Water Maker Prefilter glogged after 1week?

[AJ-SSCS]

Hi! I have a regular strainer a 5 and a 20 micron prefilter on my watermaker, but after 1week (use about 5hrs a day) the low pressure gauge drops down to about 5 psi and the display shows low pressure fault. I put the filters out and cleaned them with freshwater (am i supposed to do that?) after that it worked fine for 4hrs (about 80ppm) than again, l.p. Fault. I was told they need to be changed every 9month so thats what makes me wondering... Or was it just to much polution in the water? Hope somebody can help me, thanks in advance!


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[tanglewood]

Where are you located. I have never gotten more than 4-6 hrs of run time before needing to change filters. This has been on both a Spectra Catalina in New England, and a Spectra Newport in the Pacific Northwest.

[AJ-SSCS]

Around mexico, so its normal to have to change them that often?


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[SV THIRD DAY]

There is no such thing as "normal" because time to filter cleaning and change out is totally Dependant on your sea water source. In the La Paz estuary I would clean mine every 2-3 weeks and replace every 4 months. But in the San Blas estuary I would need to clean weekly and I replaced monthly. In a nice clean clear water anchorage I could go for a month or more between cleaning and easily get 4-5 months out of a 5 and 20 prefilters set (as long as they were pleated and not the crappy string or blown solid filter type).

Yes you can wash them in a bucket of sea water, give them a quick fresh water rinse and then dry them on your life line for a good UV killing. Just Never use bleach, soaps, or chlorine on them.

Getting 6 months out if the prefiter set....na....that's not realistic.

[44'cruisingcat]

6 months isn't unrealistic in Queensland. Last year we got longer than that out of a set of prefilters. But I avoided operating the watermaker in anything but nice clear water.


In murky water you could block them in a week.

[Dulcesuenos]

2 months is avg in Fl for a 5 and 20 micron pre filter. For really solty areas there are additional filters out there that can help,

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[Paul Elliott]

When sailing between Hawaii and the USA sometimes I can go the entire round trip on one set of filters, and other times they get clogged within a few hours if we sail through an area of heavy plankton.

[Scott Berg]

We added a large 50micron 'pre filter' and it made a HUGE difference... just bought a 'whole house' model from Home Depot and installed it; used 4" filters?

[AJ-SSCS]

Thanks that helped a lot, i guess i will get used to clean it more often 😊


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[Jacko]

44 Cruisingcat
Where are you in Qld I find that up here in FNQ that after 4 days the filters smell on start up so I change them every second use. I am always in very clear water when running the unit but it seems the build up on the filers goes rotten in the heat. Even with a fresh water flush after use it is the same. Im not bitching about it as has just become normal practice and I clean the filters let them have a good dry in the UV and they are fine for next use. Just life in the tropics Plenty of Rain up here at the moment thanks to "Cyclone Nathan" I don't think he is finished with us yet UGGGG

[tanglewood]

I still remain puzzled by this. Both my Spectra water makers were equipped with 2"x10" filters, one 5 micron and the other 20 micron, both of which are standard Spectra issue. It would appear that where ever I am in the world, it's always where the plankton is in bloom. As I mentioned, I get only hours of operation (4-6) before my water maker is telling me to change the filters. I'd kill for weeks of operation, let alone months.

The only explanation I have ever received is that there must be a lot of "stuff" in the water and that the filters are doing their job. But why does everyone else get so much more life out of their filters?

On my last boat with the Catalina, I installed a 4"x10" 20 micron filter, and that seemed to extend the life a bit.

I have now purchased a large media filter with back-flush capability and will be trying that on the Newport in hopes of solving this problem.

Something just doesn't add up here.

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

I still remain puzzled by this. Both my Spectra water makers were equipped with 2"x10" filters, one 5 micron and the other 20 micron, both of which are standard Spectra issue. It would appear that where ever I am in the world, it's always where the plankton is in bloom. As I mentioned, I get only hours of operation (4-6) before my water maker is telling me to change the filters. I'd kill for weeks of operation, let alone months.

The only explanation I have ever received is that there must be a lot of "stuff" in the water and that the filters are doing their job. But why does everyone else get so much more life out of their filters?

On my last boat with the Catalina, I installed a 4"x10" 20 micron filter, and that seemed to extend the life a bit.

I have now purchased a large media filter with back-flush capability and will be trying that on the Newport in hopes of solving this problem.

Something just doesn't add up here.

Unless you really are in some very high concentrations of bloom it may be more an issue of the pressure sensors either failing or that they need to be re- calibrated.

www.HaldenMarineService.com

[YADO]

I have a Spectra 400 with 5 and 20mm filters. I've had some luck washing them out and reusing them. Depends on where we are whether they clog or not. Interesting that in the Bahamas it's the fine, almost talc-like powdered sand that clogs the filters.
I put a filter in clear bottle with a lid, shook the filter 100 times to see what settled out, and it was a very fine sand powder. The water looks clear but if there is current or wind, the powder get stirred up.
Question: I gogled "spectra water maker pre filters" and came up with nothing. Where is the the best place to buy these pre-filters, or replacement, on line? At times I'll need to have them mailed.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by YADO

Question: I gogled "spectra water maker pre filters" and came up with nothing. Where is the the best place to buy these pre-filters, or replacement, on line? At times I'll need to have them mailed.

We sell the 5 and 20 micron pleated prefilters for $9ea.
These will work on Spectra and all the standard water maker manufacturers that use the 10" filter housings.
Cruise RO Water and Power

Cheers

[BambooSailor]

Probably stupid question, but I've seen them installed incorrectly: 20 micron is first, followed by 5 micron, not the other way around?