desalator connection problems

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   Hi,
Last weekend we decided to use the factory installed desalinator (desalator 60lt/h) for the first time.
The device consists of four interconnected units :
a) Filter unit which usually feeds from seawater but is also connected to the fresh water network for manual or automatic washing cycle. The output of the filter unit connects to the high pressure pump.

By mistake the salt water input was connected to the pressurized fresh water network instead to the thru hull. Also (correctly) a spiral transparent hose was used, which would be perfect for the practicaly non pressurized sea water.
b)The high pressure pump pumping salt water to the reverse osmosis membranes.

c)The membranes which are fed by the pump and are connected to the control unit.

d)The control unit which has two functions : to start and stop the high pressure pump motors (220VAC or 24VDC) and to supervise the produced fresh water and if the water is of poor quality to throw it away (in the anchor locker) or if the water is of good quality to send it to the fresh water tanks. A third auxiliary function is to start a automatic washing cycle by triggering a solenoid valve on the filter.

The control unit was by factory mistake connected to the sea water cock instead to the fresh water tank.

By these two BIG mistakes :
a) the desalator practicaly purified fresh water and throwed it to the sea wasting water instead of producing. After seeing the tanks emptying instead of filling I had to read everything about desalator and follow several pipes in the bow of the boat. Finally after 4-5 hours I discovered the problem and found a way to solve it. It was about time because we were completely out of water.

b) The boiler stayed without water and was distroyed. We stayed without hot water for several days until we replaced the heating element.

Also we let the desalator run for hours to fill the empty tanks. It worked perfectly and produced about 50 lt/hour.
c)Unfortunately  we used the transparent spiral pipe to connect the pressurized fresh water to the filter, since this was available at the time. During the night this pipe burst and all the fresh water that we had produced (800lt) was emptied in the front skippers cabin  making all our skippers clothes and bed wet.

Edited by panos - 13 May 2009 at 16:20

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panos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 02 March 2008 Status: Offline Points: 1939	Post Options Post Reply Quote panos Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: desalator connection problems Posted: 29 April 2009 at 16:52
	Hi, Last weekend we decided to use the factory installed desalinator (desalator 60lt/h) for the first time. The device consists of four interconnected units : a) Filter unit which usually feeds from seawater but is also connected to the fresh water network for manual or automatic washing cycle. The output of the filter unit connects to the high pressure pump. By mistake the salt water input was connected to the pressurized fresh water network instead to the thru hull. Also (correctly) a spiral transparent hose was used, which would be perfect for the practicaly non pressurized sea water. b)The high pressure pump pumping salt water to the reverse osmosis membranes. c)The membranes which are fed by the pump and are connected to the control unit. d)The control unit which has two functions : to start and stop the high pressure pump motors (220VAC or 24VDC) and to supervise the produced fresh water and if the water is of poor quality to throw it away (in the anchor locker) or if the water is of good quality to send it to the fresh water tanks. A third auxiliary function is to start a automatic washing cycle by triggering a solenoid valve on the filter. The control unit was by factory mistake connected to the sea water cock instead to the fresh water tank. By these two BIG mistakes : a) the desalator practicaly purified fresh water and throwed it to the sea wasting water instead of producing. After seeing the tanks emptying instead of filling I had to read everything about desalator and follow several pipes in the bow of the boat. Finally after 4-5 hours I discovered the problem and found a way to solve it. It was about time because we were completely out of water. b) The boiler stayed without water and was distroyed. We stayed without hot water for several days until we replaced the heating element. Also we let the desalator run for hours to fill the empty tanks. It worked perfectly and produced about 50 lt/hour. c)Unfortunately we used the transparent spiral pipe to connect the pressurized fresh water to the filter, since this was available at the time. During the night this pipe burst and all the fresh water that we had produced (800lt) was emptied in the front skippers cabin making all our skippers clothes and bed wet. Edited by panos - 13 May 2009 at 16:20
	Panos Hanse 630e - selling her -

Alain & Anne Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Rear Admiral Joined: 13 December 2005 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 562	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alain & Anne Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 April 2009 at 11:14
	Hi Panos, I am very sorry for you as drying clothes in a boat is allways hectic! I supposed this is a Dessaator Duo 60l/h We have the same on Uhambo and we have been using it for half a year now. No problem as I installed it myself....and did not make too many mistakes One question: did they install a feeding pump on the sea water line? If not I suggest that you check the pressure when making water in rough sea. When done on Uhambo, the movments of the boat leds to noticeable variation of pression...and we have installed the feeding pump supplied on request by Dessalator. It coast a few hundred bucks and most of the time, the shipyard cut cost and does not fit the boat with. We are presently in Rio de Janeiro! It is fall now but still have 25°C Alain
	UHAMBO 430e#004 White hull-teck deck-Yanmar 55hp-long range cruising OCC Our blog: www.uhambo.fr

