BRS Color Changing Resin Defective?

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Please explain how channeling or installing the canister incorrectly would increase TDS. I do understand how these issues could prevent deionization, just not how they could add solids.

DI resin can purge certain contaminants once exhausted. So if the water can only come in contact with a limited amount of DI resin, it can purge contaminants that will read an electrical charge, plus the TDS that's already entering the canister. This will make it appear that there are more TDS exiting vs entering. What some RODI users don't know is that TDS meters actually read conductivity, not actual TDS.

 

[jurgenph]

i'm going to assume the Resin is fine, and suggest an alternative path

when you replaced the filters, did you disconnect the system and it's components?
any possibility that when you put things back together you witched the IN an OUT probe?

or the probe(s) just lost their calibration (is that even possible?) can you verify/check the TDS with another handheld meter?

J.

 

[GeTanked]

I've had a similiar issue. I was using a 5 Stage Spectrapure unit initially, and added a two stage unit from BRS to switch to 7 stage (sediment, carbon, carbon, cation, anion, mixed bed) and noticed that the TDS coming out of the cation chamber would increase TDS. TDS in from source is usually 250-350 and after the second carbon block (and the RO membrane) would read 20-40, when it comes out of the cation chamber it would be 80ish, then drop coming out of anion and 0 after the last mixed stage. The two DI chambers I was using from Spectrapure were both mixed bed, so I kind of assumed thats how it worked when using separate chambers for cat/an. Is this wrong?

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

I've had a similiar issue. I was using a 5 Stage Spectrapure unit initially, and added a two stage unit from BRS to switch to 7 stage (sediment, carbon, carbon, cation, anion, mixed bed) and noticed that the TDS coming out of the cation chamber would increase TDS. TDS in from source is usually 250-350 and after the second carbon block (and the RO membrane) would read 20-40, when it comes out of the cation chamber it would be 80ish, then drop coming out of anion and 0 after the last mixed stage. The two DI chambers I was using from Spectrapure were both mixed bed, so I kind of assumed thats how it worked when using separate chambers for cat/an. Is this wrong?

For cation resin, this is correct. That's why we don't install a TDS meter between the cation and anion stages.

 

[GeTanked]

For cation resin, this is correct. That's why we don't install a TDS meter between the cation and anion stages.

thanks for the quick response! TDS meters were in place from previous config so i didn't modify. I have noticed a much slower production rate since the modification. My water pressure is 40-45 psi, and I'm still producing enough water so the amount of time doesn't bother me, but I'm curious as to whether or not the slower flow through the unit will use up resins faster? I have a 100g reservoir and turn off the pressure to the rodi in between batches, the color tends to fade when its sitting but recharges a little after water starts flowing

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

The flow rate itself won't deplete the resin faster, but the lower pressure could lead to a lower rejection rate, and thus deplete resin faster. You could consider a booster pump to up the pressure to 70-80 psi for optimal performance. If you upped the pressure to that range, you'd also see increased water production as a by product.

 

[BigRich]

Hey @BigRich,
The dye shouldn't come off the resin. The color change is due to pH, not the dye coming off the resin. It is true that you should see an almost instant drop in TDS to zero. Given that you're starting with just 1 TDS, your resin should last for quite some time. There are two common issues that can lead to this problem. One is that the resin isn't packed tightly enough. If it isn't tight, water can channel through the resin. The other being that the cartridge is installed upside down. Can you verify that your cartridge isn't installed upside down? If everything looks correct, I'd like to send you a new bag of resin just to erase any doubts.

Hi,
Yes the cartridge is installed correctly. I purchased it prepackaged from you directly as well. I didn’t make up the dye coming off causing tds, the person I spoke with via chat told me that. I can provide you that persons name privately if you would like, I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble, just going by what I was told.

I already ordered a replacement resin prepackaged from you, a day or so ago. Interestingly the output of the resin is 1TDS today, still not where it should be though. Another oddity, I’ve never seen before, is when I first start my RODI unit(and don’t flush the membranes) the tds to the resin is like 40 and the output will be like 9tds. In the past with any other resin it would still be zero even if I didn’t flush the membranes. So I don’t think this resin is functioning properly.

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Hi,
Yes the cartridge is installed correctly. I purchased it prepackaged from you directly as well. I didn’t make up the dye coming off causing tds, the person I spoke with via chat told me that. I can provide you that persons name privately if you would like, I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble, just going by what I was told.

I already ordered a replacement resin prepackaged from you, a day or so ago. Interestingly the output of the resin is 1TDS today, still not where it should be though. Another oddity, I’ve never seen before, is when I first start my RODI unit(and don’t flush the membranes) the tds to the resin is like 40 and the output will be like 9tds. In the past with any other resin it would still be zero even if I didn’t flush the membranes. So I don’t think this resin is functioning properly.

That does sound odd. I'm going to send you a pm so that we can get you a refund for the replacement bag of resin.

 

[BigRich]

i'm going to assume the Resin is fine, and suggest an alternative path

when you replaced the filters, did you disconnect the system and it's components?
any possibility that when you put things back together you witched the IN an OUT probe?

or the probe(s) just lost their calibration (is that even possible?) can you verify/check the TDS with another handheld meter?

J.

No, nothing was adjusted/disconnected/changed. I even double checked the TDS with another tds probe. Sorry if the pic is a little hard to make out but it’s producing 1 TDS. Checked on multiple probes.