bolts Step 12 Attach pump to gearbox If the seawater intake hose nipple was removed from the check valve plate for access to the intake valve seat during disassembly reinstall it using a little Permatex non hardening or similar gasket sealant on the nipple threads Pull the pump plunger rod out of the back plate as far as it wil
186. of a pressure relief valve failure If you plan to travel to remote areas you should consider purchasing the recommended additional repair parts listed in the last chapter of this book Included in that list is the o ring for the pressure relief valve If you have that o ring on hand and experience a relief valve failure you can probably get the watermaker working again with the following emer gency procedure Before breaking the factory seal and dismantling the pressure relief valve make careful measurements of its original adjustment position First scratch an orientation mark somewhere on the top of the adjust ment nut to help you remember which side of it was up Next use some calipers to measure the gap between the base of the adjustment nut and the manifold body If you don t have calipers create some other measur ing device for example use a pad of paper or some pages of a book to determine how many sheets or pages will just fit snugly into the gap The purpose of this step is to allow you to return the adjustment nut to its original position After recording the original adjustment setting unscrew the adjust ment nut and carefully extract the piston shaft and spring Take your time and note how everything is assembled Drawing a diagram is a good idea Replace the o ring reassemble the relief valve and screw the adjustment nut up to its exact original position using your gap measure ment and the scratch mark for gui
187. of the chilly barren western Baja California coastline so when we left San Diego after a final provisioning we sailed straight out around Isla Cedros and down to Cabo San Lucas in six days I prefer going offshore for several reasons more consistent wind and sea states avoidance of fishing boats and commercial traffic and the comfort of being far from any potential lee shore It s nice not needing to make landfalls to take on water during long passages The day after arriving in Cabo San Lucas I announced on the morn ing VHF cruisers net that I was in the area and was being sponsored by PUR to answer questions and help people with any PowerSurvivor wa termaker problems I didn t know what to expect Would I get a flurry of angry watermaker owners ready to vent their spleens on me I held my breath Only one boat responded with a problem His watermaker was new and was leaking and not producing product water anymore He estimated it had worked well for about twenty hours Would I take a look Yes I would He was anchored nearby in the bay I took our Avon dinghy over to his boat and met the skipper and his lady a nice young couple ex cited about their first cruise However the watermaker had failed The skipper had bought it mail order and installed it himself He assured me it had never been out of the package before he got it and they had not attempted to work on it It seemed to work for the first few hours and then had sta
188. of the housing You may have to work the brine seal with your fingers to prevent it from rolling With a little care the brine seal will slip evenly into the housing without damage If the brine seal starts to roll out of its groove withdraw the membrane a small distance and try again If you roll the brine seal you re very likely to damage it and there s no replacement in the seal kit Once the membrane and its brine seal have been successfully inserted into the membrane housing the critical work is over Guide the end of the reject tube into the hole in the pump front thread the membrane housing into the pump front until it will go no far 54 A Servicing the Model 35 ther and you re home free It is not necessary to tighten the membrane housing in the pump front with a dying strain However it should screw completely in without leaving a gap between the slight flange on the end of the housing and the mating surface of the pump front Step 13 Attach pump to drive assembly If the piston shaft is not fully extended out of the pump back insert a small screwdriver or similar rod through its coupling hole and pull the shaft out At the same time twist the piston shaft until the coupling hole is vertical Lubricate the piston shaft with silicon grease and slide the rubber boot onto the piston shaft with its large opening facing away from the pump Guide the four threaded rods through their respective holes in the flange on the d
189. of the watermaker s orienta tion to the horizontal we may experiment with all other positions that are the various angles of rotation about that rigid axis In effect we have the option of mounting the drive motor either horizontally vertically or at some angle in between Mounting the motor horizontally is known to work and is illustrated in the Owner s Manual I can also verify for the PowerSurvivor 35 that vertical mounting with the motor pointing downward will perform well On the other hand I have tried orientations that did not work e g mounting the new PowerSurvivor 40E with the motor pointing upward The best approach to this potential problem is to first determine an ac ceptable location and orientation and then try it out in that position be fore drilling the mounting holes it might not work Plan for Leaks Eventually one way or another the watermaker pump will leak Count on it It s in the nature of the beast A failed manifold o 24 Installation Issues ring over pressure due to a plugged membrane old seals excessive stress on the Intake Reject hose barb assembly all these problems and several others can cause leaks Consider what you plan to stow directly below the watermaker Would it be harmed by a dribble of seawater One creative approach to those up and out of the way locations for the watermaker is to place an old towel in an easy to see spot on top of the gear directly below the watermaker Chec
190. off any grease that has worked its way out of the gearbox and onto the shaft see Figure A 4 The grease used in the gearbox is a petroleum based lubricant and must not be allowed to When they have all been removed lift the manifold assembly off the pump body Turn it over and note the positions of the six o rings Usually the o rings will remain pressed into their sockets in the manifold If it was necessary to loosen the manifold fasteners to relieve residual water pressure inside the pump see Step 5 one or more of the o rings may have been dislodged from its seat and fallen into the pump body cavity In any event be cer Over pressure tain to retrieve and account for all six o rings Mites aie Take a few minutes to study the manifold see Figures A 6 amp A 7 It has three basic components 1 the main body which is made of black plastic and has hydraulic passages molded into it 2 the over pressure relief valve mechanism and 3 a patented hydraulic spool valve embedded within the main body Gently pry the old o rings from their seats in the manifold using a fingernail or toothpick Wipe them clean with a cloth or paper towel and use the magnifier to inspect each one carefully Old o rings will appear flattened and oval shaped in cross section which indicates they have lost much of their resiliency and can not be relied upon to create tight seals travel along the pump piston shaft and into the pump whe
191. ome warm stagnant seawater for a couple of days The result is not pleasant to contemplate let alone smell Should we expect the watermaker to produce sweet water from such a stew Actually the watermaker will continue to remove salts and larger impurities until the accumulated debris becomes dense enough to impede the flow of seawater through the filter element and cause cavitation at the watermaker pump That will usually take quite a long time Long before that point is reached the putrefying collection of debris in the prefilter will be yielding such an abundance of hydrogen sulfide among other byproducts that the user will have decided that something is wrong Hydrogen sulfide a gas that smells like rotten eggs is composed of small molecules small enough to pass through the membrane and con taminate the product water Typically the product water will not taste salty but it will have a distinct organic or rotten egg smell associ ated with it When this happens it may be necessary to run the water maker for an hour or more before all these byproducts of decay are flushed through the system and reduced to an undetectable level Never theless as soon as the watermaker is shut down the contaminants are If an optional 5 micron filter has been added to the system it should be located between the standard 30 micron prefilter and the pump 36 Use amp Maintenance Issues still trapped and they continue to deco
192. on grease to the o ring grooves on each end of the cylinder For this step and Steps 3 amp 4 understand that the two ends of the cylinder and their seals are identical In other words either end of the cylinder can go into the pump front or the pump back it makes no dif ference and the two sets of seals and backup washers are the same Locate the two o rings and two backup washers for the cylinder in Bag B of the seal kit They are thin in cross section and 1 3 4 in overall diameter Distinguish between the o rings which have a circular cross section and the back up washers which are square in cross section on three sides and slightly concave on the fourth side The most difficult part to this step is correctly determining the concave side of the backup washers You ll need to examine the backup wash 50 A Servicing the Model 35 ers closely preferably using a magnifying glass After you re certain you ve correctly identified the concave side of the backup washers use Figure A 13 as a guide for their installation on the cylinder ends Note that on each end of the cylinder the backup washer goes on first with its concave side facing the near end of the cylinder and the o ring Next an o ring is installed on each end and the step is fin ished Step 2 Install cylinder into pump back Again this is a step that is not difficult but it must be executed with con siderable care To facilitate the insertion of t
193. on their motors This prevents the user from easily inspecting and replacing the motor brushes 40 Use amp Maintenance Issues Caution When working with your fingers or tools near the drive shaft and coupling pin of these watermakers be absolutely certain that the watermaker can not be accidentally started up The drive units are very powerful and the drive shaft can easily cause serious injury or dam age Watch your fingers and tools A Servicing the Model 35 Don t Worry Be Happy In THIS CHAPTER we begin the nitty gritty of providing explicit detailed instructions for working on PowerSurvivor watermakers including disassembly inspection troubleshooting repair and reassembly The context we ll use for learning all these skills is the installation of a repair seal kit As ve indicated elsewhere periodic replacement of the seals should be considered standard maintenance and eventually every owner will need to do it or have it done To most people their watermaker is an intimidating piece of equip ment Any machine that can make fresh water out of seawater using re verse osmosis through a semipermeable membrane well it s just got to be complex right For many the thought of tearing their watermaker apart evokes images of small springs flying like bullets into obscure cor ners of the room and special looking fasteners that are dropped and never found or matched again It need not be that way even with
