New reverse osmosis system not working

i bought a portable 3 stage reverse osmosis filter off ebay. probably not the best decision. stage1; inline carbon filter, stage 2; RO membrane, stage 3;inline mixed resin deionising post membrane filter.
the water doesnt even get to stage 3 because 100% of the water is coming out of the waste water valve from the RO membrane.
does anybody know why this might be happening? what would happen if i just took out the RO membrane all together. i know that sounds stupid but what would just the other two do?

 

If it is not going through the RO membrane, there is a pressure problem. You say waste water "valve". If there is a valve, close it down to back up the pressure against the membrane. Also, the incoming pressure needs to be adequate. Most home systems operate at about 40-45 lbs. of pressure. Much less than that and it simply doesn't have enough force to get water through the membrane.

 

but when i turn up the pressure the hoselink just pops off

 

Then you have a problem with the hoselink, not the resin.

RO Units have to be under pressure to work, and generally work better at higher pressures. My house pressure is about 35psi. I have a pump that boosts it to about 70psi.

 

So it will work at a higher pressure?