NEED HELP ASAP - RO Unit Membrane

[pufferpoison]

Ok here's the deal. A friend of mine has an old coralife Ro/Di unit and was trying to put it together but had all the in / outs etc. hooked up wrong. I re-plumbed it correctly and installed a new membrane. He even had the ASOV hooked up wrong (at least from what I've seen on online diagrams)

So I hooked everything up and turned the water on and you can hear water running but nothing is coming out from the RO Out, it's all going down the waste line. I have checked the plumbing several times and even unhooked different lines to see how much pressure and there is full pressure going into the membrane, but it's just not passing through the membrane.

Another problem I saw was the flow restrictor was a 550, not an 800 - I know a 75 GPD Dow (which he has just installed) should have a 800 flow restrictor. What does having the lower (550) restrictor do to the unit?

Also does it just take time for water to pass through the membrane and start working? I have 3 RO/DI units and don't remember any of them taking that long to start making water. We left the unit running for about 20 minutes and still nothing coming out of the RO out.

 

[SpectraPure]

Inside of the waste line should be a flow restrictor. It regulates the waste water vs the product water. If you do not have a flow restrictor in the waste line. You can use a ball valve. You want to make sure that you are getting at least 2:1 which is 2 parts waste water to 1 part product water. I really like going to 3:1. My filters last longer this way. IF you disconnect your waste line, and there is nothing inside of it, then you will either need a flow restrictor, or a ball valve.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Jeremy

 

[SpectraPure]

oh. Your friend has an old barrel flow restrictor. Ok. Is the membrane old? When was it replaced. The problem with those types of flow restrictors is that they clog of with calcium over time. This ends up reducing the waste water, and it ends up calcifying the membrane. This eventually leads to a production halt. Also if the membrane was exposed to eai, and it has dried out. It will no longer produce any product water.

This type of flow restrictor is better. it does not clog up.
http://spectrapure.com/AQUARIUM/MEM...w-Restrictors/Standard-90-GPD-Flow-Restrictor

You might need a membrane.

Jeremy

 

[SpectraPure]

If the inlet pressure is low, it could take a long time for that final DI canister to fill. A good way to check is to disconnect the tubing from the RO to the DI canister, and see if water comes out of the ro membrane directly.

Jeremy

 

[pufferpoison]

Jeremy,

The membrane is factory new (DOW) and was just installed. I had to unplug and hook up correctly the ASOV that was plumbed wrong.

I followed a diagram on how to set up the ASOV. I have some knowledge about RO/DI units so I tested each line (after the 3 inline filters, full pressure, waster pressure, etc.) - Pressure going to the Membrane, just nothing coming out of the RO out (leading to the DI cartridge). Is it normal for a brand new membrane to reject 100% for 20+ minutes with 100% going down the rejection line off of the membrane?

 

[SpectraPure]

No if it is a new membrane then it should be fine. Ok so here is a quick schematic.
Line from Carbon block to ASO In
ASO out to Membrane In
Product water port to check valve.
Make sure check valve arrow is pointing the right way.
Check valve to ASO either of the final two open slots.
ASO to DI in
DI out final product water.

 

[pufferpoison]

So then it's normal for it to take 20-30 minutes or more from a newly changed Membrane to start making ANY water from the RO out line?

 

[SpectraPure]

do you have a check valve?

 

[SpectraPure]

oh important. The product water line is the port dead center on the side with two ports, and the waste water is going to be the offset port.

 

[SpectraPure]

The membrane should not take that long to produce water. If you have a ball valve you can put it on your waste line, and close it half way. If you start producing product water, then the flow restrictor is damaged.

 

[SpectraPure]

http://spectrapure.com/huds/ASO-SYS.pdf

 

[pufferpoison]

Ding, Ding, Ding. I think we have a damaged flow restrictor. It's allowing 100% of the water to run out instead of putting pressure on the membrane (water will travel in the direction of the least restricted flow)

 

[SpectraPure]

It very well may be. IS the system pressure low? Read my PM. Talk to you tomorrow.

Jeremy