RODI newbie and need advice!

[glb]

Today my Aquatic Life RO Buddy is arriving. I also purchased the addition DI unit. I'm experienced with SW tanks but have never had a RODI before. Any hits or troubleshooting advice would be welcome because I know nothing! What do I need to know before I use it?

 

[AZDesertRat]

Before making any water disconnect each filter and flush them individually. Hook up the faucet adapter or whatever your source will be then disconnect the line from the sediment filter to the carbon filter and flush the glues and binders out of the sediment filter for a few minutes. Connect the sediment filter to the carbon filter then disconnect the carbon filter from the RO membrane and coontinue flushing the carbon dust and fines out for another couple minutes. Reconnect to the RO membrane then make 3-5 gallons of RO water sending it down the drain to flush the chemicals and antimicrobials the membranes are coated with during the manufacturing process. Do this until your handheld TDS meter shows it is 96-98% lower TDS than your tap water is meaning the membrane is operating to specs. Connect the DI filter and make an addition gallon or so to the drain to rinse up the DI and get rid of the solution the resin beads are stored in.
You are now ready to make your first RO/DI water. You will use cold water ONLY, never try to blend or mix hot and cold, this is the quickest way there is to ruin a RO membrane and DI. Turn the cold water faucet on all the way so it gets maximum pressure and volume. Monitor your water temperature and water pressure as well as your waste ratio and your tap water TDS, RO only TDS before DI and your final RO/DI TDS so you know if your RO/DI is operating efficiently or in need of replacements and maintenance. A pressure gauge and a handheld TDS meter will become your best friends as they are the tools to troubleshoot a RO or RO/DI.

 

[glb]

Thanks!!!

 

[glb]

Before making any water disconnect each filter and flush them individually. Hook up the faucet adapter or whatever your source will be then disconnect the line from the sediment filter to the carbon filter and flush the glues and binders out of the sediment filter for a few minutes. Connect the sediment filter to the carbon filter then disconnect the carbon filter from the RO membrane and coontinue flushing the carbon dust and fines out for another couple minutes. Reconnect to the RO membrane then make 3-5 gallons of RO water sending it down the drain to flush the chemicals and antimicrobials the membranes are coated with during the manufacturing process. Do this until your handheld TDS meter shows it is 96-98% lower TDS than your tap water is meaning the membrane is operating to specs. Connect the DI filter and make an addition gallon or so to the drain to rinse up the DI and get rid of the solution the resin beads are stored in.
You are now ready to make your first RO/DI water. You will use cold water ONLY, never try to blend or mix hot and cold, this is the quickest way there is to ruin a RO membrane and DI. Turn the cold water faucet on all the way so it gets maximum pressure and volume. Monitor your water temperature and water pressure as well as your waste ratio and your tap water TDS, RO only TDS before DI and your final RO/DI TDS so you know if your RO/DI is operating efficiently or in need of replacements and maintenance. A pressure gauge and a handheld TDS meter will become your best friends as they are the tools to troubleshoot a RO or RO/DI.

So to get cold water I'd have to use an internal faucet? I have a hose outside and wanted to do it out there. If I run the water enough to get out the warmer water that was sitting in the hose, do you think that would be cool enough? It's the same water that runs in the house.

 

[g6gang]

Just some caution. My hose line has way too much pressure then what I got from my sink inside (t-ed from the cold supply). So make sure pressure is right for RO membrane.

Other tip I just discovered after a year of making RO.: make sure your holding vessel is sealed from getting oxygen, has a small amount of water movement and no heater. Otherwise it will grow bacteria just sitting there. So I was making zero TDS water to only turn into 40-70 TDS sitting in the holding chamber...wondering why I could not get rid of Cyano.

 

[RobberyinCSharp1824]

One good thing to know, especially if you're using well water, is that you should run cold water only through the lines. Warm/hot water often breaks up sediments and such in the water lines and increases the TDS that need to be filtered through. You'll go through filters much faster!

 

[RobberyinCSharp1824]

Just some caution. My hose line has way too much pressure then what I got from my sink inside (t-ed from the cold supply). So make sure pressure is right for RO membrane.

Other tip I just discovered after a year of making RO.: make sure your holding vessel is sealed from getting oxygen, has a small amount of water movement and no heater. Otherwise it will grow bacteria just sitting there. So I was making zero TDS water to only turn into 40-70 TDS sitting in the holding chamber...wondering why I could not get rid of Cyano.