194. or molecules that gradually disperse throughout the solvent eventu ally producing a homogeneous solution Solid substances dissolve in different ways depending on the kinds of chemical bonds that hold the molecules of the substance together For example each molecule of table salt NaCl is composed of one atom of sodium bonded to one atom of chlorine When table salt is dissolved in water the sodium and chlorine atoms are separated from one another Of particular importance to our discussion the sodium and chlorine atoms have equal but opposite electrical charges on them The sodium atom has a positive charge and the chlorine atom is negatively charged These oppositely charged atoms in the salt solution are called ions By way of contrast sugar molecules remain intact as complete sugar molecules when they dissolve They do not break down into their con stituent atoms or ions When sugar molecules are dissolved in water they have no overall electrical charge on them i e they are electrically neu tral Now we have enough background chemical theory to understand how a TDS meter works If you examine the end of the TDS meter that is in serted into the water you will see two metal probes with a small gap be tween them When the meter switch is turned on a small voltage from the battery inside the meter is applied across the two probes The water completes the electric circuit and a small amount of current flows through
195. or removing organic materials The pro cess is much like treating a sink drain with caustic soda sodium hy droxide a strong alkaline chemical The alkaline cleaner dissolves and loosens organic matter thus enabling it to be flushed out of the system The acid cleaner is less commonly needed It is useful for removing min eral deposits and scaling which may occur when processing input water with unusually high concentrations of minerals The most important gauge of the need for a membrane cleaning is a measure of the product water output It is an excellent idea to measure the rate of product water output at a known DC voltage soon after in stalling a new watermaker Later you can measure the output again at the same DC voltage and get a good quantitative measure of the decline in output if any As a rule of thumb a decline of 15 20 in product wa ter output would probably indicate the need for a membrane cleaning When launching the cleaning process it is usually most convenient to do both the alkaline and acid cleaning processes in sequence if both are needed This is especially true with the PowerSurvivor 35 since the in stallation of the special membrane cleaning housing is required for both processes Monitor the rate of product water output before cleaning Then do the alkaline cleaning and again measure the product output rate Hopefully there will be an improvement Finally if needed flush the system and perform the acid c
196. otential problems with it Over the course of two visits to the Recovery Engineering factory three years of cruising numerous seminars and countless discussions with watermaker owners I ve come to the conclusion that most problems with watermakers all brands involve poor maintenance and or misuse of the equipment Since these are the same factors that cause problems in many other areas I have a few general comments on the subject The mariner who refuses to take an active interest in how his or her equipment works and perhaps more importantly how it can fail to work is well advised to stay close to a home port or technical support For such a skipper venturing beyond readily available support facilities is an invitation to serious inconveniences and possibly disaster Each year early in November literally hundreds of boats leave the safety and modern conveniences of the west coast of the United States and Canada headed for Mexico and points south Many depart with plans to continue east through the Panama Canal or west to the South Pacific Although I don t have accurate data to support my contention I estimate that more than half of these vessels return home having never completed their projected itinerary and with no desire to make a second attempt The neophyte cruiser is often unaware that along with the freedom adventure and romance of the cruising lifestyle goes an awesome meas ure of personal responsibility A
197. overed many of the major ports and anchorages along Baja California and the mainland coast from Cabo San Lucas to Manzanillo looking for watermaker problems questions and comments In the process I discussed watermakers with over a hundred cruisers and solved an array of problems In general I discovered that the vast majority of cruisers with PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers were a silent majority who were quite satisfied with their equipment 6 A Sea Story about Watermakers Back in the U S A We returned to Santa Barbara and immediately began making our plans for the next season After two winters in Mexico we were finally satis fied with the boat our equipment and our knowledge I wrote up a report detailing the seminars troubleshooting and repairs I had done in Mexico and sent it to Christian Johnson A few days later Christian called and invited me to visit the company in Minneapolis for some training and to talk Who was I to say no Late in August I boarded a plane and headed east over more land than I d seen in years They even routed me through Chicago so I could see my oldest daughter and meet my new son in law for the first time They were married while I was in Mexico In Minneapolis I was introduced to everybody from top management to the newest shipping clerk Of special value was the access I was given to key people in the watermaker line the head design engineer the top troubleshooting and repa
198. p halves apart Before resorting to such a heavy handed technique try separating them by grasping the pump front in one hand the pump back in the other and pulling them apart with firm pressure While trying to pull them apart exert a little back and Cylinder Pump Front Plate intake ry Poppet Valve Figure A 10 Intake amp Discharge Valve Assemblies Figure A 9 Pump Front and Back Separated Valve Retainer forth sideways force on the pump front This should gradually walk the cylinder and its o rings out of the cavity Usually the end of the cylinder seated in the pump front will come out and the cylinder will remain seated in the pump back When the two pump halves part the valve retainer plate in the pump front may fall out along with the intake poppet Intake Discharge valve and its spring Take care Valve Seat Poppet Valve not to lose them See Figure A 9 Step 11 Remove check valves from pump front If the valve retainer plate did not fall out when separating the pump front and back remove it by pouring it out of the pump front It should drop out with no effort required If necessary grip it with a pair of needle nosed pliers and lift it out The spring for the intake valve will usually Intake Poppet remain press fitted into the valve Valve Spring retainer plate See Figure A 10 With the valve retainer plate removed the intake poppet valve can be lifted o
199. posite direction from the saltwater side The net effect is a movement of water through the membrane from the pure water side to the saltwater side The water pressure created across the membrane surface by this purity imbalance is considerable approximately 400 psi Theoretically the flow should continue until the proportion of water is the same on both sides of the membrane which would never happen right This process is called osmosis The main thing wrong with this picture for the purpose of making pure water is that the water wants naturally to travel from the pure water side to the saltwater side What is needed is to reverse the flow of the water through the membrane and make it flow from the saltwater side to the pure water side That is exactly what a reverse osmosis system does An hydraulic pump is employed to develop enough pressure on the salt water side to overcome the opposing osmotic pressure and water flows in the reverse direction through the membrane from the saltwater side to the pure water side On the pure water side a tap is installed for col lecting the product water Only ten percent of the input water appears as product water The remaining ninety percent is expelled as waste brine One reason for such a large ratio of waste brine to product water is the need to keep the con centration of contaminants on the saltwater side of the membrane as low as possible This minimizes the percentage of unwa
200. price of common table salt Assuming an input source of such water PUR watermakers will re move a known high percentage of impurities and yield high quality po table fresh water for human consumption In addition they will do it for a fairly predictable length of time before needing servicing That s about all the PUR specification promises the user So much for the specs What we want to know now is What other stuff can an RO watermaker be relied on to remove That s where things get complicated The ability of the manufacturer to predict and prescribe for all conceivable situations is understandably limited In protecting themselves they have specified a best case scenario for the quality of the input water Beyond that users are on their own Let s apply a little common sense and a little more knowledge to see if we can come up with a better idea of what to expect from our RO wa termakers In the first place we could improve our mesh screen image of the semipermeable membrane by quantifying just how fine the mesh is This will help us in deciding what size contaminants we can expect to remove using the RO membrane Published technical literature I consulted indicates that the RO mem brane is roughly equivalent to a mesh filter with a pore size of 0 001 mi cron By way of comparison we may think of it as thirty thousand times finer than the 30 micron cartridge used as the standard prefilter for the watermaker
201. pring at the bottom of the hole At this point you should have removed the inlet seat fitting and its o ring two poppet valves two valve springs one valve seat and one valve retainer see Figure B 10 It s possible that the foregoing method of removing the second poppet valve assembly won t work When all else fails the second valve seat can be burned out If you have a hot knife small enough to reach the valve seat burn through the seat on one side to release it s tension It then should be easier to remove with the needle nosed pliers After removing the second valve assem bly clean the valve bore in the check valve plate and coat it with a thin layer of silicon grease Next time the seat may come out with less effort Step 13 Remove membrane and end plug optional If you need to remove the membrane for servicing or replacement you should now do so If you pumped the end cap off before dis mounting the watermaker see Step 1 Figure B 10 Check valve components you re home free In fact the membrane probably came out with the tube plug If not A hot knife substitute is any thin strip of metal held with pliers and heated over a flame e g a chunk of old hacksaw blade B Servicing the Model 40E 59 push it out of the housing If the end cap was left installed you can pull the membrane out of the membrane housing from the open end of the pump body with some nee dle nose
202. r checking mainly for any traces of salt When the output is good water I place the small output hose into the mouth of one of the two six gallon jerry jugs strapped down right below the watermaker in our lazarette see Figure 3 Later when the first jug is full I taste test the product water again before transferring the hose to the second jerry jug If the water still tastes good I assume that the water collected in the first jug is fine because it was fine when I started to fill and it was fine at the end When conven ient or needed I manually transfer the water in a full jerry jug to the main water tank by pouring it into the inlet on deck We run the water maker often enough to keep the main tank at least half full about 15 gallons and both jerry jugs full at all times The objective here is two fold 1 Make sure that water going into the main storage tank is always good by testing it at the beginning and the end of the production run before transferring it to the main tank 2 Always keep at least twelve gallons of emergency water the two jerry jugs in case of damage to the main tank This system does not allow for water to be routed directly to the main storage tank from the watermaker That would not permit testing water quality at the end of the production run In effect I am recommending that even the manual product water three way valve not be used to direct water to the main tank after it tests good following a sta
