General Info: Sea Recovery De-sal Problem.....

[Lagoon4us]

Ok we have only owned this boat for 8 or so months, the de-sal has worked beautifully, we have changed pre-filters a couple of times due to water filled with algea more than anything.

Anyway production reduced dramatically with a clear squelch sound as the unit stroked and no pressure showing, so i surfaced the valves (plastic) and ran the iron, bacteria and salt cleaners through to no avail.

After connecting and reconnecting the flush system tubing i noticed there was a drip from a fitting on a 'high-pressure' hose, as i tightened it i could feel a giving in the spanner like you do when a thread strips.

I took the hose off and there was the problem!!! Some F'head had installed (from day 1) a hose with steel fittings. This action at end of days has caused ferric oxide liquid to engulf all area's the brine goes to.

So what do i do?

1) Clean all orifaces and give it a go?
2) Do the above and replace the membrane??

I know Sea-recovery aren't well received on this forum BUT this unit was only let down by the friggin' installer's stupidity 5 years ago......It has worked well for us.

Cheers

[Lagoon4us]

Well i've stripped the unit down and believe it's time to replace the element. The amount of red rust that has gone through it is amazing, look at the attached....

[Lagoon4us]

I've checked all the other components and all are clean, it looks like the membrane copped it all as it was on the high pressure side after the pump! 'Twas a wonder the unit worked pushing against this restriction!!!!

Hoping a new membrane will sort, as i said earlier i've surfaced the valves and all is good.

Sea-recovery apparently went for a three inch diameter custom made for them so only they can supply the replacements, smart hey?

Thinking of looking at replacing the housing as well so i can put my own cheaper commonly available membranes..... Any suggestions? Are there pressure concerns etc??

Cheers

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

...
Thinking of looking at replacing the housing as well so i can put my own cheaper commonly available membranes..... Any suggestions? Are there pressure concerns etc??

Cheers

I changed the membrane housing and membrane on my Village Marine unit to get rid of the proprietary one. The cost to replace the housing and membrane was a little more than just the propriatary membrane. So I will be ahead after I but the next membrane. I bought it from CruiseRO, including hoses and fittings.

[Lagoon4us]

Good, do you have to match in much other than the dimensions/surface areas?

Did you have a diameter issue such as this 3" issue?

Cheers

[Paul L]

Matching the tube connections was the only real issue. I went from 2 18in x 2.5in to 1 40in by 2.5. Rich at CruiseRO was helpful in figuring out various parts and I got some good PM advice from Tellie. I got the 2A one here Water Maker Parts

[Lagoon4us]

Thanks sent them a request for info.

[Tellie]

I'm surprised those membranes worked at all. They are toast. If they worked at all I would think the PPMs are way too high. There are a few tell tale signs on that membrane. First you are correct, steel fittings are a no no. Even SS steel components have corrosion issues on watermakers. The rust like lines on the end cap and input side of the membrane tells me this watermaker has sat unused for a long time and probably not pickled properly or had the storage solution changed out in a timely manner. If you have only owned this for 8 months this issue had started well before you bought it. So yes, it's new membrane time. You don't say what size watermaker you have or what length membrane it is. I would agree that it might be wise to change to a non proprietary membrane vessel. I would advise a good quality vessel, but the cheaper ones do work. I would think that changing out to good quality SS fittings and hand wiping out any rust material, then re-assemble the unit first without the new membrane installed and giving it a good flush should be all that is needed. Then install the new membrane and as long as the pressures and flows are correct you should be back up and working. The pressures may need to be adjusted to the new sized membranes but anywhere between 700-800psi will be fine. Frustrating yes, but this is fixable with a little effort.

[Lagoon4us]

Agreeing with your thoughts the end cap shows a tide mark.

In the kit the high pressure hose for flushing had steel fittings on it and one on the unit had the same fittings leaving the other with SS ends.

The boat has a 'Shore water connection' with valves isolating the tanks and water maker. I quite believe the unit had very little use, electronically it worked a treat, it made good water however output was down. I flushed it out with salt,iron and oxide chemicals to no avail the pump squealed trying to push it through, the valves were quite concave as well but now re-faced they are good.

We are going back to Australia for xmas and will bring back the necessary bits to rebuild looking forward to improved production!!!!!

Just goes to show the mis-use these membranes can tolerate.

Cheers thanks for your overview.

[Lagoon4us]

Sorry the membrane was a CYCRON CC ROM HR/HY800 (Does this mean anything to you as far as similar membranes go)

40 X 3 INCH......

cheers

[Lagoon4us]

Our water maker (Sea-Recovery) is a SRC600 UWC.

From looking at the manual and other units marketed i note our feed pump is different, see attached pic's. What's this about?

[Lagoon4us]

Received a price back for a replacement membrane:-

The 600 UW membrane RRP is $ 1627.00 however we can offer you 17.5% discount
on this so your cost will be $ 1342.00

So look's like that's out of the question so i'll go down the complete housing replacement trail so i can buy DOW replacements for less than $175:00.......

I don't mind paying a premium for quality but i dislike being ripped off!!!!!

Thanks Paul i sent them an enquiry.....

[downunder]

From the CruiseRO website



Fully Assembled Module #2B
Two 40" x 2.5" high salt rejection RO Membrane housed in two Spiral Wound Fiberglass Pressure Vessel fitted with fiberglass mounting feet and stainless steel clamps. Plumbed in series with 1/4" stainless steel tubing. The three water connections (Sea water inlet, Brine outlet and Product water outlet are all 1/4" Female NPT fittings)
Price $1495

Membrane only costs $187.

Water Maker Parts

[Lagoon4us]

I sent them a request for more info earlier this morning, i asked if the twin membranes would affect the pump that i have now, also asking if i go from the 3 inch to 2-1/2" if that would restrict the pump.

Surface area's are less so i may get 15gallons an hour per membrane, just guessing!

As far as i understand the Sea-Recovery unit has a pressure regulation to cope with filter restrictions over time, if that's correct then only the output should change.

Currently with the 3" standard membrane we get 25gallons an hour.....

I'll post the reply as i'm sure others will or are considering this option. There is another unit a German friend took off his boat because he was fed up with the overcharging these big name companies persist with....

Cheers

[Lagoon4us]

Really when i think further on this it's probably smart to go this way because WHEN our unit eventually fails electronically, and it will, we can make up a new system using the flow gauge, pressure gauges, 12volt flush/filter, sea-water strainer, 5 and 25 micron pre-filters and tubing etc that currently exists

So if i get the twin membrane units we would only need to add a pump unit and some valves and throw away the doomed circuitry.

The existing feed pump would make an excellent high flow deck wash/fire pump....mmmmm!