R O D I Unit Help!

Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
dale said:
you have a flow restrictor somewhere on your unit ( prob in the fitting attached to the outlet of the membrane), if you remove it no water will pass through the membrane and flush out particles created from your carbon and other contaminates.. and again the di goes after the membrane......
Click to expand...

I've examined the unit and the RO canister thoroughly and can't seem to find any flow restriction. All the elbowed connections are the same and there doesn't seem to be any type of valve or anything besides the elbows connecting the PVC tubing.

So from what I gather DI water is not healthy or safe to drink? Then my question is can I get a valve to switch between an inline DI unit and just output the RO water. Basically if I take your diagram above and have a sediment filter in the first canister, activated carbon in the second and carbon block in the third, then pass through the RO unit can I split it with a valve at that point? So the valve in one direction just outputs the RO water for drinking and the other passes through the inline DI unit for the aquarium. Also is the polishing unit really necessary?

Thanks .. Dave.
 
dale

dale

Active Member
it will be inside of the fitting on the outlet of the membrane,, or it will be a separate inline unit on the outlet hose like in the diagram, or a non adjustable style in the same spot.. i dont know of other styles but there may be more.. you need to find it and make sure its there cuz the system wont work without it...

drinking di water wont hurt you but is an unnecessary cost, if you are drinking it , get the pressure canister then t it off there di to tank non di to tap and you always have pressurized water.. on both..
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
OK ... I think I found the flow restriction piece. This video helped ....




So here is what I found in the yellow output PVC tubing connected to the RO canister.





Am I correct in assuming that this is for flow restriction? And instead of getting a flushing piece to attach can I just remove this when flushing and then re-insert when making the water?
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
dale said:
it will be inside of the fitting on the outlet of the membrane,, or it will be a separate inline unit on the outlet hose like in the diagram, or a non adjustable style in the same spot.. i dont know of other styles but there may be more.. you need to find it and make sure its there cuz the system wont work without it...

drinking di water wont hurt you but is an unnecessary cost, if you are drinking it , get the pressure canister then t it off there di to tank non di to tap and you always have pressurized water.. on both..
Click to expand...

Ha ... you must have replied while I was typing my post. LOL
 
Pipes

Pipes

Active Member
If you want PM me and I can get it up and running for you. I have everything in stock for it except the in-line TDS meters.

The flow restrictor is in the drain line or attached to it.

"Flushing runs water around the DLFC ( drain line flow control) so that you can rinse off the raw end of the RO membrane. Water does not run across the filters, it passes through the filters ( down the inside of the canister, through the filter, up the center of the filter).

Best time for me is day time weekdays, but you could also drop off, and I could work on it as I have time... Wife issues...

I'm about 20 mins from London. East on the 401.
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
OK ... So I got the new components for my RODI unit today. Upon taking the old filters out I found out that there was indeed as Alberych suggested a Sediment, Carbon and DI resin in the 3 containers. So I got both of those filters and some new loose resin to put in the DI container. I also got a 100 GPD RO membrane and of course a TDS meter. First thing I checked was the water that I was getting from the hardware store.

BINGO ... found one of the problems contributing to the algae growth. The water that I was paying $4 for a 5 gal. jug measured just over 100 TDS. Although my tap water was surprisingly only around 120 TDS. So now I need to flush out RO unit with some peroxide ... as it's been sitting for a while ... and then rinse with tap water and set up the new cartridges/filters tomorrow. I plan on running them for about 15 mins. or so and then testing the water. Should this be sufficient for new filter/membrane flushing?

Another thing I was wondering about is should I just keep up with the regular 10% water changes or should I do a couple larger ones over the next few weeks to get the cleaner water into the system?
 
Last edited:
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
HA ... that's funny as I just watched that video. LOL

Since the unit has been sitting several years with water in it I was told to remove the filters/membrane and flush it (well let it run and then sit for a while) with bleach or peroxide to kill any bacteria that may be in the unit. I feel safer using peroxide really. I assumed I would then just flush it with water for several minutes and install the filters/membrane. Then I believe that I need to flush the new filters and membrane for a bit before I can expect good RO water. The flow restrictor is inside one of the lines. I remove it when flushing the system correct? And do I need to flush the new DI resin as well or just connect to that canister after everything else has been flushed?
 
dale

dale

Active Member
.. do not run bleach through your membrane.. correct... i would just flush the di for a minute
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
OK ... I was planning on NOT having any filters or membrane in when running the bleach/peroxide. It was to kill bacteria that may be in the system WITHOUT any filters or so I was told. After flushing any bleach/peroxide out of the system then the new filters/membrane would be installed and flushed accordingly with water to give them an initial rinse.

However I don't even think I can get this far tonight. Not only have I found there are a ton of tiny little holes in the tubing ... (looks like a dog has been chewing on them before I got the unit ... FOR FREE mind you) but the 3rd canister seems to leak from the top when just running water through the system. And the strange thing is the 3rd canister has 4 symmetrical slight bumps around it whereas the others don't. So I now need to get new tubing and possibly a new canister. WHHEEEE!!!
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
Well the good news is that I just figured out that the canister is just missing an O-Ring. The bad news is that I can't get one tonight and I'm not sure where I can easily get the correct one. Would Home Depot carry the proper tubing and O-Rings?
 
S

shamous113

Active Member
Aquatic Dreams said:
Well the good news is that I just figured out that the canister is just missing an O-Ring. The bad news is that I can't get one tonight and I'm not sure where I can easily get the correct one. Would Home Depot carry the proper tubing and O-Rings?
Click to expand...
TSC may carry them if home depot doesn't have them.
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
shamous113 said:
TSC may carry them if home depot doesn't have them.
Click to expand...


Yeah I was thinking that. I was also wondering about Princess Auto. I was just hoping to know before I went as I don't drive and it's a real pain to get around this city especially on a Sunday. I was also wondering if all the o-rings are different sizes? I've found some for other brands of water filtration but not specifically for SpectraPure canisters. So I'm not sure if I need to find them specific to SpectraPure or not.
 
Pipes

Pipes

Active Member
The o-rings are usually the same size depending on the filter canister. There are male and female thread canisters. RO Brand has little to do with the units, as MOST are the same. The "supplier" just changes the label on the unit. Kind of like GMC vs. Chevy. Princess auto may have the filters, but I would call first with the size of the o-ring before making the trip. It's sometimes hard to get anything out of a Princess auto employee. I think most of them hate their jobs there.
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
Yeah I found the size of the o-rings for Spectrapure online but searching for the same size o-rings seems to be a nightmare for some reason. I'm sure somebody has them but unfortunately I can't drive around to check all the places. LOL I was SOOO CLOSE to getting this unit up and running. I actually have it soaking in peroxide now and will flush it out tonight. Then I just need to find the parts that I need and hopefully I'll be making my own RO/DI water. :D
 
zoomster

zoomster

Active Member
Hey Dave.
I buy all my stuff from @Pipes.
He has good stuff and is very fair on pricing.
As for the flush kit, I can show you how to make one in about 2 minutes for about $10.
It is super easy. And also all parts needed can be bought from Pipes.
 
Aquatic Dreams

Aquatic Dreams

Member
zoomster said:
Hey Dave.
I buy all my stuff from @Pipes.
He has good stuff and is very fair on pricing.
As for the flush kit, I can show you how to make one in about 2 minutes for about $10.
It is super easy. And also all parts needed can be bought from Pipes.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah I've been communicating with @Pipes via PM. However I am unsure as to why I need a flush kit. Don't I just remove the flow control to flush the unit? And I can just pop out the tubing where I need to flush certain sections no?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top