203. r a period of running the problem is more subtle It may be the result of motor overload perhaps a combina tion of restrictions in the intake line e g dirty plugged prefilter higher than normal salinity or a plugged membrane If possible use a DC am meter to determine how much current is being used The problem could also be a faulty circuit breaker Obtaining a reading of the actual current being used will help eliminate the latter possibility and provide useful information if and when it becomes necessary to contact the manufac turer vendor or other service provider After about 4000 hours of use it would be a good idea to unscrew the brush caps if your watermaker has them holding the brushes in place and inspect the brushes If they re getting short have them replaced This can usually be done locally by any competent electric motor service shop At the same time inspect the motor commutator the metal surfaces that the brushes press against for wear pitting or excessive carbon dust from the brushes If you decide to replace the brushes it would be wise to have the commutator serviced at the same time although it will probably not be absolutely necessary In any event replacing the brushes and having the commutator cleaned should not be a very expensive project The new Endurance line of watermakers from PUR 40E 80E 160E have redesigned gearboxes which use a light gear oil instead of heavy grease This oil should be
204. r interest are the tables of known dan gerous contaminants and the Best Available Technology BAT for re moving them I ve included several of the tables in the Appendix to this book Membrane Damage A failed membrane or membrane seal can be an other source of bad product water Logically there are two ways in which a membrane can fail It may 1 become fouled or plugged up and cease to pass adequate amounts of product water or 2 deteriorate or suffer a seal failure and become too porous to remove contaminants In the first case the motor will draw more current and work harder developing more pressure in its attempt to drive water through the plugged membrane Eventually the over pressure relief valve will begin leaking as it relieves the excess pressure Depending on what kind of material has fouled the membrane an alkaline and or acid cleaning may cure the problem In the worst case a new membrane will be needed Although expensive to repair this kind of failure is usually not a health threat because it does not result in contaminated water Serious deterioration of the membrane or failure of a membrane seal resulting in contaminants appearing in the product water are less com mon but potentially more troublesome situations If undetected existing potable water reserves aboard the vessel may be contaminated Such an occurrence could be serious during a blue water passage many hundreds or thousands of miles out to sea
205. re it could reach the membrane and do damage Inspect the motor drive unit assembly for signs of serious corrosion and set it aside Figure A 6 Manifold top showing five Step 8 Remove manifold from pump There are actually only five fasteners responsible for seating the manifold and its seals against the pump body They are the same on all PowerSur fasteners As they age the manifold o rings may begin to leak perhaps slightly at first but increasing with time The usual symptoms are reduced product water output and water leaking from around the pump body Once they have begun to leak they become much more susceptible to catastrophic failure and should be replaced Also look for any nicks tears or other deformities especially if the watermaker has been leaking or has quit producing product water The manifold o rings are worked hard and are more prone to failure than some of the other seals inside the watermaker Sy Membrane Step 9 Remove collar Housing from pump body Using the 1 2 wrench remove the giang remaining four hex nuts and their flat p 9 washers from the a threaded rods pro Ld truding from the drive OEY end of the pump body De When they have been Gg ns removed slide the rectangular metal Figure A 8 Collar Gland Plate and Pump Body gland plate off the threaded rods Unless there is significant corrosion around the threaded rods and gland plate the latter should be relative
206. resses a quantity divided by time is left implicit To make certain that as many people as possible would be confused some genius went on to create the term amp hour to describe the total quantity of electrons that have flowed Before we applaud this descriptive unit name we should realize that an amp hour doesn t include time as a The rate of electric current flow through a complete circuit at any given time is the same at every point in the circuit Electrons do not flow into the load and remain there or disappear For every electron that flows into a load there is another one flowing out I once had a fellow try to sell me some 22 gauge wire with black insulation for use as the main negative cable from the ship s batteries to ground He insisted that the black wire need not be larger because it doesn t conduct many electrons According to his theory almost all of the electrons flow into the load and are dissipated there there is no need for a large return path I don t know if I was able to correct his misconceptions but at least I wasn t foolish enough to buy and use the wire for my battery ground 16 Some Technical Issues sub unit at all This is clearer when we look at what happens to the units of measurement during our multiplication When we multiply amps times hours to get amp hours AMP S electrons time X HOURS time AMP HOURS electrons note how the time units on the left side of the equation can
207. rive shaft is moving in and out and still coupled to the pump plunger rod a problem is not likely to be asso ciated with the motor or gearbox Unless you detect growling noises or other unusual sounds or symp toms directly associated with the gearbox leave it alone The only case of a defective gearbox I ve run into was one which had been submerged in seawater for awhile as one result of a boating accident In that case the skipper had many other problems to deal with in addition to a damaged watermaker The electric drive motor also causes little trouble The two most typi cal failure modes are non operation and excessive current draw If the motor doesn t run even though there is 12 VDC power available at its electrical connections the motor probably needs servicing In this case first try disconnecting the pump assembly from the drive unit slider shaft and again running the motor If the slider shaft now works the problem may be a stalled pump If the slider still doesn t move a defective motor or gearbox are the most likely culprits Excessive current draw is another kind of problem The main symp tom will usually be repeated tripping of the circuit breaker or fuse for the watermaker If the circuit breaker trips immediately i e as soon as it is turned on the problem is acute Eliminate the possibility of a short circuit in the wiring to the watermaker before condemning the motor If the circuit breaker only trips afte
208. rive unit The piston shaft should slide easily into the hollow center of the gearbox drive shaft Continue to slide the piston shaft into the drive shaft until the two coupling holes are aligned Then push the coupling pin through the holes while holding a finger under neath to prevent the pin from dropping out the bottom of the drive shaft After the coupling pin has been inserted slide the rubber boot over the pin to keep it in place Push the pump toward the drive unit until the drive unit flange is against the four nuts that are securing the gland plate and pump halves Install the four remaining hex nuts and tighten firmly with the 1 2 wrench Step 14 Mount the watermaker Remount the watermaker and reconnect the product water hose and elec trical wiring Replace the four o rings on the hose barb assembly and insert the latter into its cavity in the manifold Screw the 6 manifold fastener into its hole to secure the hose barb assembly in place Be careful to not overtighten this fastener Overtight ening it will distort the manifold body and can pull the threaded brass insert in the pump back body upward toward the manifold and crack the top of the pump back Step 15 Test the watermaker Open any seacocks and or valves that are necessary for normal operation and turn the watermaker on Run it long enough to determine that it is operating correctly making good product water and there are no leaks Step 16 Relax Have a Pacifico W
209. rom the sharp edges of the coupling pin hole Work the first seal into the back plate hole until it s approximately flush with the hole Then install the second and identical shaft seal in exactly the same manner with its flared side also facing down Work it into the back plate hole on top of the first seal until the second seal is approximately flush with the back plate Next slide the second white plastic backup washer onto the plunger rod Finally slide the thicker white plastic bushing onto the plunger rod Slide the installation tool over the plunger rod small end down After making sure that the piston and pump body are well supported press straight down with the insertion tool and drive the two seals the second backup washer and the bush ing into the back plate Con tinue to press them in until the bushing is flush with the back plate Step 10 Install wiper block P and seal B Servicing the Model 40E 63 While holding the back plate against the pump body push the piston into the pump body cylinder toward the back plate as far as it will go Identify and lubricate the new wiper block seal Notice that it has a lip on one side Examine the wiper block One side has a raised land in the center Place that side down on a flat surface Squeeze the wiper block seal into an oval with your fingers Press one end of the oval seal into the groove in the hole in the wiper block After getting one edge of the
210. roximately four hours and use about seventeen amphours of battery capacity If you need estimates for ten gallons dou ble the figures for fifteen gallons triple the amounts etc Or calculate a different basic unit amount of water for your own use The average total daily water consumption by the two people on our boat is about 5 6 gals This figure fluctuates sometimes dramatically for example I ve found that rinsing down wetsuits and diving gear con sumes a surprising amount of water But the average water use is what matters The PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E are perfectly suited to boats with an average water use of up to about 12 15 gallons per day The Optimum Use Pattern A PUR factory technician told me a story about a PowerSurvivor 35 that was returned under warranty just a few days before the one year warranty period expired The owner claimed the unit had failed and indeed it 33 34 Use amp Maintenance Issues had Upon inspection it was determined that several internal parts were simply worn out When the owner was questioned more thoroughly it was discovered that he ran a busy commercial charter boat The Power Survivor 35 had been running continuously since it was installed in order to provide a constant supply of potable water for his passengers There is a rumor circulating to the effect that PowerSurvivor water makers should not be run for long continuous periods of time The im plication is that th
