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RO Troubleshooting
- Thread starter Buzzie8
- Start date
I.B. Washincars
Car Washer Emeritus
Well, the auto should be ruled out since the city water and RO do not share any plumbing. I would say you have a bad check over a bay boom. HP water can be pushed back through the SFR plumbing and back to the tank.
MEP001
Well-known member
Anything after the tank calling for spot-free won't cause contamination in the tank.
Make sure the RO reject is not going into the tank.
I.B. Washincars
Car Washer Emeritus
A check valve above a bay boom would only cause contamination when it is NOT calling for SFR.
Dan kamsickas
GinSan Technician
The check valve in question is locate on the flush solenoid mounted on the right hand side of the unit. If that check valve fails, raw water can be sent to the tank.
Here is a link to the manual that has a drawing in the back.
http://www.ginsan.com/techspecs/WaterLovers_RO_Manual_2200-4400.pdf
MEP001
Well-known member
He said the water entering the tank from the RO system is testing good. That eliminates the RO system as the problem.
Dan kamsickas
GinSan Technician
If the check valve on the flush solenoid has failed the raw water will enter the storage tank through the output of the tank. The check valve is the FIRST thing he should change as it is the most likely problem.
chaz
Active member
Got it! Thanks Dan at Ginsan and Brian and Paul at Eagle Express.
In my case the issue was not the flush valve CV, but certainly that is the best palace to start, as the bad water was entering the storage tank at the bottom of the tank ( gravity feed of good RO water delivery pumps), only when the unit was running. But rather my issue was at the water line providing city water ONLY for the initial prime of the unit. There is a small shutoff valve on this line. This valve needs to be closed at all times except on initial startup or if the unit needs to re-primed at some point. In my case, the valve at some time was accidentally turned to open. I understand the mentality that the valve should be open, just not sure in my case when or why or who may have turned this valve, though I guess it was likely something I did. The valve is not easy to find, located on the lower part of the unit below the production and above the delivery pump.
TDS at my bays is now at 8. I wouldn't be surprised if that's better than my bottle of Disani!
In my case the issue was not the flush valve CV, but certainly that is the best palace to start, as the bad water was entering the storage tank at the bottom of the tank ( gravity feed of good RO water delivery pumps), only when the unit was running. But rather my issue was at the water line providing city water ONLY for the initial prime of the unit. There is a small shutoff valve on this line. This valve needs to be closed at all times except on initial startup or if the unit needs to re-primed at some point. In my case, the valve at some time was accidentally turned to open. I understand the mentality that the valve should be open, just not sure in my case when or why or who may have turned this valve, though I guess it was likely something I did. The valve is not easy to find, located on the lower part of the unit below the production and above the delivery pump.
TDS at my bays is now at 8. I wouldn't be surprised if that's better than my bottle of Disani!
MEP001
Well-known member
It should be because Dasani isn't RO water, it's DI processed which is why it has potassium in it. It's cleaner than Aquafina, which is RO filtered and tests around 50 PPM.
To answer some of these Q's from my experience.
To change charcoal- unscrew control head, if possible pull out the tube and either vacuum out the charcoal or turn unit upside down and pour it out. Then take the tube and reinsert into the tank. Take some duct tape and cover the top hole and while pouring the gravel in first and then the charcoal, try to hold the tube as close to center of opening as possible. After filling tank, remove tape on tube and screw control head back onto tank. Dependant on if your charcoal is prewashed (get prewashed) or not you might need to hook up the inlet side and a hose on outlet to the drain and run water through the unit until the water in not blackened. To find out how much your tank should hold per dimensions, call any seller of water conditioning equip. Charcoal life is dependant on your overall volume of water through the tank and amount of chlorine in water. My charcoal tank has lasted over 15 years and took 2 cu ft of charcoal. (changing the water softener resin is similar) I check for chlorine every 5 days on my RO units as well as the inlet / outlet prefilter pressures. I replace prefilter every 6 months (or 10 pound pressure difference) with a 1 micron filter.
Hope this helps.
