Broken RODI housing. Has anyone seen this before

[RobAndy]

Hi! New to R2R. Any help would be appreciated. My RODI housing fractured right below the threading and the bottom fell off (yes flooding the basement). This is after 6 months of use. A couple weeks ago the same thing happened to one of the other housings. Functions normally otherwise. Anyone have this happen or ideas as to why? I figured manufacturing defect on first one… 2/3 broken now… so wondering about other answers!

 

[redfishbluefish]

I've only seen that type of break with a friend who had his unit in an unheated garage....and it froze on a cold night.

The only other thought is that they were over tightened???? I loose-tighten the canisters; turn the water on and snug them up if I see dripping.

 

[RobAndy]

I've only seen that type of break with a friend who had his unit in an unheated garage....and it froze on a cold night.

The only other thought is that they were over tightened???? I loose-tighten the canisters; turn the water on and snug them up if I see dripping.

thx! I wondered about over tightening on the first one too, but the second for sure was not (and the threaded parts came off pretty easy both times). The RODI is in my basement.

 

[Derrick0580]

Possibly a bad batch of plastic weld to glue the threaded part on? Looks like its clearly 2 pieces glued together. Would assume if they were the cannisters that came with the unit, they were produced in the same batch.

 

[dadnjesse]

I never realized that the thread part was glued on are they all like that.

 

[Derrick0580]

I never realized that the thread part was glued on are they all like that.

I wasn’t saying for a fact they are, just making an observation based on the clean break that appears in the photo. When I change my cannisters I only hand tighten them since they have an o-ring. Only time I’ve ever had leaks is because I’m not paying attention that the o-ring came out of place.

 

[RobAndy]

Possibly a bad batch of plastic weld to glue the threaded part on? Looks like its clearly 2 pieces glued together. Would assume if they were the cannisters that came with the unit, they were produced in the same batch.

Picture may not show it well, it is one piece that broke but that would have made sense.

 

[dadnjesse]

It looks too symetrical to not be two pieces.

 

[cilyjr]

If it's a Pentair (pentek) it's injection molded styrene. The opaque ones are polypropylene.
1 solid piece, not glued.

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

Yes. Seen it before. Typically caused by over-tightening the housing or water in the housing freezing.
1. Hand tighten, and maybe only 1/8 turn with wrench if need
2. If still leaks, replace the oring
3. Clean and lube orings every time you change filters.

When you tighten the housing you're pulling the threads UP and away from the rest of the housing being held DOWN by the oring seating against the lid.

Russ

 

[redfishbluefish]

Yes. Seen it before. Typically caused by over-tightening the housing or water in the housing freezing.
1. Hand tighten, and maybe only 1/8 turn with wrench if need
2. If still leaks, replace the oring
3. Clean and lube orings every time you change filters.

When you tighten the housing you're pulling the threads UP and away from the rest of the housing being held DOWN by the oring seating against the lid.

Russ

Spot on! One further comment with lubing O-rings; Do not use petroleum base lubes, such as Vaseline. Petroleum based lubes will be absorbed by the rubber and cause it to swell and fail. Buy a lube specifically made for rubber, such as Plumber's Grease for rubber (note some Plumber's Grease is petroleum based, so check.) I use a lube for swimming pool rubber stuff. A large tube is a life time supply

 

[twentyleagues]

For o ring lube you want silicon oring lube. You can pick it up at most hardware stores including the big box ones.

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

Food grade oring lube

 

[John K]

RobAndy, are you in Sudbury Ma. or Sudbury elsewhere? If you are in Ma, I have two spare canisters you can borrow until you get replacements. (PM me if that would help)