Sediment Filter Clogging Quickly After Installing Booster Pump

[Adamantium]

I recently got a booster pump, as my tap PSI is only about 35. It successfully brought me up to ~80 PSI, but after about 15 gallons of production, it tanked to nearly nothing. I’m talking ~5 PSI.

I changed my sediment filter, and it shot back up to 80 PSI, but now, again, after about 15 gallons, it’s dropped to next to nothing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, because I’m at a loss. I’m thinking it’s somehow causing my sediment filter to clog super quickly (even though it’s installed after the sediment prefilter). Is that possible?

 

[Adamantium]

Bump, bump, bump it up.

Any thoughts?

 

[saintsreturn]

Could you post a pic of your setup?

Im confused on this. I have my booster pump at the front end of my system. I have had no issues with the filter clogging or the PSI dropping.

 

[Adamantium]

Could you post a pic of your setup?

Im confused on this. I have my booster pump at the front end of my system. I have had no issues with the filter clogging or the PSI dropping.

Thanks for the reply!

It’s an absolute mess of cables under my sink, so, sadly, a picture likely wouldn’t help.

It was, actually, before my prefilters, but after an initial 5 micron sediment prefilter (nyc has high sediment), and I thought that was the problem. Pushing too much sediment through, maybe. Replaced sediment and moved the pump to after my prefilters, and the same thing happened. I can replace the sediment filter again, which might work, but the same thing will probably happen after a few hours.

This wasn’t happening when I had my previous low PSI set up. It just went painfully slow.

 

[Sod Buster]

Plugging the filter itself, or just the 1/4 inch fitting? You could try taking the element out of the 5 micron and observe it as a sediment bowl if it is clear enough to see through. I have high mineral water with a booster after my 2 carbon blocks, before the membrane, I change those filters every six months and never see anything in them.

 

[Adamantium]

Plugging the filter itself, or just the 1/4 inch fitting? You could try taking the element out of the 5 micron and observe it as a sediment bowl if it is clear enough to see through. I have high mineral water with a booster after my 2 carbon blocks, before the membrane, I change those filters every six months and never see anything in them.

The filter itself. I don't think it's the 5 micron sediment prefilter, just because I changed the normal sediment filter, and it shot back up.

It just trickled down again after a few hours...

I'm wondering if it could be a faulty booster pump now. Do you know if, when using a booster pump without turning it on, pressure is lower than without it? Does it like, slow things down?

 

[Sod Buster]

With it off it does drop my home water pressure to the membrane a couple pounds, not 25. From 45lb home pressure to just over 40 on the membrane gauge. The sound it makes, I'd guess it is a little diaphragm pump.

 

[saintsreturn]

The filter itself. I don't think it's the 5 micron sediment prefilter, just because I changed the normal sediment filter, and it shot back up.

It just trickled down again after a few hours...

I'm wondering if it could be a faulty booster pump now. Do you know if, when using a booster pump without turning it on, pressure is lower than without it? Does it like, slow things down?

you know, that may be something to consider. Can you bypass everything and have the booster pump just run wide open? If it fails, that may be the issue.

Another question, does it have a pressure switch on it? Is it possible its stopping due to the pressure switch being tripped? I had mine in the wrong spot when i first set it up and it would shut off in about 15 minutes until i moved it.

 

[Adamantium]

you know, that may be something to consider. Can you bypass everything and have the booster pump just run wide open? If it fails, that may be the issue.

Another question, does it have a pressure switch on it? Is it possible its stopping due to the pressure switch being tripped? I had mine in the wrong spot when i first set it up and it would shut off in about 15 minutes until i moved it.

Hmmm, it does have a pressure switch, but I'm pretty sure it's installed correctly. It's just on the DI outlet. Is that incorrect?

I can try doing that with the booster pump and running it a few hours. Good idea.

 

[saintsreturn]

Hmmm, it does have a pressure switch, but I'm pretty sure it's installed correctly. It's just on the DI outlet. Is that incorrect?

I can try doing that with the booster pump and running it a few hours. Good idea.

Nope, that is right. I cant remember where i had it, but it wasnt there and it kept tripping out from the pressure the pump built at the filter points. Once i actually read the instructions it worked as designed. That and the other error i made was putting the cutoff valve before the pump. Which doesnt work since the pressure switch is looking for high pressure, not the pump. Once i put that behind the switch at the end of the RODI out, i just flip that when i want to stop making water.

 

[Adamantium]

Nope, that is right. I cant remember where i had it, but it wasnt there and it kept tripping out from the pressure the pump built at the filter points. Once i actually read the instructions it worked as designed. That and the other error i made was putting the cutoff valve before the pump. Which doesnt work since the pressure switch is looking for high pressure, not the pump. Once i put that behind the switch at the end of the RODI out, i just flip that when i want to stop making water.

Dang. I was hoping you were going to tell me that's wrong haha

Okay, welp, I'm working with the company to figure this out. Thanks for your help!

 

[saintsreturn]

Here is my current setup. Not sure if it will help you at all... but hoping it does

 

[Adamantium]

Here is my current setup. Not sure if it will help you at all... but hoping it does

Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything?

