Don't buy the MaxWater RODI unit!!!

EzCheez · Mar 3, 2015

Hey everyone
Im new to the hobby, but I didn't want to have to run to the LFS e

very time for water. I sell on eBay, so naturally, I bought an 5stage 125gpd RODI unit on there. Big mistake! Ive been having algae blooms, so I bought a TDS meter. My tap reads around 71-75ppm. Ive checked a couple of my 5gal buckets of RODI water, and Im getting mixed readings from 15ppm-122ppm! Ive only made around 80g of water, and this is ridiculous. I paid $120 for this unit, but am beginning to realize that it wasn't enough.

Max Water 5 Stage 125GP Reef Aquarium Ro Di Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System | eBay

Sincerely,
A disgruntled customer

IanWR · Mar 3, 2015

My first ro/di was a maxwater unit. It worked just fine (since replaced with a system with more bells and whistles). If you are getting higher tds than your source water something is seriously amiss. Is there a chance you are collecting the waste water? If not, double check that it has been assembled correctly. The maze of tubes boggles my brain every time I have had reason to change something.

EzCheez · Mar 3, 2015

Im definitely not collecting from waste, as in I'm filling from the membrane labeled "To faucet". I will double check my assembly, but I wasn't too impressed from their directions. Thank you.

IanWR said:
My first ro/di was a maxwater unit. It worked just fine (since replaced with a system with more bells and whistles). If you are getting higher tds than your source water something is seriously amiss. Is there a chance you are collecting the waste water? If not, double check that it has been assembled correctly. The maze of tubes boggles my brain every time I have had reason to change something.

Finnaddict · Mar 3, 2015

Maybe your buckets are contaminated? Check the water coming out of the RO/DI in a clean cup. Rinse out the cup with RO/DI a couple times before you test the TDS. Check connections too. Should go through in this order sediment , Carbon, RO, then thru the resins and out. Test your water before the DI and After the DI to see if your resins are ok. I have almost 500 coming out the tap and I have 0 TDS coming out of my 4 stage RO/DI. Search thru the threads here on RO/DI to see what the best cartriges are. Info on ebay says it a 1 micron sediment and most use a .5.