Has anyone had luck with the Flowmaster?

[MikeTheNewbie]

So I recently saw a video from Reef Builders where he showed a Flowmaster he uses to measure his freshwater production.

Since I'm a measurement junkie I got one just to see how much water the unit produces and how long do the different filters in my RODI system actually last.
I'm not sure if the unit I got is damaged or if the device just doesn't work with the slow flow of RODI systems. Has anyone tried it with a RODI and has it worked for you?
Please share your experiences.

More details:
The information on the device is very scarce, some descriptions show 1 gallon per minute but I saw online that the operating range was 0.01 to 0.5 Gallons Per Minute.
I got a SpectraPure Performance Plus that is supposed to produce 100 GPD that is 0.69 gallons per minute. I measured its yield and mine produces 0.59 GPM.
After attaching the Flowmaster to the output of the system, the device didn't sense any flow unless I manually closed the output valves to increase the pressure and have it suddenly release water at a faster rate. In that case the flowmaster turned on and showed some flow but as the DI canisters emptied and the system went back to its regular flow, the unit stopped detecting flow.
I filled my fresh water tank (~45 Gallons) and the flowmaster didn't register anything. I'm thinking that the device is not made for the low flow in our RODI systems. I hope I'm wrong because I really wanted to measure my fresh water production.

 

[SPR1968]

I can’t answer the specific question, but I can maybe bump the thread for you to see if we can get you some help

 

[ReefCheef]

bump

 

[ReefCheef]

Tried using mine for the first time about 10 mins ago. It's not working. Same result as the original poster.

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

I think it just doesn't work for the slow flow in our RODI systems. It might work for Jake @ ReefBuilders because he is just filtering with media, not with reverse osmosis. I kind of gave up on it although it would have been a nice addition to my collection of metrics.
Please let me know if you find a solution

 

[Breadman03]

This is at a price that I'd assume means it works.

Low Flow Indicating Paddlewheel Flow Meter | Omega Engineering

The FTB300-Series of digital paddlewheel are the choice for low flow rate applications. They use Infra-red light beam technology. Click for more

www.omega.com

This might be more palateable.

Robot or human?

www.walmart.com

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

Wow, the firs one is way too much money to satisfy my curiosity.
The second one is the one that I bought and doesn't work for the amount of flow in my RODI.
My RODI is a spectra pure performance plus. It says 100GPD. I measured the yield and it gave me 225.5 ml/ minute (0.059 gal / minute)
The website for the flow meter says it supports 0.1 - 1.0GPM (0.37 - 3.7LPM) so in paper it makes sense that it doesn't work with my RODI.
It is weird that they market it for RODI units. I haven't seen any household RODI that has so much flow / yield. Unless you go with a commercial or an industrial RODI.

 

[elysics]

Wow, the firs one is way too much money to satisfy my curiosity.
The second one is the one that I bought and doesn't work for the amount of flow in my RODI.
My RODI is a spectra pure performance plus. It says 100GPD. I measured the yield and it gave me 225.5 ml/ minute (0.059 gal / minute)
The website for the flow meter says it supports 0.1 - 1.0GPM (0.37 - 3.7LPM) so in paper it makes sense that it doesn't work with my RODI.
It is weird that they market it for RODI units. I haven't seen any household RODI that has so much flow / yield. Unless you go with a commercial or an industrial RODI.

Are the commercial ones uncommon to have in the us? I looked up the retail price of mine, it's barely more than ones with similar features but the standard size membranes and less throughput

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

You are right. Agrrr! I just checked out BulkReefSupply and they have some up to 200 GPD that use dual RO filters and are less than half as much as I paid for mine. Guess I paid the price of ignorance. (in my defense, it was one of my first purchases).