Pressure in RO/DI Unit

[Marco S]

Not sure if I should post this here or under Equipment, but since I'm new to this I figured this is the right place. Please move this if it should go somewhere else.

First off, I have never been a DIY guy. I'm the guy that pays someone else to do it for me, but I figured I would give it a shot and install My RO/DI system. I installed it by my washer and dryer since I wanted it to be permanent and the garage would be way too hot here in AZ and I didn't want to drill any holes in the sink.

Here are a couple pics of the install:

Everything is working great and I am getting 0 TDS water at an amazing rate, (Well over the 200 GPD rate). The only problem I had was that the waste water would continue to run after the pressure gauge turned the pump off so I went to Lowes and bought another ball valve to shut it off and that works fine. Here is a pic of the shut off valve for the waste water:

I have the water line split off after the RO so I can produce either drinking water or RO/DI water and each line has a shut off valve as well as the main water line coming into the pump. All I have to do is open one of the valves and the pump kicks on and water is produced and when I close the valve the pressure builds up and the pump shuts off. I then close the waste water valve and the pressure will build up to about 60 and just stays there.

The question I have is, is that alright to leave 60 psi on the system all the time or is there a better way to do this?

 

[Geebs19]

If you have something blocking the flow out of the RO and DI stages so that no water is coming out of the blue lines, the pressure should build up and kick the auto shut off valve and all water should stop flowing out of the waste line.

 

[Marco S]

If you have something blocking the flow out of the RO and DI stages so that no water is coming out of the blue lines, the pressure should build up and kick the auto shut off valve and all water should stop flowing out of the waste line.

I get that, but for some reason it is not shutting off the waste water. I have no problem manually doing it with the shut off valve I installed. I just want to know if it is bad to leave the system with 40 PSI all the time or not? Also, even if I troubleshot and fixed the auto shut off for the waste water, would it not still leave the 40 psi pressure or would it drop down to 0 psi?

 

[Marco S]

I had a typo in the original post. The pressure is at 40 psi without the pump not 60 psi. That's the reason I got the pump in the first place and it bumps it up to 80 psi when running and leaves it at 40 psi when shut off.

 

[Geebs19]

Mine has only worked once or twice and the pressure showed 0. BRS keeps sending me parts to figure mine out.

 

[KrisReef]

It sounds like the valve is working properly, as the line in pressure is 40, and the pump continues to discharge (waste) until the pressure balances at 40. Doesn't that seem right?

 

[Marco S]

To clarify a bit, there are two pressure auto shut off valves. One is for the system itself and the other is for the pump. The pressure auto shut off for the pump is working fine and when it detects the pressure build up on the main water line it shuts the pump off. The one for the system is not shutting off the waste water when the pressure builds up on the main water line because it is shut off. I have read a few different posts on this and instead of trying to figure out the problem or sending it back to BRS, I decided to just shut it off manually when I am done using the system by installing the shut off valve on the waste water line and I am fine with that.

This thread is not to try and figure out what is wrong with the auto shut off for the system because I am fine doing it manually. The thing I am trying to figure out is if leaving the system with 40 psi while not using it is okay or not. I am assuming that most of you people here have RO/DI units, is there pressure on your system all the time or does it zero out when shut off?

 

[Marco S]

So, after reading the manuals and playing around with he system I realize that the pressure switch that comes with the Aqutec 8800 kit from BRS is factory set at a specific pressure to turn the pump off. It needs this pressure to keep the pump off and as soon as the pressure goes below the factory set number, (by opening one of the shut off valves) the pump will turn on. The one I have is set at 35 psi and it is not recommended to change this. So, I need to keep it at least at 36 psi in order to keep the pump off. I am assuming that it is safe for the system to stay at that psi the entire time it is not in use since it has to be that way in order for the pressure switch to keep the pump off and work as designed. At least that is what I make of the information I have.

Call me OCD though, because it still bothers me a bit. If any of you have a booster pump with a pressure switch, (preferably the same one I have from BRS) and can verify that this is how your system is running and it is fine, then please reply and let me know. On that same note, if any of you are running the same system and this is not the case, then please let me know as well.

Thank you in advance!

 

[VillainzReefExotics702]

I have a similar issue my system builds pressure the booster shuts off but the system pressure drops to zero and then the booster turns back on builds pressure again then shuts off again never stays off anyone know how to keep
That pressure built in my system?