New RO Unit Questions.

[Jeremiah]

Ok, well I hooked this thing up to make sure it works ok. When I first ran water through it the first few cups that came out of the output were all greenish.

Second. When i turned the output off the drain went for about 2 minutes before shutting off.


just wanted to make sure this was normal. Thanks... (great deal on this unit but the directions sucked) any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

[David Grigor]

You want to run several gallons of water through it before using it. This flushes out the preservatives they put in the membrane for shelf life.

When you say output do you have the auto shutoff valve. If so it takes a while to build up enough pressure to stop so could take a few minutes to do so before you see the waster water stop.

[Jeremiah]

Yeap, it has a auto shutoff on it. Here is the unit that I bought. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

I am going to order one of those TDS meters from airwaterice.com as well.

Here is another question I was just thinking about to. Do I need to keep a power head in my RO water holding tank. It is going to be a rubbermaid tub or something cheap.

[king kong]

Same unit i have. but i got the 3 gallon pressure tank with mine.

[clownfishcrazy]

I have that unit too, but I haven't hooked mine up yet.

[David Grigor]

I've never put a powerhead in there just during water storage. Just when going to heat it up to get ready for mixing SW but usually tahat's in a seperate container.

[aka_bigred]

I've got the same unit.

I'd suggest taking the bottom carbon filters out and rinsing them well in cold water the same way you would with aquarium carbon. Mine were absolutely full of fine powder and water came out all colored b/c of the powder. I rinsed the 3 filters untill they were 90+% clean before using the unit much. This way I figured it'd keep the Resin & membrane cleaner without running a bunch of useless sediment into it.

[Jeremiah]

LOL, too late... I ran 5 gallons through it already. Seems to be working good. I am going to order a different plastic typ of garden hose attatchment. The brass one that I got at home depot leaks slowly. Drips a drop about every ten minutes. Is there anywhere locally that I can get a better fitting for that?

[aka_bigred]

Try "building" one from the fittings section at HD/menards.

I tapped my water pipes and put on a valve that had a 3/4" female connection. I then used about 4 or so adapters to downgrade to 1/8". Easiest thing I did was just go to menards and sit in that section and lay out the part to step it down in order until you get to your destination.

Also make sure you use teflon tape on all the threads to seal connections. You'll need to tape EVERY connection, even if it doesn't seem to be leaking, it's easier to do it while you are building than to dismantle when you decide you need it.

[Jeremiah]

They had the 3/8" to 1/4" adapter at HD, but it's a brass fitting but when you tighten it down it cuts through the ro lind. I did put the insert in there but still not great. I like how the plastic fittings work better. You can tighten them up with out cutting through the ro tubing. Anywere you can get the plastic connector locally?

[aka_bigred]

I am using the brass ones on the plastic line with no troubles. I tightened it just a little bit more than was needed to stop it from leaking. I never really looked for the plastic ones so I can't answer that.

And you still may get some value from rinsing your filters even though you've run some water through the system. I was amazed how much crap they put into the water unrinsed.

[happy]

If you put the carbon filter before the sediment filter, you don't have to rinse very much. or at all.