RO unit help

Do you know your house pressure before the filters? If your RO/DI has a pressure gauge you can get this number by kinking or valving both the treated and waste lines for a minute or two and allowing the gauge to stabilize with the tap water on and no flow going out.

Normally you should only see a 2-3 psi drop with fresh sediment and carbon block filters at most when making water.

Temporarily remove the sediement filter and make some treated water for a few minutes to see what the pressure gauge shows. Then remove the carbon block and do the same and again read the gauge, a few minutes without filters will not harm the membrane.

If the pressures rise you have plugged filters, it could be one or both but I would replace them as a set and use no larger than 1 micron size for both with 0.5 microns and absolute versus nominal rated being even better.

I would disinfect the system at the same time following the directions I have posted many times and a quick search can bring them up.

If the GPD is still very slow you may have a plugged or fouled RO membrane, slowed production even with good incoming pressure is the first indication of a worn out membrane. Eventually it leads to a ruptured or compromised membrane which starts to allow TDS through.

 

right on the money. removed the sediment and the psi jumped up to 45. so i will just replace both sed and carbon and see if it goes higher. would lowes or HD sell the parts i need ?

 

You will not find the same quality or micron range replacement filters at a hardware store. Most of them carry drinking water type, high micron nominal rated filters more suited for large particles and taste and odor.

I would look at places like Spectrapure, Buckeye Field Supply or Purelyh2o. Try to find filters in the 1 micron range or smaller so the sediment filter protects the pores in the carbon block and both protect the RO membrane. Many places sell filters in the 10 micron range which is really quite coarse when you consider you can see 40 microns with the unaided human eye. Not much protection, kind of like a screen door!

 

Glad to hear it was just the sed and carbon blocked up. I recommend and use ( with AZ's advice ) spectra pure 0.5 micron and have been very happy with the results. I'm in NY with a lot of construction in our neighborhood and you should the crud these capture.

 

Update

so i replace the sed and the carbon the psi is up to 45psi. the tds in is 110 and the OUT is 0.01? i read some where that if its below 0.03 it ok?

pic 1 is how my Ro unit looked before i started everything
pic 2 is what i took out of canister 1 and 2
pic 3 is how it looks now with the new Seg and carb

 

How is your inline TDS meter hooked up? The normal way is the IN probe after the RO membrane and the OUT probe after the DI filter so you monitor the membrane and resin conditions.
If yours is hooked up properly then you are in need of a RO membrane at a TDS or 110.
If it is hooked up with the IN probe on the tap water side you need to move the tee and probe to after the RO so it is between the RO and DI.

Inline meters do not have a decimal point so your TDS is 1, a whole number. Your goal is always 0 TDS for the RO/DI water as you have no idea what the TDS is made up of, it coule be phosphates, silicates, nitrates, copper or anything and you don't want it in your reef tank so change the DI at the first signs of anything other than 0 TDS after a couple minutes running.

 

I think it is hooked up incorrectly, below are pictures of how it hooked up red is the IN line from sink blue is out to the bucket

Pic 3 is after it goes through the canister and on its way to the RO.

This was the setup when I get it used.

 

Yes, you need to move the IN probe between the RO membrane and the DI canister. You need to monitor the RO membrane condition and the DI resin condition, monitoring the tap water without monitoring the RO does nothing as tap water TDS is fairly consistent unless treatment or sources change.

I much prefer a good handheld TDS meter as it can test all three plus things like your ATO storage, bottled water, the LFS water, vending machines, your buddies water etc. It is also much more accurate since the inlines are not truly temperature compensated and good $20-$25 handhelds are.

 

I Made the change now my IN read 001 and OUT is 000

 

Now you're cookin!
It sounds like your membrane is doing a good job. Make sure the probes are fully inserted in the tees and they are rotated in the correct orientation so they read correctly.