Raritan Electroscan - any users?

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by Rebar_Caruso

I've had my unit for about 3 years now living aboard in Brisbane & the plate amps are giving me headaches. at $375 a pop, I've gone through 2 of them, and yes, I do the HCL maintenance every 6 months or less. The output drops with time, and I flush the unit as needed. I've got the right level of salinity, but hey, it's getting old. I've got some spare plates here as well. My question (to keep me from continuing to buy plates) is how do you recondition the used plates? I've got some fine steel wool to use to get the corrosion off, but will that damage them? It's getting frustrating. & I couldn't find another thread addressing this situation.

+1 - This has been exactly our experience with the ElectroScan. Wonder what the difference is in our installations vs. the people here who love them? I really don't enjoy having to open my wallet for a new electrode and then having to open up the unit to install same.

[Rebar_Caruso]

Here's what I got from another user just above me... I'm going to give it a go... monthly... one cup HCL "mini maintenance" I just don't like keeping open bottle of HCL on the boat.

[senormechanico]

I have never seen the need to open mine for maintenance.
What is the makeup of the plates? What kind of metal?
Are they plated with silver and gold and diamonds and rubies or are they plain old steel or aluminum?
I'm curious about the "corrosion".
Photos would be appreciated !

[Pitchondesign]

Originally Posted by Rebar_Caruso

Here's what I got from another user just above me... I'm going to give it a go... monthly... one cup HCL "mini maintenance" I just don't like keeping open bottle of HCL on the boat.

I keep a gallon jug of muriatic acid, but always above decks, never in a locker or lazarrette. I learned the hard way. The gas will escape no matter how tight the cap. Over time it will corrode anything in an enclosed space.

[Pitchondesign]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I have never seen the need to open mine for maintenance.
What is the makeup of the plates? What kind of metal?
Are they plated with silver and gold and diamonds and rubies or are they plain old steel or aluminum?
I'm curious about the "corrosion".
Photos would be appreciated !

The plates appear to be a coated steel. Don't know what the coating is. What seems to cause low amps is mineral deposits on the plates. The idea is to dissolve the deposits and not the plates. The coating seems fairly resistant to acid. The way the Lectrosan works is by creating an acid solution to kill bacteria, so the plates normally live in an acid solution. If you left the muriatic acid in for an extended period, it probably would damage the plates.

[peghall]

What seems to cause low amps is mineral deposits on the plates.

If you're using muriatic acid to to remove the mineral deposits, I suspect you're not letting it stay in the device long enough. Raritan's directions for doing it now call for a product they call "C.H. Cleans Hoses," which is their private label name for a product called Sew Clean Sew Clean which is available is OZ...but for decades the instructions called for a 12% solution of muriatic acid flushed down the toilet AFTER running several treatment cycles to purge the waste from it and then turning it off...left in the system for 45 minutes. If you want to use muriatic acid instead of C.H. or Sew Clean, just follow the instructions in your owners manual, substituting muriatic acid for the C.H. and leaving it in the system for the full 45 minutes called for in the instructions. The sea water mineral content is much higher in warm sea water than in cold, so depending on the waters you're in, it may be necessary to run the cleaning cycle more often than every 6 months...even once a month in really warm tropical waters.

The way the Lectrosan works is by creating an acid solution to kill bacteria, so the plates normally live in an acid solution.

The electrode plates do NOT live in an acid solution. The ES creates hypochlorous acid--which is a type of chlorine--by charging the ions in salt water with electrical current. The solution immediately reverts to salt water when the stimulus (electrical current) is removed.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

[Maka]

Peggie
" The sea water mineral content is much higher in warm sea water than in cold, so depending on the waters you're in, it may be necessary to run the cleaning cycle more often....."

Most of the time my boat is in the Columbia River.....cold fresh water ....I add 1 oz. salt per flush as recommended.
What kind of mineral deposits can I expect in these conditions?
Does the acid flush still meet clean water regulations for overboard disposal?
( My Marina allows me to flush my Electrasan overboard )
Where can I get operation and service manuals for my system, which came w the boat sans manuals?
Will these questions be answered in your book I just ordered ?
Thank you in advance for your reply.

