Spectra Newport 400 Leaking at caps of membrane caps

[canadian cat]

I have a new to me Newport 400

I have put new filterers in the system and flushed the system.
I am not sure if the membrane was stored properly. I had stinky black water along with white grey water come out of the discharge port when I flushed it for the first 30 seconds.

I then proceeded with a full flush twice.

While I have the system flushing, one of the membrane end caps leaks water. I have tried tightening the cap with a strap wrench ( i don't have the C wrench) and it still leaks. I have taken the caps off and nothing seems out of place.

They still leak. What next? How tight should the end caps be?

How can I tell if I need a new membrane? Low production or ...?

[Nicholson58]

Caps are usually sealed by O-Rings. Tighter won’t help if the gasket is damaged. Look it over very carefully for nicks, cuts, cracks. Is it also possible that it froze?

[canadian cat]

5min update

I could not see any O rings in the end caps. none fell out at least. I assume there should be one in each end.

[newhaul]

Calling tellie paging Dr tellie
Cruisers & Sailing Forums - View Profile: Tellie
The resident spectra master

[canadian cat]

Update

I replaced the old O rings. They were not cracked or broken, but a bit flat. With two new rings no more leaks with just hand tight end caps.

Now to see if the membrane is gone or not.

What are symptoms of a bad membrane?

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by canadian cat

Update

I replaced the old O rings. They were not cracked or broken, but a bit flat. With two new rings no more leaks with just hand tight end caps.

No to see if the membrane is gone or not.

What are symptoms of a bad membrane?

Tds staying high after a few minutes of operation is a sign of the membrane failing.
They should be well below 700ppm

[stnick]

I always carry sheets of Plumbing gasket material Home Depot 5x5 red rubber sheets just for emergency gasket making . A razor knife or a very sharp knife is needed.
It did bail me out once, which is all i could ever ask for !

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by canadian cat

Update

I replaced the old O rings. They were not cracked or broken, but a bit flat. With two new rings no more leaks with just hand tight end caps.

Now to see if the membrane is gone or not.

What are symptoms of a bad membrane?

The stinky smell (rotten egg smell) usually indicates that the system was not pickled or improperly pickled. If the fluid in the empty filter housings was clear it might have been stored with the SC-1 storage compound, but that will only pickle the system for a short period of time. Six months is the cut off for that, though I've seen it last longer to protect the membrane. The fact that you had dried out membrane O-ring may indicate that this has been sitting for some time. Change the filters and fire it up to flush it first for 30 minutes with the pressure relief valve open 3/4 of a turn, then close it off and lets see what it does. Get back to me on what both the flow meter and pressure gauge are doing after about 10 minutes of run time with the pressure relief valve closed.