MPC/Connect Troubleshooting

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No Water To Tanks, Display Indicates Production

Follow this guide if you are getting a green light indicating the system is producing good water, but nothing is flowing to your tank During operation, it is possible for diversion valves to malfunction due to a hardware failure or may become physically stuck due to corrosion build-up or other debris. This generally occurs with the Alcon, ECI, or Spartan Diversion valves after being in the field for many years. 1) Verify water production prior to diversion valve manifold Disconnect product tu...

System Stalled Alarm

System Stalled Alarm The error code, “SYSTEM STALLED” comes when your product water flow reading (measured by Rotoflo meter) is 0 when the system thinks it should be making water. After 1 minute of not making product water the system will “Restart” and try again. It will do this one more time before it reads, “SYSTEM STALLED.” This can be cleared by cycling power. Once power is back on you can bypass the purge process by selecting "No" on the popup message on the Spectra Connect display, or by...

Service Prefilter - Spectra Connect (system WITH boost pump)

Service Prefilter Alarm (systems WITH boost pump) - SPECTRA CONNECT During normal operation, the feed water is filtered in two stages. First, it enters a fine mesh metal sea strainer then passes through a boost pump. This protects the boost pump from damage. After passing through the boost pump the feed water enters the filter housings containing 20 and 5 micron elements. These filters remove very fine particles which could damage the Feed Pump or Clark pump, and which would shorten membrane l...

Service Prefilter - MPC (systems WITH boost pump)

Service Prefilter Alarm (systems WITH boost pump) During normal operation, the feed water is filtered in two stages. First it enters a fine mesh metal sea strainer then passes through a boost pump. This protects the boost pump from damage. After passing through the boost pump the feed water enters the filter housings containing 20 and 5 micron elements. These filters remove very fine particles which could damage the Feed Pump or Clark pump, and which would shorten membrane life. Some system...

Service Prefilter - MPC (systems with NO boost pump)

Service Prefilter - MPC (systems with NO boost pump) *Systems with no boost pump include Ventura product line & MKI Catalina/Newport systems* The Service Prefilter alarm is triggered by pressure sensors on either side of your filter bowls. The alarm is designed to trip when the filters get clogged and the difference in pressure between the two sensors hits a programmed limit, the Differential Limit. DIFFERENTIAL LIMIT: This function compares the pressure reading from the two pressure s...

Adjusting the DC Motor Speed Controller

DC Speed Controller Adjustments The DC Motor Speed Controller is a simple device once you wrap your head around it. Under the top of the feed pump module, under the MPC box, is the pump speed controller. On the speed controller board are two magnetic reed switches for adjusting the pump motor speed. The switches are narrow black bars, 5/8” (16mm) long. The increase speed switch is labeled S2; the decrease speed switch is labeled S3. Each time a small magnet is placed near the switch with the ...

Boosting Pressure - VENTURA ONLY

*IMPORTANT NOTE* THIS PROCEDURE APPLIES TO SPECTRA CONNECT VENTURA SYSTEMS ONLY Boosting Pressure (During Chemical Purge or Filter Calibration) During a chemical purge cycle and/or filter calibration, it is possible for a Ventura system to get hung up on a ‘Boosting Pressure’ screen. This may not happen every time, depending on the system’s relationship to the waterline and positive pressure. See below for steps to quickly advance past this screen: - Flip the toggle switch on ...

Boosting Pressure -3 PSI - Spectra Connect

Boosting Pressure -3 PSI. When you start a run cycle, the first thing that happens is a small centrifugal boost pump turns on and builds pressure at the inlet of the larger feed pump. Here, the “boost pressure sensor” is looking for 15 PSIA (this is 1 PSI above a vacuum as we do not want the vane pump operating in a vacuum & drawing its own water). Once the 15 PSIA is reached (the “boost pressure setpoint”) the system starts. If you see a screen that says “Boosting Pressure : -3psi” it means t...

Purge Mode Bypass (MPC)

How to bypass the Purge Mode: Whenever the control power (12 or 24 volt DC) has been shut off, the system will prompt you through the purge mode when it is turned back on as a safety measure to protect your system. This will display as "Open Pressure Relief Valve Now". Purge Mode prompts the operator to open the pressure relief and then runs seawater through the system for 20 minutes to clear away the chemicals. Normally, during periods of disuse the MPC will remain powered up so that it can d...

DC Motor Speed Controller Troubleshooting

DC Speed Controller The Motor Speed Controller works by getting a 12V signal from the circuit board to give a specified amount of voltage to the motor based on the selected mode. During troubleshooting if you are trying to evaluate a speed controller, this chart is a helpful resource to refer to to ensure the correct signal is being given to the speed controller. If you are getting the correct signal from the circuit board, but not outputting the correct voltage consistently, even after dialin...

