Puratek 100 RO/DI Help
 

Just bought a Puratek 100 RO/DI and I can't get it to produce water. I have source water flowing in, pre-filter is full, carbon filter is full, pressure gauge reading approx 140 psi, there is water pressure going into the RO membrane, DI cartridge has not filled up yet.

I am thinking I may have the RO membrane in backwards. I have the end with the nipple and 2 o-rings inserted into the tube 1st. Is this correct o backwards?

Are you not getting any water at all in the Di Carthage? While i a, producing water it only has a little in it. Mine will only fill when not producing water like as in stopped/ valve closed on the outlet till unit hits the high pressure cut out.

Well I just walked into my hot water tank exhaust taking pictures and burned my forehead wow ha ha .

Turns out while producing its hard to see water In The Di housing

What's your tds reading? As a side note did u remember to install the flow restriction I have about 4 of these on my tanks and friends tanks and its easy to miss.

Great unit you got tho

Not sure if these will help and but this is the side that was up on my canister disregard the fact it's broke
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...ps61a71c23.jpg
Full
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd1ffdef.jpg

Producing water

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...ps670fab2d.jpg

Disregard what I jus posted lol I need to learn to read sometimes

More pictures coming

Is your unit new ? Comes back to me thinking of the flow restrictor

Hers pics of my ro membrane

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...psd567e70b.jpg

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8d632020.jpg

The unit is new out of the box. Well That is how I installed the RO membrane. So where is the flow restrictor? I didn't see any left over parts or instructions about installing the flow restrictor. I don't have any water at all in the DI canister.

What colour of hose did u use in the drain for the ro unit is it possible you can send me a picture of the set up or post it here. If I can't help u tonight I will defiantly try tomorrow and if that doesn't work we can try over the phone. Just got home from 14 hr day so I am starting to crash

So all your water seems to be coming out of the waste water line?

No water in waste line or production line Even when it goes through a flush routine.

So there is water going in building pressure but not coming out, seems strange almost like maybe one of the solenoids are stuck or hooked up wrong have seem this from new as well. Will it continue to run at 140 psi or does it cutout saying reservoir full.

140 psi, that's a bit on the high side and your RODI system is at risk of bursting a seam! This your normal house pressure? Most houses have a Pressure Reducing Valve somewhere to bring city pressure down to about 60-70 psi. In any case, if you have that much pressure & no output from either waste or product line, sounds to me like something's plugged up downstream of the membrane?

Not familiar with your brand of unit, but in many cases the flow restrictor is built into the outlet fitting on the membrane housing. On my system it's part of a manual flush valve plumbed in downstream of the RO membrane.

These units have a booster pump mine runs 130 ISh, also have auto back flush and a few other features, all in all about 3 or 4 solenoids on top of a normal unit.

I'll get a picture up of it later today. I kind of have a pretty busy day today.

I appreciate the help

Overview of the unit as installed
http://www.pugs4u.ca/downloads/RO1.jpg

View of the waste line as installed
http://www.pugs4u.ca/downloads/RO2.jpg

View of the output water line as installed
http://www.pugs4u.ca/downloads/RO3.jpg

View of the source water line as installed
http://www.pugs4u.ca/downloads/RO4.jpg

When I plug the unit in it goes through it's 15 second flush and then the source light and the producing water light turn on. The TDS meter reads 000PP but then there is no water at the sensor. They both will stay on indefinitely but no water gets through to the DI canister. If I get time I am going to pull th outlet lines of the RO canister and see if the water is making it through the membrane.

130 is still on the high side IME, but then again, I don't own a Vertex. I have my house PRV tweaked to give me around 110 psi at the tap and my second psi gauge plumbed in after prefilter & carbon, before RO membrane usually gets me to 90 psi. Most membranes are rated with a given water temp & pressure, I think most of them are tested at 60-70 psi to provide the gpd rating. Not sure what the burst limit is, but I'm fairly certain anything over 100 is getting risky. See last FAQ on the page linked below:

http://www.buckeyehydro.com/faq/#Q12...br><p><a href=

Again, I don't own a Vertex, sure seems like 3 solenoids would make things much more complex. Had a look at your photos & almost impossible to troubleshoot something like this with all that plumbing running behind the cartridges. But I did notice the T fitting at the front of your prefilter and that makes no sense to me?

Any instructions come with the unit? If not, contacting the good people at Vertex may be your best bet for a solution to the issue.

can you hear the pumps or solenoids trigger? do the indicator lights tell any information?

i know there was a batch of units that had a faulty solenoid, and once replaced, it worked flawlessly. but that was several months ago.

I can hear the pump running. The lights make it look like everything is running correctly. Source water light is on, Making water light is on.

Ok I found the problem. The 90° fitting going into the RO canister is not allowing water to pass. There is a small metal valve built into the fitting that remains closed. If I push on the metal disc at the bottom of the fitting it will open and then allows water to flow. With water pressure on the fitting the small metal valve remains closed. It seems like if there was pressure inside the RO canister that the inside pressure might open the valve allowing the water to flow, but how do you get pressure inside the canister if the valve is closed. Is this small valve required? What if I replaced the fitting with another fitting without a valve?

I have attached a couple pictures.

http://www.pugs4u.ca/downloads/ro5.jpg

http://www.pugs4u.ca/downloads/ro6.jpg

I pulled the RO canister fittings off and found that the fitting going to the waste line did not have this small check valve on it but the fitting for the produced water did have a check valve built into the fitting. I swapped the fittings around so now both my waste line and produced water line have check valves and my inlet water source does not have a check valve. Everything seems to be working fine.

My guess is that the fitting for source water is not supposed to have a check valve and someone screwed up in the assembly of my unit. All is well now and it appears that I am going to like this unit.

Thanks for all the help. It was much appreciated.

Good job ! Yet to see that

I have one of these awesome units and was wondering how to start the flush function. After filling my reservoir, the 3 cylinders are still full of water. is this normal?

It will flush after it senses that the reservoir is full then once it's done then the housings will fill

I'm just setting my unit in the sink when I need ro/di, then the water tube is submerged in a 5g pail. how does it know when the reservoir is full? I'm thinking the canisters shouldn't be full of water when I put it away.

You need a float valve on your reservoir, the computer will sense back pressure and stop production.

Here is mine installed but not yet plumbed.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8263/8...7aa229d4_c.jpg

Membrane needs to stay wet to avoid permanent damage and should be periodically flushed to avoid bacterial growth. You need to set up a float and auto shut off, it doesn't just know when the reservoir is full.

It's hooked up to the faucet, when my reservoir is full, i just turn off the tap. Easy peasy. Wondering how to get rid of the water in the canisters. if constant water in the filters is not a problem, then i'm all good. thanx

The di resin is should also always be wet as soon as its exposed to air it seems to go bad. Just my advice but I would not use just a pail only a matter of time before the hose falls out or you forget it on. I recommend at least to drill the pail and put in a float valve. I have ball valves on the outlet so I close it off and then they all fill. It knows the reservoir is full of pressure switches and when the outlet get blocked by float valve or manual ball valve it shuts the unit down.

Keep the canisters filled at all times
This keeps air out and bacteria will be minimized

I close my outlet valve before closing the source water valve. This keeps my system full and bacteria free