Question about BRS 5 stage rodi unit

[Reef Bullet]

Does anybody know how much psi one should have going through this unit for it to work best? I had awesome water pressure at the house in CA but this house is just so so and my rodi water comes out like a trickle and the water in the di canister won't stay filled up while the unit is running like it used to.
I'm getting about 62 psi now

 

[Emac909]

62 is ok

 

[mark.a.smith405]

Get a booster! I had 60 to mine and it was like 1/4 the efficiency. Now i have 120 with the pump. You can find them for like 20$ pretty frequently.

 

[francis2t]

I also have one. BRS said that atleast 50 psi is enough.

 

[Reef Bullet]

Get a booster! I had 60 to mine and it was like 1/4 the efficiency. Now i have 120 with the pump. You can find them for like 20$ pretty frequently.

Yeah it really sucks like this! I was looking at boosters and the cheapest I found was $100 on Amazon. Where do you see them a lot for $20??? I wanna get in on a deal like that!

62 is ok

Thanks Eric. I found this online...
The membranes are rated at 50psi. Below that they will work with diminished performance and increased waste water down to around 30-ish psi, but below that it generally wont work at all.

 

[mark.a.smith405]

Craigslist =] there's not much to them so they last for ever

 

[Reef Bullet]

Craigslist =] there's not much to them so they last for ever

Oh thanks! What should I put in my search? If it doesn't say specifically that it's for the BRS 5 stage rodi unit, I wouldn't know what to look for or if it would even work! Lol I don't know how specific they need to be for a particular unit or anything.

On another note, the tds coming out of the RO before going through the DI canister here is only 2. I've had the unit for a year and only changed the DI resin once in that time and never changed anything else. That's really good, right?

 

[mark.a.smith405]

Ya that's great, mine is 11 with brand new membrane an pre filters. I don't think it has to be too specific because it works for all rodi units as far as I know.

 

[lowbudget]

62 is ok but more is better like 80-90

 

[Reef Bullet]

Ya that's great, mine is 11 with brand new membrane an pre filters. I don't think it has to be too specific because it works for all rodi units as far as I know.

Yeah I used to get 6-8 in CA.
Thanks I'll start looking!

 

[Reef Bullet]

Ok another question. I just turned it off and the pressure gauge went down to 20 psi... I'm no expert on this stuff so maybe I'm wrong, but should it not go down to 0 when turned off?
I haven't ever examined it that closely before. Never had any reason to. Now it's working like crap and I'm trying to figure out why.

Do I have a busted pressure gauge and my pressure is really only 40 psi?

 

[SchnitzelReef]

I'm running 70psi and mine works great. Might want to look into a booster pump.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Reef Bullet]

Ok another question. I just turned it off and the pressure gauge went down to 20 psi... I'm no expert on this stuff so maybe I'm wrong, but should it not go down to 0 when turned off?
I haven't ever examined it that closely before. Never had any reason to. Now it's working like crap and I'm trying to figure out why.

Do I have a busted pressure gauge and my pressure is really only 40 psi?

What should the pressure gauge go down to when the unit is off?

 

[Reef Bullet]

Anyone?

 

[mark.a.smith405]

eventually the pressure should go to 0, mine drops pretty quickly

 

[OCReefMadness]

Minimum of 50 and a max of 80 and recommend around 60. RO membranes function better at higher pressures.
The target psi most vendors show is the pressure the membrane manufacturer tests their membranes printed performance.
For Dow Filmtec RO membranes the GPD rating is at 50 psi and 77 degrees F water temp, for the Spectrapures its 60 psi and 77 degrees and for GE or Applied membranes its 65 psi and 77 degrees F. Lower pressures and/or lower temperatures will reduce the GPD, thats why a RO booster pump might be a good investment.
Your gauge likely has a red line at 80 psi because 80 psi is the maximum allowable residential pressure under the Uniform Plumbing Code.

 

[lowbudget]

What should the pressure gauge go down to when the unit is off?

Zero is hero

 

[Reef Bullet]

eventually the pressure should go to 0, mine drops pretty quickly

Mine dropped from 62 to 20 quickly but then stayed there. I watched it for at least 30-40 seconds and it didn't move further.
I just got in bed but I'll check it again tomorrow and if it's still at 20 I'll call BRS.

Minimum of 50 and a max of 80 and recommend around 60. RO membranes function better at higher pressures.
The target psi most vendors show is the pressure the membrane manufacturer tests their membranes printed performance.
For Dow Filmtec RO membranes the GPD rating is at 50 psi and 77 degrees F water temp, for the Spectrapures its 60 psi and 77 degrees and for GE or Applied membranes its 65 psi and 77 degrees F. Lower pressures and/or lower temperatures will reduce the GPD, thats why a RO booster pump might be a good investment.
Your gauge likely has a red line at 80 psi because 80 psi is the maximum allowable residential pressure under the Uniform Plumbing Code.

Thanks Tony. I couldn't find anything on BRS telling the target psi, only that the minimum required is 50.

 

[OCReefMadness]

Which Membrane do you have? I'm using Dow Filmtec is required minimum 50 psi.

 

[Reef Bullet]

Which Membrane do you have? I'm using Dow Filmtec is required minimum 50 psi.

It's whatever came with the unit since I have yet to replace the membrane or prefilters, only the color changing resin...
I'll go on their site and see if I can find out...