Anyone refilled their DI cartridges?

[NeveSSL]

Hi all!

Just curious how many of you have refilled your DI cartridges and if its worth it. I expect it shouldn't be too difficult of a task, and it definitely makes replacing filters cheaper. By refilling, I can get 2 complete replacement sets of filters and enough resin to refill my cartridge twice for about $14 more than just one complete set (from AirWaterIce)!

Also, if anyone has any resin, let me know. I had a membrane go bad and eat up like half of my resin for 5 or 10g of water. AirWaterIce was awesome and sent a replacement membrane, though (2 year warranty on them). After this, I highly recommend the dual-inline TDS meters. I'm going to pick one up before too long. They're only $25 on eBay.

I may pickup a DI cartridge at the meeting if nothing else. And I also may wait until I have the money to order new filters as well (getting close to a year now... couple of months still).

Anyway, I'm rambling at this point.

Thanks!

Brandon

 

[H@rry]

I ordered a 20 pound bag of resin about 9 months ago and it's very easy to refill the cartridges. The ends just screw off like a mayonnaise jar lid. I actually bought two new empty "refillable" cartridges with the resin before I realized that the ones I already had were the same. Now I've got two new empty cartridges.

I later learned that you should probably not order too much at one time as it might not keep for a long time once the bag has been opened. It's moist in the bag and I try to close it back as best I can after I use it but it still gets dry on top. The bag comes with a ziploc closure but I never could get it to seal back up. Even though some of it was dry going in it still works fine. I'm satisfied that I'm saving time and money by refilling.

 

[crumbletop]

I have refilled mine. I typically go through one DI cartridge a year (my post RO TDS is about 1). This year I was lazy and ordered a pre-filled cartridge. Last year I ordered a single refill bag and packed my own. You have to make sure you pack the stuff pretty well. I used a small piece of pvc pipe with an end cap on it along with pounding the cartridge on a table to get the resin to settle and pack well.

From what I understand, Harry is right. Don't order too much resin at one time unless you can vacuum seal it. Otherwise it can go bad on you.

 

[platax88]

I refill mine aswell. I go through one about every 2.5 months. The water is horrible here in Kingston Springs and i run my RO direct using a solenoid valve and float switch. This turns on/off my ro unit about 6 times a day and makes only a bit of water. From what i understand the constant on/off will go through DI resin quicker.

I only order the small quantity needed to fill the cartridge and i think it runs me about $10

 

[H@rry]

I have read somewhere that RO units are not very efficient on small "runs" of water but do better on longer runs. I only run mine once daily until I refill my reserve container. I use about 4 - 5 gallon per day (unless this is a water change day).

 

[platax88]

Yup you are right ... not very efficient, thats why i go through so much DI... Unfortunately i don't have room for a reservoir. I have The RO hooked up straight to my Kalk reactor. I have dual float switches and solenoids for redundancy in case one fails.

 

[NeveSSL]

Awesome. Thanks for the replies, guys.

I've also read that CO2 will leak in unless its vacuum sealed and will ruin the resin.

I was actually mistaken on my first mentioned prices. It was actually some carbon that I saw that was $12 for a refill, not DI resin. But nonetheless, its still cheaper.

I've still got a tiny bit left in mine (it freaked me out when around half of it was used up on one 5g run... again, dual inline TDS meters are worth it!), so I'll use it for a couple more weeks. I only make about 7g a week on average. If not less. So I should be good.

Thanks for the replies!

Brandon

 

[DMBillies]

I once got into an argument with a guy in the DIY forum over whether the in-line meters were worth it. I admit that I don't check mine every run, but I do keep an eye on it and they make it really easy to see what your TDS are doing.

His argument was that the in-line TDS meters weren't accurate enough to trust and that you should really be counting on your pressure measurements to determine when your filters are aging.

FWIW, assuming you aren't totally crazy about monitoring every aspect of your entire reef set-up, an in-line TDS meter will certainly help you know when certain parts need to be replaced. After a filter change, it makes sense to monitor a bit closer, but once a few runs of water have gone through, I don't see a need to monitor as closely.

I've not done the re-fillables. Replacing only once a year or so, I just order them when I need them. I'm not sure of the savings, but I like the idea of the convenience and knowing I'm getting a fresh one. If I was filling them more often, I'd worry more about the cost savings.

 

[NeveSSL]

Yeah, I'm thinking I won't do the refillable stuff.

