RODI Help

[fowler279]

I purchased a 4 stage Marine Depot unit when i got started 2 months ago. I have already burned through the first DI cartridge. Keep in mine i have a 20G tank. I do about 10G a week or so. 5G for water change and another 5 for top off / cleaning/testing/etc. So not much. I bought a replacement cartridge a few weeks ago and its already about 1/4 burned up.

Incoming TDS is ~230 ish
Coming out of Membrane is 80-90

Anything i can do to extend the life of the cartridges in this system? Do i need to add additional carbon or sediment? Im pretty sure our water co uses Chloramine to treat the water. Thanks for any help!

 

[Doctorgori]

I helped saved DI by boosting pressure with that Aquatic Life thingamajig, also depending on supply water, you “might” and I mean might be better off adding a cation and anion stages

 

[Pistondog]

I think you can add more stages/filters ahead to increase life, some with more expertise will elaborate.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Coming out of membrane should be lower than 80-90. Thats why your DI ran out so fast.
My tap tds is 200ish
I have 4 stages BRS and after membrane is always in single digits. 4 is the lowest it will go for me.
Membrane rejection should be 90%. So with rough calculation yours should be around 20ish.
You might want to re-seat that membrane.
what is your water pressure?

My Tap water also has chloramine

 

[Water Dog]

Something isn't right. If your incoming TDS is 230 and post membrane is 80 -90 TDS, then you‘re only getting about a 60% rejection rate from your RO membrane. An RO membrane running within spec should yield a 96-99% rejection rate. 80 to 90 TDS going into your DI stage will burn it up in very short order.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Does it have a pressure gauge on it?

 

[Reef - Tripp]

Add booster pump, need 60 psi,

 

[fowler279]

Coming out of membrane should be lower than 80-90. Thats why your DI ran out so fast.
My tap tds is 200ish
I have 4 stages BRS and after membrane is always in single digits. 4 is the lowest it will go for me.
Membrane rejection should be 90%. So with rough calculation yours should be around 20ish.
You might want to re-seat that membrane.
what is your water pressure?

My Tap water also has chloramine

Ill try to reseat it and see if that helps any. Pressure from tap was 60. Added the Aquatic Life Smart Buddie and its up to 80 now.

Does it have a pressure gauge on it?

Yup sitting at 80 with booster pump.

Add booster pump, need 60 psi,

Yup sitting at 80 with booster pump.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Ill try to reseat it and see if that helps any. Pressure from tap was 60. Added the Aquatic Life Smart Buddie and its up to 80 now.



Yup sitting at 80 with booster pump.



Yup sitting at 80 with booster pump.

60 is not bad. Mine is 70. But you have a booster now so thats not an issue.

Yeah. Re-seat that membrane. If it still the same, might need a new Membrane

 

[excell007]

A standard 10 inch DI cartridge can probably remove about 3100ppm. If your membrane output is 80TDS your DI will be exhausted in less than 40 gallons. My input TDS is 355 and my TDS after membrane is 4-7, and I am using a 50GPD ro buddie that already have 700gallons on it. If your RO system was bought new, something is wrong.

I am also using smart buddie like you. it boosted the pressure from 55 to 90 psi and increased production rate to 4.5GPH. it also reduced membrane TDS by 4.

 

[fowler279]

60 is not bad. Mine is 70. But you have a booster now so thats not an issue.

Yeah. Re-seat that membrane. If it still the same, might need a new Membrane

Reseated the membrane and it dropped a little more. Showing 70-80. Sometimes dips into upper 60's. Those things arent easy to get out.

A standard 10 inch DI cartridge can probably remove about 3100ppm. If your membrane output is 80TDS your DI will be exhausted in less than 40 gallons. My input TDS is 355 and my TDS after membrane is 4-7, and I am using a 50GPD ro buddie that already have 700gallons on it. If your RO system was bought new, something is wrong.

I am also using smart buddie like you. it boosted the pressure from 55 to 90 psi and increased production rate to 4.5GPH. it also reduced membrane TDS by 4.

It was purchased new. Sent an email to Marine Depot already and thats what prompted me to measure the TDS coming out of the membrane.
You are correct on the about 40 gallons. I think ive made about 20 and its more than half used now. Hopefully they will get back with me and replace the membrane. Tempted to test the waste line to see if maybe they got them backwards.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Reseated the membrane and it dropped a little more. Showing 70-80. Sometimes dips into upper 60's. Those things arent easy to get out.



It was purchased new. Sent an email to Marine Depot already and thats what prompted me to measure the TDS coming out of the membrane.
You are correct on the about 40 gallons. I think ive made about 20 and its more than half used now. Hopefully they will get back with me and replace the membrane. Tempted to test the waste line to see if maybe they got them backwards.

Can you take some pictures?
The lines and how the membrane sit.
Yeah the membrane need to be pushed in all the way

 

[excell007]

did you remove the flow restrictor? smart buddie have a built in flow restrictor.
does you unit have the function to flush the membrane? if it does, you also need to remove it, smart buddie will flush the membrane every time it is plugged in or every 24 hours if it's always plugged in.

 

[fowler279]

Can you take some pictures?
The lines and how the membrane sit

Yea ill get some pics here in a bit. Looked over the product on the site just now and its correct. Dont think there is an issue with them being reversed. Top one goes to DI and bottom is waste.

did you remove the flow restrictor? smart buddie have a built in flow restrictor

Yup. Flow restrictor was built into the manual flush valve which was removed when i added the booster.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Yea ill get some pics here in a bit. Looked over the product on the site just now and its correct. Dont think there is an issue with them being reversed. Top one goes to DI and bottom is waste.



Yup. Flow restrictor was built into the manual flush valve which was removed when i added the booster.

Black is waste, blue to the DI
Not sure if its different between BRS and marine depot

 

[fowler279]

Black is waste, blue to the DI
Not sure if its different between BRS and marine depot

They are different. But thats pretty much how its setup. Marine Depot is turned opposite from BRS. Canisters are the same i assume so on mine the yellow is the black and the blue is the same.

 

[Philly Reefer]

They are different. But thats pretty much how its setup. Marine Depot is turned opposite from BRS. Canisters are the same i assume so on mine the yellow is the black and the blue is the same.

Do you have a handheld tds? I wonder how much tds is in your waste water

 

[fowler279]

Do you have a handheld tds? I wonder how much tds is in your waste water

No i dont. Still thinking about moving the meter from the DI water to the waste to see what it is though.

 

[excell007]

waste water should be a lot. I think when I measured mine before, it was more than 500.

 

[fowler279]

waste water should be a lot. I think when I measured mine before, it was more than 500.

Yup i swapped the TDS meter to the waste water and it was 400+. At a steady 245 into the Sediment filter and 70-80 out from membrane to DI. I let Marine Depot know so hopefully they will send me a replacement RO Membrane or something.