Spectra Watermaker Low GPH & High Salinity

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

Hi belizesailor, no, I am not aware of the actual specifics of the repair to the Clark pump. I received this information from the boatowner , Popeye62, who is here in Australia but he did mention that before the repair the Clark pump was not making a symmetrical pumping sound like it used to.

It was Justin in Vanuatu who conducted the repair under Tellies guidance.

Thank you as well for your earlier feedback on this matter so I can certainly understand why you would like to know the full details of the resolution.

Hopefully, Tellie will soon chime in to add the specifics of what the actual problem was & what needed to be done to repair it.

If only I could mentally keep everyone's issue straight my wife would be sooo happy, but alas I suffer from a severe case of CRS.

The NP1000 Clark pumps are the 20% pumps. These are a much higher pressure pump and have a few different issues than the other lower pressure Clark pumps don't see. The clue to me is "the Clark pump was not making a symmetrical pumping sound like it used to." Normally a non symmetrical pump will not be noticeable by sound but detected using a pressure gauge or simply observing the product flow. But the 20% pumps are a bit different. My bet is that one piston was dragging and moving too slowly in one of the cylinders causing the uneven noise and certainly the production loss. Usually this can easily be resolved in my shop by proper honing of the cylinder to slightly enlarge it. Sometimes the only recourse is to replace the cylinder and piston. If one cylinder fails, as this one certainly has, a Spectra system is still not out of commission. It will still produce good water albeit at a lower rate. This gives the cruiser far from help a system that can still produce water until parts or repairs can be facilitated.

Though any failure on any boat system is aggravating, the wise cruiser prepares for this eventuality before hand. This is why Spectras are the Cadillac of watermakers. Years of thought, engineering, field tests, real world testing, and R&D have gone into these systems with the understanding that "ANY" boat system is prone to issues. Anyone can make a watermaker with some basic RO understanding, parts, and a basic understanding of plumbing. But any failure on these systems usually mean spare parts need to be on hand or ordered and usually a call for help in the repair itself. There are over a dozen emergency field repairs that can be performed on a Clark pump without any spare parts at all. The mechanical parts of all Spectra systems can practically be totally rebuilt with a Phillips screw driver, three Allen key wrenches, and two open end wrenches. Even if the fully automated electronic system on a Spectra completely fails (lighting strike etc.) They can be operated manually with the flip of a switch and locking down the product diversion valve. Though even a Spectra can in rare cases can completely fail, there are many redundant work around that just are not found in any other watermaker on the market.

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