When is ideal to change RO cartridges?

[AdamNC]

So I have the Aquatic Life Twist in 4 stage RO/DI unit with a Hanna TDS duel inline meter, one to see whats coming in and one to see what coming out. The way the RO/DI unit is designed is it's not meant to be separated from it's mounting track. My RO cartridges are about a year old and the DI has still yet to turn color. I get about 34-36 TDS in(yea we have good water here) and it's still reading 0 TDS out. Is it beneficial to swap them out even though I'm still getting a 0 TDS reading? The meter is only about 3 months old.

 

[Applegate]

So I have the Aquatic Life Twist in 4 stage RO/DI unit with a Hanna TDS duel inline meter, one to see whats coming in and one to see what coming out. The way the RO/DI unit is designed is it's not meant to be separated from it's mounting track. My RO cartridges are about a year old and the DI has still yet to turn color. I get about 34-36 TDS in(yea we have good water here) and it's still reading 0 TDS out. Is it beneficial to swap them out even though I'm still getting a 0 TDS reading? The meter is only about 3 months old.

The recommended ro replacement is 1 to 2 years.
DI, I dont change until I read 1 on my tds meter which has been about year so far for mine. I also get a reading of 3 just before the di cartridges so its not working too hard.

Sedament and carbon are recommended to be replaced every 6 months.

 

[AdamNC]

Sorry that’s what I meant was the sediment and carbon cartridges. So every 6 months even though I’m still getting a 0 tds reading after the DI cartridge. May be passing stuff my tds meter doesn’t pickup on I take it.

 

[Luna]

Mine is reading .2 I’ve had it for over a year and carbon is starting to change color guess it’s bout time I change it. Had no problem in the tank though.

 

[Saveafish]

I change when I hit 2TDS. Funny thing my color will change but I'm still pumping out 0. Once I hit 2 its changy time.

 

[Venzzla]

getting ready to buy the 4 stage unit for 114 dollars on amazon! Everyone here seems to like it?

 

[AdamNC]

I have no complaints, but then again I’m working with low tds water to start with.

 

[madweazl]

I change the sediment filter when it visually needs it. Since I buy everything together, I usually change the carbon block at the same time. The resin lasts considerably longer than the sediment filter here. My RO/DI unit is about four years old and I've never changed the RO membrane (still reads 0 TDS after the RO).

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Have the below thread bookmarked. May be of some use.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-often-do-you-change-rodi-filters.285462/

 

[Venzzla]

This might be a dumb question but do the filters come with it initally?

 

[AdamNC]

This might be a dumb question but do the filters come with it initally?

Yes it’s plug and play from the start with everything you need except for a bucket and a tds meter.

 

[AdamNC]

Here is everything I got when I first got it. Except for the 2 cartridges on the right.

 

[Venzzla]

thanks all, adam what are the 2 on the right for? I'll go ahead and ask in advance are the interchangeable? :)

 

[Opus]

This might be a dumb question but do the filters come with it initally?

Yes

 

[lapin]

So I have the Aquatic Life Twist in 4 stage RO/DI unit with a Hanna TDS duel inline meter, one to see whats coming in and one to see what coming out. The way the RO/DI unit is designed is it's not meant to be separated from it's mounting track. My RO cartridges are about a year old and the DI has still yet to turn color. I get about 34-36 TDS in(yea we have good water here) and it's still reading 0 TDS out. Is it beneficial to swap them out even though I'm still getting a 0 TDS reading? The meter is only about 3 months old.

I have rain water. 8 into the RO unit and 0 out. I dont change anything except the sediment filters. When i see the pressure drop its time to change them. Other than a bad reading from your meter there is no need to mess with it in my opinion. Well unless you just got to do something to keep busy.

 

[Opus]

thanks all, adam what are the 2 on the right for? I'll go ahead and ask in advance are the interchangeable? :)

Looks like he just bought an extra set of the prefilters ( sediment and carbon). Personally I don't care for these types of RO units because you are stuck buying their cartridges since they are the only ones that will fit. Also they usually don't give you the specs on them. I haven't seen a micron rating on them and I personally like to go with at least a 5 micron on my prefilters.

 

[AdamNC]

thanks all, adam what are the 2 on the right for? I'll go ahead and ask in advance are the interchangeable? :)

They are just extra sediment and carbon filters I bought for extras at the time.

 

[Opus]

So I have the Aquatic Life Twist in 4 stage RO/DI unit with a Hanna TDS duel inline meter, one to see whats coming in and one to see what coming out. The way the RO/DI unit is designed is it's not meant to be separated from it's mounting track. My RO cartridges are about a year old and the DI has still yet to turn color. I get about 34-36 TDS in(yea we have good water here) and it's still reading 0 TDS out. Is it beneficial to swap them out even though I'm still getting a 0 TDS reading? The meter is only about 3 months old.

You shouldn't look at your system by your final number, at least not for changing out the pre-filters or RO membrane. The final number is only good for telling you to change your DI filter. That also means the color changing is basically useless other than maybe to warn you it may be time to order a new DI filter. My DI filter will change colors but I will still get 3 to 6 months of 0 tds water out of it. Honestly with your initial 36 tds water, you should get many thousands of gallons of 0 tds water from your DI filter. My tap tds is around 450 and I'm getting 2 tds before it goes into the DI filter. I will get around 2200 gallons of 0 tds water from my DI filter before it needs to be changed, of course that assumes there are no CO2 issues.

To really know when your pre-filters need to be changed you would need to know when the water pressure starts to drop after the sediment filter and when chemicals start getting thru the carbon filter. This is basically impractical for most people so the industry practice is to change out every 6 months. For the RO membrane, you go the percentage of TDS it is removing. Most say they do 95% min, so once you hit that mark it is for sure time to change it out. I've got the spectrapure+ model which claims 99% rejection and that is what I'm getting from it.

 

[luckyazn6]

I think the 50 Gpd 4stage is only 60 bucks

 

[AdamNC]

Well I think it was time to change the sediment and carbon filters. I took off the RO and DI and used the flush caps and came out with a higher tds. It was 34 in and 46 out. Changed them out and then came up with 34 in and 29 out. Put the RO and DI back on and it was at 0 again on the final out. Looked at my DI filter and it has just started to change at the top of the cartridge, so that and the RO may be next on my to buy list. Not bad considering this is the 3rd time changing the first 2 cartridges and 3 years on the RO and DI cartridges.