Kessil

I give up, need a new RO/DI unit, suggestions?

I use Air/water/ice typhoon III extreme 6 stage. Really impressed with their customer support!!. They give out their own cell numbers and respond even on weekends if needed. Don't know of any other organization that offers that kind of service! besides our amazing Bar club!!
 
Coral reefer said:
Carbon blocks and di don’t really have anything to do with each other as far as when to switch.
Carbon blocks have a rated life in gallons which includes the waste.
Di will usually change color when spent(not all of them but most) and you can monitor the tds of output water as well, but I go by color change largely
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So if you're used to getting 0 TDS and you start seeing 1-2 post DI, you can probably assume the carbon block is toast? I thought I remember reading that the mixed mode DI resin really starts to get used up fast if you start having anything break through the carbon block (I figure the cation beads get destroyed).
 
I've found that getting 0 TDS in the East Bay with a 5 stage RODI is easy. East Bay Mud is already low TDS water.

I've been using a 5-stage system that removes chloramines (you need to do this) from Buckeye Hydro for over 10 years. www.buckeyehydro.com. All the RODI systems look pretty similar, so for me it comes down to convenience and customer service. Russ over at BuckEye Hydro is quick to respond and will walk you through exactly what you need. Carries lots of fittings, tubing and other convenience parts as well.
 
Darkxerox said:
So if you're used to getting 0 TDS and you start seeing 1-2 post DI, you can probably assume the carbon block is toast? I thought I remember reading that the mixed mode DI resin really starts to get used up fast if you start having anything break through the carbon block (I figure the cation beads get destroyed).
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No. Carbon block isn’t really going to lower your tds so tds is not a good indicator of carbon block life
Sediment and carbon block don’t really reduce tds much at all ime
Membrane lower tds roughly 98%
Di gets the rest
 
Darkxerox said:
So if you're used to getting 0 TDS and you start seeing 1-2 post DI, you can probably assume the carbon block is toast? I thought I remember reading that the mixed mode DI resin really starts to get used up fast if you start having anything break through the carbon block (I figure the cation beads get destroyed).
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Mixed bed DI uses anion for the color change. This is because anion is the one that generally gets depleted fastest. This is the reason people say 3 stage di (cation/anion/mixed) is more efficient. With mixed bed only, you're throwing away half a canister of perfectly good cation resin every time the mixed bed is "depleted"

With the 3 stage you can replace JUST the anion, and in theory you will be able to run twice as much water through it (compared to mixed bed) because you have a full canister of it instead of half.

I run 3 stage di. I have run through 3-4 anion canisters, and my cation is just now starting to deplete the very bottom ( maybe 1/2"). Mixed bed is still 100%

I could be remembering this wrong, so please look it up: The anion resin is what picks up ammonia. The bond is weak though, so as the anion canister gets close to 100% depleted, it will actually start to release the ammonia in order to pick up stronger bond Ions. Therefore, if you are running a mixed bed (anion color change indicator) or separate cation/anion without a mixed bed to pick up the leakage, if you start to see tds it's likely ammonia.
 
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Ok so there is any reliable way to know when the carbon block is toast? Or are you just estimating based on how much you think you've produced? I had just been throwing mine out annually.
 
Darkxerox said:
Ok so there is any reliable way to know when the carbon block is toast? Or are you just estimating based on how much you think you've produced? I had just been throwing mine out annually.
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Changing annually is probably safe, unless you're filtering a lot of water. Checking for chlorine in the waste line is the other.
 
Meshmez said:
Changing annually is probably safe, unless you're filtering a lot of water. Checking for chlorine in the waste line is the other.
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Yeah the test kits I've been reading are pretty poor for chloramine measurement so I'll just stick to annual replacement. Thanks!
 
I change out the older of the 2 carbon filters (and the prefilter) when it’s time to change the older of the 2 mixed DI canisters (by color change). Since there’s no reliable way to know when is the perfect time to change (including by counting gallons made), I err on the side of changing more, when it’s convenient. The color change on the DI resin keeps me honest that it’s time for a change out of filters.
 
JVU said:
I change out the older of the 2 carbon filters (and the prefilter) when it’s time to change the older of the 2 mixed DI canisters (by color change). Since there’s no reliable way to know when is the perfect time to change (including by counting gallons made), I err on the side of changing more, when it’s convenient. The color change on the DI resin keeps me honest that it’s time for a change out of filters.
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What’s not reliable about monitoring volume?
 
Coral reefer said:
What’s not reliable about monitoring volume?
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Just that it doesn’t reliably tell you when the carbon filter is used up. Its a very rough estimate. It’s about as good as any other method that gets you to change it regularly, like how I change it when DI needs changing, or changing at a certain time interval.

The worst is to not have a system or to have system you don’t follow because it’s burdensome.

For me, if I changed the prefilter, carbon filter, and DI canister all on different schedules I definitely wouldn’t keep up with it.
 
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