i Need help with my R/O unit Please.
I purchased a spectra pure maxicap r/o unit in aug 2011 it has 2 built on the unit tis meters and have had nothing but problems with it. after a year i had to send the membrane back after talking to them to see if it was ok and they sent it back saying it was ok but they replaced the gauge on it. I have replaced the membrane this past nov. and in sept i replaced the sediment and put in 2 carbon filters and new di, instead of their sediment,carbon,DI,silica buster. MY handheld TDS meter even says its 32 TDS. And I also have a tank under the sink that holds the water that i got when i purchased my first R/O unit from AQUA SAFE CANADA and I had that one for 6 or 7 years with no problems til it just got to old and I thought I’d try something different should have just went back to aqua safe and I still might. I’m about ready to chuck this spectra pure. So I think i got all the info out so what do you think.
Sounds to me it could possibly be a couple of things.
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Check to make sure all the hoses are going to the right places
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Make sure the cartridges are not upside down, I did that on my D\I cartridge once and got lousy TDS readings.
What is the problem? is it still coming out with a reading rather than 0 TDS? Is the TFC cartridge put in right? it can easily be put in the wrong way. Can you post pics of it?
I"ll check the cartridges. and i"M sorry for saying this LOL but which is the TFC. The TDS meters on the unit are acting crazy as soon as i turn on the spigot to run the water it starts out at 23 then it starts jumping33 63 87 106 then it will gradually come back downhill it stops alike 32 but now its says 13 on the TDS on the lefts side of the unit and 9 on the TDS on the right side of the unit. At one point we did have one hose wrong somehow it got changed around and wasn’t filling up the last canisters but we talked to the guy at spectra pure and got that straightened out and just hasn’t been right.
Are the battery still good in the meter? are the lines hook up correctly?
Here a video from BRS. check it out maybe it may answer your questions. If not we’ll see what else we can do to help.
If I understand you correctly your concerned with the tds coming out of the ro before the di?or the tds going into the ro?are you using well or city water?hot or cold?whats the incoming pressure?whats the tds of the water straight from the sink?
I guess both when i talked to the guy at spectra pure he said if the out on the left side TDS meter is more than 8 change the membrane ( but the membrane is new). and if the in on the right side TDS meter says more than 5 change cartridge #3 which is new and if the out on the right says more than ) change cartridge #4 so I’m at a lost. the pressure is 60 and city water and cold water
Can you post a pic of your R/O unit?
i’ll see if i can i usually have a hard time posting pics on these forums but i’ll try. whats the easiest way
Upload the pic to photobucket and use the img link and paste it to the thread.
First off the inline tds meters do not do temperature compensation so if they were calibrated @ 68º and you are putting 45º water through it, it will be off, first thing I would do is using a handheld tds meter check your tap water, then test your RO water before the DI with the same meter and with that you can get the rejection rate, here is a rejection rate calculator much easier than doing the math
rejection rate calculator
anything under 96% your RO membrane is bad and would cause you to eat through your DI fast.
Also if it is a Spectrapure system I would really suggest staying with their cartridges and stay with the sediment,carbon,DI,silica buster mix as they have their units flow rate dialed into their cartridges.
Like beadlock said, I would check your pressure going through the unit. Ive had that problem in the past and it was because I wasnt pushing the right pressure through the unit itself. Added a booster pump amd it fixed my problem.
Dont get me wrong im not saying thats the case with yours.
From reading over at rc, you should let the first couple of minutes of water go down the drain. something to do with tds creep. there is a guy over on rc by the name of desert rat that really is the person you need to communicate with. he explained about the tds creep in a post I read the other day. there are numerous things that could be wrong with your unit. the membrane may not be seated correctly, causing water to bypass the membrane, the connecting tubes could be routed wrong., the inline tds meters could have buildup on them, causing a bad reading. if you could get tds reading before and after each filter will norrow down where the problem is
I’m also thinking it could be an issue with something not being seated properly. Water is allowed to flow AROUND a filter instead of THROUGH it.
I’m also interested in what type of production you’re getting out of the unit? If it’s a 75 GPD membrane, and you’re getting more that 3 gallons an hour then there is an issue with the membrane, pinhole, not seated, torn or something else.
And honestly as cold as the temperature is, I’d be suprised if you were getting 3 gallons an hour output on a 75 GPD unit.
Also - where are you taking your handheld TDS reading from? Are you taking it from a storage container or are you making water directly in to a CLEAN cup and taking it from there?
its a 90 GPD unit and i m taking the tds from i guess the storage tank after it has filled up my bucket about half way. the first bucket i fill goes pretty fast cause its coming from the storage tank but then after that its slow but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take an hour to fill it ( its a 3 gal bucket). It usually takes 2 - 2 1/2 days i think to fill my 44 gal trash can. The membrane is brand new just put that in Nov… Im looking at an R/O unit that was my first one from aqua safe i’m thinking of just getting a new one i never had any problem with that one and had it for 6 or 7 years
sick of fulling with this one
So we can assume then that the membrane is in pretty good condition since it’s only about 3 months old and given the time it takes to make 44 gals of water it’s probably seated properly.
Try disconnecting the storage container and letting it produce water directly in to a clean cup and take a TDS reading from there.
As water sits, the natural bacteria, algae, contamination from the container itself will increase TDS readings. You can test this by making a cup of water and taking the TDS reading, go back in 2 days and take it again, you’ll see an increase.
the water may be coming out of the unit with 0 TDS but by the time it goes through the plumbing to the collection container, and then through more plumbing to the bucket, it may be picking up stray contaminants.
would it still pick up stray contaminants if all the plumbing is plastic tubing? and the storage tank is stainless inside i found out today
Yes - bacteria will add to TDS - algae will add to tds - even in plastic tubing - even if it’s not visible.
I would disconnect the line pre DI, take reading <10and post di (before tank), and take reading<2. Very important to use a sterile container to test water in. Find the source. If the storage container is old it likely needs cleaned or replaced. This would be the source of the tds. Just test at different points of the system. Make sure the test probe is clean too.
Craig, didn’t you have a water storage container with funk cause issues before? I know I have before. Always good to drain & clean once in a while.
I did. Had a brown slime grow on the inside of it. Now I completely empty it and clean it out every month or so. If I dont I can feel the slime on the sides or on the hose.