Sawyer Squeeze problem

[Trebor66]

A few months ago I purchased a new Sawyer Squeeze. Out of curiosity I tried it out using tap water. It worked fine and had a good flow rate. I put it away until this past weekend while hiking in the Smokys. I filled the bag in a creek and attached the bag. I had to squeeze the bag very hard to just get a trickle of water, I was afraid I was going to rupture the bag. I back flushed it when I got home and tried it again. There was very little if any difference in the flow rate. What gives?

[Starchild]

I don't know but what comes to mind if you have hard water at home perhaps some condensate clogged the filter as it dried.

[hikerboy57]

I don't know but what comes to mind if you have hard water at home perhaps some condensate clogged the filter as it dried.

it may sound stupid but are you sure you pulled the valve open? If so try back flushing the filter first with the syringe

[DavidDillow]

Sawyer says that if you let the filter dry out that when you go to use it again it will be flow until will be slow until the inside filter membranes get fully saturated again.

[Odd Man Out]

Sawyer says that if you let the filter dry out that when you go to use it again it will be flow until will be slow until the inside filter membranes get fully saturated again.

I believe that this could be the problem. I have used ultrafiltration membranes in lab work. These small filter disks are used to sterilize solutions that can not be heat-sterilized. They fit into a plastic holder that fits on a syringe (like the one used to backflush the Sawyer). When working, we would fill the syringe half full and the squeeze liquid through the filter (it would flow very easily). But when the liquid runs through, the syringe would still be half full of air. The interesting thing is at this point you could push the syringe plunger down as hard as you could, and no air would go through the filter. We did this on purpose because this was good evidence that the filter had not split. If you got to the end and that last bit of air in the syringe went though the filter, then you know the filter failed, your solution was not sterile, and you would do it again. I have not got my hands on my filter yet (ordered from Amazon yesterday), but I expect that if this filter works the same way, then you would get the best flow rate if you did not allow air bubbles into the filter. This would explain why they recommend soaking the filter to get it wet before filtering.

[leaftye]

+1 to air in the filter. When I first use it on a trip I'll hold it upside down and hit it gently to knock out air bubbles.

[MuddyWaters]

Nah. Exact same thing happened to me. Once it dries out totally, it appears to be toast.
A few have reported that by soaking theirs for a long time, it started working again.
I soaked mine for a week +. Slowly sucked it full of water, till no air came out, sucked a couple quarts thru it, then submerged it and left it. No change.
Tried acidic water with some vinegar in it for several days too. No change.
Backflushing, no change.

Toast.
Been meaning to send it back, havent got around to it. Not like I miss it or anything, I never used it.

[Ercoupe]

I have used my sawyer over a year 6 Trips, 200+ gallons, taking care to flush at the end of trips with clorine solution. and leave out to dry somewhat.
I suppose if it was not flushed with the clorine solution, bacteria or such, could have multiplied during storage?

During use, I attach a carabiner to the bottom of the bag and gravity feed, to my Playtapus. A light squeeze will usually purge air from filter and line. Bags do not take much squeezing before they fail.

The filter also needs to be protected from freezing, not the best winter option.

After comparing flow rate from a new and cleaned old filter, I have to wonder about the million gallon warranty. But still a good way to get clean water, from questionable sources.

Yet, based on my experience, I would try sending the filter back for replacement. Any manufacturing process has failures, quality controals are only based on statistics, for most products.

[colorado_rob]

I don't know but what comes to mind if you have hard water at home perhaps some condensate clogged the filter as it dried.

This is my guess too. I thorughly flushed my SS with tap water last fall, the last time I used it, it was completely non-functional this spring no matter what I tried. I believe hard water deposits will ruin this filter. So now (w/ new SS filter), I flush with distilled water only (about a buck at the grocery for a gallon which should last a long time dedicated to filter flushing).

[Odd Man Out]

This is my guess too. I thorughly flushed my SS with tap water last fall, the last time I used it, it was completely non-functional this spring no matter what I tried. I believe hard water deposits will ruin this filter. So now (w/ new SS filter), I flush with distilled water only (about a buck at the grocery for a gallon which should last a long time dedicated to filter flushing).

You say you got a new filter. Was that a free replacement from the company due to the guarantee?

[colorado_rob]

You say you got a new filter. Was that a free replacement from the company due to the guarantee?

Nah, I guess I could have, but I just bought a new one. Only $40. Still not too late as I have the non-functional one...

[Trebor66]

For what it's worth- I took some of the advice and soaked the filter in water overnight. The filter works fine again. I suppose the trick is to soak the filter before a trip if it's bone dry.