Need help with Ro/Di unit

[bk_market]

Alright bought the faucet today. Hook the Ro/Di unit up and running but not sure if im doing the right thing.

 

This is how i set up

 

4. water from faucet

3. not sure what this do???? can someone explain this one?

2.bad waste water

1. Good Ro/Di water

 

Am I doing the right thing? Thanx much in advance

 

Edited August 12, 2007 by bk_market

[bk_market]

can someone help me out please?

[emissary]

Not sure, can you contact the manufacturer? I'm not familiar with some of those components. Not sure it would be helpful, but here's some potential setup diagrams for the unit that I use:

 

http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/librar...ko%20Manual.pdf

 

At least you can see how the components flow together.

[jnguyen4007]

Hung,

 

Did you buy this new? If you did, it should come with a clear instruction on how to hook it up. Otherwise, you might try the manufacturer website to see if they have the instruction or perhaps even call them directly.

 

James

[EBR]

What is it doing (or not doing) that is of concern? Can you test the output of the DI, and is it near or at zero TDS?

 

Can you post a picture of the entire setup, with all hoses and connections visible? I'd like to see where the yellow and blue are attached.

 

Do you have an RO bypass so that you hook up the RO output for drinking water?

 

Did you use the color hoses they recommend? I have only the experience of installing one unit, and the colors were:

red == raw, unfiltered water

black == waste water

blue (or clear) is RO or DI

 

As for the valve, I'm not sure why it would on the output, unless the red line is really the input. This would allow you to shut the supply to the system for maintenance, etc.

 

Let's start there before going further ;-)

Thanks.

Matt

[johnnybv]

can someone help me out please?

It looks right, can you test TDS? That would be a pretty good way to see if its working properly.

john

[bk_market]

Thanx for the advices guys.

 

I bought this one used.

 

Anwyay what is TDS test? I used my normal amonia, nitrite, nitrate test.

 

The one that i hook up and label as waste water come out with amonie, nitrite and nitrate even theya re not high but still.

 

The good water all the parameter is 0

 

 

Im just not sure about the valve i label #3 Im not sure what the purpose of that one. I will geta clear pic tomorrow.

[ArtC]

Assuming that the three vertical cylinders are the mechanical filtration, the horizontal white cylinder IS the RO, and the horizontal clear is the DI, then it looks OK. (The RO unit always has 1 input and 2 outputs. The DI is often clear so you can see media consumption.)

 

Black tap line runs thru the three mechanical filters, white line runs thru RO, blue is good RO that runs into DI and comes out on the clear line. Yellow is the bad RO water that goes to red after the switch.

 

Is either of the valves actually a T? The white one might be a T that you use to bypass the RO briefly when you first use or replace carbon filters and don't want to pump the initial crud into the RO. The black may just be the shutoff.

 

Do you get much more water out of the red line than the clear line? ROs reject more water than they keep.

[bk_market]

I do get more water out of the red line than the clear line.

 

The valve at 3 as i turn it will either give me more on red line or more on clear line. What does this mean?

[YBeNormal]

That looks like a "fast flush valve". In one position, it provides back pressure to force some of the water through the membrane. In the other position, it removes the back pressure allowing almost all of the water to go to the drain. This fast flow of water across the outside of the membrane is supposed to flush away some of the built up gunk on the membrane and make it last longer.

 

While making RO/DI water, change the position of the switch and see if the waste water output changes. If so, it is a fast flush valve. If not, .

[jnguyen4007]

Hung,

 

The best way to tell if your RO/DI unit is set up correctly is to measure the TDS, total disolve solid. I bought one for something like $30 when I bought my RO/DI unit and attached it to my RO/DI so I know the tds measurement of the water before it runs through the filter and the tds measurement afterward. You can also get a handheld one for cheap or possibly borrow one from one of the members. TDS meter is definitely a worthwhile thing to have because you know for sure when it's time to change your RO/DI filters.

 

James

[YBeNormal]

OK, I did a little research and found a dealer on eBay selling this brand. His listing mentions a "****NEW**** EXTERNAL MOUNTED FLOW RESTRICTOR ADJUSTABLE--FINE TUNE YOUR SYSTEM FOR MAXIMUX PERFORMANCE". IMHO, this is not a good thing to have 'cause most people have no idea how it should be adjusted.

 

RO/DI units use back pressure to force water through the membrane to the "product" line and on to the DI chamber. Some water is allowed to bypass the membrane and go to the drain, washing away the dissolved solids that are too large to pass through the membrane. If there is too little back pressure on the membrane, very little water will be forced through the membrane. If you have too much back pressure, you'll get lots of "product" RO water but your membrane will clog faster and need to be replaced. The trick is to have a happy medium.

 

Most RO/DI units include a flow restrictor that is tuned to the membrane being used. A 75gpd membrane will use a different flow restrictor than a 50gpd unit would use. They are tuned to provide roughly a 1 to 4 product to waste ratio, maybe 1 to 5 on some units.

 

So, find two containers and insert the output of your RO "product" line into one and the output of your waste line into the other. Open the valve on the RO line and adjust the flow restrictor until you achieve a 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 ratio of RO output to waste water.

 

Edit: P.S. Opening the valve all the way and allowing the water to waste will also serve as a "fast flush" for the membrane. How much this really helps extend the life of the membrane is beyond me but it is a selling point for some systems.

Edited August 13, 2007 by YBeNormal

[phisigs79]

Its a flush valve and needs to be closed. The clear line is your fresh water and the rest is waste. You need to flush off the membrane by opening the flush valve every week or so depending on how much water you make. The valve does truely make a difference from what i have tested. Not sure if it makes the membrane last longer though but i hear it does. The clear line runs pretty slow but most RO/DI have a rejection rate of 98-99% so most of the water is waste water. Have fun making clean water!

[flowerseller]

I have this unit and love it, but mine doesn't have the cool blue DI resin chamber.

 

#3 is a flush valve like Ybe suggested. It should be at a 90 to the flow, almost like it is.

The blue cartridge at the top, the last before collection, is for DI resin. If it's not like little beads but more like carbon, (charcoal flakes) you'd be better off to unhook it and collect water right after the R/O membrane, which is just before it.

Sending water through carbon after the R/O membrane will actually raise your TDS.

 

HTH

[davelin315]

I agree, you need to have the valve turned all the way 90 degrees for the RO to filter water. Also, on the final stage, if it's not jammed in there tightly it won't work right. Your chamber is less than half full it looks like and so the water is flowing over it rather than being forced through it. Fill the chamber the rest of the way up with whatever the media is and then run it again.

 

Also, TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids. TDS meters are also called conductivity meters because "pure water" is not able to conduct electricity. The dissolved solids in it allow it to conduct electricity (not advocating taking a bath with a hairdryer in RO/DI water, but you won't get nearly the same shock as you would with tap water!). So, the first two chambers are typically sediment filters with the second one usually being a carbon filter as well. The 3rd chamber is another carbon filter of some sort (usually) and then it goes into the RO chamber. The RO chamber has rejected water (the waste line) that is restricted as far as how much it flows - for the water to be pushed through the RO membrane it has to have a certain amount of pressure left over from the water flowing out the waste line which is why you have a restrictor valve on there. The water that makes it through the membrane should have between 95-98% less TDS than the water entering it. The remaining amount is then filtered out by the DI stage.

[Buckeye Field Supply]

For those with the type of RODI system pictured above - you'll want to unclip that horizontal DI stage and mount it vertically with bottom up flow to increase the efficiency of the system.

 

Russ