Powersurvivor 40E suddenly outputs salty water, please help

[CaptainRivet]

Hi fellow sailors,
my powersurvior 40E suddenly outputs salty water, TDS meter shows 2900ppm. Every pump cycle it suddenly makes a metalic clucking sound, also in- and outake hose move every cycle (not noticeable under "normal" operation) showing a pressure built up caused by I assume some restriction. water output looks more or less identical (didn't measure as i don't wanna run it long with this issue) but ist also taste salty.
was running before 2 weeks straight every day for 4-5h without any problem, same anchor location (Isla Lobos, Canary Islands) with clean water.


I am new to this watermaker and brand, didn't take the watermaker apart till now or serviced (beside cleaning prefilter) as its 300h "old".
I read the watermaker book and also manual to help me troubleshoot this issue. Nowhere I can find like a diagram or a guide to troubleshoot this issue:
What should I do/check first?

My assumptions/questions to find the route cause:
I think a seal in the motor broke and causing salt water can bypass the membran straight to the output?

Possible on the watermaker and if yes which seal would be broken then?

It suddenly appeared with no sign of water qualtiy detorate over time, so I would exclude in the first step a damaged membrane.
Could have something clock up the membrane so that unflitreated sea water can bypass the membrane, possible?

Would the "cleaning the membran" procedure with alkaline or acid cleaner help?






Background:

bought my boat in Feburary last year with a Powersurvivor 40E that had run approx 300h since install due to former owner (docking queen but last 2-3 years they fully equiped it for long blue water cruise they dreamed of doing but never executed). Testrun during survey was fine and properly conserved afterwards. 2 weeks ago I started to use the watermaker, since then ran every day for about 4-5h and produced perfect water, according to spec 1.3 gallon per hour. I checked 5min after start and shortly before shutdown water quality, everytime between 180 till 210 ppm. I am in the same location with clean water on anchor in a bay.


thank you.

[CaptainRivet]

after running it for 5min it changed, now the product water has again 220 ppm but the pump body started to leak.

Due to the watermaker book i should get a repair seal kit and replace the seals. well will do that. 150Euro for 15 rubber seals, well come to katdyn rip off prices.