Pressure drop?

[rrasco]

I installed my premium series 75gpd system today. When I was running through the installation steps of flushing the carbon and membrane the pressure gauge was indicating 45 PSI. Once both the RO membrane and DI cartridge were ready I installed an auto shut off valve and dual TDS meter as well. I tested the system to make sure everything was still working and while it was making water at a quick drip pace the pressure gauge is now indicating about 20 PSI. Flow is going the right direction through the ASOV and check valve. Is this normal or did I install something wrong?

You answered one of my questions on RC today Russ; I appreciate that.

[BuckeyeHydro]

So with the system running with all filter stages installed you're at 20 psi? But you were at 45 psi previously.

I wonder if your system is starved for water. How did you tap into your plumbing to get water to the system?

Russ

[rrasco]

That's correct. The system is in the laundry room so its wyed off the washing machine water supply.

[BuckeyeHydro]

So the only difference in your system between the 45 psi and the 20 psi was installation of the ASOV and check valve?

[rrasco]

I'm pretty sure. There is a chance the pressure may have dropped after I installed the ro and di media, but I don't think so. I let it run for awhile breaking in the di. I can post a pic when I get home.

[rrasco]

Here are some pictures, not sure if you can see anything incorrect from the pics.

[BuckeyeHydro]

I don't see anything wrong there.

[BuckeyeHydro]

You may just need a booster pump.

Is the valve on the hose bib all the way open?

[rrasco]

It was not open all the way when I was getting the 45 PSI reading. I did open it all the way when the pressure dropped to 20 but it did not make the pressure go up.

[BuckeyeHydro]

Do you have a long run of 1/4" tubing from the hose bib to your RODI sysetm?

[rrasco]

No. Only about 3 feet.

[350gt]

Why not unplug the washer for a minute and hook the RO unit up.... Might not be it, but wouldn't hurt to try.

[rrasco]

I am going to try messing with it here in a little bit, there is a long run on the purified side that goes to my fish room, but I am not done installing that yet. Ran out of supplies yesterday. Once I get that run completed, I'm going go give it another whirl and see what it says. I'll report back when I'm done.

Is the DI cartridge supposed to fill all the way up? It is not for me.

[350gt]

Mine doesn't fill up either.....

[BuckeyeHydro]

You have some air trapped in the DI housing. Not really an issue, because in order fro water to get out of the housing it has to go in the bottom and out the top of the DI cartridge.

If you want to get rid of the trapped air, with the system running and a towel handy, unsrew the housing about a 1/4 turn. As soon as you break the seal at the oring the housing with bigin to fill with water. Cinch the housing closed just before the water lever reaches the oring.

Russ

[rrasco]

I just bypassed the ASOV and the pressure jumped to 50 PSI.

[rrasco]

I figured it out. The ASOV was on backwards. Not backwards as in the flow was in the wrong direction, but the purified water was running through the wrong connectors. Moving the purified line to the other connector and the line before the RO vice-a-verse raised the pressure. I had that thought yesterday, but was not sure if it mattered which side the lines were plugged into.

[rrasco]

Is it okay to use thread paste on the threaded connections? For the 1/4" tubing, not the canisters.

[BuckeyeHydro]

Is it okay to use thread paste on the threaded connections? For the 1/4" tubing, not the canisters.
Only if it is specifically labels for use with plastic fittings. If not, DON'T use it!

[BuckeyeHydro]

I figured it out. The ASOV was on backwards. Not backwards as in the flow was in the wrong direction, but the purified water was running through the wrong connectors. Moving the purified line to the other connector and the line before the RO vice-a-verse raised the pressure. I had that thought yesterday, but was not sure if it mattered which side the lines were plugged into.

You mean you had the low pressure water going through the high pressure ports?

[rrasco]

I'm not sure. Neither side is marked so I don't know where they are supposed to go or which side is which. The purified water was on the inlet closest to the screws now it is the furthest. I'm not so sure that was the correct thing to do though. This is what it looks like now, but it's not making any water. I know this is probably something simple I am overlooking.

[BuckeyeHydro]

Check again - you should see an "In" and an "out" right at the tips of the arrows:
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd293/BuckeyeFS/rrascoASOV.jpg


What's your email? I'll send you ASOV installation instructions.

Russ

[rrasco]

That's correct. On that picture, the left arrow is pointing at IN and the right arrow at OUT. I switched it back, as in I rotated the ASOV to have the screws facing me. It's now producing water again but PSI is back to ~20. The IN is still on the left and the OUT of course is on the right. I did also try moving the check valve after the OUT TDS sensor just to see if it made a difference, as I suspected, it didn't.

Thanks for the install instructions, although everything looks correct to me. Is it possible the ASOV is bad?

[Fishstix@JewelsOfTheSea]

That's the only thing that I would see being the issue is the distance of the 1/4 tubing from the supply to your ro system. If that is the case then yes I would see the need for a booster pump to help the relay but other than that I would have to see the system for myself to render a good answer for ya. If you would like I can take a look at your system later today to try and help out...up to ya. I have a 5 stage system that I set up and no issues there so I have a working knowledge of a ro/di system. Let me know, always willing to help out a fellow reefer! PM me and we can exchange numbers.

[BuckeyeHydro]

ASOV shouldn't restrict pressure.

Is the ASOV working? If not, you might want to open it up and see if you have something odd going on like one of the rubber membranes folded over or something like that. Or just replace it.

Russ

[rrasco]

I'm not sure if the ASOV is working or not. I have no reliable way to test it. I have a float switch, but nothing to mount it on yet. Not sure I am going to rely on a float switch anyways. I opened up the ASOV earlier and everything looked in place, but I have no experience with them so I don't know what I'm looking for.

It the ASOV supposed to make noise? Mine sounds like an ice maker being filled up with water.


That's the only thing that I would see being the issue is the distance of the 1/4 tubing from the supply to your ro system. If that is the case then yes I would see the need for a booster pump to help the relay but other than that I would have to see the system for myself to render a good answer for ya.

It's only a few feet from the water supply to the RODI system, it's the purified water that travels the distance through the roof.

Thanks for the offer Fishstix, I might take you up on that.

[BuckeyeHydro]

You may have some air trapped in the ASOV.

Put the float VALVE on the end of the DI tube and just manually close it. Your waste water should stop flowing shortly thereafter.

[rrasco]

I kind of tried that already, I made a mess. I'll give it another go here in a minute. How long should it take to stop? 1 minute, 10 minutes?

[BuckeyeHydro]

about 15 to 45 seconds

[rrasco]

Should the flush valve be open or closed when running the system?

[BuckeyeHydro]

Closed

[rrasco]

I thought I saw the valve was supposed to be open. Doing a bit of research tells me it should be closed, which shoots my PSI up to ~70. So I am assuming that was my problem? I knew it would be something stupid simple.

Thanks for bearing with me through this.

[BuckeyeHydro]

SUCCESS!

You're welcome - glad you figured it out. Just noticed that the flush valve position wasn't visible in any of your pics. Typically the pressure is lower than 20 with the flush valve open...

Russ

[rrasco]

Yeah, I noticed in the pictures it was flipped over and out of sight as well. That makes perfect sense. How often should I flush the system?

Thanks again.

[BuckeyeHydro]

In a perfect world, you'd flush it for a minute everytime you turned it off. That's not practical for a lot of people, so once a week is better than once a month.

Russ