Anyone else have any problems running their RO unit from their sink? I think I have maybe blown some gaskets or something from all the back pressure that this thing creates. It seems I have leaks everywhere now after using this for a couple of months. Has this happened to anyone else? The sink was my only alternative since I live in an apartment. This is just freakin' great.:mad2:
Problems with RO/DI connected to sink
- Thread starter brucoh
- Start date
Daddeo
"Daddius Maximas"
The back pressure from RO/DI units can play havoc on faucets. Do you have your own washer/dryer? If so, just go to home depot or lowes and get a "Y" splitter for a hose bib. Then get a 1/4" tubing adaptor to thread onto one side of the splitter. That way you won't have to worry about stressing your sink faucet any longer 
. Here's a pic to show what I mean:
. Here's a pic to show what I mean:
Yeah, it's the faucet and the little pipe that runs from the under-the-counter knob that have the leaks in them. No, I don't have a washer and dryer hookup, that's why I had it connected to the sink. I'd already planned on moving in the next couple of months, but until then, I guess my RO/DI unit is worthless here. Great!:mad2: Anyone else planning on hooking an RO/DI unit up to their sink better pay attention to this. My sink is now leaking out of almost every possible place it could.
RobbyG
Active member
Please explain how an RO unit can increase pressure on your pipes. I would love to hear this one.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6935171#post6935171 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Daddeo
The back pressure from RO/DI units can play havoc on faucets. Do you have your own washer/dryer? If so, just go to home depot or lowes and get a "Y" splitter for a hose bib. Then get a 1/4" tubing adaptor to thread onto one side of the splitter. That way you won't have to worry about stressing your sink faucet any longer
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
sorry brucoh.... the RO/DI unit is not what has caused your pipes to leak. No way no how. BTW Daddeo the "washer" is connected to to faucets (the valves in your picture) and turns the water on and off. It does so rather sharply with a solenoid when the tub fills.
Have you ever seen a dishwasher that connects to the kitchen sink via a hose set with a quick coupler? How about a quick coupler to adapt the old school tubs to a hand held shower wand? How about the "brita" water filters that fit on the end of hte faucet in the kitchen (or any other faucet for that matter).
I don't mean to sound confrontational, but this is just BAD information that will get picked up and propogated by others.
The OP is wrong in his reasoning and warnings, and your "play havoc on faucets" is dead wrong as well.
Your washing maching hookup is a nice idea and is a great alternative to piercing a pipe or loosing the use of a faucet full time.
Bean
Have you ever seen a dishwasher that connects to the kitchen sink via a hose set with a quick coupler? How about a quick coupler to adapt the old school tubs to a hand held shower wand? How about the "brita" water filters that fit on the end of hte faucet in the kitchen (or any other faucet for that matter).
I don't mean to sound confrontational, but this is just BAD information that will get picked up and propogated by others.
The OP is wrong in his reasoning and warnings, and your "play havoc on faucets" is dead wrong as well.
Your washing maching hookup is a nice idea and is a great alternative to piercing a pipe or loosing the use of a faucet full time.
Bean
Josh125
Member
I honestly can't comment on back pressure, however I can comment on how eventually you will damage your sink by using it for a RO hookup assuming you remove it after use. The constant torquing eventually bent the inside of my faucet and caused the water to spray out sideways...ha, funny I know.
I picked one of these and couldn't be happier having it hooked up to the washer line.
I picked one of these and couldn't be happier having it hooked up to the washer line.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
You really had to do something wrong for a little hose and adaptor to put anough torque on the faucet neck to damage it.
What back pressure? When the RO/DI is running there is no back pressure. When it shuts off there is still no back pressure, both sides of the valve and seat are at equilibrium. Your RO/DI unit does not magicaly make more pressure than your supply pipeing has to offer. Even it it did, the pressure differential would have to be HUGE, and at that point the valve and seat would leak system water back into the supply line, still no damage. Faucets are rather simple devices, they are valves.
Bean
Bean
What back pressure? When the RO/DI is running there is no back pressure. When it shuts off there is still no back pressure, both sides of the valve and seat are at equilibrium. Your RO/DI unit does not magicaly make more pressure than your supply pipeing has to offer. Even it it did, the pressure differential would have to be HUGE, and at that point the valve and seat would leak system water back into the supply line, still no damage. Faucets are rather simple devices, they are valves.
Bean
Bean
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Cheap sink? I dunno... I have hooked hoses and sprayers to our sinks for ages. When I lived in an apartment we had no garden hose hookup, the sink was used several times a week for the hose. My laundry tub faucet gets a hose hooked and unhooked from at least 5 times a week.
May I suggest screwing a brass female quick disconnect onto the faucet end and then brass male quick disconencts to all of your faucet accessories? Remove the aerator all together and attach it to a quick disconnect itself.
May I suggest screwing a brass female quick disconnect onto the faucet end and then brass male quick disconencts to all of your faucet accessories? Remove the aerator all together and attach it to a quick disconnect itself.
I have my RO/DI hooked to the end of my faucet via a faucet adapter. The faucet now has a bad leak where the neck connects to the base. I may have overstated all the leaks before because this one is bad enough that it is running down the hot/cold pipes underneath the cabinet and that is why I thought they were leaking too. When I noticed that this was happening, I hooked it up to my bathroom sink and a similar leak (not as bad) occured and that leak stopped when I unhooked the faucet adapter. There are many places in a faucet that water can escape if there is enough pressure in it and if the faucet is worn out enough. Do I have crappy faucets? Probably. These apartments where built in the 70's and its probably the originals. I have no doubt the backpressure forced through the faucet caused this. If you guys say you've had no problems using the faucet adapter, I feel a little more comfortable hooking it back up after I get my faucet replaced.