'Firmware D13' Message

Firmware D13 When the system boots up, it often will say Firmware D13 before resuming normal operation. If the system does not begin normal operation, then you likely have a connection issue. Contrary to what is displayed, firmware D13 is not a firmware, but an error message indicating a communication issue with the board itself OR a component plugged into the board. A good start is to give your wiring a once over and see if something is be corroded, badly worn, or unplugged, as that would be...

How to test a Pressure Sensor (MPC or Connect)

Pressure Sensor Test: If you are getting High Pressure or Service Prefilter alarms, check the sensors as follows. The pressure sensors connect to the PC board at a green phoenix pin. The sensor has three wires; a positive (red), negative (black), and signal wire (white). On MPC systems the wires plug into pins labeled P, G, and S. On Connect systems the wires are labeled 5V, GND, and PRES. Note: You will have to look at the wiring schematic in the user manual to see which PRES you need to us...

System Stalled - Stroke Sensor Systems (pre-2004)

System Stalled –Stroke Sensor Systems Older (before 2004) systems used a stroke sensor on the Clark Pump to send a signal that the Clark Pump is cycling. If the MPC controls do not receive a signal from the rotoflo that water is flowing through it properly, or a stroke sensor signal is not being received, the MPC controls will try to start three times, displaying: RE-STARTING, and then alarm SYSTEM STALLED. On stroke sensor systems, if the Clark pump is shifting, but the MPC alarms, confi...

Salinity Probe Calibration (MPC Systems)

SALINITY PROBE CALIBRATION (MPC Systems) - Take reading of salinity in PPM using a calibrated handheld TDS meter (perhaps borrow from a neighboring cruiser if you do not have one) - Next, note the salinity reading on your MPC screen. If these match, probe is already properly calibrated. - If these are off, we need to adjust the calibration to make them close to the same. You will do this by accessing the programming menu. - Enter the programming mode (https://katadyngroup.ladesk.com/9...

Programming From the Display (Definitions & How to Access)

Programming From the display To enter Program Mode the system must be in Standby Mode. If the system has been de-powered recently you may need to bypass the Purge Sequence by pressing Auto Run and Stop at the same time. To enter Standby Mode, press the Stop button from any other mode. The display will read SPECTRA WATERMAKERS A-XX. To have the watermaker running during the programming process, start the machine using the run manual toggle switch on the control box. The watermaker will run...

Fuse Guide - MPC

MPC3000/5000 boards rely on seven fuses to protect the board from suffering damage. For MPC systems, the below table is very helpful when diagnosing a blown fuse. The photo below the table has locations for each fuse, which are also printed on the board itself in white text near the corresponding fuse. The newer Spectra Connect board functions differently via resettable FETs.

Salinity Probe Alarms (MPC)

There are two salinity alarms that the MPC systems: For help identifying the correct replacement part, please reference: Salinity Probe Replacement Guide (https://support.katadyngroup.com/706104-Salinity-Probe-Replacement-Guide)

AC Speed Controller Troubleshooting

AC Tech Speed Controller Faults. SCL = 220V = Purple SCM = 110V = Red Fault codes -- = not a fault code, controller in stand by LF = Line fault, low AC power, have customer turn power on and off UF = Start Fault, check toggle switch CF = corrupted EPM chip F1 = Missing EPM chip CP = control pad, use up and down arrows to run watermaker, check programming. - “Enter PROGRAM MODE by pushing the Mode button. This will activate the passwordprompt. - Enter the password with the up a...

'Alphabet Soup' (random characters on MPC display)

'Alphabet Soup' When the system boots up, especially in older MPC systems, you may see a scrambled alpha/numeric readout (A-Z,1-9) on the display, before the system progresses to the main screen. If the system does not begin normal operation and the message remains, you likely have a connection issue, or a short at one of your sensors. A good start is to give your wiring a once over and see if something is be corroded, badly worn, or unplugged, as that would be the easiest and most likely sol...

Z-Brane Power Supply Check

Z-Brane Power Supply Check Warning: The Z-brane operates at high voltage. Shock Hazard. High voltage is present in the Z-Brane when it is powered up. This voltage may persist for up to 30 minutes after power is shut off. Do not disconnect the Z-Brane harness from the power supply, or open the power supply box, until power has been removed for at least 30 minutes. Because of the high voltage, field repairs should not be attempted. Unplug the green DC power connector and wait 30 minutes before se...