Staighten RO Tubing

[KSReefing]

Hey guys I have about 45 feet of RO tubing I need to run for my waste water and I was curious the best way to straighten it out. It’s all brand new and coiled up now.

What’s the best way to heat it up and get it straight so it’s easier to run?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

If you don't need all 45 feet of it, you could stretch it out outside in the sunshine. Tie the ends to a tree or something and stretch it all the way out, add some tension and tie up the other end to a stake or pole. Why spend a lot of time heating it up when you can let the sun do it for you ;)

 

[Waters]

If you don't need all 45 feet of it, you could stretch it out outside in the sunshine. Tie the ends to a tree or something and stretch it all the way out, add some tension and tie up the other end to a stake or pole. Why spend a lot of time heating it up when you can let the sun do it for you ;)

Ok....works for Florida.....what about Cleveland in Feb lol??

 

[Peter Dietz]

Ok....works for Florida.....what about Cleveland in Feb lol??

Run it from the rafters in your basement

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Ok....works for Florida.....what about Cleveland in Feb lol??

Stretch it out through the living room and use your SO's hair dryer, I'm sure they won't mind ;)

 

[redfishbluefish]

That length of waste line is going to affect water production rates. Maybe @Buckeye Hydro could comment on this.

 

[KSReefing]

That length of waste line is going to affect water production rates. Maybe @Buckeye Hydro could comment on this.

The waste line would? I just thought of it just being a drain. The inlet is going to be to be right next to my water shut on/off for the house. So pressure won’t be an issue at all for the membrane.

 

[KSReefing]

Ok....works for Florida.....what about Cleveland in Feb lol??

Yeah Kansas weather doesn’t allow that since it’s going to be snowing tomorrow ha. I thought about just using a hair dryer but I feel like that’ll take awhile ha

 

[Mikedawg]

Stretch it out through the living room and use your SO's hair dryer, I'm sure they won't mind ;)

+ 1 Worked well for me and only took a few minutes

 

[redfishbluefish]

The waste line would? I just thought of it just being a drain. The inlet is going to be to be right next to my water shut on/off for the house. So pressure won’t be an issue at all for the membrane.

1/4 inch tubing results in 0.43 psi drop per foot of tubing. You potentially can adjust for this length by using a capillary tube flow restrictor and cutting it until you get the desired 1 - 3 to 1 - 4 production rate.

For you to test now, run your system with a short piece of waste tubing and with the 45 feet and compare the time it takes to fill a set volume. (You also might wish to take a look at "good" water volume verses waste water volume of the two setups.)

 

[bigroost]

I don't know if it would work for the ro tubing but I had some luck making vinyl easy to work with by soaking it in scalding hot water.

 

[LJLKRL05]

Sink full of hot water will soften it up

 

[justingraham]

1/4 inch tubing results in 0.43 psi drop per foot of tubing. You potentially can adjust for this length by using a capillary tube flow restrictor and cutting it until you get the desired 1 - 3 to 1 - 4 production rate.

For you to test now, run your system with a short piece of waste tubing and with the 45 feet and compare the time it takes to fill a set volume. (You also might wish to take a look at "good" water volume verses waste water volume of the two setups.)

I don’t get this

Your saying if your waste line of the bad water coming out of the membrane is extremely long it will effect the production rate? I could understand if it was going up 45 feet but if it’s flat I don’t get it

And if this is true can he switch it to say 3/4 tubing right after and not have to worry about it?

 

[Saltlife]

Heat gun will work.

I didn’t think waste water line mattered if it was 1’ or 50’ still going to be same amount in waste coming out. I haven’t noticed any difference in my BRS RO/DI.

 

[KSReefing]

I don’t get this

Your saying if your waste line of the bad water coming out of the membrane is extremely long it will effect the production rate? I could understand if it was going up 45 feet but if it’s flat I don’t get it

And if this is true can he switch it to say 3/4 tubing right after and not have to worry about it?

Yeah I’m having a hard time with this too. It will be flat run and actually trending downhill, so I won’t be fighting any elevation.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I don’t get this

Your saying if your waste line of the bad water coming out of the membrane is extremely long it will effect the production rate? I could understand if it was going up 45 feet but if it’s flat I don’t get it

And if this is true can he switch it to say 3/4 tubing right after and not have to worry about it?

Yeah I’m having a hard time with this too. It will be flat run and actually trending downhill, so I won’t be fighting any elevation.

There is frictional loss in pipe. The smaller the diameter the greater the frictional loss/volume. In this case, flow rate had to be an educated guess. Again, I'd suggest doing that simple test I suggested comparing a short piece of waste line to the 45 foot length. It will tell you quickly how much of a problem it's going to be. Don't even have to pull out the tubing....leave it coiled up.

 

[don_chuwish]

Do you really need to straighten it at all? Just uncoil as you go and fasten it in place every so often.

 

[Saltlife]

There is frictional loss in pipe. The smaller the diameter the greater the frictional loss/volume. In this case, flow rate had to be an educated guess. Again, I'd suggest doing that simple test I suggested comparing a short piece of waste line to the 45 foot length. It will tell you quickly how much of a problem it's going to be. Don't even have to pull out the tubing....leave it coiled up.

Have you done this before? Lets say the unit is 4:1 ratio so it can only produce 4:1. Shouldn't matter on the waste line as its not a pressured line it's just a drain. You can hold the waste line in the air and as soon as the line fills up it continues to run as if it was laying on the ground. Not saying your wrong or anything and I could be wrong but it just don't seem like it would matter on waste line. If I had enough line I would give it a try cause now I'm curious lol

 

[laverda]

There is frictional loss in pipe. The smaller the diameter the greater the frictional loss/volume. In this case, flow rate had to be an educated guess. Again, I'd suggest doing that simple test I suggested comparing a short piece of waste line to the 45 foot length. It will tell you quickly how much of a problem it's going to be. Don't even have to pull out the tubing....leave it coiled up.

While ther is friction loss, you need to remember the house water pressure is usually around 60 PSI. So the effects are going to be minimal if any. If it was a low pressure aquarium pump with 6-10 of head, then it would be very significant.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Have you done this before? Lets say the unit is 4:1 ratio so it can only produce 4:1. Shouldn't matter on the waste line as its not a pressured line it's just a drain. You can hold the waste line in the air and as soon as the line fills up it continues to run as if it was laying on the ground. Not saying your wrong or anything and I could be wrong but it just don't seem like it would matter on waste line. If I had enough line I would give it a try cause now I'm curious lol

I didn't personally do the calculations, but with one of the patents I have, a Fluid Mechanics Engineer had to be included to do all the calculations and tubing diameter determinations. I was just the dumb chemist who came up with this idea, but a fluids guy was needed to calculate the applications part. You can familiarize yourself with these calculations HERE.