Daddeo
"Daddius Maximas"
Wha......?
Um...........yeah........
Confrontational, when do you come off as non-confrontational?
Sometimes people amuse me with their ill educated attempts at trying to discredit someone else. I personally have seen similar types of problems many times, hence my occupation.............
The washing machine hook-up is not my idea, it's one of the standard ways to hook-up a RO/DI unit in your home.
Edit: By the way, I have seen many times back pressure from a device hooked up to the faucet being the culprit causing a faucet to leak. I will now bow out of this disscusion since it seems that what I have experienced doesn't have any merit.........
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BeanAnimal
Premium Member
bah I tried to edit my post and deleted the whole darn body of text....
Firstly, I never credited you with inventing that particular hookup method, I complimented your use of it in an attempt to not be totaly negative towards your post. You are correct it is a very common way of hooking up RO/DI and other water using devices to a laundry spigot and retain use of the spigot.
Secondly, an RO/DI unit will not cause a faucet to leak. YOu may have "observed" leaking faucets but that cause is not the RO/DI or other device plumbed to the end of the faucet. The leaky faucet neck is not caused by the RO/DI it is simply due to worn gaskets or seals.
The reason I listed the other appliances was to illustrate a half dozen other devices that are hooked to faucets millions of times a day without causing them to fail.
Liek I said, I did not want to sound confrontational, but I wanted to point out that you were wrong and try to do so in a polite way.
Educated attempt to discredit? Well lets put it this way, I have an intimate knowledge of how a faucet works. I can tell you that your wrong based on that knowledge. A faucet is a VERY SIMPLE device and what you content just is not so. Could hte faucet be faulty? Of course, and that is what you have observed. A working faucet in good conditon will not leak with a device hooked to it. IF the faucet leaks it is not the fault of the device, but rather the condition of the faucet.
Your laundry valves will leak someday as well, esp if they are not opened all the way when in use and exercised on a regular basis to remove lime and other hard water depostits from the seat.
Firstly, I never credited you with inventing that particular hookup method, I complimented your use of it in an attempt to not be totaly negative towards your post. You are correct it is a very common way of hooking up RO/DI and other water using devices to a laundry spigot and retain use of the spigot.
Secondly, an RO/DI unit will not cause a faucet to leak. YOu may have "observed" leaking faucets but that cause is not the RO/DI or other device plumbed to the end of the faucet. The leaky faucet neck is not caused by the RO/DI it is simply due to worn gaskets or seals.
The reason I listed the other appliances was to illustrate a half dozen other devices that are hooked to faucets millions of times a day without causing them to fail.
Liek I said, I did not want to sound confrontational, but I wanted to point out that you were wrong and try to do so in a polite way.
Educated attempt to discredit? Well lets put it this way, I have an intimate knowledge of how a faucet works. I can tell you that your wrong based on that knowledge. A faucet is a VERY SIMPLE device and what you content just is not so. Could hte faucet be faulty? Of course, and that is what you have observed. A working faucet in good conditon will not leak with a device hooked to it. IF the faucet leaks it is not the fault of the device, but rather the condition of the faucet.
Your laundry valves will leak someday as well, esp if they are not opened all the way when in use and exercised on a regular basis to remove lime and other hard water depostits from the seat.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
You are also 100% correct... the seal at the neck of the faucet is leaking (more than likely it isn't even there anymore). This of course is not a "leaky faucet" rather it is a leaky neck and can be easily fixed with a new o-ring or gasket. This is not caused bv the RO/DI unit, but is rather a symptom of neglect or old age.
No, I dont think so. True, I probably have bad faucets, but the RO/Di unit made them even worse. How do you explain my bathroom faucet leaking when I hooked the unit to it? Backpressure stresses the gaskets and seals. I'm sure other people out there have the same quality faucets as me and may find themselves in a similar situation, hence the warning. I never said an RO/DI will ruin a good faucet, but I believe it will put alot of stress on it. If people are using this connection, they just need to keep an eye on things when the unit is running. I live in a 2nd floor apt. and just happened to notice water coming out of my cabinet door about 5 minutes after I started the unit. I usually leave the thing running for about an hour and then check on it. If that would've gone unnoticed for an hour, my neighbor and I would've had a mess on our hands.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Your reasoning is sound, as is your current understadning of the situation. The original posts and a few of the replies seemed headed down the "RO/DI units can damage faucets" path. Or in other words "man don't ever hook this up to that or this will ruin that" kinda deal...
The same warning could be given to those hooking up a washer using OLD hoses (or any other situation).
I am glad you got this sorted out and hve a plan to get your unit hooked back up without the leaks!
The same warning could be given to those hooking up a washer using OLD hoses (or any other situation).
I am glad you got this sorted out and hve a plan to get your unit hooked back up without the leaks!
jdieck
New member
The packing of a sink faucet like the one on the stem and the stem housing are not ususally design for full pipe pressure. When the faucet is closed the stem plugs the pipe orifice and the rest of the faucet stay at atmosperic pressure. When you open the faucet is is basically the same low pressure as the water flow has little restriction to flow to the sink but if you have a restriction in the outlet which creates a lot of resistance to flow, the whole pipe pressure is applied to those packings in the stem and stem housing.
Laundry and garden faucets are designed to work with that back pressure as they assume that when open you can either have a solenoid from the washer being closed (with the faucet still open)or resistance from a sprinkler or similar.
Notice that an RO/DI units (like a solenoid or anything that totally closes the pipe after the faucet) will apply full pipe pressure (45 to 60 psi) to the downstream packing of any faucet but not a hose or an open ended pipe. If the faucet is not designed for it (and many specially the fancy ones with a single lever) there is a good chance it may leak even with new gaskets, it is just a design thing.
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