Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 04/15/2011, 01:56 PM   #1
tjw00
Moved On
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NYC
Posts: 66
RODI Pressure!

So I decided to upgrade my RODI unit from my ancient coralife system to a BRS 5 stage unit. I live on the 10th floor of a 52 story building with the water tank on the roof, so I've always had amazing water pressure, but never knew how much PSI. So the BRS RODI has a pressure gauge, and when I hooked it up today and turned on the water, the needle was pinned all the way , way off the charts past the 100 psi limit.

So , can anyone recommend someplace online to get a glycerin filled pressure gauge that read max of 200 or 250 psi so I can replace the 100PSI gauge.

Thnx


tjw00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/15/2011, 02:13 PM   #2
jeff@zina.com
Registered Member
 
jeff@zina.com's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Naples, FL
Posts: 3,345
Might want to look for a pressure reducer instead. Most RO membranes have a maximum pressure too. I know Grainger sells water pressure gauges in that range, might find one locally.

Jeff


jeff@zina.com is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/15/2011, 03:13 PM   #3
tjw00
Moved On
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NYC
Posts: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeff@zina.com View Post
Might want to look for a pressure reducer instead. Most RO membranes have a maximum pressure too. I know Grainger sells water pressure gauges in that range, might find one locally.

Jeff
thnx, I'll check out grainger. The membrane has a max operating pressure of 300 psi. Given the height of my building, the max static pressure should be somewhere around 200 psi. Guess I'll go with the 250 psi gauge from grainger.


tjw00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/15/2011, 03:31 PM   #4
kc350twin
Registered Member
 
kc350twin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Severn, MD
Posts: 1,579
Most people would love to have that much pressure. I had to use a booster pump to get the pressure up for the dual membrane. Lucky dog.


__________________
112g Cube 36x36x20= Custom 12x39wPower Module (Par Monster)= Neptune Apex=ATB 840v2=BM Doser= 2 MP-40's
kc350twin is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/15/2011, 04:12 PM   #5
tjw00
Moved On
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NYC
Posts: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by kc350twin View Post
Most people would love to have that much pressure. I had to use a booster pump to get the pressure up for the dual membrane. Lucky dog.
Yes, I've been lucky with the pressure and also for NYers in the hobby like me we're also blessed with tap water with a tds out of the faucet of 38.


tjw00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 07:58 AM   #6
Buckeye Hydro
.Registered Member
 
Buckeye Hydro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 4,857
Let's back up a little...

Jeff hit the nail on the head above. The max pressure you should be exposing your system to by plumbing code is 80 psi. Best if you don't expose clear housings to over 60 psi. So you need to reduce the pressure reaching the system, rather than worry about measuring the high pressure accurately. You need a pressure reducing valve:



Recommend you DO NOT run the system with the current high pressure - you're playing with fire...

Russ


Buckeye Hydro is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 08:02 AM   #7
Buckeye Hydro
.Registered Member
 
Buckeye Hydro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 4,857
If you are going to run it with the high pressure, think about placing it in the bathtub. If you get a failure at over 100psi it will make a big mess in a big hurry.

Russ


Buckeye Hydro is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 08:29 AM   #8
Harry_Y
Registered Member
 
Harry_Y's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: NY
Posts: 454
I would say over 100 is defiantly over the top.

I have 80 psi and I thought that was on the high end of the scale


__________________
.

180 Gallon Reef with Basement Sump,
Apex Controller, Hamilton Cebu Sun Light,
Lifereef Skimmer and Calcium Reactor.
Harry_Y is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 09:33 AM   #9
Buckeye Hydro
.Registered Member
 
Buckeye Hydro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 4,857
The membrane can handle much more. The clear housings are the "weak link in the chain" in terms of being able to handle high pressure.

Russ


Buckeye Hydro is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 11:41 AM   #10
ChuckLawson
Registered Member
 
ChuckLawson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Plano, TX
Posts: 383
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeFS View Post
Let's back up a little...

Jeff hit the nail on the head above. The max pressure you should be exposing your system to by plumbing code is 80 psi. Best if you don't expose clear housings to over 60 psi. So you need to reduce the pressure reaching the system, rather than worry about measuring the high pressure accurately. You need a pressure reducing valve:



Recommend you DO NOT run the system with the current high pressure - you're playing with fire...

Russ

What he said. I've been having problems the last ten years or so with faucets, toilet fill valves, etc. wearing out very fast, and with leaks around the cartridges of my RODI, float valves failing, etc. Never put two and two together until I added a pressure gauge to my my RODI and found I was at 95psi. Apparently the city bumped up the water pressure when a bunch of new houses went in nearby.

Long story short, I ended up paying a plumber to come in and put a pressure regulator on the water main to drop the whole house to 65psi. My RODI no longer runs quite as fast, but I've got a whole lot fewer problems with my RODI and plumbing in general. As a bonus, running water has gotten a lot quieter -- you can no longer hear three rooms away when the RODI unit is on.


ChuckLawson is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 12:46 PM   #11
tjw00
Moved On
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NYC
Posts: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeFS View Post
If you are going to run it with the high pressure, think about placing it in the bathtub. If you get a failure at over 100psi it will make a big mess in a big hurry.

Russ
Thanks. I think I will do that from now on.

Been running the old coralife unit for almost 4 years on the same pressure and never had a problem. But this BRS unit, while well built, has more stages and connections, so more points to fail at. I never thought of the clear cylinder as a weak point. I always thought it would be a pressure fitting that would pop off.

Thnx.


tjw00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 01:03 PM   #12
Buckeye Hydro
.Registered Member
 
Buckeye Hydro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 4,857
Nope. The fittings, tubing, membrane, and membrane housing can all take higher pressure than the clear housings...


Buckeye Hydro is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 02:10 PM   #13
beatle
Registered Member
 
beatle's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Springfield, VA
Posts: 295
I didn't know the canisters needed to be limited in their pressure. I run my booster pump in this configuration:



Pressure measured between my final carbon block going into the membrane is around 95 psi. House pressure is ~60psi.


beatle is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/16/2011, 02:56 PM   #14
Buckeye Hydro
.Registered Member
 
Buckeye Hydro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 4,857
Best to put the booster pump in this position:
prefilters->strainer->pump->RO->DI


Buckeye Hydro is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
rodi pressure gauge auburngrad New to the Hobby 1 09/25/2010 04:38 PM
rodi pressure gauge mullinsd2 Reef Discussion 11 08/27/2010 08:01 AM
rodi pressure mullinsd2 Reef Discussion 18 08/05/2009 12:51 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:42 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.