DI COLOR CHANGE RESIN

Buckeye Hydro · Jan 18, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
a cheap chlorine test on the effluent is probably cheaper than always buying a cartridge that might not be needed.

Certainly. If the user remembers to do the tests. If the tests are done frequently enough. If the test kit is not expired. If the test kit is sufficiently sensitive. No doubt that approach could work for some people.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 18, 2020

Buckeye Hydro said:
Certainly. If the user remembers to do the tests. If the tests are done frequently enough. If the test kit is not expired. If the test kit is sufficiently sensitive. No doubt that approach could work for some people.

In my tests for the article below, only one of 20 people had chloramine getting through their system (which typically didn’t report using any special carbon) and when the one outlier replaced his old carbon block with a new Regular carbon block, it stopped getting through.

Thus, I conclude that for most people ordinary carbon blocks are fine and keeping them up to date is likely more useful than buying special ones to begin with.

Do you have data that suggests that chloramine is getting through new ro/di systems using ordinary carbon block? What fraction of the time is this an issue?

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rhf/feature/index.htm

Buckeye Hydro · Jan 18, 2020

Do you have data that suggests that chloramine is getting through new ro/di systems using ordinary carbon block? What fraction of the time is this an issue?

I don't have that empirical data.

BTW, I frequently spec carbon tank systems for commercial applications and the media in those systems is different depending upon the disinfectant (chlorine or chloramine) in the feedwater. The residence time (empty bed contact time) also varies significantly.

There is no such thing as an "ordinary carbon block." The quality of carbon blocks available on the market vary so widely, and many hobbyists shop by price without regard to product specs.

Silent · Jan 18, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
only replace the anion? It may be true that it depletes faster, if you have high CO2 in your water, but you will need to replace both.

Of course, but the anion depletes much, much faster than cation. Can be a real cost savings with seperate resins.

Reefaddict585 · Jan 19, 2020

renato120 said:
I use a 4 stage rodi
80psi.
When I change the resin the TDS reads 0.
I never check for chlorine or chloramines.
I use one bottle of resin per 40g.
By the time the ro water is full. The rodi is not 0 tds anymore

If you’re going through a whole resin cartridge with 40 gallons of product water there’s a good possibility that you’re using the wrong carbon blocks, make sure to use a chloramine specific carbon block, 1micron. I’ve used the same DI resin for approximately 1000 gallons now and it’s just now starting to exhaust. I have the BRS 5 stage RODI.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 19, 2020

Silent said:
Of course, but the anion depletes much, much faster than cation. Can be a real cost savings with seperate resins.

Not always. It happens only if CO2 is elevated, and mixed beds don’t always have equal parts. Besides CO2, all other ions come in equal numbers of anions and cations, using up resins equally.

Buckeye Hydro · Jan 19, 2020

Randy is right. The mixed beds in this hobby all come with equal capacity for anions and cations, but the volume of anion beads and cation beads may not be 1:1.

Phyber · Jan 19, 2020

Buckeye Hydro said:
Findings so far:
*Concentrate tube was plumbed to the DI
Fix: Re-plumb unit correctly
*Very low system pressure even with booster pump. Found that system did not have a flow restrictor.
Fix: Install flow restrictor sized for cold feedwater in NH.

Russ

Does that mean using a flow restrictor smaller than average sized to compensate for the cold water temp? Ex., something smaller than the 550 for a 75 gpd?

Buckeye Hydro · Jan 19, 2020

Phyber said:
Does that mean using a flow restrictor smaller than average sized to compensate for the cold water temp? Ex., something smaller than the 550 for a 75 gpd?

could be - measure your permeate flow or use the calculator on our website

renato120 · Jan 21, 2020

I just installed a new membrane, new single canister, triple tds meter, and a flow restrict. So here are my new setup.
Canister one - 1 Micron Sediment Filter
Canister two and three - universal carbon blocker 1 micron
Canister 4 - color change DI Resin.
everything new.
I really hope my issue will be fixed now.
How long should I run the system before I can make good water?

Silent · Jan 21, 2020

You aren't using a new membrane so run it for a couple minutes and make sure zero tds and let it fill your container.

renato120 · Jan 21, 2020

Silent said:
You aren't using a new membrane so run it for a couple minutes and make sure zero tds and let it fill your container.

I am using a new membrane. Only a couple minutes is enough? I thought a couple gallons. Even better then.

Silent · Jan 21, 2020

Sorry didnt see that. I ran mine for an hour but bypassed the di.

renato120 · Jan 21, 2020

Silent said:
Sorry didnt see that. I ran mine for an hour but bypassed the di.

Would it be better if I remove all the filters and the flow restriction? The only thing I removed was the DI. sendiment and the carbon blocker are there now

Silent · Jan 21, 2020

I only bypass the di because the other filters last a long time and an hour to flush the membrane is negligible.

renato120 · Jan 21, 2020

Silent said:
I only bypass the di because the other filters last a long time and an hour to flush the membrane is negligible.

Ok thank you.

Technewb · Jan 21, 2020

With a new membrane I always flush for 30 minutes with no DI connected for the first time. After that all you need to do is flush for 5-15 minutes everytime you make RO. Check tds coming out after membrane. Should be 2-5 tds then connect your DI.

renato120 · Jan 22, 2020

Technewb said:
With a new membrane I always flush for 30 minutes with no DI connected for the first time. After that all you need to do is flush for 5-15 minutes everytime you make RO. Check tds coming out after membrane. Should be 2-5 tds then connect your DI.

I got 2 tds coming out of the membrane.