211. rted leaking Given my bias and lack of experience I immediately suspected the installation But no luck Their installation was clean and well plumbed a quality job As I applied logic to the problem it became 4 A Sea Story about Watermakers harder to think of any installation error that would cause the pump to leak I bit the bullet and told him I thought there was something wrong with the pump itself We d have to take it apart replace the seals and hope to find and or cure the problem in the process I said that I could do it for him but I was willing to supervise and train him to do it and I would do that for free if he were willing to help and learn He readily agreed to that arrangement He disconnected his watermaker placed it on a large cloth and we went at it I had him follow the manual word by word while I watched I had learned a few subtle tricks and I passed these on at the appropriate times First he unbolted the drive unit from the pump assembly Then he removed the manifold and found nothing wrong The o rings looked new but we replaced them anyway The next step involved dismantling the pump body Using an open end wrench he loosened the four large hex nuts on the long stainless steel studs that hold the pump housing sections together Underneath each nut was a single washer except there were two washers under one of the nuts All four nuts bore down on the thick metal gland plate that supports the back
212. rtup What would happen to the water in the main storage tank if a watermaker failure some time later e g a ruptured membrane caused seawater to appear in the product water output line Of course the main tank would be con taminated This is the reason we make product water in small quantities 6 gal jerry jugs and taste it at the end as well as the beginning of the production run In summary I don t believe the prudent skipper should rely on auto matic devices to control product water routing At the very least under stand and think about the problems that can arise and adopt your own system of safeguarding your potable water supply It s worth noting that none of the new Endurance line of watermakers from PUR includes an automatic sensor and solenoid valve in the standard configuration In stead they now ship a TDS meter The Optional Booster Pump One of the optional maintenance kits offered by Recovery Engineering for their watermakers is the Silt Reduction Kit It consists of a high quality 12 VDC centrifugal water pump and a 5 micron prefilter assem bly The 5 micron prefilter is inserted in the intake seawater line between the watermaker and the standard 30 micron prefilter unit It provides additional and considerably finer prefiltering of the intake water sup ply Because of the increased resistance to the intake water flow caused Installation Issues 29 by the second in line filter element the wat
213. running the watermaker while anchored immediately offshore from a small town in most third world countries will involve a chance of exposure to high levels of sewage and or other waste products of human activities Fortunately the RO membrane can be expected to do a pretty good job of removing the bacteria and viruses in such intake wa ter But how about locally high concentrations of other contaminants battery acid old engine oil paint remover industrial waste The list is limited only by one s imagination This doesn t mean that one should never run a watermaker when an chored near a village In fact we frequently run our watermaker while anchored next to Mexican towns In most cases sewer outflows can be located and avoided if need be Running a watermaker under any condi tions always involves some calculated risk We ve taken that risk while anchored off most Mexican villages and towns and have not yet had a single problem involving the quality of our intake water On the other hand we will not take the considerable risk involved in running the wa termaker when berthed inside a confined harbor or marina whether in the USA or Mexico I have seen some cruisers who anchor needlessly far away from towns in my humble judgment in order to run the watermaker I suppose it s better to err on the side of caution I even met one cruiser who was ada mant about not running his watermaker if there were any fish in the area H
214. s If it needs changing the en tire process takes less than five minutes When mounting the prefilter housing be certain to leave enough clear room below the unit to allow removal of the screw on bowl Also give some thought to what if anything will be stowed immediately be low the prefilter Seawater will occasionally be spilled during the process of servicing the filter element and housing It would be poor planning to have it spill on dry goods electrical terminal strips or junction boxes or into an area that has no drain or limber holes Pump Installation The pump gearbox and 12 VDC drive motor are fastened together as an integral unit in all PUR watermakers In the case of the PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E the membrane and its housing are also attached to the pump assembly The enclosed configurations of the PowerSurvivor 80 contain the membrane and pump assembly in a rectangular enclosure The Pow erSurvivor 160E because of the larger size of its components is only available in a modular configuration i e separately mounted mem brane housing and pump assembly As with the prefilter assembly the user need not worry about re stricting the location of the pump assembly to below the waterline Con sider locations that satisfy as many of the following conditions as possible Easy Access Full access to the watermaker itself is seldom needed Un der normal use an occasional check for pump leaks is the only short term peri
215. s The great majority of cruisers I ve met over the years have sailboats in the 30 40 ft range They often spend long periods of time at anchor without any need to run the main engine Almost invariably they meet their electrical power needs by installing solar panels wind generators or small portable gasoline generators They do not rely on the main engine to provide day to day power for the on board utilities Given this characterization of the average cruising boat we can identify several problems with the big stick philosophy First and I believe most important is the problem of using the main engine for electrical power If the vessel is constantly on the move and the engine is being run under a substantial load most of the time then it certainly makes sense to be recharging the batteries freezing the refrigeration cold plate and driving a watermaker at the same time However to sit at an chor for weeks at a time and run the engine a certain number of hours every day or every other day only to run the alternator watermaker and refrigeration is a bad idea Engines are designed to run efficiently under a load especially diesel engines Even with a high output alternator a watermaker and a refrig eration system on line most sailboat main engines will be running under a very light load and at reduced rpms The result will be a relatively cold engine and inefficient combustion of the fuel The latter contributes
216. s importance What the Prefilter Does Let s sketch a mental picture of what happens at the prefilter as raw seawater enters the system With each stroke of the Use amp Maintenance Issues 35 watermaker pump suction is created in the intake plumbing that causes seawater to be drawn from an external source into the intake hose The hose routes the water to the intake side of the prefilter unit where it is dumped on the outside of the replaceable filter element inside the hous ing Once the seawater has entered the prefilter housing it is strained through the polyester filter element and drawn into the watermaker pump The porosity of the standard filter elements shipped with PowerSur vivor watermakers is 30 microns which is roughly equivalent to 0 001 one thousandth of an inch This means that all contaminants and debris that are larger than 0 001 will be stopped at the border of the filter element Not only will they be stopped they will remain where they are trapped between the outside surface of the filter element and the inside surface of the prefilter housing And they will remain there for ever or at least until the next time the owner services the prefilter The trapped material will be composed of everything as already noted larger than 0 001 That includes dirt plankton kelp eel grass squid small fish assorted excrement the imagination reels Now imagine such a collection of materials brewing in s
217. s on top of the spring with its cross side facing up Center one of the valve seats over the poppet valve with its beveled seat side facing down When you re sure everything is lined up and the spring and or poppet valve hasn t fallen over press the valve seat down firmly with your thumb until it is flush with the surface of the pump front cavity Test the poppet by pushing it up and down with the allen wrench It should push down and spring back up smoothly That s all there is to it Installing the intake valve is less of a balancing act but still requires a little care First stop and think Did you remove the intake valve seat during the disassembly process If you did not and the original valve seat is still down there in the bottom of the recess for the intake valve do not install the new intake valve seat on top of it If the original intake valve seat was removed press the new valve seat into the recess with your finger as far as it will go Make certain you in stall it with the beveled seat side facing up The valve seats will not work if the beveled side is not facing the poppet valve After installing the valve seat or if the original seat is still in place lower the second poppet valve into the hole in the seat with its cross shaped side facing down Press the remaining poppet valve spring into its mating cavity in the valve retainer plate It should snap into place and stay there Finally grip the r
218. se if you have the leisure if the boat goes down so painfully slow that you can unfasten the hoses and the bolts and disconnect the electrical wires or find the right wrench and unfasten the four hex nuts that hold the pump to the drive housing and remember where you put the han dle that s fine However don t count on having either the time or the mental organization to do it If you do have that much time it would be better spent trying to locate and or plug the hole in the boat s hull Bot tom line if you have time to dismount disconnect and remove your watermaker you probably have time to save the boat which would make the whole issue a moot point If you are truly concerned about having a watermaker in your survival supplies then you should buy one and dedicate it to that purpose PUR offers two small manual RO watermakers that are a better design for survival packs the Model 06 and the Survivor 35 In any event do not plan or count on taking your PowerSurvivor 35 or 40E in the life raft Use amp Maintenance Issues Some Facts and Figures Lers LOOK at some useful facts and do a few calculations We ll use the PUR PowerSurvivor 35 for our example and apply Ohm s Law As stated by Recovery Engineering in their specifications the Power Survivor 35 requires about 4 amps of 12 volt direct current VDC under normal working conditions This is actually an average current rating If you were to connect a DC ammeter i
219. seal into its groove work the rest of the seal down into the groove This seal should be installed with its raised lip facing up Slide the wiper block onto the plunger rod The side from which you installed the seal should be facing up When done check the large o ring seal in the back plate to be sure it hasn t been dislodged from its groove At this point the assembly should look like Figure B 13 Notice that in the illustration the back plate has been moved away from the pump body a short distance to show the piston and plunger rod Step 11 Install check valve plate It is time for the final grand assembly during which the prepared sub assemblies are bolted together The back plate has just been installed and the piston should be moved as far toward the back plate as it will travel This provides maximum extension of the plunger rod out of the pump making it easier to connect the drive assembly later Use extra care in handling the back plate and pump assembly espe cially when moving the piston The back plate is held to the pump body only by the compressed piston seals It is very easy to accidentally pull the piston and back plate assembly out of the pump body cylinder If this happens go immediately to the next step Step 11x for special instruc tions before continuing this assembly procedure Lubricate all mating seals and surfaces of the check valve plate and the pump body with silicon grease Line up the check valve plate
