RO membrane not making water

[swabe3618]

I recently moved and just started to set up my ro/di unit again and tried making water last night. I could not get the water to pass through the ro membrane and into the DI chamber. I was getting waste water but not any pure water, pressure is good....so good that at first i thought it was the problem and turned the pressure up until it got too high and blew lines off and made a nice mess for me to clean. Anyways, after searching the internet trying to find a solution is read that you can not let the ro membrane dry out as i did. My question before i order a new one, if it does dry out wouldnt it still pass water or no? I want to make sure this is the cause before i spend money.

[dcombs44]

My unit sat in my garage from September through February in Illinois.

There was some water in the unit, but it froze and busted the canisters.

I replaced the canisters and the RO membrane still got the water down to 6 TDS. Still 0 TDS after DI chamber.

Not sure if it completely dried out, but it went through the ringer and still does it's job.....It's also about 3 years old.

[swabe3618]

I should add this, when i packed up the unti i removed the filters to drain all the water out and tossed them in a box which is why my ro went bone dry. When i remove the ro membrane i get water circulating through the whole unit so im assuming the problem lies in the filter itself. I just dont understand why i can't get any water to pass through it at all. I find it weird. The system itself is only about a year old so i cant see it that parts have worn out already.

[yardboy]

When you dismantled the unit did your flow restrictor on the waste line come out and not get replaced when you reassembled the unit? While it's possible the unit dried out, though that's a small hole for moisture to get through, I'd be surprised if it wouldn't allow any water to pass, more likely a lot of poor quality water would go through, but if there's no restriction then there's no pressure to push water through the membrane and it wil all go out to waste.

[swabe3618]

no i didn't touch the restrictor. All i did was remove the canisters and filters and dump the water out. It's driving me nuts why i cant get it to distill my water. Like i said if i remove the ro membrane water flows through it and into the waste line and the pure line connected to the DI chamber...it's when i put the ro cartridge back in im getting nothing but waste water and no pure water. IDK if i damaged the ro membrane or what. I just ordered a new one so we will have to see if thats the problem or not. I even bypassed the auto shut-off thinking that may have went but im getting nothing

[nebraskareef]

I had a similar problem, Replacing the membrane wasn't enough. I also had to replace the flow restrictor.

[CorkPullerPHL]

Take the unit apart, make sure everything is lined up before you replace the RO filter. I had this issue the first time i replaced the filter.

If it doesn't work I'd just go ahead and replace the restrictor and the filter.

[dcombs44]

You could get a flush kit.

They are pretty cheap and have the flow restrictor built in. You can bypass it to flush the membrane, or use it for normal operation.

Some say that flushing the membrane doesn't do any good, but I kinda like mine.

[nebraskareef]

Originally Posted by dcombs44

You could get a flush kit.

They are pretty cheap and have the flow restrictor built in. You can bypass it to flush the membrane, or use it for normal operation.

Some say that flushing the membrane doesn't do any good, but I kinda like mine.

Yep, I agree, my restrictor is also built in the the flush kit (Typhoon 3 user here) - I don't flush it that often but I do whenever I think about it.

[Fizz71]

I had a similar problem that turned out to be a poorly seated/sealed membrane. It looked good and even closed, but turned out it just wasn't in the whole way.

[CorkPullerPHL]

Originally Posted by Fizz71

I had a similar problem that turned out to be a poorly seated/sealed membrane. It looked good and even closed, but turned out it just wasn't in the whole way.

This is exactly what I am saying. Thanks for clarifying. I'm not at my most eloquent today....

[yardboy]

Originally Posted by dcombs44

You could get a flush kit.

They are pretty cheap and have the flow restrictor built in. You can bypass it to flush the membrane, or use it for normal operation.

Some say that flushing the membrane doesn't do any good, but I kinda like mine.

I operate industrial RO systems and they flush for 10 minutes each, slow and fast flush. If I didn't I'd be cleaning it a lot more often.
Keep Flushing!


If it isn't the restrictor or misseated membrane, well it must be the membranes ruined. Whoda thunkit? I'd keep screwing with it until the new membrane arrives. If you get it to work keep the new membrane sealed (as if I had to tell you that!) and eventually you'll need it!
Oh, another Mr. Obvious, but do you have a malfunctioning float valve on the permeate line? Sorry, had to ask.

[swabe3618]

Update. I got the new ro membrane and my distiller is finally making water again. I guess those filters really can go bad. It blows my mind why it wouldn't pass water but problem solved and corrected.

[yardboy]

Thanks for the update.
Note to myself. Yes, membranes can go bad if they dry out.