what the bazooka?...ro/di tds

HM Digital Handheld TDS Meter w/ Thermometer

Here is a link to the TDS meter I use. This is the same meter I used when I installed/serviced RO units for a living. This meter also compensates for temp fluctuations like AZ is talking about.

Flow Restrictor

This is the flow restrictor or capillary tube that can be trimmed to dial in flow. I recommend replacing this whenever you replace your filters. They are cheap and it will improve the life of your membrane if you have nasty city water.

Just a side note. You may want to check that the pressure gauge is working correctly. These types of gauges (or any gauge at that matter) will eventaully fail. I would hate for you to continue going crazy trying to get the pressure up when the gauge isn't working. The pressure gauge looks like it can be removed easily. Hook it straight to the water inlet line from the wall to make sure it's working (you may have already verified this in previous posts, if so I appologize).

 

The gauge appears to move so i suspect that is not the issue. You can unscrew it, inspect the threaded end for teflon tape or sediment that may be blocking the small hole in the end and reinstall it being careful not to screw it in too far which seats the end so it does not register correctly. Some membrane housings with gauge ports have this problem.

 

As it is currently set up (with the possible drain outlet switched) if i do pinch the waste line the pressure does increase rapidly. Ill post similar pics to what i did today with the tds readings. Given these readers are garbage can they still give a decent guess of where my tdss are?

 

The inline is a good rough indicator and at least for the tap water will get you close. It lacks the low end accuracy of an ATC handheld though, so for RO and RO/DI it is more like a litmus paper, presence-absence test.

A straight on photo of the end of the membrane housing would help but I think the waste and treated are reversed. Switch those if so and restrict the waste line down from your present 8+:1 waste down to around 3:1 and your problems may be solved. It will take some time to clean the membrane up but the RO only TDS should improve with use if it is still useable.

 

Thx az ill get back to you

 

And thx ksta, i would have otherwise known no idea what valves he was talking about.

 

No problem. Based on your picture of the end of the membrane housing the orange line is going to be the treated water. If the pressure increases when blocking the drain line that is a good sign the membrane/membrane housing is not allowing water to bypass. You may have lost your flow restrictor when changing your membrane, sometimes they are little rubber plugs with a hole in the center. If you unhooked the lines in order to replace the membrane you could have accidentally knocked it out. Attach a ball valve to the drain line and get the waste/product ratio dialed in. Let that run for a while then test TDS again. You should see improvement. The membrane may have been damaged due to all that water flowing through it and may need replaced.

If slowing the drain flow does the trick install a flow restrictor and you should be good to go.

 

What he is telling you is the Orange line should be hooked to your DI filter as it is the treated RO water. The yellow line should have your flow restrictor either on or inside it depending on the type of flow restrictor you presently have or had. It could look like a small white canister with something like 750mL stamped on it or it could be inside the yellow line and look like a short strand of spaghetti with a flange on one end to hold it in place. It could also be built into the 90 degree elbow on the waste outlet. Either way it should provide the backpressure necessary to drive water through the membrane, without it the system will not function.

 

right well i switched the drain and treated line again and this is what i get.

urgh! *when unit was just turned on*

 

aaaaaand