220. sembly to the pump body i e the two 3 4 and the two 3 capscrew bolts Using the 1 4 allen wrench tighten these four bolts a little at a time using a criss cross sequence until they are comfortably snug They do not require a dying strain All sealing is done with o rings and seals The bolts only have to be tight enough to not work loose later It is entirely possible to strip the threads by overtightening Finally tighten the four hex nuts at the drive unit flange Again tighten them snugly a little at a time in an alternating pattern but don t overtighten Step 14 Replace relief valve cleaning assembly seals optional The seals underneath the relief valve cleaning valve assembly aren t likely to need replacing and can be skipped during a routine Repair Seal Kit installation If you elect to replace them use a 5 32 allen wrench to remove the two small sockethead fasteners that hold the assembly to the pump body Pull the valve assembly off replace the large and small o ring inside and re install Step 15 Mounting and final checkout Mount the assembled watermaker in its running location Attach the product water intake and reject brine hoses and reconnect the electrical wiring If you have access to acceptable seawater for intake make sure all necessary seacocks are open and run the watermaker for awhile Check B Servicing the Model 40E 65 for any leaks or unusual sounds Also check for good quality and quantity
221. sideways and disturb the retainer plate and intake poppet valve bring the pump front and back together until the end of the cylinder just begins to enter the pump front cylinder cavity The easiest way to do this without disturbing the valve assembly is to keep the pump front vertical and lower the cylinder into the cavity Carefully align the plastic tab on the top of the pump back with its matching notch on the pump front With the end of the cylinder just barely engaging its cavity in the pump front the tab and its notch will also be just barely engaged At this point stop and make sure the end of the cylinder is square with the cavity in the pump front When you are sure everything is square gently press the cylinder into the pump front cavity Be very careful not to tilt the cylinder during this process What you re trying to do is press the entire circumference of the cylinder o ring into the cavity at the same time If the cylinder is tilted the o ring will slide in easily on the low side As you continue to press harder the o ring will be squeezed and stretched toward the high side This will result in a loose loop of o ring on the high side which will then roll up and out of its groove and get caught between the outside wall of the cylinder and the cylinder cavity If this happens and you continue to press you will almost certainly damage the o ring and it will have to be replaced Do you have another one on hand Probably not s
222. signed to be powered by the vessel s main engine It goes something like this Buy our large capacity watermaker and make a lot of water when you run your engine After all you need to run your engine anyway to charge your batteries keep up with your refrigeration etc Why not be stocking up on all the water you ll need instead of running a small capacity watermaker every day or every other day For a relatively small number of vessels this approach might be a workable solution In particular for many motorboats and large sailboats with substantial fresh water requirements it could make sense If your water needs are considerable and you are running the main engine any way during frequent passage making you should certainly consider in stalling a large capacity engine driven watermaker system In most cases large water needs are accompanied by other similarly large needs At some point a stand alone generator system separate from the main ship s engine becomes desirable Producing large quantities of potable water at infrequent intervals also has its disadvantages Large storage tanks are required which de feats one of the advantages of having a watermaker If the watermaker is to remain idle for more than a day or two in the tropics it should be treated with biocide between runs On the other hand I would argue that this approach is entirely inap propriate for the average cruising boat especially smaller sailboat
223. sing the stock 3 8 reinforced plastic hose provided with the PowerSurvivor 35 and 40E or the 1 2 hose supplied with the Model 80 and 160E a run of 10 15 feet from a seacock and coarse strainer to the prefilter housing which in turn feeds a watermaker at a height of four or five feet above the waterline such an installation should work just fine and be well within the allowable limits of the flow resistance factors Air Leaks are the bane of the inexperienced installer Because air unlike water is highly compressible a small amount of air inside the high pressure low volume watermaker pump can cause it to completely stop producing product water I also have reason to believe that in producing product water I also have reason to believe that in certain cases small pockets of air can become trapped within the ports and pas sages of the pump and cause it to continue malfunctioning until the air is eventually dissolved Where do air leaks typically occur and how can they be eliminated The most common location of air leaks in the standard plumbing hardware provided with PowerSurvivor watermakers are the three way valve and attachments at the prefilter housing It is difficult to get the plastic valve nipples to seal well in the prefilter housing top The plastic threads need to be tight enough to seal but it is very easy to overtighten them An excellent solution to this problem comes straight from a factory technician use Perma
224. small o ring seal Because of the torque applied to the hex nut when it is installed on the plunger rod the seal is severely compressed and usually damaged after one use It should be removed and replaced with a new plunger rod seal If you order a new piston or plunger rod be sure it comes with a new seal After installing the plunger rod seal slide the piston back on to the plunger rod Coat the threads on the end of the plunger rod with Loctiteg or equivalent thread lock compound Slide the washer on screw on the hex nut and tighten it firmly with the socket wrench Step 7 Install PIP ring and cup seal on piston Place the piston assembly on a firm flat surface with the piston down and the plunger rod pointing up Slide the insertion tool supplied with the Repair Seal Kit over the plunger rod with its wide end against the piston Lightly grease the outside surfaces and seal grooves on the piston with silicon grease Also grease the outside surface of the insertion tool This latter step is the key to having the PIP ring and cup seal slip easily down the tool and onto the piston Lubricate the PIP ring and cup seal with silicon grease Slide the PIP ring over the insertion tool with the ribbed non smooth side of it facing up Referring to Figure C 11 in the following chapter use your fingers to press the PIP ring down the insertion tool over the sides of the piston and into its groove This step will require a fair amount of
225. solenoid valve fails to actuate all product water will be rejected until the problem is corrected This outcome is usually preferable to that of having stored potable water contaminated Only if the solenoid is capable of being energized i e is working correctly can the valve be moved to route product water to the potable water tanks This arrangement uses Another failure mode of course would be for the valve to remain stuck in its energized position even when the solenoid is not energized This is an unlikely failure mode but definitely another possibility 28 Installation Issues more electric power as already noted but is much less likely to contami nate the potable water supply Still things can go wrong Solenoids and the valves they operate can and do fail in a number of ways It is possible for the solenoid s actuator arm or lever to jam in any position The valve is also vulnerable to jam ming In the last analysis there is no sure way to implement a 100 re liable automatic water routing system If you currently use such an arrangement be certain you understand your vulnerabilities In particu lar if you own one of the older PowerSurvivor 80s you might want to remove the solenoid valve and sensor from your product water output plumbing Their intended function is easily performed by a TDS Total Dissolved Solids meter and a manual three way valve If your cruising plans include only coastal passa
226. some point while working your way around the entire perimeter of the piston seal it should pop into the cylinder with little difficulty The second seal being flared in the oppo site direction will slide into the cylinder with no problem Push the pis ton into the cylinder as far as it will go Step 5 Install piston seals washer and bushing Place the pump back assembly on a smooth solid surface with the cylin der down and the piston shaft pointing upwards Locate the two piston shaft seals in Bag B Note that these seals like the piston seals are also lip seals with one side flared slightly outwards Lubricate the first seal the two seals are identical and slip it over the piston shaft with the flared side down i e toward the pump back Push it down to the shaft bore in the pump back Continue working it down ward into the shaft bore Make sure that the entire perimeter of the lip enters the bore and then push it down until the exposed end of the seal is approximately flush with the outside surface of the pump back Install the second seal in exactly the same manner It too should be installed with the flared side down and pushed into the shaft bore until approximately flush This step assures that the seal lips have correctly entered the bore before the bushing and backup washers are press fitted on top of them After both seals have been pushed into the piston shaft bore slide the new white backup washer from Bag B o
227. son why a properly sized 30 micron polyester filter element purchased for 3 in a Mexican ferreteria shouldn t work just fine The essential elements are those just mentioned make certain that any third party replacement elements are the correct size for the prefilter housing be certain that it is a 30 micron or slightly smaller mesh verify that the material is polyester filter elements made of pa per will break down and clog ruin 350 the membrane If you can t determine the difference between a paper and a polyester filter element I suggest you cough up the bucks for a stock of replace ment filters direct from PUR or one of their distributors With all that said about the high cost of replacement filter elements for the prefilter assembly the fact is that very few filter elements are needed if they are utilized properly In fact during the last two winters in Mexico a total of twelve months during which we made water at the rate of about five gallons per day we used only three filter elements Cleaning the Filter Elements What constitutes proper use of a filter element At the top of the list is frequent cleaning very frequent cleaning Second on the list is a strong emphasis on gentle cleaning Here s how we make it work Each time the filter housing is removed to dump the accumulated debris examine the filter element Smell the filter and contaminated wa ter If you don t like what you smell replace
