float valve inside sump

[djtuzik]

I placed my float valve inside my sump which does not have any baffles. I attached it to a milk crate and put inside the sump. The setup does what it's supposed to but because the sump has water movement, the float valve fluctuates slightly and makes the RO system auto shut off valve vibrate.
Anyone else have this issue?

 

[mussel and hate]

The auto shut off valve is intended for use with a pressurized storage tank. Do you have one plumbed to the system? If so replace the auto shut off valve (preferably with a permeate pump as that will yield lower TDS by overcoming the tank pressure). If not then plumb in a pressurized reservoir.

BTW you're going to get all sorts of grief on this board for plumbing your RO directly to your sump float valve. Dire tails of floods and such. Of course I had a setup like that for 20 something years with no failure...

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Are you running your RO filter water directly into your sump with a float valve? This is not the correct way to set up your RO, or your auto top off for that matter. Your RO should feed a separate RO tank. Then use an auto top off device to draw from the RO tank. I recommend purchasing a Tunze osmolator for your auto top off. It will handle the sump fluctuation you mentioned. Do some more research, there's a lot to learn on this subject to prevent floods and extend the life of your RO/DI filters.

 

[djtuzik]

The auto shut off valve is intended for use with a pressurized storage tank. Do you have one plumbed to the system? If so replace the auto shut off valve (preferably with a permeate pump as that will yield lower TDS by overcoming the tank pressure). If not then plumb in a pressurized reservoir.

BTW you're going to get all sorts of grief on this board for plumbing your RO directly to your sump float valve. Dire tails of floods and such. Of course I had a setup like that for 20 something years with no failure...

I understood very little from what you said. Pressurized storage tank?
I have my RO split , one is going into a brute can with a float. Other is going into sump. I don't see a difference between a storage container or sump. Both can over float. What am I missing?

 

[Harry_Y]

How I do it is I have two brute trashcans each with it's own float valve.
One is for Mixing fresh SW the other is for Top-off water.

The RODI filter has a valve with a knob for turning it on and off.

About once a week I do my water change then open the
valve and let both cans refill, once full I turn the valve off.

Then I make SW in one and on the other I use a maxi-jet
with a hose on the output to pump top-off water into my sump.

The Maxi-jet is controlled by a float switch hooked to my controller.

To me this is safer than the float valve in the sump in case it did stick open.
From my understanding it also puts less wear on the RODI Cartridges.

 

[yukimika]

wow. this is interesting. I have been using the float in the sump for 10 years. Why again is this bad?? seems to me any system can fail - it's just the risk we accept. What if the float switch on the ato sticks wouldn't that cause a similar problem? I guess the difference is the ato from storage is limited in the damage it can create since it's a finite amount of water but the ro/di straight to the sump can keep dumping indefinitely.

if you store water in a can for the ATO how long does the water last? doesn't it become old and grow algae or what not??

 

[Harry_Y]

wow. this is interesting. I have been using the float in the sump for 10 years. Why again is this bad?? seems to me any system can fail - it's just the risk we accept. What if the float switch on the ato sticks wouldn't that cause a similar problem? I guess the difference is the ato from storage is limited in the damage it can create since it's a finite amount of water but the ro/di straight to the sump can keep dumping indefinitely.

if you store water in a can for the ATO how long does the water last? doesn't it become old and grow algae or what not??

It is less of a risk because it does not have an unlimited supply.

I only make about a weeks worth of Top-Off water at a time
RODI is pretty pure, I've never had anything grow in it.

I still have the risk but not as much if it was unlimited

 

[kinnadian]

BTW you're going to get all sorts of grief on this board for plumbing your RO directly to your sump float valve. Dire tails of floods and such. Of course I had a setup like that for 20 something years with no failure...

There is the risk of the valve sticking open and continuing to flood your sump full of RO water.

There is also constant damage on your membrane and DI by continually putting very small amounts of water through the RO and DI.

When the RO first starts up, it lets through quite high TDS water which is bad for the membrane and obviously bad for the DI resin. Doing very small amounts very regularly will significantly reduce the life of both.

To prolong the life you should do large batches infrequently and put the first few minutes of permeate through the RO to waste, so that it doesn't foul the DI resin.

 

[djtuzik]

There is the risk of the valve sticking open and continuing to flood your sump full of RO water.

There is also constant damage on your membrane and DI by continually putting very small amounts of water through the RO and DI.

When the RO first starts up, it lets through quite high TDS water which is bad for the membrane and obviously bad for the DI resin. Doing very small amounts very regularly will significantly reduce the life of both.

To prolong the life you should do large batches infrequently and put the first few minutes of permeate through the RO to waste, so that it doesn't foul the DI resin.

interesting part about the membrane.
Perhaps a small adjustment is in order

 

[Allentown]

wow. this is interesting. I have been using the float in the sump for 10 years. Why again is this bad?? seems to me any system can fail - it's just the risk we accept. What if the float switch on the ato sticks wouldn't that cause a similar problem? I guess the difference is the ato from storage is limited in the damage it can create since it's a finite amount of water but the ro/di straight to the sump can keep dumping indefinitely.

It's more than that. In order for a tunze to fail the optical sensor would have to fail, then the high float valve would have to fail, then the auto time out counter would have to fail...not very likely. If you were running it on an apex with Kalk or a salinity probe then your apex would also have to fail (twice if you were running both).

Yes there have been a few whole house floods induced by a stuck flat valve, as you said....if all those features of a tunze fail, you get 5 to 20g in the floor because your resovoir is small.

But....what you are wanting CAN be done. It will however, somewhat reduce the life of your RO membrane. If your tap is negative in chlorine / cholarimine and or has a low tds, not a problem .......but if you are high on those, it will shred your RO membrane and youll burn through DI resin faster. This is a proposition for those with very clean tap water or who just has to be away from tank all the time.

Nonetheless, ...if you are in the mood for an upgrade (and who isn't) avast marine has a pretty cool kit for this purpose and Ryan on BRSTV has an excellent video on building a nearly fool proof RODI direct to sump system .

You can also buy a handy little murlock connect emergency shut off on amazon that you plum in your RO line and set in the floor, when it detects water on floor it will snap shut and kill the flow. It's cheap also.