BARNSTEAD WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM
- jr_suhonen
- jr_ferreira
- Former user (Deleted)
- jr_mechler
Jan 15, 2023 The water system should be left on during tie-ups. Both the RO and the Genpure unit have an automatic rinse function. The only action necessary of the tie-up crew is to run water from the external storage tank for five minutes once a week.
Dec 15, 2022 The Genpure unit display turned red and was showing a "Limit value feed" error message. The resistivity fell slightly below 18.2 MΩ. The RO unit was displaying 0.0 MΩ resistivity. The user manual suggested to "check the pretreatment". The pre-filter under the counter was changed out. This did not make any difference. The next step would be to replace the RO membranes. As we are in port in Tarragona, a decision was made to wait until we have been underway for a day to replace the RO membranes to avoid overwhelming them with the water from land, in case that had something to do with the fact that they seem to have failed. Dec 17, 2022 The RO membranes were replaced. This brought the RO unit resistivity to 0.1 MΩ, which allows the Genpure unit to function at 18.2 MΩ without the error message and without the screen turning red. The RO unit resistivity seemed oddly low though. The paleo unit was checked, and it was displaying 0.4 MΩ but once the tank was dumped, it also went to 0.1 MΩ. Pictures from the installation of the chem lab watermaker were checked, and they showed resistivities of 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 MΩ all within a couple of days of each other. Hoping our 0.1 MΩ will go up some after the land water is no longer in our system. Jan 4, 2023 RO unit resistivity has been steady at 0.1 MΩ, occasionally going to 0.2 MΩ. It has been weeks now, and the shore water is definitely no longer in our system. Also saw 0.0 MΩ today, for the first time since membrane replacement. Monitoring while using water as normal. Jan 11, 2023 The RO unit resistivity dropped back to 0.0 MΩ about five days ago and hasn't changed since. The Genpure unit is still working well and producing 18.2 MΩ water. More RO membranes have been ordered, and a brand new set will be installed in the beginning of 399 to see if it will help.
Mar 31, 2022 The old Barnstead Nanopure unit was put in service at the beginning of the expedition as there was no time to investigate a potential repair of the new unit. It took the old unit several days to reach 18.2 MΩ, which is normal for this unit. Once the correct resistance was reached, the unit worked very well until it started displaying a "METER BOARD" error message. It was still possible for a few days to recover from the meter board message by turning the unit off and back on, but eventually the resistivity started dropping and no longer returning to 18.2 MΩ.
The shore was contacted about trying to purchase a new meter board on eBay, as the manufacturer no longer provides them. Lisa also retrieved a meter board from an old nanopure unit onshore. It will be hand-carried to the ship for exp 390.
After the old nanopure unit was no longer working, the new unit was repaired. It is now operating properly at 18.2 MΩ. There was a loose connection in a ribbon cable to the front panel. This was the reason for no power to the remote water dispenser. All is currently well with the new water system.
Feb 10, 2022 The images below show how the old nanopure unit was set up on X392. It will not run without a water level indicator being plugged in and held upside down (indicating that the water tank is "full"). This is risky for the motor (the unit should not be operated without water in the tank), and the water level in the tank has to be monitored carefully while using, but this was a quickest way to establish an alternate nanopure water supply, as the new unit was out of service.
Jan 25, 2022
Fisher is sending us a solenoid valve under warranty.
However the part is out of stock, and has a lead time of 40 days. So it doesn't look like we'll get it for 392
Here are all the information regarding this part,
Case #04262235
Fisher Service Order #919142
Fisher Tracking number #542392
Contact Tech support with the case number if you have any other questions
technicalsupport.led@thermofisher.com
800-438-4851
Hello Ben-
I am Susan, and with Aaron we are the two technicians on the ship right now dealing with the water system. It actually seemed to be working well for a few days and is now back to being erratic. Would you like any videos or pictures sent to you to help diagnose the problem? Some days the dispenser will just slowly drip the entire day. Other days not. Some days when we press "nonstop" and then enter twice (or the button on the dispenser twice) it will dispense out of the dispenser, other times it will start running water out of the rinse line only and nothing will come out of the dispenser.
-Susan
Dear Susan,
After reviewing the case it looks like you have an intermittent dispense valve. I show we are sending a replacement dispense valve under the parts warranty for you or Aaron to install. Since we cannot send it directly to your ship it has been sent to your head quarters so to speak, and they are shipping it to you.
I apologize for the delays you might encounter due to the shipping logistics. Hopefully the unit will continue to work well enough until the part arrives. If you wish to email videos or pictures we would welcome this as it will possibly validate our conclusions.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Nichols
Technical Support
Unity Lab Services
Thermo Fisher Scientific
28 Schenck Pkwy, Suite 400
Asheville, NC 28803
Phone 866-984-3766 - Option 2
technicalsupport.led@thermofisher.com
Jan 1, 2022 The new water system has an occasional issue where when the button is pressed to start dispensing water, water isn't flowing right away despite the volume dispensed display increasing. Sometimes nothing at all is dispensed, sometimes it's a very low flow rate and after some time kicks into the normal flow rate.