228. ssssressseresssesssee 28 EMERGENCY Usean ete 30 Use amp Maintenance Issues csssccssssessssesssessscseessssesssseees 33 Some Facts and Figures cscccssccsessccesecesseeeseseecescecesaeceseessneeeneeeeees 33 The Optimum Use Patter n ccccccccccccccccsceeessececeeeeeeeeeeseeeessseeeeseseees 33 Prefilter Maintenance ccccsccceeeesceeeseeeeeeeeeeeceeenseeeeseaneeeenseeeeeneaees 35 Pump Maintenance 0 cccceeccceeeseceeene cee eenseeeeeseeeccnsaeeeesaeeeeesensaees 37 Membrane Maintenance ccccccccceeesseeeenceeceeeenseceeeeeecensneeeenseeenes 37 Miscellaneous Maintenance ccccccesceceeeenseeetseceeeeeeneeeetenneeeenenneeees 39 A Servicing the Model 35 ccsssccssssssscssssssccssssssesessssseeeens 41 Don t Worry Be Happy Senie ees n EE E E e aan 41 Disassembly anisscnir nennen a e iii i 42 Manifold Servicing cccccccccessccesssceeeesseeceeeesneeeesenneeeeseeeceneeeeeenenneeees 47 Reassembly aisin ieirik insisi ikiii in oveneaepesensions 49 B Servicing the Model 40E cccsssccssssssscsssssscssssssesessees 55 Before Yow Begin reiii E ae EEEE EEEE S iets 55 Disassembly cnini e EEEE NEEE EEEE Ena 56 ReassembIy irienner ti t ee t iei e S 60 C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 cccsssssccssssseessssseee 67 Before You Begin ecsccccccsscccesesseceenseceeeeesceeeeeenseeeeesaeeeeseeeeeseneeesenas 67 Disassembly ienaa ae bi das AE e EE Ua bsee Shea Om 68 Reassembl
229. st sump or bilge pumps will have rates of at least 400 500 gals per hour 26 Installation Issues 3 a future upgrade to a larger capacity watermaker becomes a simple matter of bolting the new one in place the existing plumbing will already be adequate Intake Strainers Anyone who has spent much time living on a boat offshore can testify to the amazing variety of things that can appear in an intake seawater line I ve seen sand seaweed squid octopus small crabs wooden sticks the list is fascinating Is a coarse strainer in the intake line to the watermaker a good idea If your intake source is an existing line e g your engine seawater intake a coarse strainer may already be installed In that case make certain to check and clean it often This is not to prevent a problem with the watermaker but to prevent engine overheating Reduced water flow caused by a clogged intake water strainer will affect the engine long be fore causing a noticeable problem at the watermaker Be aware that the needed frequency of strainer cleaning will vary greatly depending on the kind of water in which the boat is operating You may go for weeks between cleanings on long blue water passages while motoring near many coastal areas might require daily or even more frequent checks The purpose of a strainer is to remove relatively large solid objects from the intake water stream and thereby protect downstream devices from possible
230. sues 23 hull Minimizing intake resistance is certainly a consideration but an easy one to deal with PII have more suggestions on these topics in the following section on Plumbing Considerations Avoid Excessive Heat It is often tempting to mount the watermaker in an engine room especially if the engine compartment has been sound proofed The engine room may also have an available intake water supply and easy access to electrical connections Unfortunately engine rooms also tend to get quite hot Take a look at the ratings plate on the drive motor of a PowerSurvi vor 35 One of the entries is AMB This is the maximum ambient tem perature rating for the motor it is 40 C 104 F This rating indicates the maximum temperature the air around the motor can be without causing possible harm to the motor when it is operating Engine rooms particularly on smaller yachts typically get much hotter than 104 F Be aware that it is normal for the watermaker motor to feel quite hot to the touch when running This is another sign that the drive motor needs to dissipate a considerable amount of heat when operating To be honest I have encountered several engine room installations and none of those watermaker motors has failed yet The motors are conservatively rated for their application and should last for many years even apparently when installed in a hot engine room Even though an engine room installation may perform well
231. survey letter about PowerSurvivor watermakers After discussions with Tim Schaaf and others who had used Power Survivor watermakers with few problems for considerable periods of time I suspected that the real issue was not a poorly engineered product I thought that most problems were likely to be caused by poor installa tions and improper maintenance Those are the main reasons for almost every other kind of equipment failure on a boat why not also for water makers In late June just before reaching our homeport in Santa Barbara California our watermaker failed It quit producing product water A few days later after tying up in our slip I broke out the watermaker manual and repair seal kit and prepared to take apart our watermaker for the first time Tim Schaaf had told me it wasn t difficult given a reasonable amount of mechanical ability and good work habits Following the manual word by word I carefully disassembled the pump and examined each part o ring and seal with a 10X magnifying loupe Soon I found a broken spring under one of the poppet valves This defect was more than sufficient to explain the failure and I was delighted to have found the cause so easily After meticulously cleaning everything I greased the new seals with silicon and put it all back together remem bering Tim Schaaf s caution about overtightening the manifold fasteners In a matter of two hours I had completely disassembled troubleshot repaired an
232. ter a few hundred hours of running The flakes cause accelerated wear of other seals and the roughened plunger rod rapidly destroys its shaft seals see Figure B 4 Early symptoms include gradually increasing seawater leakage around the plunger rod The seawater comes out of the back plate around the plunger rod I ve been assured that very few if any of the units with defective plunger rods ever reached end users The problem was discovered while most units were still in vendors warehouses The defective watermakers were returned to Recovery Engineering Anyone possessing a new Model 40E watermaker with this defect in the piston plunger rod should contact the MROD Product Manager at PUR to arrange for its replacement This Figure B 4 Defective coating on plunger rod B Servicing the Model 40E 57 defect can be expected to cause problems well before the first 1000 hour routine seal replacement servicing In any event always inspect the condition of the plunger rod surface when disassembling the watermaker It and its seals undergo a lot of wear Small surface flaws on the plunger rod surface will act like sand paper and chisels against the shaft seals greatly accelerating the rate of a Figure B 5 Removing plunger rod seals Step 8 Remove wiper block and seal Retrieve the large plastic wiper block from the back plate You should be able to shake it out Inside the cen ter hole in the wiper block is a rubber s
233. tex non hardening gasket sealant on the male threads This actually works better than teflon tape or any other sealant I ve tried Air leaks at the connections between the reinforced plastic hoses and their respective hose barbs are rare unless the hose barb is too small When using a correct hose barb the hose should slide onto the barb with some difficulty and be very snug In fact these connections should not leak even without hose clamps If difficulty is encountered in sliding the hoses onto the barbs immerse the last inch or so of the plastic hose into boiling hot water for 15 20 seconds and then quickly slide it over the barb It should glide on like silk Another potential source of air intrusion is the o ring seal between the prefilter housing and its top If the sediment bowl is not threaded cor rectly into the cap or is not screwed all the way up to compress the rubber o ring the prefilter unit will leak air into the intake water flow With some practice at screwing the housing on and a little attention to detail this source of air leaks is easily eliminated Of course in order to seal properly the o ring must be smooth and clean A small chunk of dirt or debris between the o ring and its mating surface is quite likely to cause an air leak Inspect clean and lubricate with silicon grease the o ring in the prefilter housing every time you remove it Be advised that if the housing o ring is torn or missing an air tight seal wil
234. the filter element with a clean one To clean the dirty element tie a line through the center and throw it overboard Secure the bitter end of the line to the boat so the filter is sus pended underwater If underway tow the dirty filter for a few hours If at anchor let it bob up and down for a day or two If in a marina with pres surized water clean it gently with a hose and sprayhead In any case finish the cleaning treatment by drying the element in direct sunlight for a day or two Store the used but clean filter element until the next pre filter servicing By rotating two or three filter elements in this way the elements can be expected to last for many months It is worth highlighting the fact that this cleaning process for the pre filter elements does not involve any scrubbing or direct abrasion of the filter material Physical scrubbing is rarely necessary and significantly shortens the life of the filter element by raising and tearing its fibers On the other hand filter elements that have accumulated large quantities of debris over relatively long periods of time are much more difficult to re claim and reuse Once again the moral of the lesson is clean the prefil ter often exchange and clean the filter elements frequently Pump Maintenance There is little to be done in the way of routine day to day maintenance of the pump assembly itself Inspect the pump for leaks regularly If a leak is detected note its source
235. tion to meeting an existing need among the thousands of legacy PUR Power Survivor 35 owners it should appeal to the growing ranks of purchasers of the new Endurance series I will continue to gather data and seek in formation from the factory in preparation for a future edition The first printing of the first edition of this book was identified as Draft Edition 2 1998 For this second printing this Preface was rewritten and there were several changes on the title and copyright pages The main body of text is identical to the first printing with the exception of a few minor mostly typographical corrections that were made In particular all previous references to Recovery Engineering Inc as REI were replaced by PUR or Recovery Engineering as the context warranted due to potential copyright conflicts Gary E Albers June 1999 In the Beginning Ar THE END of January 1996 my partner Teri Damron and I finally cut the cord and took off cruising in our 34 Aloha sloop ISHI destination Mexico It was the long awaited consummation of a dream we had shared for almost two decades ISHI and our relationship were the last of many boats and other partners through the years and we set sail thinking we had finally gotten it together and together right Among the high tech equipment aboard ISHI were a GPS VHF and SSB Ham radios radar two computers weatherfax demodulator and software knotmeter and log
236. to wet stacking which is the accumulation of carbon particles and other contaminants on the cylinder walls head and valve surfaces Wet stack ing in turn leads to an increased chance of injector fouling and other problems Incomplete fuel combustion also results in more corrosive ac ids and other detrimental by products of combustion reaching the oil in the pan and attacking metal surfaces This latter problem is even more serious when burning diesel fuel with a high sulfur content e g in Mexico According to over a dozen expert diesel mechanics I ve contacted using a diesel engine at less than about 25 of its rated load for extended periods of time is detrimental to the engine In addition when using high sulfur content fuel the engine oil should be changed more fre quently In general for most cruising boats running the main ship s engine under light load for routine charging of batteries is not a good long term solution to energy needs For boats with modest fresh water needs a large capacity watermaker makes little sense Prefilter Maintenance As indicated earlier paying proper attention to the condition of the pre filter unit is the only routine short term maintenance task required with PUR PowerSurvivor watermakers If this simple job is attended to a plethora of potential watermaker problems can be avoided If I sound a bit evangelical about this topic it is because my experiences have con vinced me of it
