[kevinc]

hi,need some help if you can as i'm a bit stuck,
bought a 40/40 today from flea bay and got it home and tried to connect it all up-haven't a clue really where the pipes all go as this is all new to me(previous owner wanted the van not the kit inside)it seems whichever/whatever i connect the pipe from the pre-filters from i get the same tds-guess i have had me pants pulled down but any help in the mean time would help-as long as you don't mention new membranes /where should all three outlets go to?thanks in advance kev

[andyM]

Is the waste valve fully open?
If it is it means it's on flush which will give a high tds reading.

[kevinc]

waste valve?i've got what you would call a bare unit with some pipes and john guest fittings,i assume the waste is at the side of the inlet?sorry andy for being vague-if it was an engine i'd be fine but this is throwing me a bit.
you might have to start from the beginning on this one for me-thanks kev

[Spruce]

hi,need some help if you can as i'm a bit stuck,
bought a 40/40 today from flea bay and got it home and tried to connect it all up-haven't a clue really where the pipes all go as this is all new to me(previous owner wanted the van not the kit inside)it seems whichever/whatever i connect the pipe from the pre-filters from i get the same tds-guess i have had me pants pulled down but any help in the mean time would help-as long as you don't mention new membranes /where should all three outlets go to?thanks in advance kev

On the champ housing the inlet is on the side on the end cap. It is a single inlet. On the other side will be two outlets. The one on the side is to waste (the flush valve is screwed into this.) The second outlet is at the top of the housing in the middle. That's the pure outlet. There are other inlets and outlets, but they are all blanks.  

[kevinc]

thanks so far lads,what i have and looking at the "sticker"with the arrow that says flow i have what i assume is an inlet on the endcap,underneath and to the side of that there is another outlet-i'm kinda thinking that may be waste?,and on the other end of the "tube"theres another outlet again to the side-is this one for the pure?at the moment i have my outlet from the pre-filters flowing into the outlet/inlet on the end cap-not the one to the side side of it if that makes sense?

[kevinc]

oh to add to this i'm just using mains pressure at the moment not pumped but pressure is pretty good

[kevinc]

spruce-your a god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cyber pints and a kebab to you-i kinda understand a bit more now?i know i need a few more bits now to make it complete-got the tds meter so wet with testing this its not happy and the screen has gone blank but compared to a new membrane its small-right do i need some pressure meters like the diagram?i can understand what they do but if i changed pre-filters every three/four months would i still need them?maybe thought of an inline tds moniter to control things a bit?any suggestions?kev

[kevinc]

so without becoming a bore and hogging the forum-this is where i am now
no restrictor on the flush side/so not so bad as i am back flushing now-am i correct in this?so all i need now is a restrictor tap to reduce the tds/waste to pure and i hope someone could advise me on this?.
many,many thanks andy and spruce for the input so far it has helped me loads and i think i understand the basic principles of it-just

[andyM]

so without becoming a bore and hogging the forum-this is where i am now
no restrictor on the flush side/so not so bad as i am back flushing now-am i correct in this?so all i need now is a restrictor tap to reduce the tds/waste to pure and i hope someone could advise me on this?.
many,many thanks andy and spruce for the input so far it has helped me loads and i think i understand the basic principles of it-just

I have a lever ball valve on the 4040 I've recently bought.
Similar to this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/amp-Engineers-Lever-Ball-Valve/dp/B0051OEJF2

[Spruce]

spruce-your a god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cyber pints and a kebab to you-i kinda understand a bit more now?i know i need a few more bits now to make it complete-got the tds meter so wet with testing this its not happy and the screen has gone blank but compared to a new membrane its small-right do i need some pressure meters like the diagram?i can understand what they do but if i changed pre-filters every three/four months would i still need them?maybe thought of an inline tds moniter to control things a bit?any suggestions?kev

The idea of 2 pressure gauges is that you can see what is happening with your prefilters. when compared to inlet pressure. The water board has raised the water pressure in our area this summer from 40 to 50psi which will be evident on the first gauge. As the sediment filter get clogged up the pressure on the second gauge will drop.

Do you need pressure gauges? Probably one after the prefilters as with use you get to know what's happening. I purposely ordered clear housings so I can see the state of the sediment filter at a glance. We have a lot of sediment on our water and the sediment filter is good for about 6 weeks tops. Once I had to replace it in a couple of days - now I keep my eyes open for water mains work and switch the r/o off until I've had the chance to run the bath will cold water and see how much dirt is in the water.

I have an inline tds meter with 2 probes. The first is inline after the r/o and before the di vessel and the second is after the di. This will help you get the sweet spot between waste and pure. At the moment that inline tds meter is a great investment.

