Rodi resin idea!!! :)

[Mike1995]

So, I have a basic aquatic life 4 stage rodi unit . I just replaced the di resin cartridge. And I emptied the old one in the trash and kept the empty cartridge. I was wondering, could I put carbon in it and reuse it instead of buying new carbon cartridges? They're both the same size.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

oh carbon for the rodi? no it’s different.

 

[Swoody]

It may be different and I’m not sure how but it still seems that it would strip the water of any unwanted impurities....doesn’t sound like a bad idea....not sure about the cost difference.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

I think he means instead of the carbon stage before the RO membrane.

You could definitely try it and see if you are still producing 0 TDS and your Di resin seems to last as long

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

nope. high quality carbon filters like ones from spectrapure also trap other impurities. so no, it the same as dumping carbon into an empty cartridge.

 

[Mike1995]

I am still using the di cartridge. The one in the picture is of the old one . What I'm wondering is if I can fill it up with carbon and use it once my current carbon cartridge is used up? The tubing fits exactly the same in all the cartridges. Would carbon out of a container be as effective?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

I am still using the di cartridge. The one in the picture is of the old one . What I'm wondering is if I can fill it up with carbon and use it once my current carbon cartridge is used up? The tubing fits exactly the same in all the cartridges. Would carbon out of a container be as effective?

could it work? yes. is it the same as using a proper carbon filter? no. you could be essentially using up your di filters faster. carbon is much cheaper to replace so i suggest just doing it right.

 

[Mike1995]

Oh
Can these empty cartridges be reused for anything? Anyone have any diy ideas? It's some thick strong plastic and seems like a huge waste to throw it away.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's your answer.....NOT RECOMMENDED...NO.

The carbon blocks in the RO unit have tremendous surface area while "rocks" of carbon (granulated carbon) have very little surface area. The 1 micron or 5 micron carbon cartridges of carbon blocks aren't there to physically "filter" out impurities with the small holes....the 1 or 5 micron holes are there to increase surface area and chemically bond to the impurities.

They actually sell granulated carbon filters for RO units but highly recommend using carbon blocks because of the tremendously large surface area of these filters. So I originally said no, but you could use granulated carbon, but don't expect it to perform anywhere near to how a carbon block would perform.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Here's your answer.....NOT RECOMMENDED...NO.

The carbon blocks in the RO unit have tremendous surface area while "rocks" of carbon (granulated carbon) have very little surface area. The 1 micron or 5 micron carbon cartridges of carbon blocks aren't there to physically "filter" out impurities with the small holes....the 1 or 5 micron holes are there to increase surface area and chemically bond to the impurities.

They actually sell granulated carbon filters for RO units but highly recommend using carbon blocks because of the tremendously large surface area of these filters. So I originally said no, but you could use granulated carbon, but don't expect it to perform anywhere near to how a carbon block would perform.

*.5

 

[Mike1995]

ok

 

[Ruben's Reef]

I got the same unit and also my DI is due for replacement. I got the BRS DI Resin to fill the same cartridge and reused instead of buying a new one. Will see if that work but anyway with my new tank upgrade I will probably upgrade the RODI unit too.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

I got the same unit and also my DI is due for replacement. I got the BRS DI Resin to fill the same cartridge and reused instead of buying a new one. Will see if that work but anyway with my new tank upgrade I will probably upgrade the RODI unit too.

packing your own di resin isn’t an issue and that’s a god way to use old cartdridges.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Oh
Can these empty cartridges be reused for anything? Anyone have any diy ideas? It's some thick strong plastic and seems like a huge waste to throw it away.

you can drill holes in it, load it with some other type of media and toss it in your sump.

 

[gamerchris555]

well the cartridge is not useful for anything other than DI resin in a RODI system, but I want you to consider what kills air compressor tanks
this cartridge could be a decent delivery device for silica gel drying
it has what seems to be NPS 1/4(at least in the case of the brand I get in the USA) fitted with a simple 1/4 OD fitting(again USA and my brand) so it would be ideal to simply add an npt 1/4 barb and coupler to connect inline to a gas intake for a compressor or even some other form of low-pressure gas(as it is the DI that tends to be easily salvageable I would not go over 60PSI as it is only intended for 2/3 of intake which is ALWAYS <100PSI)
I may do this very thing for some pure-gas storage if I begin to do like "hyperspace pirate" on youtube as I would often have to scrub stuff and the bottles he uses are very janky compared to a pre-made cartridge I can easily re-pack