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Booster Pump

T

Talonstorm

Does anyone have a booster pump on their RO/DI filter? I recently moved and the water pressure at my new house is terrible (like 20-25 psi), so of course my RO/DI filter runs like crap. Anyway, I bought a booster pump in the recent AWI group buy. I was a little disturbed to open the sealed box to find the inlet and outlets of the pump dripping water, but I figured they test the pump first (which is a good thing!). I was not so pleased that it didn't come with an instruction sheet (which was corrected with a quick email, they sent back instructions right away). I followed the instructions to the letter and the pump runs when I plug it in, but the water pressure doesn't move, it is still at 20 psi. ??? Anyone have experience with one of these? I thought it was pretty straight forward. I have checked all connections to be sure they are correct (water from pipe into pump, water out of pump into filter ::)), but maybe I am missing something?? I have been exchanging emails today with Don at AWI who sent me the instructions and has been very helpful so far, hopefully he can figure out the problem. I would hate to have to send it back and wait for a replacement. I would really appreciate any advice on this!

Thanks,
Tina
 
S

steve68

i have this pressure pump i bought & it keeps my PSI at 95 with out the pump it runs 40 psi, i don't know how well booster pumps work but this pressure pump rocks
3-13-06-5.jpg

i got it on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/REVERSE-OSMOSIS...ryZ20684QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
T

Talonstorm

Just a quick update. I am going to have to send the pump back. I need to give AWI a call, according to the email they sent me, there is a $45 refundable deposit (I would assume they charge me $45 and refund it upon return of the broken pump). I will update you all on how that goes. I am making a trip to home depot to get more tubing now because I had to cut my current tubing to put the pump on the system. :-\

Tina
 
blange3

blange3

Tina,

Tell Don he owes us 40' of tubing, we didn't get it in the buy. I wasn't going to bother because it was mine and only $3. Tell him to send it to you.
 
T

Talonstorm

I told him about the tubing. I am supposed to be getting the replacement pump tomorrow, so I will let you know if it is in there. I am hopeful that the pump will work this time.

Tina
 
C

chrowski

Okay, I was trying not to tell people this because it's so embarassing but if it's your problem also, you'd be lucky. I couldn't get my RODI+AWI booster over 20PSI for about 30 minutes. Turns out I didn't have the flaucet from the Cold water pipe open more then a fraction. So, check for that, or make sure you tapped into your Cold water pipe well enough that you can feed the pump in the first place. I was trying to keep my incident a secret. :-\
 
blange3

blange3

No need to worry about being embarrassed! Most of us have done way more embarrassing things, and many more times!

We learn by our mistakes and I'm learning all the time! ;D
 
T

Talonstorm

Actually, my first thought was that I must be having a blonde moment and something was hooked up wrong. But, I checked everything! Believe me, it is definately hooked into the cold water line, I checked that several times before I punctured the pipe for the valve (which made me extremely nervous). I open that valve completely and I put an inline valve that I use for turning the water off and on (I didn't want to abuse the little saddle valve on the pipe by constantly turning it on and off and having it leak). I think I am going to recheck that the saddle valve is completely open tonight though. I have been hassling the water company for the last week about the low water pressure, but they checked it and said they are getting 50 psi outside the house, so maybe something is funny with that valve. I did have it hooked directly to the faucet, but the water pressure was only about 30 there, so I thought maybe the faucet had a restrictor causing the low water pressure. So, I hooked it directly to the pipe, and now my water pressure is at 19. Ah, the benefits of being a homeowner (the ability to destroy your plumbing if you want to). ::)

Anyway, I received the replacement pump yesterday, I will try it out tonight. Now if the replacement doesn't work, I am really going to feel stupid! :p

AWI did send the 40' of tubing, I probably won't need much of it though. I can always bring it to the next meeting I attend and if anyone needs it they can take it.

Tina
 
blange3

blange3

Talonstorm said:
AWI did send the 40' of tubing, I probably won't need much of it though. I can always bring it to the next meeting I attend and if anyone needs it they can take it.

Tina
Click to expand...

I'll take whatever you don't use Tina. It was part of my order.

Good luck with the pump!
 
T

Talonstorm

OK, here is the update on the booster pump situation. I unwrapped the new pump AWI sent to hook it up tonight. It is missing the correct wiring fittings to hook it to the pressure switch. I took pictures of the old pump wiring, new pump wiring, and pressure switch wiring to illustrate this and emailed the pictures to Don at AWI. I am currently awaiting his response. To say I am getting frustrated and annoyed with this project at this point would be an understatement. This was supposed to be easy to add on to my RO/DI filter!

On top of that, the water company apparently stopped by again today and checked the pressure outside at the hose, I know because they broke the fitting on the end of the hose (that I just bought a few weeks ago)and it is now leaking all over.

I am feeling a bit grumpy now, maybe I shouldn't work on anything else tonight. :mad:

Hopefully I will hear from AWI in regards to this soon. This is putting my whole "sump addition project" on hold.

Tina
 
C

Carlo

One of the things I found earlier with one of my early RO units was a defective pipe tap. Actually I don't even bother using the 1/4" taps anymore when I hook up people's RO/DI units. I go to Lowes and pick up a 3/8" tap, valve, hose and adapter and replace this going into the first filter (sediment). The added pressure normally seems to help a lot with better production.

I actually just went to Lowes yesterday to up size my own system and picked up a 2nd 3/8" tap and T with 300' of hose. I don't really have any idea how much difference a 2nd tap is going to have on pressure but I figured it couldn't hurt. I like to try new things so... I'm also going to run a coil (at least 100') in my sump on the input hose to bring up the input temperature. RO/DI units are optimized for 77 degrees so the warmer the water the better your production is. I also plan on running a coil on waist back through the sump since the water will still be cooler which will contribute a tiny bit of cooling in the summer. In the winter just remove the coil from the sump. I figured I'd also run the waist water out to the pool during the summer to help with evap and water hardness and to stop "flooding" the street in front of my house since this is where my basement sump goes. :) In the winter I'll have an ice skating rink out front unless I get off my butt and hook the waist into the plumbing properly.

Anyway, Talnstorm try disconnecting the hose going into the first canister and visually check out the water flow. Maybe you got a bad meter and the flow is good. Maybe you got a bad tap as I did early on. Being able to see it flow can give you an idea and won't cost anything to try.

Carlo
 
T

Talonstorm

Hi Carlo. Thanks for the advice, I will pick up a different tap, valve, hose, and adapter tonight. In the meantime, I disconnected it from the pipe tap and hooked it directly to the faucet again. This increased the pressure to ~30 psi, so obviously there is something going on with the tap. I did try to open the tap further by backing off the nut, but it started leaking, so it was open all the way. I had hoped this would help the booster pump issue, so I tried the old pump (the one with the correct wiring), but no dice, still no pressure boost from the pump. Hopefully I can get this all worked out soon. Making water right now is painfully slow and from what I understand, the low pressures aren't good for the RO membrane I just replaced.

Take care,
Tina
 
T

Talonstorm

Update:

I rewired the replacement pump according to instructions from Don at AWI. I am pleased to report that the new pump works perfectly! So, I was able to make water yesterday and get my salt mixed in for my water change and sump addition.

I also picked up a new pipe tap in the 3/8" size, so eventually, I would like to hook it directly to the pipe again (as opposed to my bathroom faucet, which is a pita).

Thanks to everyone who offered ideas and suggestions. I am so pleased that it finally works!

Tina
 
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