Poll: Premade Cartridge or Pack your own DI Resin

MLSReefer · Jun 27, 2018

In my opinion, packing your own is well worth it. You can not only monitor the quality and replace when needed but you can also rotate them to get the most use out of them. a 5 liter bag from spectrapure fills 6 cartridges ($8 a fill). But then again, I got a long life span out of my high capacity DIs (maxcap and silicabuster) and haven't bothered to test them against eachother. I guess this is what I'll be doing this weekend!

Sleepydoc · Jun 27, 2018

Shaummy said:
Anyone have good tips for getting the DI media packed to maximum degree? I usually tap the cartridge on a hard surface as I go and when it gets full i put just a tad more. That last bit seems to help compress the media a little more when the end cap is screwed on. Sometimes it seems to take a bit to reach 0 TDS after changing.

I take a plastic bag like the ones you get from Target and use that as a work area to catch any spillage. I pour a bout a cup at a time in and tap the cartridge on the counter several times, repeating until full, then I press it in with my fingers and the sponge. I can't definitively say if it's right or wrong, but it seems to work!

Forsaken77 · Jun 27, 2018

Shaummy said:
Anyone have good tips for getting the DI media packed to maximum degree? I usually tap the cartridge on a hard surface as I go and when it gets full i put just a tad more. That last bit seems to help compress the media a little more when the end cap is screwed on. Sometimes it seems to take a bit to reach 0 TDS after changing.

Sounds like you're doing it right, maybe just add less at a time between tapping it down? The top foam piece should be squashed in there after the cap is on. Also, run the water from the new DI into the drain to rinse it until you get the zero tds.