RO/DI pressure drop after changing membrane

Ligershark

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So today I changed all my ro filters and my membrane. The membrane was a little over 2 years old and I wanted to up the per day amount anyways so I figured what the heck.

I went from a 50 gpd membrane to a 75 gpd membrane. My old flow restrictor was a capillary restrictor. The new one I purchased from BRS is the 500ML unit which is not a capillary unit. This is the one BRS recommends for the 75 gpd membrane.

My pressure has dropped to 30psi from a psi of about 60-70 prior to changing the membrane and filters. What gives? Both membranes are filmtec.

I measured my waste water for 1 minute and the equation ends up with 140.6 gallons/day. My product water is 22.5 gallons/day. Waste to product ratio is 6.25:1 which isn't bad but I wanted 75 gpd output.

Im going to put the old membrane and restrictor on tomorrow morning and see what the pressure gauge reads. If I get a good pressure rating I'm going to order a 75gpd capillary restrictor and see where that takes me.

Do I need a booster pump or is something wrong? Is it normal for the pressure to decrease when going to a larger membrane?
 
One issue is you have too much going out the waste line. Try your old capillary tube restrictor with the new membrane and see if it is closer to 3:1 to 4:1 waste ratio.
When you waste too much you lose pressue out the waste line. I would return the fixed restrictor and buy a new untrimmed capillary tube the follow the directions on how to trim it for your exact conditions. I hate it when vendors talk people into fixed restrictors, rarely are they ever correct since everyones TDS, pressure and temperature are different.
 

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