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Remove the RO membranes
- Thread starter Osama
- Start date
- Location
- Palatine IL
Tanger1 & Blue & ALL thanks. I have been very busy setting up a new 320g, moving my 180g down etc. My problem is partially solved from getting very little output from my RO/DI unit to getting about 50gpd from a unit rated at 150gpd. I was getting about 10gpd & waisting a lot water trying to feed a 700g. system. I had a piece or metal restricting flow in my inlet pipe. I still have to resolve how to get close to the output I was getting before which was about 80gpd when I was using a 100gpd membrane. I now am using a 150gpd membrane with the correct flow resistor. I do have an auto shut off valve on my unit otherwise everything is as described above. I cut the tail off the flow resitors at about 1 inch . I have not measured the good to waste water ratio & do not know if cutting the flow resistor so short is my problem or not and is there anything else I should look into?Any ideas of where I should look next.
- Location
- Palatine IL
Blue: Ihave not measured the T or P. Unit with a membrane capable of producing 100gpd was producing aout 80gpd Very decent. Following changes happened
1) new membranes SpectraPure good for 150gpd
2) new resitractors good for 175 -200gpd tails cut short to about 1-11/2 inches.
3) new 1&5m filters & DI filters installed
4) Contractor moved unit closer to new setup. Water line is connecting to unit via a 25 ft ROsize tube. ( Could that cause a significant pressure drop?
T of water about 60 degrees after the unit is on for a while P was OK...
1) new membranes SpectraPure good for 150gpd
2) new resitractors good for 175 -200gpd tails cut short to about 1-11/2 inches.
3) new 1&5m filters & DI filters installed
4) Contractor moved unit closer to new setup. Water line is connecting to unit via a 25 ft ROsize tube. ( Could that cause a significant pressure drop?
T of water about 60 degrees after the unit is on for a while P was OK...
Nothing you did should cause the problem you have. Not even the 25 extra feet of tubing.
Check your brine output to make sure it is not blocked, and if you are concerned about pressure drop, get a inline pressure gauage (~$10, and good trouble shooting tool) for your RO. Check your local hardware store, or order it from the people who sell you the RO filter. Good luck.
Check your brine output to make sure it is not blocked, and if you are concerned about pressure drop, get a inline pressure gauage (~$10, and good trouble shooting tool) for your RO. Check your local hardware store, or order it from the people who sell you the RO filter. Good luck.
I don't necessarily agree with tang girl.
You may have cut the tails on the restrictors too short, and now don't have sufficient back pressure on your 150 gpd membrane.
1/4" tubing of sufficient length will significantly reduce the water pressure in your system. Essentially what happens is that your system can pass the water faster than the small diameter supply line can provide it. I know 100' of tubing on a 100 gpd system will cause this problem. Something less than 100' will cause it, but I don't have a definitive number. With an even more porous membrane, this will be even more of an issue.
Water pressure will be an even more important issue for you than it is in typical systems with membranes of 100 gpd or less.
You may have cut the tails on the restrictors too short, and now don't have sufficient back pressure on your 150 gpd membrane.
1/4" tubing of sufficient length will significantly reduce the water pressure in your system. Essentially what happens is that your system can pass the water faster than the small diameter supply line can provide it. I know 100' of tubing on a 100 gpd system will cause this problem. Something less than 100' will cause it, but I don't have a definitive number. With an even more porous membrane, this will be even more of an issue.
Water pressure will be an even more important issue for you than it is in typical systems with membranes of 100 gpd or less.
- Location
- Palatine IL
Thanks again. I will check the presure & test the system by relocatng the unit closer to the faucet etc. I will aslo get new flow resistors after I check the ratio of good to waste water. I will do it a step at a time & see what happens.
Thanks
Thanks
I have about 50 feet of 1/4 inch tubing from the faucet to the filter, and the pressure is fine. What is important is the line pressure when the RO filter is running. When the RO is off, no matter how long is your line, or even if the tubing is kinked, as long as there is a pin-hole opening, the pressure will be the same thru-out. So again, make sure you check the pressure when the filter is running.
- Location
- Palatine IL
ndimuzio: As you note I am NOT the expert but I would say the TDS rdg would be independent of the in- line pressure. Take the TDS rdg after the unit has ben running for a while say one hour. Someone on this board said if your unit is on auto on/off & cycles every few minutes then you will get bad quality water from the small quatity produced between cycles. The Into the RO membrane pressure is important to the quantity of water going into the unit & the resistors are important to control the backpressure to allow enough time into the RO & controlling the amount of waste. So as stated here the waste ratio to good water should be around 4 to 1 or so. Anyone ; please correct me if I mistated my understanding.
Yes, frequent on/off of the RO will cause something call a "membrane creep." and you will get higher TDS reading overall. However, the worse case of membrane creep does not give you the type of TDS reading that ndimuzio see, so it is probably not membrane creep alone.
ndimuzio":3gtv04m2 said:Shouldnt I be able to take the DI cartridge out.. and just run the system...????
Yes - your system will run w/o a DI. Treatment won't be as good, but your system will work.
You may also want to check to see if there is a check valve in the output fitting on the membrane housing. If you are not using the RO for drinking water, you may want to remove this tiny check valve. I had this problem for over a month before finding out there was one there. I also warm my water first using 50' of tubing in a bucket of hot water. The check valve was by far my biggest problem though when I had low to no output.
I just purchased a new DI filter and it came with the following info;
The resin bed has the capacity of treating approximately 7,695 ppm of Total Disolved Solids. Measure the TDS level of the water before it enters the DI cartridge. Call this variable "X". Divide 7,695 by "X" = Gallons of water the DI can treat.
I just purchased a new DI filter and it came with the following info;
The resin bed has the capacity of treating approximately 7,695 ppm of Total Disolved Solids. Measure the TDS level of the water before it enters the DI cartridge. Call this variable "X". Divide 7,695 by "X" = Gallons of water the DI can treat.
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