TAIMA Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 14 April 2009 Location: Venezuela Status: Offline Points: 93	Post Options Post Reply Quote TAIMA Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 April 2009 at 13:34
	Hi, we have the same Dessalator, but the 100 L/h version and it is true what Alain states about the pump, in order to keep a constant pressure onm the feeding line. One bigger problem on the way the unit is installed on the 630 is that the suction valve is very far in the front (under the unit in the bow locker) and when you start surfing big waves the feeding line will take on lots of air and the unit will shut down due to unexistant pressure. We learnt this the hardway whn we wanted to fill our first empty tank, half way over the atlantic with huge swell it was impossible. So what did we do? we took a garden hose, connected it to one of the outlets of the aircondition pump, and on the other side directly to the dessalator entrance. Now we switched on the airconditioning and had all a nice cool and dry nap while producing heaps of water. Downside was that the crew started to spill the water by showering several times a day just to get the airco back on!! Regards
	Thomas Pollehne Hanse 630/06 TAIMA

ZENYACHT Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Captain Joined: 05 May 2007 Location: Spain Status: Offline Points: 156	Post Options Post Reply Quote ZENYACHT Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 May 2009 at 01:37
	Dear Panos i'm sorry about your problems. I have installed myself a sea recovery unit and it works fine even surfing. The primary pump should have enough suction to feed the Duo watermaker. Four things can happen. The coquille (water intake) is too small. So the flow is restricted. The coquille is not in the bottom of the hull, so there not enough seawater presure. The bottom is one meter under the waterline more or less. i have my coquilles just before the kitchen. installing the coquilles too forward in a big mistake. The load loss in the primary filter is too large. Check the filter. A plumbing adaptor is restricting the effective flow of seawater. Some installers put reductions just for convenienceon the half inch or 5/8 inch nuts of the coquilles. I have read the Duo manual . They recommend to put the coquille inlet facing forward. I think this is wrong . The coqulle facing forward make too much turbulence. The coquilles work better facing AFT. The vacuum caused after the coquille head gives the water force to flow in with the gaps facing aft. I have all my coquilles facing aft ( watermaker, engine, salt water, and shaft) and in the bottom of the hull and all the systems got plenty of pressure. Yes in case this doesn't work and auxiliary pump will fix the problem but be carefull that the pump doesn't loss water feed in bad seas or surfing. The pump can be damaged by working dry if you have ventilation ( air intake though the coquille ) when surfing. A hot shower is one of the most adorable things when sailing the high seas. Enjoy. The use of the seawater from the AA unit is a great idea, hot water makes the membranes more efficient. Too hot water can anyhow damage the membrane. ZENCAP Edited by ZENYACHT - 06 May 2009 at 01:43
	ZENCAP

TAIMA Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 14 April 2009 Location: Venezuela Status: Offline Points: 93	Post Options Post Reply Quote TAIMA Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 May 2009 at 17:39
	Hi Zencap, , . The problem with the 630 is that while surfing in big waves, the bow comes out of the water and the intake sucks air, so the pressure drops. On the picture you see HANSE 630#11 surfing on a wave en route to the canary islands. regards,
	Thomas Pollehne Hanse 630/06 TAIMA

ZENYACHT Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Captain Joined: 05 May 2007 Location: Spain Status: Offline Points: 156	Post Options Post Reply Quote ZENYACHT Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 07 May 2009 at 00:58
	Dear Taima Wow you are really surfing on that pic!. i remember that the Sonar sensor makes wrong measures while stormy water in my old yacht. I discovered it was because the sensor was installed too forward. Placing the coquille more aft will probably resolve many issues. I forgot to say to Panos that feeding the desalinator from the water tanks can cause early membrane failure if clorine was present in the water tanks. Clorine present in tap water damage the Aramide fibres the membarnes are build of. That is the reason the backwash systems to extend membrane life have carbon activated filters in line. Carbon filters remove clorine from water. good sailing ZENCAP
	ZENCAP

TAIMA Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 14 April 2009 Location: Venezuela Status: Offline Points: 93	Post Options Post Reply Quote TAIMA Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 07 May 2009 at 14:22
	Hi Zenyacht the one on the picture is GANDUL (Hanse 630 # 11) . As we made the picture from the cockpit, shows that we were a few metres in front and this after 600 nm out of Lagos. Both boats were really doing almost the same speed for days. regards,
	Thomas Pollehne Hanse 630/06 TAIMA

panos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 02 March 2008 Status: Offline Points: 1939	Post Options Post Reply Quote panos Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 May 2009 at 08:54
	Hi, I have some pictures of the desalator connection problems and the hose failure: Our swimming pool. The guilty hose Trying to empty 600 liters of fresh water (which took some hours to produce).
	Panos Hanse 630e - selling her -

panos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 02 March 2008 Status: Offline Points: 1939	Post Options Post Reply Quote panos Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 May 2009 at 16:12
	Hi, I also edited the first post in this series (added pictures).
	Panos Hanse 630e - selling her -

Peter-Blake Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral of the Fleet Joined: 04 March 2008 Status: Offline Points: 2471	Post Options Post Reply Quote Peter-Blake Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 May 2009 at 16:35
	This looks not nice panos. Hope you got it dry right now Only thing i am wondering about: Wasn´t it Karl Dehler who is responsible for the Hanse 630? Wasn´t it the company Dehler which Hanse just bought........ And the best thing now: Dehler build some years ago the Dehler 43 cws. This boat had a build in bathtub in the front cabin under the frontbed! Look here: sorry foto will follow as a do not get acces right now. Hmmmm it feels like that Karl adopted it to the 630.......
	Blake 370



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