RO Varios 8 flow issue?

[LuisPerez711]

I've had my Varios 8 for about a year now and have had some issue with flow since the beginning. I read all the threads stating the same issue so I redid my plumbing a couple months ago. I thought I'd see a huge gain in flow but I have encountered the opposite.

These last few weeks, my pump has been slowly losing power throughout the day. I've had to turn the pump off and then turn it on again multiple times so that it can "recalibrate" (if that's what it does).

Maybe I have a bad controller? I've looked at replacing it but I'd like to make sure before I fork out $100 for one.

Any suggestions what it could be?

I have it reduced to a 1 inch pipe at the pump and a couple .5 inch soft tubing running a reactor and small fuge. Low flow to both.

 

[ksed]

Controller or power supply

 

[LuisPerez711]

Is there a way to test either the controller or power supply without purchasing a replacement? Would these be covered under the warranty?

 

[ksed]

Not sure myself.
Maybe @Brew12 may have the answers.

 

[LuisPerez711]

Cool. Thanks for the response.

I opened a ticket with CoralVue but I dont have proof of original payment so I doubt it'll fall under warranty.

 

[Brew12]

Testing the power supply is easy, but I doubt it is the problem. Plug the power supply into the wall but not into the controller. Use a voltmeter set to DC volts and put one probe on the outer metal band of the part that plugs into the controller and the other probe on the inner metal band. You should get roughly 24VDC.

Have you checked to make sure you aren't getting air sucked into the pump that could be building up? And that the pump is clean?

 

[Kalibur2]

Any updates?

 

[LuisPerez711]

Any updates?

Yes! Although I haven't tested the pump (explanation below), I believe the root cause of the problem was identified and fixed.

The issue was head pressure, but it was coming from the very end of the plumbing return lines. I have an SCA 120 and the return lines conclude into two half inch loc-line nozzles. I knew that these nozzles restricted flow, but I didnt realize how much flow was restricted.

I bought a new pump, jebao 13000, and decided to use that instead because it was just as expensive as the replacement control for the RO pump. I installed the pump and was running it at 80%. A week later my pump started to loose power and I thought it was defective. There was a clog in my return plumbing so I cleaned the return lines and plugged it all back and it ran fine. A week later, the same issue. Pump started loosing power. I decided that the return nozzles were causing the issue so I removed them. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

I had to reduce the power down to 40% because the amount of flow had increased significantly. The flow through my filter sock is now what it should be and I can see a difference in water clarity because of it.

Long story long, it was head pressure. I just didnt realize how useless the loc-line nozzles were. I replaced them with 1/2 pvc elbows and couldn't be happier. I never switched back the pump because the wiring was a hassle to deal with, but I made the conclusion that if this new pump was acting in the same manner as the old one, and fixing the plumbing fixed the issue, then the old pump was fine.

Side note: the jebao pump is reduced from a 1.5 inch to a 1 inch pipe diameter right at the pump. Then, at the very end of the return plumbing, it T's off into two 1/2 inch pvc elbows. No noise/dc pump hum due to a reduction in pipe size.

Hope this helps.