RO/DI setup/?

[Blue02celi]

hello my distant manhattan reefers

well I finally got everything set so I can start settingup my nano again. I got a garden hose adapter from marine depot for my ro/di unit I bought from ebay so many months ago and never used. so I hooked it up, turned the hose on and now Im waiting to see if water comes out the blue hose, which Im assuming is the water I want, instead of the orange hose. I then realized these dont pump out water like a fosset, think mine is a 75 or 100, but cant remember if thats gallons per day or what. its been running for about half an hour and no water yet from the blue hose. I see water very slowly filling up in the 5th chamber, its clear and has some sand looking stuff in it.

do those of you that use ro/di filters run them for hours to get the water you need? I guess I just didnt think about leaving it on for that long to get what I need, good think I only have a nano.

 

[thirty5]

You should get water within a min or so. I would say that your chambers are clogged. The chambers should fill fast and then slow down when it hits the RO membrane.

 

[reefman]

or theres no pressure from the garden hose.
what is the psi on the pressure meter?

 

[Blue02celi]

heh, I got a cheapo RO/DI, no pressure meter. its getting through the first 3 chambers, theres 6 total, the 3 vertical ones and then 3 smaller horizontal ones, its getting to the 4th stage but its not making in through the membrane I put in there that came sealed. theres 2 hoses coming out of there, one for the waste and one that goes to the next 2 stages, but the water is just coming out the waste so I guess somethings wrong with the membrane, as far as the psi Im assuming its fine cause the water is flying out of the waste hose.

 

[reefman]

it may be set on "flush" mode.
is there a small valve on the waste water tube?

 

[duke62]

just asking but your fill bucket is lower than your ro/di right.and its 75 gal per day.dont use the first 10 gal it pumps out for the first time

 

[Blue02celi]

yeah it has the valve, the valve whether shut or not, water will only come out of the waste spout. I took the hoses and connectors off to see if there was ANY water coming out of the hose that lead to the next stage and there is nothing. here is a pic of the unit, and a pic of the element. the water is getting stuck in the first horizontal tube, the element is what is inside and I guess water has to make it through the element to make it to the next stages, but nothing comes out.

 

[reefman]

where is there no water coming out of?

 

[Blue02celi]

lol thanks for the diagram, comes out of 4 for d, but nothing out of C. I took both hoses off the end of 4 to make sure nothing was clogged

 

[reefman]

u need to shut off the valve(red circle) to force water thru the membrane #4

 

[Blue02celi]

the valve is shut

how does the membrane work anyway? i dont know much about this, but I dont see any way of the water going through it. its a tube with some stuff wrapped around it, and the water cant go through the tube, which I would expect cause then there would be no reason for the membrane, but how does it make it out to the other end? I blew and sucked (yes so sue me lol) on both ends and dont see how water could make its way through to the other end.

 

[reefman]

the membrane filters out most of the solids which is measure by tds ppm(parts per million). the membrane is made of thin films of porous material. high pressure water need to push thru this for water to pass thru.
i am suspecting maybe your membrane got dry out or defective.
did it come assembled? is the membrane install right?

 

[Blue02celi]

maybe dried out? the membrane came in its own package, which I took it out of in may, but I did'nt actually start using it until now...

 

[reefman]

the membrane cannot be dry out.
this should be inside #4

 

[Blue02celi]

yes thats in #4, which is also the second pic I posted on the previous page. when I take it out and start the hose, the water comes out both ends of 4 but with the membrane nothing comes out.

on a seperate note, i asked about just buying water from the store, in the gallon jugs since I only have a nano, is that a bad idea? (regular spring type water)

 

[reefman]

how long was the membrane expose to dry air?
buying water may be fine as long as u like carrying it home all the time.
btw: spring water may have high ppm too.

 

[Blue02celi]

the membrane has been out of the package since may, It hasnt been exposed to water until yesterday, its been in the 4th chamber the whole time

as far as water I was talking about regular bottled water you find on the shelf in a store

 

[reefman]

i was told it must be kept sealed and moist when in storage. Drying out will irreversibly damage the membranes.

 

[Blue02celi]

well I've been chatting with the guy I bought it from on ebay and he said I can send the housing and membrane to him and he will test it for me, which is awesome.