RODI problems...

[ColoReefer970]

160 going into membrane
40 coming out..... ???

24oz product water
40oz waste water.....

Some thing is off.... but I can't tell what! It all looks cool!

Yes added resin while packing.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

160 going into membrane
40 coming out..... ???

24oz product water
40oz waste water.....

Some thing is off.... but I can't tell what! It all looks cool!

Yes added resin while packing.

There's something wrong with your membrane. It's either not seated correctly, still breaking in, or is defective. The TDS coming out should be 8 ppm or lower. Also looks like you have about a 1.66 waste to product ratio. A ratio lower than 4 to 1 will kill a membrane prematurely.

 

[DLHDesign]

what's temp affect?

The lower the temperature, the more viscous that water (the more “thick” it is). This will result in lower flow (as pointed out), but it can also result in a less effective membrane output. If your pressure is too low (or too high), then it could result in premature membrane failure.
When your temp and/or pressure are out of norm for the membrane you have, it’s performance will be degraded. That can mean reduced flow, worse filtering performance, less effective rejection ratios, or some combination of all of them.
I don’t know if temp/pressure are related to your specific issues, but 40F water is pretty far from the target temp of 77F that is the ideal for these membranes...

 

[ColoReefer970]

I'm at membrane/ housing too... dunno why i didn't think to test that ratio... frustration probably.....finding some peace before I go back at it again... thank you R2R for the advices, they're probably the only thing keeping me from tearing this thing off the wall and tossing it in a bonfire

How long of a break in period is normal? Should I just run the dang thing down the drain for 24h and see what happens? I know I've run it for 8 straight hours after the initial flush...

What could cause the ratio to be off ?

And the water isn't that cold...i meant outside... the water only drops a few degrees

 

[KStatefan]

Did you replace the membrane with the same as you previously had? The flow restrictor is matched to the membrane.

It could have become partially clogged.

 

[ColoReefer970]

same membrane

 

[cooltowncorals]

When you run water through your DI is it moving slowly? If you have a tank make sure to drain it before going through DI the water should move through at the same rate as it does through the membrane (slowly) and then the tds will be zero coming out. For instance I live in AZ I’m going 15-25tds into my DI with a spectrapure 99% membrane because we are at 500-700tds going in. I have had trouble with tds meters going out of calibration (I believe) as inline my tds went from low 12 to 35 for no appearent reason same filters within first 250 gallons. I do read zero coming out always. But if your resin isand showing normal color change occurring in bottom of filter moving up I would assume I was getting 0. Bring a water sample to somewhere where they have a meter LFS maybe and compare. I can’t think of anyway to get high tds water after a DI filter if the water isn’t moving fast or the resin is mostly used up.

 

[ColoReefer970]

I'm with you...i figured worst case scenario the di gets eaten...

Huh... what're the chances of the inline and a completely unaffiliated handheld are both giving me the same miscalibrated wrong reading though?

Meh... if its a 2 stage problem... or a 2 miscalculated instrument problem... unfortunately there's no such thing as local reefers or decent LFS that would have a TDS meter within 60 miles

Wait no! The meters both tell me the grocery store RO water is 4 or 5 TDS too....so.... that can't be it?

Still just thinking out loud... thx input!

Inspecting housing more thoroughly.

Seems like it goes slowly through the DI but I never really watched it before so I have nothing to base that on...

How many gallons should I run before I check? My bro changed it last time and I wasn't paying attention. .. am I being impatient? I ran 2 brutes full after everything was reset

 

[cooltowncorals]

Interesting probably not your meters then check your DI for good seal on the cartridge to the housing maybe water is bypassing the DI somehow maybe DI not tight enough the DI should run it to zero even if the water is coming in high like 50tds high it will just get used up quickly.

 

[ColoReefer970]

Found it! There's a dang hair line crack way down in the membrane housing right between the product/waste lines....

I'm guessing that's pushing water through the DI too fast to catch everything....

Now that the problem is located, let me just say I truly and deeply appreciate everyone's input on this... after looking at everything 20 times I couldn't see it anymore... and the input really helped me look fresh at things...

Y'all rock

 

[Flippers4pups]

That's awesome @ColoReefer970! Now just have to replace the housing and see what happens.

 

[Rattzreef]

That's a crumby way to discover a crack in the housing. No high pressure water shooting out the side of even? Lucky. That's what happened to me after pulling my RO/DI out of storage after sitting for two years. Plugged it in, turned it on, and soaked the front of my shirt in a matter of moments. Had to replace that housing when I got the 150gpd upgrade. LOL I think it froze over the winter Glad you found the problem. Easy fix.