Forgot to pickle watermaker

[sailor4life7777]

Hey guys I tested my watermaker about a month ago and I forgot to pickle the watermaker. Do I need to replace the reverse osmosis membrane now or is there something I can do to clean the membrane?

[donradcliffe]

Run it again and test the output for flow rate and salinity. If it is acceptable, pickle it.

The cleaning solutions and instructions vary by manufacturer.

[dougweibel]

Run multiple fresh water flush cycles first, then try running it.

I'm pretty sure my automatic fresh water flush failed once for about a month. When I found it the initial freshwater flush had a strong sulphur smell. That diminished after several more flushes. When I tried making product water it initially had a bit of sulphur smell, even after the salinity stabilized at a good, low level. After producing about three gallons of product water the sulphur smell was gone and the taste was good..

[chrisr]

we regularly don't pickle our w/m for useage gaps of a month or 6 weeks. just run the first 10-20 litres output into a bucket. test the output. ours is always fine

btw, we have an echotec w/m which are particularly rugged. some others - esp automatic ones - might be more sensitive.

cheers,

[Lepke]

When I make water, I make an extra 5 gallons to flush the system at the end. That way the system sits in fresh water and pickling isn't need for a couple weeks +.

[Stewie12]

If you do flush it with fresh water, make sure there is no chlorine in it, as if there is, your membranes will be ruined.

[SV__Grace]

Cruising inland waters such as Puget Sound is a PIA for my watermaker and requires cleaning/changing filters about very 5-10 hours and uses more power than I prefer, so I've been filling up our tanks (200 gallon capacity) at marina docks once per month or so and not using our watermaker.

An expert once told me that in the higher latitudes with colder water the membrane can go a long time without pickling and suggested flushing for 30 minutes once per month to keep it going.

I do so when I'm at a dock, but not religiously so my membrane goes longer than 30 days, but when I run the watermaker to test the outflow every once in a while, it is fine.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by sailor4life7777

Hey guys I tested my watermaker about a month ago and I forgot to pickle the watermaker. Do I need to replace the reverse osmosis membrane now or is there something I can do to clean the membrane?

You may be OK at just a month. I suspect you will be. Try it out.

[CarinaPDX]

I agree that it is most likely good. If you did what you should always do after use, flushing with fresh (product) water, then one month shouldn't be a problem. If you left salt water in the membrane then you probably do have some growth but still is probably OK if repeatedly flushed and maybe cleaned if needed. Just don't do that again

Greg

[Lepke]

If you're near a river mouth, fresh water is on top until it mixes. With the tide out, river flowing, you can run that water thru the system if it's not silty and then the whole system sits in fresh water. Or use filters like I do.
Membranes are calibrated at 77°F. Cold water gives less product, warm water gives more. Since I run in cold water, I use a heater before my membranes so the water is above 70°. Divide the membrane rating by the temp factor to get a more accurate gph.

[sailor4life7777]

Hi guys, thanks for all the feedback! I tried running the watermaker to test it again, but for some reason my Leeson high pressure pump isn't generating enough pressure to push the water through the membrane. The pump turns on, but the pressure gauge doesn't rise at all. When I emailed Seawaterpro about it, here was his response:

"That is highly unlikely, you probably have water starvation, your boost pump is not pushing the water and your high pressure pump is running dry.
The high pressure pumps last several years.

Check out this video make sure your boost pressure is similar to the video before turning on the high pressure pump.


https://youtube.com/shorts/MA0GO2S_TQI?feature=share

Also, make sure you installed the key way I goes on the motor shaft and connects the motor to the pump."

I triple checked the boost pump and it runs just fine. I made sure to never run the high pressure pump unless it has water flow going through it, so it never ran dry. However, I don't understand what he means by "key way I goes on the motor shaft". Does anyone have any idea what he means by this?

Thanks for all the help and advice I really appreciate it!!!

[CarinaPDX]

The pump shaft should have a slot cut into it, called a keyway. There will also be a similar slot on the inside of the pump. A key sits in both slots to keep them turning together. The key is a small, flat piece of metal with a thickness the same as the slot width. Edit: sometimes the key has a square or rectangular cross section, and other times it is flat with a straight edge in one keyway and a curve in the other. Edit 2: Without the key the motor can turn and the pump won't...

Greg

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by sailor4life7777

Hi guys, thanks for all the feedback! I tried running the watermaker to test it again, but for some reason my Leeson high pressure pump isn't generating enough pressure to push the water through the membrane. The pump turns on, but the pressure gauge doesn't rise at all. When I emailed Seawaterpro about it, here was his response:

"That is highly unlikely, you probably have water starvation, your boost pump is not pushing the water and your high pressure pump is running dry.
The high pressure pumps last several years.

Check out this video make sure your boost pressure is similar to the video before turning on the high pressure pump.


https://youtube.com/shorts/MA0GO2S_TQI?feature=share

Also, make sure you installed the key way I goes on the motor shaft and connects the motor to the pump."

I triple checked the boost pump and it runs just fine.

suggest to disconnect the output hose from the LP pump and then run it, to see if water is indeed coming out. if you lead the hose into a bucket you can avoid any unnecessary soaking in the event that the pump IS working

also, check your overboard suction valve is not closed / blocked

cheers,

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by sailor4life7777

is there something I can do to clean the membrane?

Pickle it. If you're going to be using the WM, then pickle it and let it sit for 24hrs before flushing and using it - this will kill any biological growth, according to my WM instructions.

[sailor4life7777]

Originally Posted by chrisr

suggest to disconnect the output hose from the LP pump and then run it, to see if water is indeed coming out. if you lead the hose into a bucket you can avoid any unnecessary soaking in the event that the pump IS working

also, check your overboard suction valve is not closed / blocked

cheers,

Hi Chrisr, thanks for the advice and yes I did do exactly that. When the boost pump is on, water comes out. When I turn the high pressure pump on, the output remains pretty much the same with no noticeable increase in pressure. The Leeson high pressure pump makes a noise so I know it turned on, but it doesn't seem to be increasing the pressure at all.