RO/DI problem?

[proverbs308]

I just bought a Coralife 50gpd RO/DI and hooked it up and water starting coming out the purified side (blue hose) very rapidly where as the drain side (red hose) was just dribbling out. Is this normal or was sent to me plumbed backwards? Anyone have an idea?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/2319272048_932e46ceb1.jpg

[Boltster]

I have the same unit except I have 3 canisters sitting vertically under the RO membrane. My blue hose comes off the RO cylinder and enters the 3 canister (DI unit) and exits the other side. The red hose comes directly off the RO cylinder.
My blue hose just dribbles while the red hose comes out much faster. It does seem like yours is operating in reverse. You might want to call their support line first before making an adjustment.

[kcress]

proverbs308; That is not looking good.

It is acting like the membrane is absent. That blue hose port IS the product,(filtered), water. The red one IS the brine,(waste), water.

The water will always come out of the waste slowish because it has a mechanical restriction in that red tube right at the canister joint.

The water will come out of the product line 4x slower normally than the brine. However with a ruptured or missing membrane what you describe will be occurring.

Turn off the water supply and unscrew the membrane housing. If you have no membrane that would explain your problem.

Note: If the membrane dries out it is destroyed. Don't allow that to happen. If you have to pull it keep it in a plastic sealed bag.

[dolfans1]

From what I can see in the picture, the blue line should be the RO water and the red should be the waste water. There is only one way into the RO cartrige, and that is from the other end. On all the RO systems I've seen, the line that comes out of the fitting that is at the end of the RO housing and more towards the center is the pure water line, while the line coming from the fitting that is near the edge of the RO housing (in this case the red line) is the waste line.

If you have a TDS meter take a reading from both output. That will tell you instantly which is which.

[proverbs308]

If you have no membrane that would explain your problem.

Thanks kcress that was the problem. I called Drs. Foster and Smith and they are sending me the missing part. I was impressed with their service. Thanks everyone for your help.

[kcress]

Das is cool.

BTW when you do get your membrane make sure you run water thru it for about 3-5gallons before you use the water. Sometimes they put preservatives or other things in to protect the membranes in storage.

Also the waste should come out 4X faster than the product. If you see much less then the membrane will fail soon. If you see much more then you are wasting your water and prefilters. I had one that was putting out 8X which was a huge waste until I actually adjusted the restriction.