Plumb.I.am
The posts have slowed recently as packing the house has moved up the priority list especially with daytime temps of 3 degs C. Boatwise the watermaker is the main show at this time.
The first issue has been to decide whether or not to run with pre-existing holes in the hull or to drill more. And if drilling one or two more then where? What would the pipe routes be and what fittings would be required?
Eventually it was decided that we would use the pre-existing through hull fittings that had effectively been made redundant. That gave rise to the need to find a match for the existing fittings in order to plumb into them. Much blind searching failed to find a match but some close up photography of various parts revealed the possible brand names. Could they be easily matched 25 years on?
Finding Pipestock.com was a lucky success and 25 years on the same brands are all available.
PVC Plumbing valves and reducers along with hose tails of differing sizes
An original valve T’eed to also feed the watermaker. The other branch is not used and although now fitted with a stopcock will be re-fitted with a ball valve.
The watermaker pump is being lined up within an aft section of the hull. More cabin furniture has been taken apart to run hoses and control cables from the rear cabin to the transom area. We are a some way from being done as there is a fresh water supply to feed to the watermaker pump filters for flushing, hoses for brine output to find as the sizes are unusual, and the desalinated water feed to take back to the water tank. We will be fitting a remote control panel. Electrics boil down to the need to fit a 24V/25A circuit breaker somewhere sensible.
The brine output from the watermaker is now routed to the through hull fitting and the ball valve is in place. Looking at it now perhaps it would have been better to stay with a large bore valve rather than sleeve down to a small valve at the elbow purely from an apparent strength perspective. But then the clearance between the two valves would have been minimal if in fact they could fit side by side. Now to rebuild the wardrobe.