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#76
12/21/2006, 09:19 PM
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I have considered selling the TIII and getting one... just for the hell of it... but the TIII has been flawless and the membrane (1.2 years) is still 98% I was saddened to hear that AWI was banned due for not following the rules and that their customer service semmes to have gone down hill (I have never had a problem and order supllies regularly... but others seem to indicate a difference in service)...
I have spoken at length with Bryan from PurelyH20 and value his honesty as well. |
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#77
12/21/2006, 09:21 PM
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You either hook it up to a pressure tank like the drinking water systems have, mine is that way but with a 14 gallon pressure tank, or you use a float valve or switch to turn it on and off in a storage container. Plumbing directly to your tank or sump is not recommended since if the float fails you flood your tank with fresh water. Its better to fill a top off container with a somewhat smaller volume and let it feed the tank so if it fails you only add a specific quantity of water so it does not flood or kill every thing due to low salinity.
I also use my Spectrapure for drinking water and my icemaker as well as other pet watering besides the reef tanks so I get lots of use out of it. |
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#78
12/21/2006, 09:23 PM
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Uncle
Well I give up. You were right Az. I got home and the stupid ballvalve on the Water General gave way after 4 years. On this very day.
[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/120725flood.jpg[/IMG] So I had a little flood on my hands. The worst part too is that as I went to wipe off some water on the unit, the delicious candy coating actually disintegrated on me. I guess they are made of water soluble components after all. It just took 4 years and the exact day I start running my mouth. Oh how I love irony.   FB
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#79
12/21/2006, 09:29 PM
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I touched the drain spigot on my brothers hot water heater the other day.. it broke off (not fell off)! My first reaction was to stick my finger over the hole! HOT! Turned off the water and we stood there fore a second pondering what to do with the flood. Junk.. everything is junk!
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#80
12/21/2006, 09:31 PM
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FWIW eBay regulation is coming (IMHO)... They, as a company, pander to criminals and facilitate fraud on a daily basis. Their policy set, customer interface, feedback system, dispute resolution, help system and general operating parameters are designed to maximize the number of transactions and price of those transactions while shielding the high volume fraudulant sellers from legal or financial action or ruin. They purchased paypal to aid in the process and ensure their benefit no matter what type of transaction occurs or who gets ripped off. They use the "we are just a middle man" excuse to bow out when things get heated. While the average eBay cries about snipe bidding (of which there is no such thing!!!) eBay puts in place policies like "2nd chance auction" that do nothing more than ensure that shilled auctions close with a sale instead of a relist. For those who do get ripped of, there is no recourse, but worse there is no action taken against the sellers. Instead eBay recomends a peaceful resolution where both parties mutually agree to remove the negative feedback. Of course that is just my observation
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#81
12/21/2006, 09:38 PM
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Quote:
 , I will get the Select Series but we do actually have pretty decent water in NY so what I have should last me for a while.Thanks for the help all. |
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#82
12/21/2006, 09:41 PM
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New York water is unique. It is high quality as far as disolved solids but in most cases it is high in suspended solids or silt since lots of it is not treated other than disinfection. Since the sources and impoundments are protected and it is piped into the City via huge underground aquaducts it is pretty good overall. I actually know of a company that beta tests all their filters in New York and they claim if the hold up there without plugging they will work anywhere.
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#83
12/21/2006, 10:01 PM
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Long Island water is different than water from NYC. Stolen from Wikipedia:
"Long Island contains a series of sand and gravel aquifers, geologic formations which can hold, transmit and yield water in usable quantities. All of Long Island's water supply comes from underground water held in aquifers. Stacked one on top of the other like layers in a cake, three major and one minor aquifer make up the Long Island aquifer system. In sequence from shallowest to deepest, the Long Island aquifers are: the Upper Glacial, the Magothy and the Lloyd Aquifers. All Long Island aquifers receive their fresh water from precipitation which takes from 25 to 1,000 years to migrate through the layers to the aquifers, which hold roughly 70 trillion gallons (264 trillion liters) — enough to flood the entire surface of Long Island with more than 300 feet (91 m) of water — and can withstand long droughts that dry up surface-water reservoirs like the ones that supply BSL New York City. Almost four million gallons each day are taken from beneath Nassau and Suffolk Counties, providing the primary source of water for the resident population. While most homes are on a municipal water system, there are still many areas where homes have their own wells to provide them with water. Due to contamination associated with development, the concern over preserving the quality of Long Island's groundwater has become the single most important factor limiting the region's growth." I dont know what any of this means but hopefully my RO/DI wont clog with silt.
