DIY Watermaker Repair

[MV Wanderlust]

About six weeks ago, our Village Marine Stowaway watermaker (circa 2005) started having issues. The master control panel’s buttons stopped working. You couldn’t auto flush the system or start the low pressure or high pressure pumps.

After discussion with the technician who originally installed the unit in this boat for the previous owner and with the technician who repairs these units at the company (Parker) that bought Village Marine years ago, we determined the control panel board was bad. The board hadn’t been made in 10 years. The replacement for it is $2400.

A little investigation with a multi-meter and the wiring diagram in the original manual revealed that crossing the power wires still allowed the LP pump, the HP pump, and the fresh water flush solenoid to work.

I ordered a bank of three switches and a waterproof cover from Home Depot for $25, made a wiring harness from parts already on the boat, and mounted the switches on some old starboard I had laying around. A total of two hours of labor and, presto, our watermaker works again! Granted, it may be a bit Frankenstein-ish to some people... but it works.

John

[Greg4cocokai]

Nice job!

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by Greg4cocokai

Nice job!

Thanks!

[Lepke]

If you search the internet, there are people/businesses that repair circuit boards by checking each component on the board and replacing the components as necessary. I have had several fixed from different appliances/electronics in the last 10 years for about $100-200.

[RaymondR]

Good job, it's tragic to have to scrap functionally sound equipment because of the obsolescence of minor components.

[GordMay]

Well done, John!