Looking for RO and possibly DI unit,..kinda confused/lost, need help deciding

Most units I see have the DI horizontal on top of unit. Is this bad?

 

Yes. Horizontal DI chambers usually do not hold near as much resin for one but most importantly water takes teh path of least resistance and channels or short circuits along the bottom so treatment is spotty and not all resin and water come into contact with each other.
A real reef quality RO/DI uses a vertical 10" canister, often with a refillable cartridge that holds 20 oz of resin when packed properly and fills from the bottom and exits the top so all water and resin come into contact with each other.

Look at units like the MPDI, CSPDI, ProPlus and MaxCap from Spectrapure, the Premium series from Buckeye Field Supply and the Optima series from PurelyH2o, they all have refillable 10" vertical DI filters and start at around $120 complete.

 

whats the name of the part that sits ontop of the 3 filters? i looks like a "mini missile / rocket"

 

The RO membrane itself is in the horizontal housing on top. It is the worhorse of thesystem and does 90-98% of the work while the others either protect it or do some final polishing like the DI.

 

So what im understading is that it is ok for the just the RO Membrane to sit horizontal as long as rest of the unit including the the DI sit vertical?

 

For the sediment filter, carbon block and RO membrane it really does not matter since they are under pressure. The DI is often gravity since it is open discharge so needs to be vertical to ensure the cartridge fills completely.

 

Ok i know you are gunna kill me for this but im kinda stuck on the 6 stage :-(
(ill just sleep better at night , i hate having second thoughts) and will probably be going with BRS and later get the spectrapure filters.

However i have decided to take AZDesertRat's advice and get the " Handheld TDS Tester Model TDS-3 ". I am also trying to look into the Solenoid valves and float switches u mentioned but am having a hard time google-ing them. Do you have a link to good ones at a good price?

Also what does the "capillary tube flow restrictors" do?? from what i see they are only like 4 bux a piece, how many "capillary tube flow restrictors" on average does a RO/DI unit need?

 

Don't get hung up on "stages". More is NOT better, in many cases it is actually worse since each stage has an associated pressure or head loss and every pound you reduce the pressure available to the RO membrane reduces its rejection rate or removal efficiency. Look at what each stage contains, not how many there are. Again ebay vendors got this stupid idea in everyones heads when they stacked a bunch of 79 cent filters on and called them "stages" to make their systems sound like the best thing since sliced bread.

I use the solenoid valve and float switches as pictured here:
Solenoid Valve Controller by SpectraPure

It runs off low voltage DC so is safe around water and the switches are fully encapsulated so do not get dirty and fail.

You only need one capillary tube on the waste line.

I am still trying to understand your reasoning for buying a system that includes stuff you do not need, will not be as efficient as other lower priced systems and you plan on modifying to make work better? Doesn't make sense to me? Maybe you can explain?

 

ouch, i think ill pass on the Solenoid Valve Controller as its for the the Pressurized Storage Tank and im gunna have the tank in garage so im not worried about it. i was looking for a float valve just to use in my garbage can for the salt reservoir.

My whole reasoning is just being able to get a 5/6 stage for 40/60 bux more from BRS and waning a 5/6 stage even though i know u have stated that its more of a gimick, i still see spectrapure selling 5/6 stages too, so there must be a reason for it. BRS seems just as reputable and knowing that spectrapures filters are compatible makes it worth it to me.

thanks AZDesertRat for the all help and taking the time to explain everything, i really appreciate it.

 

You don't need a pressure tank for the solenoid valve and float switches, I don't have one and its been operating about 3.5 years now.



The BRS 5/6 stage includes worthless things like dual carbon blocks. The Spectrapure 5/6 stage includes things like single good carbon blocks but dual DI filters of different blends so you get maximum bang for your buck. There is a major difference. Low end high micron sediment filters don't offer you any cost savings or water quality improvements. High quality sediment. single carbon, treated and tested RO membrane and dual custom blended DI filters do. Again don't look at the number, look at the quality and what they do for you. Its similar to the ebay systems with a 10 micron or unsepecified sediment filter, a cheap 300 gallon GAC carbon, a little better 1200 gallon carbon block, a no name cloned imported membrane and two or three little 6 oz DI tubes. They advertise this as a 6 or 7 stage "reef" RO/DI system when its realy an extremely low end drinking water nano filter tha twill exhaust in the first month of ownership. Look at what you are getting, not how many you are getting, two 1,200 carbon blocks don't equal one 20,000 carbon block. Quite the opposite in fact, the lower end carbon turns to dust and actually fouls or plugs the membrane, carbon block or whatever is downstream causing a pressure drop and premature failure. Look at quality not quantity.