Bladder Tank From Lowes - RO/DI

[RandyStacyE]

I am in need of a 5 gal bladder tank to run RO water to a faucet (for drinking) and my DI water to a separate reservoir for my tanks.

I ran to Lowes and picked up one of these:
WellSaverâ"žÂ¢ 5 Gallon Expansion Water Heater Pressure Tank
Shown on this page: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=160682-48324-LET-5&lpage=none

I hooked it up as one would rig a bladder tank and it only seems to hold enough water to fill 1-2 cups of water out of the faucet.

I double cheked this tank and it's box and it would seem that this tank is for being placed in-line with water heaters for heat expansion and what not.

Does anyone know if Lowes carries a proper bladder tank for my use? I was thinking that maybe this one would work:
WellSaverâ"žÂ¢
5 Gallon In-Line Pressure Tank
Shown on this page: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=160659-48324-LPT-5&lpage=none
Looks identical doesn't it

Does anyone know if this one will work?

 

[nanoDude]

Is the pressure in the tank set properly?

 

[x2uranium]

It should work, Pressure tanks hold pressure due to an inner bladder, also you can adjust the pressure from the pressure tank (usually) by adding air to the presure tank through a fitting. The expansion tank just works for 'holding' water because it has no bladder. Im a plumber so i deal with these alot.

 

[RandyStacyE]

nanoDude,
The item description says that the tank is Pre-charged to 38 psi. I assume that is pre-charged, though I did not test it. I hooked it all up and turned everything on and approx 1 hr later the RO unit stopped producing (it’s a 75 gpd RO unit). I confirmed that the unit was finished producing and thought “it couldn’t have filled this tank already”. When I opened the faucet it shot out approx 1-2 cups of water and that’s all. Now I double checked the item description and it states that this bladder tank is pre-charged with 38 psi and is intended for the use with hot water heaters.


x2uranium,
I think I understand what you are saying. Do you think that the pre-charged pressure is too great for this use? Should I lower the pressure to any specific pressure? I just want a decent volume of water to exit the faucet when we use it. I figured a 5 gal tank would be overkill if not dead on. So you think that the tank that I purchased should work?


I suppose it would be wise for me to show how I plumbed this bad boy so that it is more clear. I’ll post a crude drawing in a few … maybe several minutes.

 

[RandyStacyE]

This is basically how this RO unit is plumbed to the faucet and this bladder tank:

 

[RandyStacyE]

As far as the hardware on this RO unit ... it has this type of ASO valve:

 

[medic29]

Randy, it sounds like the pressure in the tank is overcoming the ASO on your RO unit. To confirm this you would need to find out @ what pressure the ASO turns off. I would suspect if you lower the pressure in the tank it will take on more water, but you may run into the problem of not enough pressure to bring the water up to the faucet due to resistance, thus the reason why most times these tanks are located in the cabinet under the sink/faucet.

What turns off the ASO is back pressure against it and if I had to bet I'd say it shuts off around 40lbs of pressure and since the bladder is set at 38 lbs, thus the reason why it cannot take on much water before the ASO turns the unit off.

HTH

 

[Donw]

Asv is going to be 60% of line pressure or if you bought a good one 90%. Most rodi systems come with 60%.

Don

 

[x2uranium]

Alot of times the slope is too great for the R/O Units bladder tank pressure meaning it is too high up to pump they require booster pump applications, our company deals with them we do water filtration We have put several RO systems in like this basement setup some reqire booster pumps

 

[x2uranium]

Edit** Sorry didnt realize it was a crawlspace, i was talking about full basement apps.

 

[Donw]

Missed the pressure. RODI tank sould only have 7psi empty.

Don

 

[x2uranium]

The 5 gal pressurized tank should work I think I may go this route as well, my RO only holds 2.5g

 

[RandyStacyE]

medic29,

That is what I was concerned about, but I didn’t know enough about bladder tanks to know if I should be concerned. I was thinking … how much of a difference could there be ?

I bought the ‘OCEAN REEF + 1 FIVE STAGE 75 GPD RO/DI’ shown on this page:
http://www.thefilterguys.biz/ro_di_systems.htm

You probably right too … it couldn’t hut to let some air out and see how the water volume improves. I can tell you that it will be a LOT more difficult to add air than it will be to let it out I think I’ll give it a try before I return the tank.


Donw,

Thanks for the input. This unit does have a gauge so if The Filter Guys can tell me what the pressure on the ASO is then they may be able to suggest a pressure for the tank.


x2uranium,

All of the hoses on the RO unit is 1/4" OD (inlet, waste, and outlet), but I have 1/4" OD lines running from the bladder tank to the faucet. The Tee in the drawing is a 3/8” Tee. I just adapted from 1/4" (from the unit) to the Tee and the faucet. My assumption was that this would give me less back pressure and also allow better volume from the tank to the faucet.

 

[x2uranium]

Correct more flow to the water line but still same from into - out of RO It should in theory increase the heck out of your pressure im sure.

 

[Donw]

Set it at 7psi no matter what asv you have.

Don

 

[RandyStacyE]

I was just in the middle of emailing The Filter Guys ... I'll ditch the email. I am likely going to follow Don's advice before returning this bladder tank.

I'll re-read all of your advice before I attempt anything.

THANK YOU very much all of you for the advice! I truely appreciate it.

 

[Donw]

I have this one set at 7psi.
http://www.waterfiltersonline.com/detail.asp?product_id=Amtrol_20

 

[RandyStacyE]

Wow ... that's a hefty price. I just had to compair price Lowes has a tank 37 gal tank for $193.00

I just don't know enough about bladder tanks to choose the best one.

I don't think that my local store stocks any other 5 gal tanks so I'll just lower the psi and see what it does before I do anything else.

 

[kgross]

Don is right, just drop the pressure in the tank. A normal well pump will put out 70 to 100 psi, and your RO shuts off way before that, so there is to high of pressure in the tank to allow the water to compress the air before shutting off the ro. I have a 40 gallon tank on mine and I had to do the same thing.

Kim

 

[kgross]

Sorry Dupe