I just got my Typhoon3 RoDi system. Help!

[TaylorLee]

I just got my rodi system in and i have no idea what to do to hook it up. I've read the installation guide but its reffering me to pictures that i dont have so i am very very lost and have no idea on what to hook the line to go into the rodi unit up to. i thought i would be able to hook it up to a water spicket head that i have in the garage, but its telling me to drill a 1/4" hole into God knows what pipe... Can some 1 help iron out this stuff for me? i have no idea with what i am doing...
Thanks!
-Taylor

 

[Flipside]

Where are you wanting to hook it up? Under the sink, in the laundry room, or from a garden hose attachment.

For under the sink, it should have come with something to help pierce the main water line (cold) that feeds the unit. You'll also have to drill a small hose in the drain for the waste line.

For in the laundry room, or from a garden hose, you need these (or something similar):

Splitter - highly recommend this metal one. Don't worry about hard metals going to the RO/DI... it will get filtered if there's anything bad coming off the metal. The metal ones are much stronger than the cheap, plastic variety of splitter.

You'll tie your laundry water (cold) to one side of the splitter above, and the other side will accept this adapter. Then you run a line from it, to your RO feed line.

When that's done, you just run your waste line to the drain that the washer uses. If using a garden hose, you can run your waste line anywhere you want. The water's good for plants, or you can fill a barrel with it and recycle it somehow. I just let it go down the drain, under my sink, and/or behind the washer.

 

[TaylorLee]

Where are you wanting to hook it up? Under the sink, in the laundry room, or from a garden hose attachment.

For under the sink, it should have come with something to help pierce the main water line (cold) that feeds the unit. You'll also have to drill a small hose in the drain for the waste line.

For in the laundry room, or from a garden hose, you need these (or something similar):

Splitter - highly recommend this metal one. Don't worry about hard metals going to the RO/DI... it will get filtered if there's anything bad coming off the metal. The metal ones are much stronger than the cheap, plastic variety of splitter.

You'll tie your laundry water (cold) to one side of the splitter above, and the other side will accept this adapter. Then you run a line from it, to your RO feed line.

When that's done, you just run your waste line to the drain that the washer uses. If using a garden hose, you can run your waste line anywhere you want. The water's good for plants, or you can fill a barrel with it and recycle it somehow. I just let it go down the drain, under my sink, and/or behind the washer.

i was wanting it to hook up to a water hose head. if i do this i want have to pierce any lines or drill for a drain? im planning on just running the waist line out of the door of my garage because the rodi unit is directly beside it about 4ft from it. could this setup work?

 

[Flipside]

Of course. That's a very easy way to do it. Many do it that way around here (Houston) because they are leasing the house they are in and don't want to so a more permanent solution.

You could use the splitter above if you still want a garden hose, but it's not necessary. You will need the other adaptor though.

Oh, and I recommend using a little Teflon/plumbers tape on the threads of the spigot too. It helps the seal, and lubes the threads when you're tightening the adaptor on there. It's some pretty cheap stuff at any hardware store.

 

[Flipside]

TaylorLee, did you get it setup? You can't leave us hangin' like that!

 

[TaylorLee]

TaylorLee, did you get it setup? You can't leave us hangin' like that!

Haha sorry my internet has been down for a while. But yes! Everything is all setup! Its working like a champ. I found out that my "Faucet" where i hook my adapter too is leaking not where the adapter itself is hooked but where the faucet is hooked to the plumbing pipe itself. Its just a low drip but i dont want it dripping the whole time i have it running cuz the water will ruin a few things that if it drips too much. any idea on how to stop that from leaking without ant tools? I have plumbers puddy. Idk if that will work or that teflon tape you suggested if that would do the trick too. or the puddy taped on to it haha. Im gettin a little ghetto with it but whatever works right?? Haha

thanks again for your help Id like to post a pic but unfortunately idk how.
-Taylor

 

[TaylorLee]

Also it says something about anything below 77 degrees it will vary in productivity? Does that mean i should heat the water until its close to that? And what happens if i run hot water through the system? Not like real hot but like, on a sink turn a quarter turn of hot water and and a quarter turn for the cold to help it be a little warmer than just freezing cold. i hope you can grasp what im trying to say. Im not good and drawing out mental pictures for ppl haha.

 

[Flipside]

Okay! Right awn, man! (Sorry to hear about the internet issues, though).

1. For the leak. Try plumbers/teflon tape. Just 3-5 wraps around the spigot's threads should do fine, and seal up the leak. I do that with regular garden hoses now, since I always forget to turn them off.

2. For the 77*F parameter-thingy... Can I be honest with you? Those "specs" are for "optimal" performance. They also tout-off 65psi at the source, but seriously... that's rare (at least in these parts). You'll be fine with cooler water coming in, it's just not optimal. They rattle off specs like that "just in-case" their customers actually measure what they are getting. I.e., if you measured that you only actually got 65 gallons of RO/DI when you're unit was spec'd at 75gpd. That way they can say, "do you have 65psi at your water source?" or "is your source water 77*F?" Yeah... it's nothing to worry about.

One caveat though... If you expect a chill that night, disconnect the hose from the water line, just to be safe. You don't want your lines to freeze. That can cause a lot of damage and more work on your part.

Glad you got it hooked up!

 

[AZDesertRat]

NO NO No!!! Never heat the water or try to temper or blend hot and cold water.
RO membrane will melt at anything over 113 degrees and that is not very hot.
Remember being in the shower when someone flushed the toilet or started the washer or dishwasher? You got your tush scalded and thats the same thing that happens and toasts a RO membrane in a heartbeat.

