Watermaker Problem

[Magnetic Sky]

Hi everyone. We have a Spectra water maker. It does an automatic flush every 5 days. We just came out of the yard and while in there I turned off the water maker. Yesterday I turned it back on and restarted the flush. I went outside to see if the water was coming out and it was not. I than opened the through hull where salt water would come in if we were making water. As soon as I opened the through hull the water went out there. It normally exits through an outlet above the waterline. I tried opening the relief valve and it made a whistling noise and the water went out the side where it normally goes but I have never had to do this before. I would appreciate any ideas anyone has as to why this is happening. thanks.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Magnetic Sky.

If he doesn’t respond, you might pose your question to Tellie.
< Cruisers & Sailing Forums - View Profile: Tellie >

[Magnetic Sky]

Thank you GordMay I will do that.

[Intentional Drifter]

Yes, Tellie is your man. He's a Spectra rep. In the meantime, a few questions:

Is the boat now back in the water, or still on the hard? (So it can get salt water)
Is the watermaker on flush cycle when you do this?
Are you using the electronic MPC control panel, or doing it manually at the watermaker?
Is the cock from your water tanks open, so that it can pull water from the tank?
Is the valve from the seawater seacock to your prefilters open?
Are your prefilters getting water (I'm assuming you have clear filter canisters so you can see the water)?
If the boat is in the water, have you tried first making water before going to the flush?

ID

[Magnetic Sky]

Thanks for the reply Intentional drifter.
The boat is back in the water.
I am using the MPC control panel with flush cycle
cock from fresh water tanks is open
sea water seacock is open
I have not tried making water yet (in a marina with a lot of sewage etc)

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Magnetic Sky

Hi everyone. We have a Spectra water maker. It does an automatic flush every 5 days. We just came out of the yard and while in there I turned off the water maker. Yesterday I turned it back on and restarted the flush. I went outside to see if the water was coming out and it was not. I than opened the through hull where salt water would come in if we were making water. As soon as I opened the through hull the water went out there. It normally exits through an outlet above the waterline. I tried opening the relief valve and it made a whistling noise and the water went out the side where it normally goes but I have never had to do this before. I would appreciate any ideas anyone has as to why this is happening. thanks.

Thanks Gord and IF

Hi Magnetic Sky,
A few things, first the simple ones. Have you checked to make sure that there is enough water in the tank/s that supply the water maker with fresh water for the flush? Is the power on to the house pressure pump that supplies water pressure to the rest of the boat? Do you see water flowing through the clear charcoal filter housing during the fresh water flush?
When you opened the intake thru hull, the water that came out should only have been what was left in the systems salt water side of the plumbing and not fresh water from the tanks. When you turned the power back on to the MPC controls did you bypass the "OPEN PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE NOW" message? Opening the pressure relief valve should make no difference if the water flows out of the brine discharge hose or not. I'm more concerned that you are running the feed pump dry without any water flowing through it. An NP1000 flows a lot of water quickly and can drain a boat left on the hard . If it is not a simple issue like the solutions above I'd want to make sure the feed pump is not going to be damaged. Also, I agree, do not run this watermaker in bad water. Check these few things first and if that does not solve the issue of no fresh water flush feel free to call me any time (954) 515-7077
Tellie

[senormechanico]

Tellie beat me to it.
I was going to say you have an air bubble in there and it's not priming.

[Intentional Drifter]

Looks like you connected with Tellie. Have you solved the problem, yet? If so, I'm curious about the outcome.

ID

[Magnetic Sky]

Thank you very much Tellie and everyone else. It must have been an bubble after all. It would not flush. Than when I tried to make water I did not realise it had tripped the 110 breaker. I turned the breaker back on and it ran for a while than tripped again. I than tried it again and it ran for about 5 minites. I was running it in a very dirty marina so I than stopped it and did a flush and this time it did flush. I don't know why it tripped the breaker. Somebody here in the Marina said the power is very dirty here and I have noticed we get anything from about 100 volts ac to about 111.