Todays blog is a technical one so I apologize in advance,
you are forwarned…….
The engine had been leaking at the #2 injector pump for a
few weeks now. If you recall I had to get a replacement line sent in from TAD
in Virginia. After putting this in and playing with the slight alignment I
could not fully stop it from leaking. I went from a drop every 20 seconds to
one every 5 minutes. I was going to leave it but things like this drive me nuts
and they usually get worse not better, so back in I dove. Although it is very
hard to see, it appeared that the leak was now coming from between the injector
body and the threaded part the pipe attaches to, egad what does that mean?
There is a nut to tighten this part, but it wouldn’t move
and I was hesitant to mess with it until I could get more info (was it attached
on the inside of the pump with a nut or did it thread in?). I could not find
anything out online but TAD was very knowledgeable and it seemed that it just
unscrews and there was a crush washer underneath that I could change. I had
probably loosened the connection slightly because of messing with the pipe,
great, now to find the right washer. I took off the old one with a bit more
confidence and found two places in Miami that had them in stock! They didn’t
look too far away on a map so I got a cab. Funny thing about Miami – it is very
spread out and google map is great - but check out the scale before taking a
cab!!!!!
Anyways with tip it cost me $120.00 ride for a .50 cent
part! Yikes, good thing I got a handful of them :( After putting everything back
and slowly tightening things up I was finally able to stop the leak!!!
The next morning it was time to tackle the watermaker. It had
been installed by the previous owner (but had never actually had a membrane in to
run). I ordered a membrane and a
few prefilters for it while in Vero Beach. The membrane was a beast to put in
but I finally got it in place. I turned on the pump, which sounded like it
worked but no water was moving out of it. I reprimed again, disconnected stuff
etc but could not get any output from the pump. I figured the issue must be in
the pump as it had been sitting idle for 10 years or so. After watching some “you
tube” videos I tore the manifold off the pump and checked all the “check valves”.
They didn’t seem to be sealing so I took all 6 apart, cleaned them and when
back together they seemed to work. I put everything back in, figured that was
the problem – nope. Figured it must need a seal kit to be able to build up the
pressure. Phoned around and it would be a few days to get one. One pump repair
person said it didn’t sound like that would be the problem and to bring it in
so he could test it. Ok, so where was he at? Way down south this time, another
long way! After just being stung we decided rent a car for a few days so we
could drive there :). I took the pump out and brought it to him, he tested it,
but to my surprise it worked fine. He tested it by applying some pressure water
into it but in our actual installation it just uses a gravity feed from the
thruhull. I talked to the manufacture of the watermaker and he said that this should
work but a lot of people feed it water via a pump. I replumbed the system via
the A/C pump (which I had just fixed a few weeks ago) and gave it a shot –
voila - high pressure water from the pump!!! Remember I had said it was hooked
up but never ran………
After everything was hooked up and running things still were
not working, the low pressure lines (water output) keep popping off and spewing
water everywhere. I hate it when I think I have it fixed but there are still
problems….. After a lot of messing about by disconnecting various things the
only thing I could think of was the membrane output was somehow reversed. I took
the unit out, turned the back cap of the membrane unit 180 degrees and flipped the
connections (remember I said that it was hooked up but not running right?) Well
that fixed it! Finally water flowed right, I could get the required 800 PSI out
of the unit to make water – sweet.
I have also ordered another vacuum gauge as this one was
shot and I had to put in a heavier breaker as the motor drew too much current
and kept popping the breaker. I have to say I am still a little scared of this
thing (800 PSI…), feels like messing with a coiled rattlesnake but so far I have made
probably 10 -15 gallons of water. Anyways, both of the above items plus an oil
change took 4 days – when does this relaxing stuff start????
We will head over to No Name Harbour where Greg/Debbie,
Ken/Marydie and Laurie/Francis from the club arrived yesterday. We are still waiting
for the weather to change for the jaunt to the Bahamas.
The picture included was the sunrise this morning from the
mooring field.
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