Survivor 35/40 Manifold End Cap replacement part

[jkaway]

A few days ago, my Powersurvivor 35 watermaker started making a different sound. I immediately stopped it, and upon inspection, I found that the plastic end cap for the pressure relief valve manifold had "blown off" the end of the assembly. Closer inspection revealed that the threads of this plastic piece had more or less deteriorated and gave out. I have read somewhere that some of the chemicals used to clean and preserve the membrane can cause deterioration of some of the internal plastic parts. There is, also, at least one forum entry indicating that this end cap has failed on at least one other unit. The manifold is probably moulded from a more durable plastic, to maintain a more stable and defect free part, as the threads seem to be in perfect condition.

I checked, locally (currently in Western Australia), for anyone that might have a replacement part. As far as I can tell, the part is not available on it's own and the manufacturer only provides a service to rebuild/service the manifold at their facility (in Switzerland?) due to some complications with re-installing the piston assembly without damaging seals. In my case, there was no need to remove or rebuild the manifold. The unit was producing the correct volume of water and I had recently purchased a new membrane upon re-commissioning the unit from roughly 10 years of no service. With only about 24 hours of use on the membrane, I was in a rush to come up with a solution so that the membrane would not foul.

Luckily, I found a machinist, in the town where I am anchored, and they agreed that the part could be easily fabricated of aluminum/aluminium. 2 days later and I have a working watermaker, again!

For anyone that has these very popular, compact, energy efficient, "robust" survival units, is there enough interest in such a durable replacement part, either as an emergency backup or an upgrade?

I may have the machinist do a run, if there is enough interest. I travel, often, to the U.S., Europe and now, Australia and could easily post the part in these areas.



In case you have stumbled across this post, months/years, later. Feel free to PM to see if I have any of these parts on hand.

[davil]

Originally Posted by jkaway

For anyone that has these very popular, compact, energy efficient, "robust" survival units, is there enough interest in such a durable replacement part, either as an emergency backup or an upgrade?

I may have the machinist do a run, if there is enough interest. I travel, often, to the U.S., Europe and now, Australia and could easily post the part in these areas.



In case you have stumbled across this post, months/years, later. Feel free to PM to see if I have any of these parts on hand.

===================================

thank you for the offer, put me down as interested, will also PM you.

Of interest, just rebuilt my Powersurvivor 35 after 23 years inactive that kept in the garage.
Also replaced the membrane, and started producing water again.
Order a set of new 5 microns filters from HaldenMarineService.com

Amazing unit.

[jkaway]

Pictures:

Threads stripped from original end cap...


Metal end cap installed in manifold...

[SY Harmony]

A nice upgrade to that would be a 6 or 8mm hex to screw it in/out. Instead of the pin spanner

[jkaway]

Originally Posted by SY Harmony

A nice upgrade to that would be a 6 or 8mm hex to screw it in/out. Instead of the pin spanner

I do plan on asking the machinist to make those spanner holes deeper and to drill 4. There is a hole in the middle where the piston shaft could be in an extended position, which would prevent one from inserting an Allen wrench in the center. Extending the part is not really an option because you do want to see that the piston is poking out of the hole during normal operation.

[SY Harmony]

Originally Posted by jkaway

I do plan on asking the machinist to make those spanner holes deeper and to drill 4. There is a hole in the middle where the piston shaft could be in an extended position, which would prevent one from inserting an Allen wrench in the center. Extending the part is not really an option because you do want to see that the piston is poking out of the hole during normal operation.

Thanks!
Having just acquired a 40, i’d be interest.

Thinking about this more.
If he did 2 holes for a pin spanner. Then 2 5mm hex holes, 90* off of the pins. It would give people an option to use a 90* allen instead of a pin spanner they may not have.