Recent content by Alejandro_1403

How to remove the Flow Restrictor Valve in the Smart Buddie Booster Pump Remove the 4 screw covers located on the side of the unit. Remove the screws. Lift the top cover, moving it carefully so it comes out without hitting the tube inlets. Keep in mind that there are cables connected to the...

The part was provided free of charge, with free shipping, by AquaticLife. They have very good customer service, at least in my experience. They even offered to have me send them the unit so they could do the repair themselves. As for the repair, it was a bit tricky, but not difficult. The unit...

UPDATE: I replaced the flush valve / flow restrictor inside the Smart Buddie, and the system is now behaving much more consistently. After the replacement, the pressure is holding steady at around 80 psi, and the product to waste ratio is now approximately 1:1.15. The rejection rate is about...

Sorry for the late reply. Gmail did not notify me about the recent responses for some reason. Yes, I am using a float valve, but only as a safeguard to prevent the tank from ever overflowing. I estimate how long it takes to fill the tank and set my smart switch for that duration. The float...

It’s horrible. Only two or three LFSs import fish, and when they do, they charge very high prices. There is little to no variety, but you work with what you have. I am looking into how to get an import license. Even then, since no one ships fish directly to the Dominican Republic, I would still...

UPDATE: I have been emailing with Aquatic Life customer service. We ran a few tests, including the ones I had been sharing here, and determined that the Smart Buddie has a faulty restrictor valve. They are going to ship me the replacement valve, since sending the whole unit back would be more...

Thanks for the generous offer, but sadly I am not local to San Jose. I live in the Dominican Republic

Yeah, I knew my tap water had a lot of sediment, but I never imagined how much. Those RO systems look great, but sadly I do not have the budget to buy a new one right now. I am going to buy two 10-inch water filter housing canisters to run two sediment filters, though I have not decided on the...

I performed the new test where I removed the Smart Buddie from the waste line entirely. I disconnected the waste line from the Smart Buddie and instead installed the original 800 flow restrictor that came with the RO Buddie system. With this setup (no Smart Buddie involvement in the waste...

I will keep using the booster pump. It has a waste water inlet port and an outlet port. That part is supposed to flush the membrane before each use, and it also includes the external flow restrictor there. I will not use that part of the booster pump. I will reinstall the flow restrictor that...

I’m going to try not using the wastewater management feature on the booster pump and adding back the original flow restrictor. I don’t know if the unit will work without all the tubings being connected, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

I already removed and reinstalled the membrane two or three times when I thought that was the problem. Yeah that's the sediment filter, the water in my house is dirty.

I tried uploading the image directly, but even after compressing it to 300 KB, the upload still said the file was too large. I uploaded the images to my Google Drive instead. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gQsnpGzRpqNWt0b4c43xlGmLlHUF0FFv?usp=sharing

The rejection rate I should be getting is 96-98%. My ratio is 4:1, no 1:4. I’m producing 4 times the product than waste. When I remove the booster pump I only get a few drops at a time in the product line, with a tds of 134. I didn’t calculate the product-waste ratio but based on what I saw it...

Hi everyone, I’m having an issue with my RO system and I’m trying to understand what’s going on. Setup RO unit: Aquatic Life RO Buddie 100 GPD Booster pump: Smart Buddie 50–100 GPD (Model 660718) Purchase date: March 3, 2026 Membrane: brand new, installed March 8, 2026 (same day system...