237. to the rotten egg problem is to 35 has been producing well for almost three years It is mounted underneath the cockpit combing directly below the port jib sheet winch about four feet above the waterline and even higher on a port tack The prefilter housing is mounted inside a cockpit lazarette frequently discard the contaminated water trapped in the filter housing and change the filter element With the original white opaque prefilter housing that came with the PowerSurvivor 35 and early Model 80s it is difficult to know when too much crud has collected in the prefilter housing You must shut down the system unscrew the 22 Installation Issues housing and examine the trapped material It is gratifying to learn that the new Endurance watermakers are shipped with transparent prefilter housings This makes it very easy to determine at a glance just how dirty the water in the prefilter housing is getting Someone at the factory was listening to users on this one The old saw out of sight out of mind perfectly describes the effect of an opaque prefilter housing on the user Making it easy for the user to monitor the condition of the prefilter is the single best thing PUR has done It should dramatically reduce problems caused by poor prefilter maintenance Over time experience and an intimate familiarity with the equipment become the best guide to how often the prefilter needs attention While learning the proper timi
238. ts normal range the pump is probably working well The owner s manuals for the new PUR Endurance line of watermak ers all include instructions to replace the seals after every thousand hours of use In other words periodically installing a seal kit is considered a routine maintenance matter with the new product line The same is true for the PowerSurvivor 35 although the owner s manual does not explic itly say so To maintain any PowerSurvivor watermaker in good reliable working condition and avoid most failure modes you should replace the seals install a seal kit every cruising season or one thousand hours of use Membrane Maintenance The best way to keep an RO membrane in good working condition is to feed it clean intake water and use it frequently Clean intake water will not contain harmful chemicals that attack or clog the membrane Fre quent use will help keep bacterial concentrations low Bacterial concen trations are also minimized by keeping the prefilter system clean Occasionally the RO membrane requires extra care above and beyond these routine maintenance tasks Biocide Treatment The watermaker membrane should be treated with a biocide solution before any extended period of non use In a temperate environment if the watermaker is to remain idle for more than a week it should be treated with biocide In a tropical environment I recommend a biocide treatment if the watermaker will not be used within the next
239. two days 38 Use amp Maintenance Issues What is biocide and what does it do The biocide supplied with Pow erSurvivor watermakers is the chemical sodium metabisulfite a very common and usually inexpensive industrial chemical It is a strong anti oxidant In effect when dissolved in water and pumped through the watermaker the biocide ties up any free oxygen in the system inhibits oxidation Since bacteria that have entered the membrane with the sea water are normally oxygen requiring critters the biocide deprives them of the oxygen they need and they die instead of growing and clogging the membrane pores According to published PUR literature a proper biocide treatment should be adequate for over a year of non use or storage of the mem brane Privately I ve been assured by factory personnel that a biocide treatment will normally preserve a membrane for considerably longer than a year Directions for mixing the biocide with water and pumping it through the watermaker are given in the PowerSurvivor owner s manuals Pro portions of the sodium metabisulfite powder to water are not too critical Completely dissolve a capful of the biocide powder into a quart or two of fresh non chlorinated water and feed it into the pump inlet using either the standard 3 way inlet valve and small hose with strainer or your own plumbing arrangement The idea is to thoroughly flush the membrane with the biocide solu tion Once that has
240. under most conditions I can imagine a scenario in which they could result in problems For example a watermaker running in an engine room for lengthy periods of time when the engine is also running and all this on a boat in the Sea of Cortez during the summer months where the intake water temperature might be 90 F and the high salinity water is causing an increased load on the watermaker pump These are admittedly ex treme circumstances but not uncommon For some reason many cruis ers gravitate toward the little warmer latitudes and tropical climates Another possible problem with the heat generated in an engine room is the tendency to dry out the membrane especially during long periods of non use Membranes need to stay moist If you ever purchase a new membrane you will notice that it is shipped in an air tight plastic enve lope and is pre moistened with biocide solution It is conceivable that a watermaker left unused for a long period of time in an engine room could have its membrane adversely affected by the drying heat In summary engine room watermaker installations are pushing the envelope of tolerable environments for the equipment If considering a new watermaker installation I suggest you scratch the engine room off your short list of possible locations The chances are you and your wa termaker will be happier over the long run Minimize Noise Like most pumps watermakers make a certain amount of noise when running
241. ut if it hasn t al ready dropped out of its seat The intake valve seat will remain pressed into its cavity in the pump front Examine the valve seat with a magni fying glass Note that there is a beveled edge around the hole in its cen ter This beveled edge is what the o ring on the poppet valve seats against If the surface of the bevel is in perfect shape with no scratches nicks or dents it can be left in place and reused 46 A Servicing the Model 35 If the intake valve seat has been damaged it must be removed and replaced The PUR instructions indicate that this can be accomplished using a small hook or the head of a nail Since nails made of corrodable ferrous metal are not easy to find on many cruising vessels consider using a small stainless steel round head machine screw for this task Grip the screw by the threaded end and lower the head into the hole in the center of the valve seat Move it sideways to position the flat of the head beneath the lower lip of the valve seat and then pull straight up with a firm pressure The valve seat is held in place only by the compres sion of an o ring around its outside perimeter and should come out with little difficulty The entire discharge check valve assembly will remain in the pump front To remove it use the needle nosed pliers to grasp the valve firmly by its cross shaped bottom and pull straight up The poppet valve and its seat will come out together Once they ar
242. valve plate will remain tight against the pump body It is being held in place internally by the compressed o rings of the membrane tube plug Carefully wedge a flat bladed screwdriver between the check valve plate and the pump body Gently twist the screwdriver blade and pry the check valve plate about 1 8 away from the pump body Be careful not to damage the faces of the check valve plate or the pump body Then rotate the entire check valve plate part way e g 90 around the membrane axis In that posi tion it is possible to grip the check valve plate well enough to wiggle it off the single o ring on the end of the membrane tube plug See Figure B 7 Remove the large o ring seal 137 from the pear shaped groove in the check valve plate The reason for prying the two pieces apart a little bit before rotating them is to avoid cut ting the large o ring 137 on some of the internal sharp edges and holes Prying the two pieces apart a small distance provides room for the o ring to rotate with the check valve plate without tearing Step 11 Remove membrane tube plug from pump body Illustrations in the PUR instructions show the membrane tube plug remaining in the check valve plate when the latter is separated from the pump body In fact I ve never known that to be the case Instead the membrane tube plug remains buried in the pump body tightly held by three o rings and presenting little surface to grip for pulling it out
243. valve retainer the spring and the poppet valve The valve seat can be removed using the same methods as for the intake valve assembly Probably the easiest is to push it out through the bore in the inner face of the check valve plate using a screwdriver see Figure C 5 With both check valve assem blies removed carefully inspect each of the valve springs for integ rity If either is broken or incom plete try to locate the missing parts The springs are a vulnerable component If they break broken pieces are likely to work their way into other areas of the pump and cause serious damage Step 8 Separate back plate from Figure C 6 Separating back plate from Te body pump body Use the 1 4 allen wrench to remove the four flange bolts securing the pump back plate to the pump body Then try to pull the back plate apart 70 C Servicing the Model 80 and 160 from the pump body They may separate easily If not retrieve the piston seal inser tion tool from the Repair Seal Kit bag It is the large tapered hollow dowel among the seals Using a soft mallet and the insertion tool tap on the piston head to drive the back plate apart from the pump body as illus trated in Figure C 6 This method is prefer able to prying the back plate and pump body apart with screwdrivers as suggested in the instruction sets for the older Model 80s After they have parted remove the two o rings one large and one small on the inside o
244. ve failed because I didn t tighten the fasteners enough Step 12 Install membrane return tube and housing The following procedure for installing the watermaker membrane and housing differs markedly from the directions in the PUR instruction set but it minimizes the chances of damaging the delicate brine seal on the membrane Install the two o rings on the stem of the membrane The large brine seal should still be in its groove on the pump end of the membrane Install the three o rings two larger and one smaller on the mem brane reject tube and slide the reject tube through the center of the mem brane The black plastic disk on the end of the reject tube should be at the end of the membrane opposite the white stem i e at the end farthest from the pump end of the membrane Lubricate the first inch of the inside surface of the open end of the membrane housing with silicon grease Make sure to coat the edges of the open end Hold the membrane housing in one hand and slide the membrane and reject tube assembly into the housing until the brine seal reaches the open end of the housing Make certain the brine seal is in good condition and has been lubricated with silicon grease Carefully continue to slide the membrane the rest of the way into the membrane housing while paying special attention to the brine seal This is a critical step It is very easy to roll the brine seal out of its groove and pinch it between the membrane and the inside
