Dessalator DUO 100 Watermaker Blues

[Emerald Sea]

An update on our issue with our DUO100. Well there is still a problem of stalling out on both AC or DC but making some progress. Dessalator has been involved and they've been very responsive and helpful even though its stumped them a bit.

Have cleaned and replaced the 3-strand cable between the DC motor and WM control panel which was found to be faulty and now getting the 13.5V at the control panel. Previously it was circa 11V which was insufficient.

But yet it would still stall out on DC or AC....

Then we discovered that the WM works fine on AC or DC when the pressure sensor was unplugged. So it was advised to replace the pressure sensor . We did replace it (expensive $$$) however it had no effect - WM still stalled out when pressure reached the correct zone usually <1minute. Unplug the PS and the WM works fine (?).

So that's where we are .... Dessalator are still involved and working it.

[tinsoldier50]

Thanks for the responses. I too had the fun experience of removing the whole unit to get at both pulleys. I swapped over the AC pulley to the
DC side (allowing for the correct rotation) but no joy. A distinct clicking sound from the DC motor can now be heard which seems to impact the rpm’s and cause stalling.
So now I guess I have to remove the black plastic cover to check the brushes, unless somone has a better idea.

Regarding checking andcleaning the contacts. Where exactly in the control panel
are they located?

[Emerald Sea]

Originally Posted by tinsoldier50

Regarding checking and cleaning the contacts. Where exactly in the control panel are they located?

The control panel is located behind your WM controls (pressure, On/Off, etc). Simply unscrew the panel cover....

[Bean Counter]

The sequence we go through is:

1. Start water maker with zero pressure.
2. Run with zero pressure for 20 seconds - red light flashes
3. Turn pressure to half way in orange band - wait 40 seconds
4. Turn pressure so needle goes to green zone and LPH goes to 100.
What happens next on our unit about half the time is that it immediately clicks the green light on for about 2 seconds and then reverts to orange) We leave it run like that for about 30 seconds and then it clicks back to green and stays that way.
The other half of the time it does not click to green until 30 seconds have passed.

[Emerald Sea]

Originally Posted by Bean Counter

The sequence we go through is:

1. Start water maker with zero pressure.
2. Run with zero pressure for 20 seconds - red light flashes
3. Turn pressure to half way in orange band - wait 40 seconds
4. Turn pressure so needle goes to green zone and LPH goes to 100.
What happens next on our unit about half the time is that it immediately clicks the green light on for about 2 seconds and then reverts to orange) We leave it run like that for about 30 seconds and then it clicks back to green and stays that way.
The other half of the time it does not click to green until 30 seconds have passed.

Interesting! Not exactly as prescribed in the operating manual.
When ours runs normally, I turn it on, and immediately bring it up to to the green zone and in about 10 sec it reverts from orange to green then the LPH goes to 100, and stays that way. This is how we've operated for >1100hrs and its been fine.

[FrankP]

Steve,
Did you ever resolve your WM issue? I am having similar problems with mine.

Thanks
Frank

[zorts]

Originally Posted by Bean Counter

The sequence we go through is:

1. Start water maker with zero pressure.
2. Run with zero pressure for 20 seconds - red light flashes
3. Turn pressure to half way in orange band - wait 40 seconds
4. Turn pressure so needle goes to green zone and LPH goes to 100.

This is exactly what we do. I can't recall WHERE I read that we should wait for the red light to flash, but it seemed authoritative. It makes sense, in that this gives time for any fresh water that might have been left in the membranes from the prior shutdown flush to be cleared and replaced with seawater.

What happens next on our unit about half the time is that it immediately clicks the green light on for about 2 seconds and then reverts to orange) We leave it run like that for about 30 seconds and then it clicks back to green and stays that way.
The other half of the time it does not click to green until 30 seconds have passed.

We see exactly that behavior, too.