We have this inline meter from:

www.daqua.co.uk

HM Digital DM-2: Commercial In-Line Dual TDS Meter

You will also need to replace your hand held tds meter and whilst you are at it, I recommend you get a bottle of tds testing fluid.

[kevinc]

thanks andy i'll be getting one of those tonight,as to the restriction how far does the tap go?are we looking for pure at a certain tds regarding the position of the tap?as in higher tds more flow to tank or lower tds /less flow etc-its all new to me so i don't know where to start

[Spruce]

so without becoming a bore and hogging the forum-this is where i am now
no restrictor on the flush side/so not so bad as i am back flushing now-am i correct in this?so all i need now is a restrictor tap to reduce the tds/waste to pure and i hope someone could advise me on this?.
many,many thanks andy and spruce for the input so far it has helped me loads and i think i understand the basic principles of it-just

I use a 1/2" gate valve as I find it easier to adjust. This is my preference.  I'm not a lover of gate valves and would choose a ball valve for everything else.

I also carefully drilled a 1mm hole through the gate/wedge so I could never shut it off completely by mistake. When doing this you need to be careful and drill to one side of the actuator thread.

Most of the Champ housings are NPT thread but you can use BSP fittings with thread tape as they are almost identical - but you need to be gentle and careful and don't cross thread anything.

[andyM]

thanks andy i'll be getting one of those tonight,as to the restriction how far does the tap go?are we looking for pure at a certain tds regarding the position of the tap?as in higher tds more flow to tank or lower tds /less flow etc-its all new to me so i don't know where to start

As well as the lever ball valve you will also need 1 each of these for your waste pipe connections:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-4-Bsp-Mal-to-1-2-Bsp-Male-male-Reducing-Nipple-Pneumatic-b714-/111073886244

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hozelock-Garden-Hose-Threaded-Adaptor-3-4in-BSP-Male-Thread-2289-/310669716323?pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenEquipment_HandTools_SM&hash=item48555bab63

Used with a standard hozelock push on hose connector, and a suitable length of 1/2" or 3/4" hosepipe.

Edited^

[kevinc]

tds testing fluid? right i don't want to come across as "some"might do spruce but is the fluid more precise or is there something in this?i'm pretty geeky like this so would love to know the ins & outs of this and more-kev-still back flushing at the mo -might look at colonic irrigation if there is cash in it -pump or not?

[Spruce]

study the waste valve at the bottom of the 4040 on PureFreedom's system

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/650L-FULLY-FITTED-WATER-FED-POLE-WINDOW-CLEANING-SYSTEM-/250667389976?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item3a5cf0d418#ht_2735wt_1300

[Spruce]

tds testing fluid? right i don't want to come across as "some"might do spruce but is the fluid more precise or is there something in this?i'm pretty geeky like this so would love to know the ins & outs of this and more-kev-still back flushing at the mo -might look at colonic irrigation if there is cash in it -pump or not?

Again Daqua has it. Its a bottle of a fluid with a known tds, so you can test your tds meter to make sure its right. Most tds meters have an adjustment screw to set it up accurately.

Its called calibration fluid.

[kevinc]

i'm almost mult-tasking now!going back on things guys guys how i back flush this baby?i understand now about the fluid-good one and like it

[Spruce]

i'm almost mult-tasking now!going back on things guys guys how i back flush this baby?i understand now about the fluid-good one and like it

Open the waste valve to fully open so the water washes over the membranes and to waste.

When producing, close the waste (not completely) and the water pressurises and is forced through the membranes, with some water still washing over them to waste.

GAPS recommends a waste to pure ratio of 70/30 for hard water areas. Our water is reasonably soft so we get away with a 50/50 ratio. So with us, if we put our r/o waste and pure into separate 25 litre containers side by side, they would fill at an equal rate.

[kevinc]

i need to read up on this i think,any good sites?i don't have a waste vavle on at the moment so i assume A i need to get one, and B i am already back flushing-this is ok if i am correct as i'm not on a meter :)or am i back flushing as its all going to waste?aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh confused again,i'm not normally hard work-its just new things-maybe me age etc

[Spruce]

i need to read up on this i think,any good sites?i don't have a waste vavle on at the moment so i assume A i need to get one, and B i am already back flushing-this is ok if i am correct as i'm not on a meter :)or am i back flushing as its all going to waste?aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh confused again,i'm not normally hard work-its just new things-maybe me age etc

You will need to fit a valve so you can 'throttle' or restrict the waste. You need some of that water to be forced through the membranes to filter it to produce pure.