That's really good to know! I do that a lot, which also explains my algae outbreaks.

 

[glb]

So I got it but the instructions are pathetic. Off to Youtube to figure it out! It says I need more 1/4" tubing, which I have plenty of, but the tubing that is included is much more rigid than typical 1/4" you use on other things. Do I need reinforced tubing and if so, what is it called and where can I get it? Here's a pic of the unit:

The blue tubing included is visible.

 

[glb]

Just some caution. My hose line has way too much pressure then what I got from my sink inside (t-ed from the cold supply). So make sure pressure is right for RO membrane.

Other tip I just discovered after a year of making RO.: make sure your holding vessel is sealed from getting oxygen, has a small amount of water movement and no heater. Otherwise it will grow bacteria just sitting there. So I was making zero TDS water to only turn into 40-70 TDS sitting in the holding chamber...wondering why I could not get rid of Cyano.

Well, I just checked all the faucets in our house and they're all too small to screw the adapter in. Here's the adapter:

So it looks like a regular hose is the only thing I can screw this into, and that's outside. I'm getting very frustrated. Has anyone had luck using an RODI outside? I wouldn't leave the unit or the RODI water outside after I was done. My tank is small so I can store the water in the house with A/C. Is this doable? I live in South Florida so it's really hot, but the water is coming from a water line inside the house, so I would think it would cool off.

 

[NicksMixedReef]

You can buy adapters for faucets online

 

[glb]

You can buy adapters for faucets online

Cool. So it would be better to do it inside and get another adapter to fit?

 

[Opus]

I would do it inside but I don't know that it matters much if you can get cool water outside. Here is a link to a faucet adapter.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/chrome-faucet-diverter-valve.html

Here is the tubing.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/1-4-mur-lok-polyethylene-ro-tubing.html

You should also invest in a TDS meter.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tds-3-handheld-tds-meter-hm-digital.html

 

[NicksMixedReef]

I'm not a fan of doing anything outside since my lawn guy sprays chemicals all over the place and don't trust the hose! I think it's personal preference, but I like to control things as much as possible

 

[glb]

I would do it inside but I don't know that it matters much if you can get cool water outside. Here is a link to a faucet adapter.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/chrome-faucet-diverter-valve.html

Here is the tubing.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/1-4-mur-lok-polyethylene-ro-tubing.html

You should also invest in a TDS meter.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tds-3-handheld-tds-meter-hm-digital.html

Thanks. I do have a tds meter already. The more I think about it, inside makes more sense because the unit itself would get warm if not hot outside.

 

[glb]

I'm not a fan of doing anything outside since my lawn guy sprays chemicals all over the place and don't trust the hose! I think it's personal preference, but I like to control things as much as possible

That makes sense. It's much easier to keep things clean inside.

 

[Opus]

Do you have a laundry room that you could keep the ro unit hooked up all the time? You can buy an adapter for the cold water hookup for the washing machine that gives you 2 outlets and use your hose adapter on it. That is how I have mine hooked up. You do have to buy a separate adapter that allows you to turn off the water to the ro when not in use.

 

[glb]

Do you have a laundry room that you could keep the ro unit hooked up all the time? You can buy an adapter for the cold water hookup for the washing machine that gives you 2 outlets and use your hose adapter on it. That is how I have mine hooked up. You do have to buy a separate adapter that allows you to turn off the water to the ro when not in use.

That's a great idea. I'll check it out.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I do not like hooking up outside, too many things can go wrong. I use a garden hose wye on my washing machine cold water faucet. You really can't have too much pressure, membranes love pressure and the higher it is the better it will perform up to around 150 psi. I use a booster to raise my pressure to 95-100 psi and its been great for 7 years.

 

[azjohnny]

You really can't have too much pressure, membranes love pressure and the higher it is the better it will perform up to around 150 psi. I use a booster to raise my pressure to 95-100 psi and its been great for 7 years.

I have in excess of 100 psi going to my RO/DI and it will help to decrease TDS and increase production ( I get 7 gals per hour of good water from a 90 gpd membrane) I also make my water in the laundry room, I would skip the connector that reduces flow

 

[glb]

Got it hooked up to the laundry line. Before RO, tds was 154. First gallon of RO was 20tds. Yay! I run it some more until the tds is down to 3-6 according to AZ's post. Thanks everyone for your help!