Recomissioning an old Spectra Ventura 150

[ed80]

Hi,
My boat has a Spectra Ventura 150 aboard. According to the previous (and only) owner, this was last used in 2004 when the boat was delivered, he has no idea if it was pickled when it was left, and it has not been used since.

This winter I would like to bring it back to life. My plan is:

• Replace the hoses and tubing
• Replace the pre-filters and charcoal (fresh water flush) filter
• (Assuming it pumps) run a bucket of SC2 cleaning compound through it

After this I will see what comes out and play it by ear. If needed, I will strip down and replace the seals in the high pressure pump, replace the head of the feed pump, or replace the membrane.

Is there anything else I should be aware of, or other things I should do before turning it on for the first time?

Cheers
Ed

[tkeithlu]

Try turning it on for the first time first. My Spectra goes for long times with no maintenance, and just produces sulphurous water for the first liter or so before returning to producing better water than our municipal supply. You might get lucky.

[akopac]

I’d open the relief valve screw 1/2 turn and flush it for a few ours then run it. If there is anything in the housing at lest you won’t force it into the membrane

[nwdiver]

Pickling preserves the membrane, replace it, don’t skimp on trusting an 18 year old membrane, I believe it’s over it’s best before date.

[ed80]

Thanks for the advice, I will play with it next time i'm aboard and see how the membrane looks and take it from there. I will share photos off anything weird I see

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by ed80

Thanks for the advice, I will play with it next time i'm aboard and see how the membrane looks and take it from there. I will share photos off anything weird I see

An older system like this can certainly be salvageable and probably well worth it. But I'd be a bit more cautious on starting this one up and just seeing what happens. This unit has sat for a very long time as watermakers go. Here's what you can expect in the worst-case scenario. 1) The membrane most certainly will be replaced. The feed pump head itself will certainly need to be replaced (Even if it works at first) and a very, very, good chance that the Clark pump will need to be gone through completely. We have no idea how old this pump is and what older components need to be changed out and the big one, the sins of the previous owners. The Clark pump would be the spendy part, maybe $1,200 tops, with the pump head and membrane you should feel comfortable with an estimate of around $2,200 max. Just starting this system up first to see what happens may cause more damage to the internals of the Clark pump thus raising the costs of repairs. Let's do this right and disassemble this unit first.

[ed80]

Thanks for weighing in on this, it sounds like the right approach. I will the main unit and the feed pump home with me at the weekend to strip down and inspect all the expensive parts.

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by ed80

Thanks for weighing in on this, it sounds like the right approach. I will the main unit and the feed pump home with me at the weekend to strip down and inspect all the expensive parts.

Take lots of pictures of the parts as they come out and post them here or send them to me and I'll let you know what you are up against.