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#84
12/21/2006, 11:10 PM
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NYC water test 2005
water test scroll down to page 12
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Anthony |
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#85
12/22/2006, 01:06 PM
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Quote:
Currently I've got a basic (read that as cheap) RO/DI unit with a 100gpd membrane. I've read that they are crap and I'd be better off with a 75gpd. It's tough to measure the exact water usage since I use an auto topoff but I assume 2% evaporation and given the time I've had this unit and the w/c I've done I figure I've produced about 1,300g and my DI resin is still green. I'm concerned when I get that kind of production out of my crappy unit and then hear that the Spectrapure will get 600g. That and the fact that the Spectrapure DI refills cost $34 & $32 each. So I'm assuming I'd get much more then 600g. Any help? |
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#87
12/22/2006, 01:20 PM
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The spectrapure unit will certainly be more efficient. You will get much more DI water per $ out of it and if your tap is 100tds you will get about 2 tds out of a Maxcap.
From their website http://www.spectrapure.com/St_MaxCap_p0.htm They are using 20 tds. So you are 10X better. They claim they will get 1200 gallons with that tds so you should get 12,000 gallons! That is also only until the initial Maxcap cartridge gets used up. The down stream mixed bed cartridge will only be 1/3 used up at that point. So you will only spend $32 for the first two filter replacements. Sounds to me like you live in an area with pretty good water and that this unit would last you a very long time between refillings. On another note though, do not rely on the color indicating beads to tell you that your DI resin is cached. That is quite unreliable. The maxcap has a nice feature with 2 dual tds meters so you can tell when each DI cartridge is used up without relying on the color change. This is more accurate. Your resin could have been exhausted a long time ago. Hope that helps, FB
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#88
12/22/2006, 01:23 PM
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Ha you answered some of my questions while I was responding. In your case you got a very good membrane so I would certainly hold on to it until it croaks. Your tds levels are so low I actually wouldn't change a thing. Just note that not all 100gpd membranes will work this well.
just my opinion, FB
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#89
12/22/2006, 01:27 PM
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The 5,000 TDS is just a reference point to be able to compare two membranes. Different resins will have different capacities. 5,000 was used because it is an easy number to work with and hits somewhere in the middle of the road for a no name brand 24 oz vertical refill. Better resins will give you a capacity of 6,500 or more. The garbage that comes with some of the eBay is sometimes expired and not high quality to begin with and provides MUCH less (maybe 2,000 or less) but because 10oz is used, you may only get a capacity of 500-1000 before exhaustion.
Color changing resin is pretty much a waste of time. You need to rely on the TDS meter to determine system health. The inlines are nice for spotting a drastic change, but please rely on a good handheld for diagnosis and quality control. |
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#90
12/22/2006, 01:29 PM
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doh... I typed too slow!
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#91
12/22/2006, 01:42 PM
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The MaxCap uses a proprietary blend of resins hand packed in layers. I have had discussions with Charles Mitsis on the cartridges and they are hush hush at this point, which I don't blame them. Charles did say by packing in layers they are able to take advantage of pH changes within the different layers of resins which is one of the things that makes the cartridge work so well.
With my old RO/DI I was using a 75 GPD Dow Filmtec with a single nuclear grade 24 oz DI cartridge. I was feeding the DI a TDS of 11 to 13 on average and I was getting 150 gallons of very good water and another 25 or so gallons where the TDS began to rise but was still below 3. With the MaxCap I am over 350 gallons as of today and using the HM Digital COM-100 handheld meter I am still way below an indicated 0 TDS. I fully expect to get near the 600 gallon mark on thr MaxCap and 1800 gallons on the Silica Buster before changing cartridges. Thats with a tap water TDS over 800 and an RO only TDS running around 7 from the Select membrane. I am more than happy with those numbers and highly recommend this unit to anyone lookiing to purchase an RO/DI system. For what you get the $269 special introductory price is a steal! |
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#94
12/22/2006, 05:56 PM
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Gotta be honest, I havent read through this whole long thread but I'd like to chime in here. I have a 5-stage RO/DI unit from aquarium systems off of ebay. Been using it for about a year now with no problems and its previous owner used it for 6 months prior. Construction looks sound, valves are healthy and good quality and servicing it is easy. Since my input TDS is only 100ppm I dont even bother with a DI cartridge anymore and I routinely get 1-2ppm out of the RO discharge only. Flushing is a breeze with the flush kit installed and all the filter casings are standard so replacement is a breeze. Just my experience.
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You will miss 100% of the shots you dont take. Dare to dream Mike, aka Fletch |
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#95
12/22/2006, 06:01 PM
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Quote:
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hello Last edited by Fishbulb2; 12/22/2006 at 06:30 PM. |
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#96
12/22/2006, 06:04 PM
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It seems that for some the only requirement of an RO unit is that it not leak and has water come out of the product hose... if it does that then they have no problem with it. And if that's all you expect from it then ebay is probably the right place to get one.
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#98
12/22/2006, 06:25 PM
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Don't worry dave, you kinda hit the nail on the head. Some do come here with that attitude, but soon understand what they have been missing and walk away with newfound knowledge.
The nice part is that some of the guys (even in this thread) that chime in and try to help teach people... are the same folks that were on the other side of the fence a year ago. |
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