To change charcoal- unscrew control head, if possible pull out the tube and either vacuum out the charcoal or turn unit upside down and pour it out. Then take the tube and reinsert into the tank. Take some duct tape and cover the top hole and while pouring the gravel in first and then the charcoal, try to hold the tube as close to center of opening as possible. After filling tank, remove tape on tube and screw control head back onto tank. Dependant on if your charcoal is prewashed (get prewashed) or not you might need to hook up the inlet side and a hose on outlet to the drain and run water through the unit until the water in not blackened. To find out how much your tank should hold per dimensions, call any seller of water conditioning equip. Charcoal life is dependant on your overall volume of water through the tank and amount of chlorine in water. My charcoal tank has lasted over 15 years and took 2 cu ft of charcoal. (changing the water softener resin is similar) I check for chlorine every 5 days on my RO units as well as the inlet / outlet prefilter pressures. I replace prefilter every 6 months (or 10 pound pressure difference) with a 1 micron filter.
Hope this helps.
To answer some of these Q's from my experience.
Changing the RO membranes- There are many different styles of vessels (housings) for membranes (filters) . I have had internal retaining clips, 1/4 " stainless pins holding the cap on the housing, screws holding the cap and brackets which fit over the ends of housing / & cap flanges. either way after powering down the unit, remove whatever retainer the housing has and remove the cap.This is sometimes difficult as the filters do no always readily come out.
I have actually powered up the RO unit and turn on unit by the manual switch for basically a second and the pressure pushes the cap off along with a good flow of water if I am not fast enough turning unit off. Pull the filter out of housing and as I do this I use a marker and mark which end is up on that particular housing. This is important as not all flows on the RO unit are the same direction through the different housings. The filter also has differences on each end. They are directional (kind of like check valves, put it in wrong and it will not work properly). These filters can also be cleaned- a cheaper alternative to replacement. I use alkaline and acid cleaning powders to clean the filters. (check with Huron Valley Sales ) An average membrane will produce approx .7-.8 gpm
of product at the 78 degree mark dependent on many factors like pressure, recovery rate, etc. There are other filters with higher gpm ranges you might look at also. I would not replace filters until I cleaned them and am still getting over 25 ppm. I check for soft water every day at the RO unit as well as water temp, both product & reject flow rates, TDS and system pressure.
Hope this helps.
Changing the RO membranes- There are many different styles of vessels (housings) for membranes (filters) . I have had internal retaining clips, 1/4 " stainless pins holding the cap on the housing, screws holding the cap and brackets which fit over the ends of housing / & cap flanges. either way after powering down the unit, remove whatever retainer the housing has and remove the cap.This is sometimes difficult as the filters do no always readily come out.
I have actually powered up the RO unit and turn on unit by the manual switch for basically a second and the pressure pushes the cap off along with a good flow of water if I am not fast enough turning unit off. Pull the filter out of housing and as I do this I use a marker and mark which end is up on that particular housing. This is important as not all flows on the RO unit are the same direction through the different housings. The filter also has differences on each end. They are directional (kind of like check valves, put it in wrong and it will not work properly). These filters can also be cleaned- a cheaper alternative to replacement. I use alkaline and acid cleaning powders to clean the filters. (check with Huron Valley Sales ) An average membrane will produce approx .7-.8 gpm
of product at the 78 degree mark dependent on many factors like pressure, recovery rate, etc. There are other filters with higher gpm ranges you might look at also. I would not replace filters until I cleaned them and am still getting over 25 ppm. I check for soft water every day at the RO unit as well as water temp, both product & reject flow rates, TDS and system pressure.
Hope this helps.
To answer some of these Q's from my experience.
Any metal on metal sound on pump is bad. All dependant on your pump. Grundfos- (or other multitstage pump or centrifigal pump) might need a complete impeller and seal kit, procon- replace it but make sure there is not an air leak in the inlet. Air in the rotory pumps like procon will have a harsh sound and damage pump. Be sure the solenoid valve on the inlet side of pump is not having a hard time opening all the way at the start up of unit, lack of water will also give you problems.
Hope this helps.
Any metal on metal sound on pump is bad. All dependant on your pump. Grundfos- (or other multitstage pump or centrifigal pump) might need a complete impeller and seal kit, procon- replace it but make sure there is not an air leak in the inlet. Air in the rotory pumps like procon will have a harsh sound and damage pump. Be sure the solenoid valve on the inlet side of pump is not having a hard time opening all the way at the start up of unit, lack of water will also give you problems.
Hope this helps.