245. ve them is likely to do more harm than good Clean them inspect them with a magnifying glass for wear or de fects and don t disturb them further until replacements can be obtained Using a straight blade screwdriver reach through the plunger shaft hole on the pump side of the back plate Align the screw driver blade against the lip of the shaft washer and push straight down This should eject both shaft seals both backup washers and the bushing that are pressed into the back plate See Figures C 8 and C 9 Step 14 End of the disassembly Have a Pacifico The basic disassembly of the wa termaker pump unit has now been completed In the early PowerSurvivor 80 II Service Man ual an additional step directs the owner to remove the shuttle valve assembly in order to replace the o rings on the spool sleeve This is not a good idea This step has been omitted from the Repair Seal Kit directions and the Owner s Manual for the Model 80E The shuttle valve is a delicate Figure C 9 Plunger rod seals mechanism and seldom needs servicing It consists of an outer hollow metal sleeve with four o rings and a spool shuttle valve that slides inside the sleeve The spool valve also has four o rings and four seals There is a slight taper to the valve and the o rings are different sizes although very similar Reinstalling the shuttle valve with new o rings is an error prone operation Note that none of the o rings
246. ved area Disconnecting the electrical wiring is a simple the entire hose barb assembly along with the attached hoses can be pulled out of the manifold with little effort see Figure A 3 Later when you have removed and inspected the mani fold carefully you will realize that this fastener has nothing to do with seating the manifold to the pump body Its main func tion is to secure the hose barb assembly in place Remove the four small o rings on the hose barb assem bly Figure A 3 Preferred way to remove hoses Sten As Moe Wa termaker to work area After removing all three hoses and disconnecting the electrical wires undo any fasteners securing the watermaker to its mounting surface and move the entire unit less the hose barb assembly and hoses to your work area When handling and transporting the watermaker be mindful of its weight and awkwardness Avoid carrying it by the membrane housing A good balance point for the unit is about where the drive unit is connected to the pump Grasp the watermaker by the heavy drive unit flange and it will be easier to handle and balance Step 5 Remove membrane housing from pump Grip the end of the membrane housing and carefully unscrew it from the pump body in a counterclockwise direction When it is completely un E threaded from the pump body pull it straight out to expose the yellow Figure A 4 Drive Unit Pump Coupling membrane element
247. ver the piston shaft followed by the larger white shaft bushing Note that the piston shaft bushing is not included in the seal kit you will be reusing the old one Do not at tempt to push the backup washer and bushing into the bore at this time The next step requires a special technique What you need to do is push the backup washer and bushing all the way into the piston shaft bore until the outside end of the bushing is flush with the pump back body An easy way to do this is to utilize a medium sized adjustable cres cent wrench Open the jaws of the wrench a little wider than the diame ter of the piston shaft and position it on top of the shaft bushing with the piston shaft between but not touching the jaws of the wrench The flat sides of the jaws should be lying flat against the top side of the bushing and perpendicular to the piston shaft Using both hands press downward with the wrench against the bushing This will require a moderate amount of force Keep the sides of the wrench jaws flat against the bushing and perpendicular to the piston shaft Continue pushing until the backup washer and the shaft bushing are driven completely into the pump back and are flush with its surface Take care not to scrape the wrench against the piston shaft If you are worried about marring the piston shaft wrap a few layers of cloth around the piston shaft and open the wrench jaws a little wider When you are done set the pump back body assem
248. vor 35 or 40E If your needs are in the 12 25 gallon per day range a PowerSurvi vor 80E would be appropriate For daily water requirements that exceed 25 30 gallons per day you should consider the PowerSurvivor 160E or one of the other watermakers with even larger capacity that are available on the market You should also be contemplating an engine driven unit If the watermaker is to be idle for more than three or four days it should be treated with biocide a process known as pickling to pre vent bacterial growth in the membrane This is especially important in tropical waters where the warmer ambient temperatures promote rapid growth of membrane damaging bacteria Frankly when in tropical wa ters I biocide our watermaker if I do not intend to run it within the next two days According to many owners simply flushing the watermaker out with product water before a few days of non use is beneficial This technique works however by diluting the concentrations of bacteria in the sys tem znot by killing them Thus bacterial growth is only slowed down not stopped and fresh water flushing should not be relied upon for me dium or long term lay ups of the watermaker The Big Stick Philosophy There is another philosophy about water maker use patterns that is quite different from mine and it deserves some comment It is typically promulgated at boat shows by vendors of large capacity watermakers most of which are de
249. was extremely grateful We shared a couple of Pacificos The TDS Meter As mentioned in an earlier chapter PUR has discontinued their auto mated salinity monitor solenoid valve approach to routing product water Instead they now ship a hand held TDS meter with their watermakers leaving it to the user to manually monitor the salinity of the product wa ter and route it to an appropriate storage location Personally I consider this a major improvement for reasons cited in my comments on routing product water Although using a TDS meter to assess the quality of product water is a more reliable method than earlier automated systems it has its limita tions The user needs to be aware of how a TDS meter works and more importantly what it does not do How a TDS Meter Works TDS is an abbreviation for Total Dis solved Solids Unfortunately this name is very misleading From the name alone it would be natural to assume that the meter provides a measurement of all the solids that are dissolved in a sample of water This is not the case To better understand what a TDS meter really does we need a little knowledge of basic chemistry To avoid getting too com plicated we ll limit the discussion to a single solvent material water and two common soluble materials table salt and sugar When a solid substance dissolves the atoms of the solvent attack the molecules of the solid material and break them apart into single at oms
250. with the open end of the membrane housing with the tube plug stem ready to en ter the hole in the membrane Insert the tube plug stem with its two o rings into the hole in the end of the membrane and press it in until the large o ring on the tube plug just meets the edge of the fiberglass mem brane housing Stop here and make sure the check valve plate is closely lined up with the pump body Examine the large 137 o ring seal on the check valve plate to be sure it is still in its groove When everything is ready hold the pump body and back plate securely and hit the check valve plate sharply with the heel of your hand or a soft mallet This should drive the large o ring on the membrane tube plug the rest of the way into the 64 B Servicing the Model 40E membrane housing and seat it The check valve plate should now be al most flush against the pump body If the large 137 o rings on the check valve plate and the back plate have not slipped out of their grooves the clearance gap between the check valve plate or the back plate and the pump body should be ap proximately 0 020 0 030 A gap significantly larger than that e g 1 8 or more would probably indicate that the o ring has jumped out of its groove somewhere and is keeping the check valve plate farther away from the pump body Take it apart and check it out It is very important that the 137 o ring seals stay in their grooves both in the back plate and in the check valv
251. work in Mexico A Lesson to be Learned I hope by now it is clear that I believe Recovery Engineering produces a good watermaker The company is composed of mostly young energetic midwesterners who believe in what they re doing and try to do it well However having a good product and having a successful product are two distinct things Recovery Engineering is a rapidly growing company and has experienced some of the pains that accompany success For example during periods of expansion not everyone hired is guaranteed to be a winner and a loser in e g customer or tech support can do a lot of damage to the corporate image in a very short time One technician at a warranty repair station recently complained to me about the uneven support he had received from the company over the last few years So and so was always helpful but then he left and the new guy was lousy Despite the extremely low warranty return rate of PUR watermakers about 2 and a strong desire to address any legitimate complaints the logistics of providing service and parts to cruisers in foreign countries are daunting I know that establishing a workable network of repair parts facilities outside the U S is a top priority for the product manager By now I ve heard most of the bad news about PowerSurvivor wa termakers whether the source be letters in Latitude 38 the West Coast cruiser s Bible an article in Santana or the drunken testimon
252. ying or desalinating water including mechanical filtration adsorption in carbon distillation and reverse osmosis Which technology or combination is best for any particular situation depends on several factors e g cost of equipment cost of operation and nature of the contaminants to be removed Osmosis and reverse osmosis are complex topics best explained by someone well educated in physical chemistry talking to someone else who can understand what they are saying Although I spent two years as an organic chemistry major in college I know very little Figure 1 Major Parts of the PowerSurvivor 35 about osmosis and would not pretend to give a serious technical account of the process in this book The only authority I claim is that of a lay educated reasonably intelligent owner of an RO machine writing for an audience of similar background On the other hand I don t think a highly technical account is re quired for our present purposes Common analogies will suffice To un derstand how an RO membrane works we need only imagine a semipermeable material separating two liquids An image of a simple mesh screen will do The material is semipermeable because it has many very small pores or holes in it The pores are so fine that only the small est kinds of objects can pass through objects the size of small molecules and atoms Water molecules are small enough to pass rather easily Larger objects including bacteria viruses s
253. yond this the only reasonably certain way to determine if the membrane is the problem is to replace it with a known good one If you carry an extra membrane with you this is a simple solution Swap out the mem branes and see if the problem goes away If it does then reinstall the old membrane and see if the problem returns If your tests clearly associate the problem with the membrane you can be pretty sure you ll need to replace it Pump Failure Modes I ve already mentioned most of the problems that can occur with the pump itself The usual symptoms are either a failure to produce product water or leaking or both If the watermaker quits producing product water but doesn t leak the first step is to eliminate the possibility of an air leak in the intake plumbing If it fails intermittently especially if it only fails when you are underway suspect an intake thruhull that is out of the water on a par ticular tack or in a rough seaway If the intake is teed off of the intake to another piece of equipment it could be getting air from the other Miscellaneous Topics 77 plumbing For example if a manual seawater pump is plumbed into the same line it is possible that air is being sucked in from the faucet open ing regardless of any check valve s that should be preventing this Re member that it takes very little air in the watermaker to cause it to quit producing product water A good technique for determining whether the fault l

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