Not entirely sure on the cause at the moment. Mainly speculation about the system not liking fast stop→start when dispensing but it may also be happening even when not doing that. The fix at the moment has been a combination of turning the system off and on again, and letting it dispense for a while (something like set for 5 liters, start, and walk away).
It only works and dispenses intermittently. When the button is pressed to start dispensing water, water isn't flowing right away despite the volume dispensed display increasing. Sometimes nothing at all is dispensed, sometimes it's a very low flow rate and after some time kicks into the normal flow rate.
It will work okay a few times, and then stop working the rest of the day. It often drips, slow or fast, out of the dispenser at times that it is supposed to be dispensing and at times when it shouldn't be dispensing. It is a good thing Dan and Chris made a holder for the dispensing handle to sit over the sink otherwise it would be just dripping all over the counter a lot.
It's been super annoying and gets in the way of us washing glassware and using genpure water for making solutions and reagents. Sometimes unplugging the system and restarting will get it working again, but none of our fixes or workarounds have proven consistent. I'm even noticing right now as it is unplugged that there is water still dripping from the dispenser.
Aaron has tried changing the filter and changing back, again nothing will stay working for long.
Nov 19, 2021 HYDRO-CHECK resistivity monitor was relocated from the Barnstead drawer to an MBIO cabinet J-C3.
Nov 17, 2021 A new Barnstead water system was installed. To operate the nanopure water, press NONSTOP on the control panel. To dispense water, press the button twice on top of the dispenser. The volume dispensed can be adjusted in NONSTOP mode by pressing ENTER and using the arrow keys.
The new system came with a 60-liter tank. The old 100-liter tank was inspected, and it looked fine, so a decision was made to use the old tank, as even 100 liters does run out on busy days. The water level indicator was removed from the 60-liter tank and used in our old tank. A lid/bracket was 3D printed for the 100-liter tank to hold the water level indicator and the tank fill tube in place.
The "old" style 0.2 micron final filter fits the new nanopure dispenser, thus it was decided to use those up first and then switch to the new style filter. The AMS number (CM1230) was kept the same for the old and new filters.
Jun 30, 2021 The remote dispenser was not flowing properly when dispensing small amounts of water. There may have been an air bubble somewhere in the system. This was resolved by performing an AIR PURGE. To air purge the system, hit START on the console. This will put the system in IDLE mode. Now press ENTER. The screen will ask if you would like to air purge. Press ENTER again. Air purge will start. The cycle takes 6 minutes. Jul 3, 2021 Update: the issue re-occurred later on. The air purge will fix it, but only temporarily. It seems that there is an underlying condition that still has to be resolved. Jul 17, 2021 Update: The pre-Barnstead filter under the counter was changed out. This seemed to finally clear the air lock issue.
Dec 1, 2020 A crackling sound was coming from the line that leaves the pump and enters Feed1 of the first RO Membrane cartridge. A kink was found in the tubing, which caused it to rattle against the water system housing and against the pump. The tubing was replaced and the pump mounting screws were tightened. Air bubbles were also noticed going through several of the system lines. These were traced down to the base connection of the pretreatment prefilter cartridge. The water feed to this connection was clear of bubbles but the water out, which goes to the MPS cartridge, had steady streams of air. The base snap adaptor was removed and cleaned out with compressed air. After reconnecting the adaptor and the cartridge, the system was allowed to flush. It does not have air flow through the lines now.
Jul 26, 2019 Manually tested the water level indicator. It currently functions as it should. No indication of previously reported issues.
Jul 26, 2019 The Barnstead Water Purification System quit making water. "Check inlet" was displayed all day long. No water was flowing into the tank, despite several flush cycles being run. There had been no disruptions to incoming water flow either. Nothing made a difference until the CARBON CARTRIDGE was changed out. It was only two months old. Also changed out the PREFILTER, which had turned dark brown even though it also was only two months old.
Jun 3, 2019 Ongoing issue with RO water reservoir. Possible malfunction of water level detectors. RO water would constantly indicate low level but the reservoir would be full and water would be flowing out of the overflow tubing. Took the top panel off of the reservoir to take a look at things but made no changes. After panel removal and replacement, it seems to work better in that it would stop when the reservoir is full. The lights for reservoir level would show full, but would be flashing. It cycles between that state and the low water level state as RO water is used. So at the moment it's just an indicator for full, or not full and is not indicating actual water level.
May 16, 2019 Changed both the RO membrane filter cartridges, the prefilter, the MPS cartridge and the carbon cartridge. Replaced the nozzle filters on the dispensers. The instruction manual mentions that there should be less than a 5 psig differential between the prefilter inlet and prefilter outlet pressure gauges. The inlet gauge has a reading of 20 psig, but the prefilter outlet is showing 0 psig, even though the system has good flow. The pressure reading on the carbon outlet is 8 psig–which should be within 5 psig of the prefilter outlet. The filters are connected in series, so it does not make sense that the prefilter outlet would show no pressure unless the gauge itself is faulty. The RO membrane pressure gauge is stable at 58 psig. The carbon and membrane timers were reset. Below are before and after pictures of the prefilter, MPS and carbon cartridges: