Watermaker

Steve and I worked on the water maker yesterday and found two major problems, solving one so far. Every time we tried to start it up the main fuse would blow. At first we thought the clutch was seized, causing the problem. After several fuses and closer inspection, we discovered the pump to be the culprit, not the clutch. The pump and the drive motor were seized. I had a spare wash down pump aboard that we installed. This solved the main fuse blowout problem. When we were searching for the fuse problem It was discovered that the switch module that diverts the water from the tank overboard was clogged with white stuff. Whether it was salt, corrosion, or lime, I have no idea. I cleaned it out and am soaking it in penetrating oil, in an attempt to free up the switch over valve. We believe this to be the reason for the waters failure to flow through the system, as it is activated electrically and must be free. We will try again today.

I thought I had my oil problem solved, but yesterday when I checked the oil it was overfull.Shit! First I was making oil with diesel, then using oil (leaking out), now gaining again. It seems that it never ends. The oil level was fine when we arrived here and was fine the next day. On the second day I failed to shut off the fuel line from the filter to the engine. The filter is above the engine so I think gravity came into play and fuel must have flowed down to the sump. The problem with this theory is that the engine oil does not smell like it has diesel in it. The engine only holds 4.25 qts of oil so the oil level on the dip stick changes dramatically with very little addition of any liquid. I wonder if the oil could take three days to drain back down completely? Nah! But then I did add oil on the trip down. A dilemma.