Watermaker Problem... LOW INLET PRESSURE CHECK FILTRATION

[InsuredApple]

We tried to make water today and got a not-so-cool surprise... our watermaker can't keep high pressure and shuts down. The unit is 1200 gph from Village Marine Tec.

Here is a video of the issue... https://vimeo.com/317170248/cdfc47e86c

Model: SPW1200
Through hole is open
Sea strainer is filled with water and cleaned
Cleaning/flush works (which uses high pressure)
Low Pressure is between 5 PSI to 17 PSI
20-micron and 5-micron filters are clean

Any thoughts?

[Lepke]

It sounds like the HP pump is not getting enough water. I would open the supply fitting at the HP pump, with the LP pump on, and see what the flow it. If the flow is good, you may have a bad sensor. If the flow is poor, you need to backtrack until you get a good flow.

[svmobert]

Might have air before the high pressure pump.. Try turning pressure down to 0, let it run for a while (10 minutes) then bring the pressure back up slowly to 800psi.

[InsuredApple]

So... it turned out to be junk in our thru hull. We couldn't jump in that night, because it was blowing 35-40 and it was quite rough. I didn't think it would be a clogged thru hull, because water was coming through into the strainer. Ya... so we are newbies

[svmobert]

Originally Posted by InsuredApple

So... it turned out to be junk in our thru hull. We couldn't jump in that night, because it was blowing 35-40 and it was quite rough. I didn't think it would be a clogged thru hull, because water was coming through into the strainer. Ya... so we are newbies

Good find!

By the way I have several of these uncloggers on the boat.. I close the seacock, remove the hose, then open the seacock and run this through from inside to the outside to clear it out, then put it all back together. All from inside the boat, with just a little bit of water for the bilge pump to take out.

https://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Product.../dp/B000BO9204