A very hard lesson learned

[Dan W]

A couple of days ago when it never got above 10 degrees I came home to a catastrophe. My garage is in the back of the house and as I usually do, I hit the opener as I was on the side of the house. Get around the back and the door is going down not up. At first I thought my son may have just run into the basement and was going to go back out real quick. Pulled in, he wasn't there so I closed the door and when was almost closed it went back up again. There was a handful of leaves stuck to the bottom of the door that were breaking the safety beam as it closed. The garage is under the house and doesn't get below 40 even in the coldest spells however, like I said, it never got above 10 that day and the door was open for about 10 hours.Guess what was in there? The brand new RO that I just got finished putting together and testing about 2 weeks ago. After thawing it out in the basement I finally got to assess the damages last night. The filter canister broke and the brand new multi stage pressure pump housing broke. The filter is no big deal I have another, but the pump appears to be trashed. Since it is so close to the season, I have ordered a new one and only after it is in can I check out the membranes. I will look at the old one better at some point to see if it can be salvaged but I don't think it will be worth repairing. I just hope the XLE membranes are OK. I built this RO to be towed to and from the sugarhouse and didn't worry about a heated room just in case the power went out. Hey the garage is ALWAYS warm. So, from now on, I will be sure to not leave until the door is down and stays down and probably even push the RO into the basement where I know it will stay warm. This has been a very disappointing event not to mention costly. Any input on what effect this may have had on the XLE membranes?

[Father & Son]

Dan,
Hopefully damage other than what you stated is minimal. I've had the same thing happen to my garage door but with no consequences. Sorry to hear about your RO.

Jim

[Thad Blaisdell]

As it was in the house, I am guessing it will be covered by insurance.

[Mark]

Membranes can freeze and be okay. Look them over for anything broken. I had some freeze and they were okay after thawing them out.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

invest in a cold temp sensor, Im going to integrate one into my little RO house im building in my garage (un heated) and hook it into my security system, once that siren goes off the whole neighborhood is going to know HAHAHAHAHA

[sapman]

I posted about my XLE440 freezing last month. Dropped of by UPS in open garage, didn't even know it was there til next morning. Temps dropped to 10 overnight. Being new, it had the chemical preservative in it, protecting to 22 degrees. But the specs say any colder and you just need to let it thaw before use. Think I dodged a bullet, hopefully. But if your's just had water in it, not sure. You can call the company and get their opinion.

All the best,
Tim

[Bruce L]

Though I don't have an ro, I can understand your problem .When I leave the garage, I stay just outside the garage door with the car waiting to leave as I have witnessed several times the sensors sending the door back up when it is really cold and the fog going across the sensors from the heat in the garage.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

I pull the membranes and drain the pumps and hoses for the off season. That way I don't have to be concerned about anything freezing.

[Gary R]

That's a bummer Dan. Hopefully I can stop in this season and see your new RO.

[Dan W]

Gary, give me a call it is always good to talk to ya. Pulled the membranes today and they look OK no bulging or anything. Hopefully they ay are OK. When the new pump comes I can do a TDS on the permeate and hopefully everything is good. I will just keep my fingers crossed.