In winter months vs summer it changes flow. With a ball valve you can adjust your ratio waste to product. I ahoot for 4:1 because I have hard water. I test it by using two containers counting to 60 seconds to check my ratio. Otherwise you will need to keep changing flow restrictor a. Only thing you need to do is to control the flow. Hope this makes sense
RODI filter Help
- Thread starter CristinaNTimothy
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Makes sense, I have read in my researching that the water pressure does get weaker in the winter but I never experienced this but can be an issue for sure.
What would be the flow restrictor? The piece with the green particle in the one end of the waste fitting?
OP
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Ok awesome thanks… Im going to replace this and see what happens, is there a way to detect a faulty flow restrictor? I ask because when I blow into the fitting there is no obstruction but in reverse I get a huge restriction, which i believe is doing what it’s designed to do, but wondering if there is a method to check it’s function?
You can also adjust the caterpillar style by cutting it will increase waste. You can’t adjust it to lower waste you would need a bigger one. Do you know your water hardness? To troubleshoot perhaps take out all cartridges see what the pressure is with and without restrictor. I had this happen before with my unit the membrane wasn’t seated properly.
There is a calculator somewhere here. To get your actual gallons per day and divide that to get your ml/min and you times that by what ratio you aiming at. You get that restrictor as close to that number. @Buckeye Hydro most likely has that. I would for sure ask there.
It will be a sized orifice, relative to a certain CC/minute flow rate, at a specific pressure… (they are an extremely cheap part to replace/re-size as needed!)
The only way they can really fail is if they get clogged, which is tough considering all the pre-filtration!
— If the flow restrictor was clogged, you’d likely see an increase in RO product water (at increased TDS), not a RO decrease in product water…
Dow Filmtech tests from 50-100PSI, with a fairly linear performance curve along that pressure range…
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I definitely have hard water in the house. I’m going to test the pressure with the fitters out and again back in to see the pressure gauge readings.
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Interesting and informative indeed. Thank you.It will be a sized orifice, relative to a certain CC/minute flow rate, at a specific pressure… (they are an extremely cheap part to replace/re-size as needed!)
The only way they can really fail is if they get clogged, which is tough considering all the pre-filtration!
— If the flow restrictor was clogged, you’d likely see an increase in RO product water (at increased TDS), not a RO decrease in product water…
Dow Filmtech tests from 50-100PSI, with a fairly linear performance curve along that pressure range…
So if there was a clog I’d see the RO increase with a higher TDS reading, interesting… mine in fact it totally the opposite. I get a light trickle without any constant flow and a reading of 0 TDS. So looks like the restrictor should be in decent shape.
Yes, it does!
regarding pressure, there’s an important distinction to make:
Static vs. dynamic pressure!
— if your RODI pressure gauge is reading your usual 60-70PSI with the RO product water line valved off completely, then it drops to 45PSI when you open the product water line/let it flow, you know it’s a dynamic pressure issue!
— if the pressure gauge remains at that 45PSI (low) even with the RODI system pressurized (product line valved closed, static water pressure measurement), your city water pressure has dropped dramatically for some reason! (Possibly a faulty home pressure regulator, or a fault upstream of home plumbing!)
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Make sense if I understand this correctly… just to clarify what you’re saying in regards to valved closed/open are you referring to the flow valve that cleans the lines I’m probably not identifying it correctly but the one I open for about 5 sec then turn to create the pressure type thing and reopen to flush the lines for 5 sec before I turn the system off?
My apologies for the clarity needed I’m just trying to understand the valve in question.
Thanks again for your helpful responses
At the top of the photo on the right there is a white valve with a blue knob, that's the flush kit. It allows you to bypass the flow restrictor.Appreciate the detailed explanation, my mental thought was density = lower flow but clearly that was an incorrect thought process. In regards to an ASO I actually don’t have one. For my system I just screw it on the garage faucet, let it do its thing and keep an eye out, set a few (lol) reminders and turn it off. I don’t have anything that looks like those fittings. My unit is a 4 stage Waterbox RODI unit for reference.
It is in the open position in that photo and flushing which will reduce the pressure and product water flow rates. Close it and I bet the PSI will jump 25 points and the normal flow rates will resume :)
Ah! My apologies, I should have clarified!
— The valve you’re referring to is the waste line flow restrictor bypass valve (aka “membrane flush valve”)!
— This valve is not what I meant to refer to!
(During normal operation, you typically open bypass for 1 minute after starting/before stopping, then 20 seconds per-hour of run time! [At least, that was the old instructions BRS gave a decade ago, and most forget to follow them with minimal ill effect])
I’m referring to a ball valve added to the product water line, probably after the DI stage in your case, on whichever line you get your filtered water from!
(With this push connect valve closed, and the system supplied with city water pressure, see if your pressure gauge climbs to the usual 60-70PSI! [your waste line will constantly emit a trickle during this test, predicated by the flow restrictor, this shouldn’t be enough water flow to change the pressure reading on your gauge])
Edit: all this assumes you haven’t had the waste line restrictor bypass valve open this whole time, as @Ryan - Serious Reefs and his eagle eye spotted!
As you have already determined, 1 micron filters are a very unlikely cause of an immediate, major drop in pressure. They can reduce PSI by a few points, but not by 25 PSI.
However, if your water has a lot of sediment, smaller micron filters can clog much faster. In that case, filters that once lasted a long time may only last half as long, or even less.
For what it’s worth, most people don’t actually need a 1 micron sediment filter. The assumed performance gain can easily turn into a loss if it clogs quickly and drops your pressure. If you do choose to run a 1 micron sediment filter, it’s best to use a graded density version so it doesn’t clog as fast.
It’s also debatable whether you need a 1 micron carbon block. That said, most universal carbon blocks designed to handle both chlorine and chloramines are 1 micron by default.
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Thanks for the time taken for clarification, I will set this up tomorrow and perform a variety of tests that were mentioned today and report back if I may. Thanks again for your time and help in this matter it’s greatly appreciated.
In regard to the flush valve I leave it in the open position because that’s the last step of me making water… flush lines for a few secs then shut water, yes it is closed when making water. But now I just may run it a little longer as mentioned above according to BRS.
90% if the time when someone calls in and said "my system dropped pressure and it slowed to a trickle" it was because they left the flush kit open.
9% of the time it was because they switched to off brand 1 or 0.5 micron sediment filters that clogged almost immediately.
1% of the time something really obscure and we got to really dig in :)
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Great info here in regards to the micron etc… but in my case my filters are all new, I replaced the entire batch then issue started.
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