I'll try and answer you all in one go!
When they fitted it did they check to see if it worked (just seeing if it was working and now not or it hasnt worked from the offset...?)
Sadly no. It was only after they'd spent 6 hours fitting and were taking me through the whole set up and with me asking questions that they realised they had no tap, hose etc to test it.
Do you know what your mains pressure is?
No, how do I find this out? Buy an expensive gadget? !! I don't think it's a poor water flow by any means. Would shortening the length of the hose from garden tap to van help? Pressure is lost over distance I believe so maybe that would help - I just use a standard garden hose to connect garden tap to van port.
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or=Don Kee link=topic=181642.msg1544566#msg1544566 date=1390921410]
Is it a hf4 or hf5?
I take it you're not using a booster pump?
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I don't know what hf4 or hf5 is so presume no. Booster pump from mains to van? No, I thought the pressure was good enough to not need one - I can video it if necessary, might be easier to troubleshoot that way.
When you disconnect the D.I and just let the R.O produce onto the floor/drain does it work then?
Ideally you want to contact the people that fit it for you but it may be your pressure isnt enough....
In my second post I did just this. I was hoping to get a soaking when I disconnected the DI but no. I then slowly closed the waste tap to gauge and got a consistent drip, followed by an intermittent drip, but it was obvious that the more I closed the waste tap, the more the leak in the opposite end of the ro dripped (the end with the stopper).
I've rang them a few times without answer, and have left a message though I can usually only get hold of him towards the end of the day. Still a bit concerned though.
I don't like the way none if it seems to come apart easily like the 4040.
A small leak (ie dripping rather than piddling out) should make practically no difference to the water production.
You should disconnect the INLET of the DI vessel and let your RO water flow onto the ground, to make sure it is producing. Start with the waste-water valve fully open (so all the feed water just goes out to waste) then close it gradually, and see if any RO water comes out. I would make it so the ratio is about 50:50 waste water to pure water.
If there is water coming out, then your problem is with the DI vessel. DI vessels (even the monster size one you have there) don't need hardly any pressure to operate, so if you know that RO water is being produced, but stops when you connect the DI, then there's something wrong with the DI.
The 4040 there is attached to the frame with a couple of brackets. I'd have to undo those first then I can use an allen key on the 3 pipes to remove the membrane - this only just occurred to me as a way I could get at the leak on the right side doh! It's quite tight up against the ply, can't get my head in there, or tools to tighten it, or the camera to photo it!
I did disconnect the di earlier to test what pure I was getting out of the 4040 - yes it's a small leak but it increases as I close the waste tap, meaning pressure within the ro is lost, pressure that should be used to push the water to the di vessel - if I understand this correctly, my logic may be flawed though...
That membrane housing looks to me as though it's 'either end in' - the end caps are interchangeable so both have two threaded holes. At the inlet end the centre (product) outlet is not used, so the orange thingy is a threaded bung to close the hole. Take it out and put some ptfe on the threads, then screw it back in.
Next as Pete says you need to check that it is actually producing pure. Unclick the inlet on the DI cylinder and let the pipe hang down on the road. Keep closing the waste valve till water comes through this pipe. As there's no resistance beyond the waste valve, water will naturally flow to this outlet rather than to the strong resistance of the membrane - it could take almost until the waste valve is closed before there is enough pressure to force water through the membrane. If you can shut the valve off to the point where there is no waste coming but still no product even after waiting about 15 minutes then there is a problem with the membrane - refer back to supplier.
Once you get pure coming out, measure the pure/waste ratio and adjust the waste valve as necessary - (run pure into one container and waste into another bigger container - when the pure container is full take both pipes out of the containers. Discard the pure and pour the waste from the waste container into the pure container - see how many time you can fill the pure container, this will give you the pure/waste ratio).
Once you've established there is pure being produced, re-attach the DI - it will take some time to fill but there shouldn't be any back pressure - check the pipe from the outlet side to the tank is clear, and the tank fitting itself.
They were using plenty of PTFE during the install, I'd be surprised if they forgot it on the orange stopper but I guess it happens and would be a simpler explanation for the leak. I didn't realise the 4040 was interchangeable - someone else has suggested it has been installed incorrectly/the wrong way round and that I should remove the 4040 and membrane and start again, but it does have two holes at either end and not knowing about the membrane, I don't know if it's possible to get it the wrong way round.
You put "there's no resistance beyond the waste valve, water will naturally flow to this outlet rather than to the strong resistance of the membrane" but in my test earlier today (I think I put this above, sorry for repeating!), closing the waste tap increases the pressure in the 4040 and instead of pushing more water to the di vessel, the leak at the inlet end of the 4040 increased somewhat, so if I block this, perhaps all the pressure would force the water to the di, rather than wasting some on the leak.
I disagreeumption is probably incorrect in that I thought, to get a 60/40 waste ratio, I would only need to close the waste tap maybe half of the way, but I see now it's more about balancing the water pressure itself than getting a certain degree of open/closed - maybe I didn't give it a proper chance earlier but the leak put me right off! It may be that I need it more closed than not, or even nearly closed. I shall get buckets ready for the test tomorrow.
One final thing - I have spotted that some of the bends in the hoses/pipes are a little tight, very slightly kinked - a problem? They're also cable tied in places and seemingly a little too tightly as they seem a bit pinched. Would both these cause problems or is the hose rigid/big enough that it won't matter?