Actually colder water which is more dense, treats better and will give you lower TDS and longer DI life. When you warm the water you make it less dense and your TDS will go up along with the GPD. 77 degrees is just a benchmark all manufacturers use as astandard to compare one membrane to another, it is not necesasary.

If you have very cold water in the 40's you can install a booster pump to increase the pressure and overcome the cold water effects. Membranes are tested to 150 psi or higher and quality components should be rated at 125 psi working pressure so I myself use a booster pump set at 100 psi and get 125+ GPD out of a 75 GPD membrane and at better than 99% efficiency which is a plus when increasing pressure.

 

[Flipside]

Thanks for stepping up, AZDesertRat and coming to our aid here! Honored! The benchmark thing was kind-of what I was saying, but didn't know that about colder water. Good to hear as most people don't have 77*F water at the tap.

Can you please tell us what you are running these days? Personally, I want to copy your setup as much as possible because I know your reputation on RO/DI setups (from many other sources).

 

[Johmanda]

I'm very interested in this thread as I am considering an RO/DI unit. I am thinking on the back 'stoop' for installation. I have a hose bib that I can use with a splitter. I guess my concern is the temperature. Of course the water coming out of the well is 'coolish' but during most of the year our weather temp rarely gets into the 70's except sometimes at night. I am in central Florida. The 'stoop' is under an eave and the area is heavily shaded. Do you all think this would work as a location for my RO/DI?

 

[AZDesertRat]

I do not recommend exterior installations anywhere due to unforseen weather extremes, both hot and cold and most of all direct lighting.
Think about it, you have the perfect breeding environment for bacteria and viruses inside the unit. Warm quiescent or non flowing water most of the time, you have removed any residual disinfectant(in municipal systems anyway) with the carbon, you have clear housings and the sunlight or even indirect light can shine in.

Place the system inside, in a climate controlled area and out of any lighting if possible. Mine is placed on a back wall over my laundry sink in my climate controlled garage away from any windows.

My current system is a Spectrapure MaxCap UHE-100 ultra low waste running at slightly less than 1:1 waste ratio and fed via a brass garden hose wye installed on the washing machine cold water supply line. The treated water is stored in a 23 gallon Rubbermaid Recycling can with float switches set 12" apart so the level must drop a minimum of 11 gallons before the system cycles on again. The booster is set at about 95 psi. my water temp varies between 57 and 64 degrees, the incoming softened water TDS is around 630, the RO only TDS varies between 2.3 and 3.2 TDS using a HM Digital COM-100 handheld TDS meter and both the MaxCap and SilicaBuster DI TDS readings are 0. The MaxCap DI cartridge lasts over 3000 gallons and the SilicaBuster lasts a little over 1000 gallons per cartridge. The sediment filter is a 0.2 micron absolute rated ZetaZorb and the single carbon block is a 0.5 micron version. Both get changed every 14-16 months and my pressure drop is less than 2 psi even after that long and with my high tap TDS.

My previous system was a dual membrane 180 GPD MaxCap and the one before that was a 90 GPD MaxCap. Previous to that I had a Typhoon III and honestly was extremely disappointed which I have documented many times. I even went so far as to change the RO membrane and have it bench tested by Watts Premier who are located very close to me and found the membrane was not the problem. At one time I recommended AWI but not any more.

 

[Johmanda]

I am looking at the Spectrapure MaxCap RO/DI. Marine Depot has it over 50% off!!

 

[AZDesertRat]

For comparison, my first 90 GPD MaxCap system over 9 years ago had a list price of $369 retail. The deals they are offering today are tremendous.

edit
Wow, $239 with free shipping! That is a smoking deal for sure.

 

[Flipside]

Awesome AZ! Thanks for the information. Good stuff!

 

[TaylorLee]

you all have been loads of help! but since i already have my typhoon III ill have to settle for now. so far its doin great but doesnt all brand new equipment for about a month then it all goes downhill. wish me luck and thanks again for the info! Goodluck on every1s reefkeeping.

 

[AZDesertRat]

The Tyhoon III is not a bad system at all, quite the opposite. It is just that for a few $$, probably less than $50, it could ba a fantastic system.

 

[TaylorLee]

The Tyhoon III is not a bad system at all, quite the opposite. It is just that for a few $$, probably less than $50, it could ba a fantastic system.

Ahh! Ok well atleast my money was well spent. As long as it gets me what i need ill be happy. How can i determine when the membrane and the cartridges need changing. and better yet... what membrane and cartridges does it use? Im not educated enough on Ro/di systems so i wouldnt know what i was looking for even if it told me in the directions haha.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Yours probably has a very coarse 10 micron nominal rated sediment filter followed by a 5 micron carbon block then a 1 micron block. Next is the RO membrane itself followed by the DI filter.
The sediment and carbon(s) get changed every 6 months. I would upgrade filters at that time with a 0.5 micron absolute rated sediment filter and a single 0.5 micron 20,000 gallon carbon block then replumb the unused carbon canister into a second DI filter for best bang for your buck and longer carbon, RO membrane and DI resin life. It will cost you maybe $5 in parts and 20-30 minutes of your time and you will have a much better system and better water quality.

With the filters you have now the average RO membrane lasts 18-36 months, with the arrangement I suggested the membrane should last closer to 10 years as it is much better protected. Over a 10 year period that can save you hundreds of dollars in carbons, membranes and especially DI resin.