more fixing

Yep, the weather was shite on Sunday, so we continued with the jobs list...

Well... sort of...

I'd plumbed in the satellite systems, so Grand Prix coverage took a fair chunk of the day up...

The main task I achieved was installing the Active Carbon water filter... this removes all sorts of nasties from the tank water, including Chlorine, which makes the water safe to use to flush the watermaker..... I had intended on fitting it just by the watermaker itself, and then realised that I could fit it at the main junction between the two tanks and the water pump, thus ensuring that every last drop of water being used on the boat has been through it...

However... nothing on a boat is straightforward.... the obvious physical location for the filter was where the current crude 'mesh' filter sat... this is nothing more than a fine mesh that removes particulates.... it was however, mounted with two screws from behind a panel that was mounted with more screws, and needed another panel removing to get at the screws..... phew.... it took nearly an hour to remove the old filter....

With this out of the way, it should have been straightforward to mount the new one... both had 1/2" BSP fittings, so a direct drop in replacement.... oh no.... nothing is ever that straightforward.... the new filter, a Jabsco Aqua Filta, has plastic fittings.... handy in that they can be swivelled through 180° to allow flexibility in location.... but robust... erm... no..... the mounts have a male thread, and then a short 'extra' piece so that a 1/2" pipe can be mounted instead.... the instructions tell you to cut this extension off if just 1/2" BSP mounts are required..... only once they are cut off, then getting a watertight seal is difficult.... and as they are plastic, you can only tighten so far.... which I did, and still had a drip.... one more gentle turn to stop it, and POP... the threads stripped..... arghhh....

So I ended up having to buy another complete unit from the on-site chandlery (not too drastic, as it gives me a spare cartridge for a not a lot more than a replacement cartridge anyway).... and also a metal 1/2" BSP to 1/2" hose tail, plus a length of 1/2" pipe.... and did what I should have done to start with, and used a length of pipe.... perfect.... complete watertight... and only took me 3hrs from start to finish!!!!!!!!

Other than that, just cleaning up this weekend.....