[peghall]

Most of the time my boat is in the Columbia River.....cold fresh water ....I add 1 oz. salt per flush as recommended. What kind of mineral deposits can I expect in these conditions?

When adding salt manually to each flush, the recommended amount is 4 tablespoons...a Coffee pot measuring spoon is 2 tablespoons, so use 2 of those. Kosher salt dissolves faster than table salt. People who add manually often keep a Rubbermaid container in the head to keep the salt dry.

What kind of mineral deposits can I expect in these conditions?

There aren't many sea water minerals in the river, although there can be some hard water minerals. Cold water retards the level of both. So I wouldn't think you'd need to clean it more than every 6 months, if that often.

Does the acid flush still meet clean water regulations for overboard disposal?

Yes.

I can post a link the owners manual once I know whether you have the current ElectroScan or the older Lectra/San? If an older Lectra/San, is it the EC or MC version (it'll be somewhere on the treatment tank label). If it is an ElectroScan you'll have an array of LEDs that tell you what it needs...if it's a LectraSan, you have to know what slow or fast flashing lights mean.

Will these questions be answered in your book I just ordered ?

My book provides an overview of the LectraSan, ElectroScan and PuraSan and how they work, but doesn't replace the owners manuals or even try to answer every possible question about 'em. But I'm always glad to do that and answer any other questions it doesn't.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

[senormechanico]

To put a finer point on it, an ElectroScan has a backlit LCD panel which has alphanumerical data on it during the operation.

In other words, it tells you what's going on during and after the flush operation.
There's also a menu to select from number of flushes, whether or not they were complete, how many with insufficient amps, max and minimum temperatures etc.

It even has the date and time !

[Maka]

Peggie

Thank you for the prompt reply and thorough answers.

1 oz = 2 tablespoons .....so you are saying I need 2 oz ?
I use Morton "When it rains it pours" salt ,,,,,all others turn to rock. High humidity here in OR.

"if it's a LectraSan, you have to know what slow or fast flashing lights mean."

This will be me.

Boat built in 1986 .... assume this system went in around then.

[peghall]

1 oz = 2 tablespoons .....so you are saying I need 2 oz ?

Yup.

Boat built in 1986 .... assume this system went in around then.

That would make it a LectraSan..the only question is, which version, the EC or the MC. So I'm gonna send you the owners manual for both of 'em and let you match the right one up with your system.. They're PDFs, not links, so I'll have to attach 'em to an email. Send me an email (click on my name at the left of this post and select "send EMAIL" not private message). I'll attach 'em to a reply.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

[Maka]

Paggie

" Send me an email (click on my name at the left of this post and select "send EMAIL" not private message). I'll attach 'em to a reply."

"send EMAIL" not an option.

I sent a private message w my e mail in it.

If that wont work please give me another option here.

Thank you.

[peghall]

Unless you're using a phone or a tablet, I dunno why the system wouldn't let you email me, but no matter...Got yr PM and sent you the manuals.

Peggie

[doublebubble]

Hi everyone, I've been using the Electra-scan for around twelve years now and been relatively happy with it, we are perminate live aboards so it get's a good workout but, over the years I've replaced the electro pack twice, I've now ran into a problem with the status display panel which house's the red and green Led lights, the two lights are on at the same time, very dim, no flashing anymore red or green, voltages are good and all seems to working as designed, just no lights, just a constant very dim glow from both at the same time, Raritain suggested I send the push button status panel back to them for testing but thats a bit hard as I live in Australia and don't really want to purchase one incase it's not the problem, so if anyone has any experience with this particular problem I'm all ears.

Regards Rod Lewis

[senormechanico]

Rod,

Look for a bad circuit board connection either on the display or bad ground connection. Most likely a bad ground.