 

[saintsreturn]

Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything?

It would help if i would wait for the pic to load before hitting post. My bad

 

[saintsreturn]

So the series reads like this:

Main water line - Maint valve - Booster pump - Sediment - Carbon - (DI somewhere in here) - One of the ions - The other ions - Mixed bed - Pressure switch - manual shut off valve - float valve - tank

 

[Adamantium]

So the series reads like this:

Main water line - Maint valve - Booster pump - Sediment - Carbon - (DI somewhere in here) - One of the ions - The other ions - Mixed bed - Pressure switch - manual shut off valve - float valve - tank

Seems to be almost exactly my setup.

I'm really at a loss here. Thanks so much for sharing, though! Appreciate the insights.

 

[saintsreturn]

Seems to be almost exactly my setup.

I'm really at a loss here. Thanks so much for sharing, though! Appreciate the insights.

Frustrating for sure. Not sure what it could be unless the pump is faulty or the pressure switch is miss reading.

Next steps for me,
1) Take off the pressure switch and see if it runs consistently (but of course monitor so it does not overflow)
2) Take out the pump and run it direct (looses water unless you can find a way to use the test water)
3) Check all filters to ensure they are in the correct direction

If you go from 80 psi back to 30 psi, my gut tells me the pump is being turned off. So i would start there. If the pump is running and it drops... man i am at a loss. Unless you have an auto back flush setup where it switches to a clean mode on its own... I have seen those but have no experience with them.

 

[Adamantium]

Frustrating for sure. Not sure what it could be unless the pump is faulty or the pressure switch is miss reading.

Next steps for me,
1) Take off the pressure switch and see if it runs consistently (but of course monitor so it does not overflow)
2) Take out the pump and run it direct (looses water unless you can find a way to use the test water)
3) Check all filters to ensure they are in the correct direction

If you go from 80 psi back to 30 psi, my gut tells me the pump is being turned off. So i would start there. If the pump is running and it drops... man i am at a loss. Unless you have an auto back flush setup where it switches to a clean mode on its own... I have seen those but have no experience with them.

Appreciate the ideas. I'll give taking off the pressure switch a shot and see what happens. I have an RO/DI Flood Guardian that has a solenoid valve that closes when a sensor detects that it's full, but I don't know what would happen without the pressure switch on there. Would it damage the pump?

I can just try not to let it reach the sensor.

 

[saintsreturn]

Appreciate the ideas. I'll give taking off the pressure switch a shot and see what happens. I have an RO/DI Flood Guardian that has a solenoid valve that closes when a sensor detects that it's full, but I don't know what would happen without the pressure switch on there. Would it damage the pump?

I can just try not to let it reach the sensor.

I am not familiar with the guardian feature. But in essence, when the pressure switch detects it set point on pressure, it turns off the booster pump. If it is in the wrong spot or reading incorrectly, it would kill the pump but still let water pass. This is why i think its that. Since you went from 30ish to 80 back to 30, that leads me to believe the booster pump is being shut off.

If you remove the switch and the booster pump holds its pressure rating, then you have the answer to the problem. But you just said something else that caught my attention. If you have the safety sensor as your off switch, remember that its job is to turn off the booster pump. This means RODI is still running through the system in an unboosted state. The only way to stop this is to have a manual valve you use to turn it off past the sensor (as seen in my pic) and or, a float valve that cuts the flow of water once it reaches its set point. (which you cannot see but it is in the drum in my pic)

The system itself is very basic with only a couple typical fail points. So if you are electronically stopping your booster, you are not stopping the flow of water. If you are not trying to stop the flow of water, but the booster pump is not running, thats the pump or the switch. If your pump is running when the pressure drops, then its the pump. The only other variable i can think of is if your system is auto back flushing itself in intervals, which would yield the same result.

 

[Adamantium]

I am not familiar with the guardian feature. But in essence, when the pressure switch detects it set point on pressure, it turns off the booster pump. If it is in the wrong spot or reading incorrectly, it would kill the pump but still let water pass. This is why i think its that. Since you went from 30ish to 80 back to 30, that leads me to believe the booster pump is being shut off.

If you remove the switch and the booster pump holds its pressure rating, then you have the answer to the problem. But you just said something else that caught my attention. If you have the safety sensor as your off switch, remember that its job is to turn off the booster pump. This means RODI is still running through the system in an unboosted state. The only way to stop this is to have a manual valve you use to turn it off past the sensor (as seen in my pic) and or, a float valve that cuts the flow of water once it reaches its set point. (which you cannot see but it is in the drum in my pic)

The system itself is very basic with only a couple typical fail points. So if you are electronically stopping your booster, you are not stopping the flow of water. If you are not trying to stop the flow of water, but the booster pump is not running, thats the pump or the switch. If your pump is running when the pressure drops, then its the pump. The only other variable i can think of is if your system is auto back flushing itself in intervals, which would yield the same result.

Can you elaborate on the "auto back flushing in intervals?" I'm not sure what that means, or why that would happen.

I think it may very well be the booster, as you can tell by touching it that it's running the entire time.