However... I am thinking that getting 2 sets of filters and one filled cartridge is a better deal than one of each.

We'll see, though.

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Brandon

 

[sandalscout]

Hope this doesn't derail your thread Brandon, but I'm curious about where you guys plan on/advise running the 2 probe on a dual in-line meter? I was actually planning on running 2 duals in the following locations

Before any filtering
before After Carbon-Sediment/Before RO Stage
After RO Stage/before DI
After DI Stage

Is this overkill? I only was putting it before and after the carbon/sediment stages because I would've had an extra probe, I understand that these don't actually remove TDS. I also figured it'd be important before and after the RO and DI stages to ensure that both are functioning correctly, or is this not correct? It's my understanding that the RO stage should cause a 90% reduction in TDS, and that tha DI stage should remove an additional 90%.... IE tap=300ppm, after ro=30ppm, after di=0-3ppm.

Thanks!
Matt

 

[NeveSSL]

Nah... you can't derail it, man. It has served its purpose as far as I'm concerned.

After having a membrane go bad on me, I'm going to put it at the very front (before any filtering) and just after the membrane. After the DI isn't worth as much to me because its color changing DI, so I can just see if something is going on there.

Depending on what unit you're using, your RO may vary. I think mine is actually 98% or so (I usually have about 240 TDS going into the unit and 7 TDS coming out of the RO).

Your DI on the other hand, if I'm not mistaken, will take all other TDS out and should bring it down to 0. This is why half of mine was eaten when my membrane went bad and was putting out 57 TDS.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Brandon

 

[sandalscout]

Oh, good point on the color changing stuff... mine is, I think, and I've still got my handheld meter to tide me over for the time being until I get color changing media if not..... I probably could live with 1 dual meter until I get color changing resin if not....

Thanks Brandon!

 

[waynesworld]

Brandon if you need one before you get it come get one from me I have an extra one.

 

[NeveSSL]

No problem, Matt.

Cool deal, Wayne. I appreciate it!

Brandon

 

[DMBillies]

I use mine after the RO and after the DI. I figure, as long as the water coming out of the RO is less than about 5 (I've never had it read over 5) everything before that must be working properly. I get after the DI just to see the drop and make sure my make-up water is 0-1 (my DI is color changing too, but I have heard that sometimes they don't change exactly as they should). I change out the sediment filter whenever it starts looking dirty (if I don't I actually start to notice an upswing in the post RO reading and these are very cheap) and I change the carbon filters every 2-3 times I change the sediment filter (this is maybe 6-9 months, but I figure that how dirty the sediment filter gets is a pretty good indicator of how much water I'm actually running through the carbon filters and how much junk is in the water). I have considered getting another in-line meter, but its just never really been worth it to me... maybe next time I order a batch of filters.

And since this is RO/DI related, I wonder how many people use a solenoid on their filter inputs? Where'd you get it? How much did it cost? I have a sneaky suspicion that my auto-shutoff only works sporadically and so once the float switch is closed, I'm just dumping waste water out of the RO membrane. This is not only wasteful in terms of water, but it means I'll also burn through sediment and carbon filters much faster. I wouldn't mind the failsafe anyway... I've replaced the ASO valve once already and it seems to have done a very similar thing the second time around (slowly start working less reliably). This seems to be a common problem regardless of filter manufacturer and I got it replaced for free before (airwaterice has some very good customer service), but it is an annoyance because unless you can actively see your waste water output it is hard to know that the valve isn't working.

 

[NeveSSL]

How much water do you average per week, Brian? I'm trying to get a feel for how often to change my filters.

Also, whats the difference between the carbon and sediment filters? I thought they were all both.

Yeah, I don't trust the ASO, with all due respect. BUT, I'm also making small amounts of water, so its not as big of a deal for me. I just turn it on and off manually.

And yeah, AWI has great customer support. They replaced my membrane a week or two ago with no charge. It was under warranty, but they were quick and cool about it. :thumbsup: Glad I went with them!

Brandon

 

[DMBillies]

I use a 10 micron sediment filter just for catching the big stuff coming through the pipes. The difference between that and the carbon filters is that they are really just a fabric-like tube (w/o carbon), whereas the carbon filters have a filter layer on their outsides and carbon on the inside. I use a 5 micron carbon, a 1 micron carbon, and then on to the RO/DI. Since those first three are really pretty cheap and I can grab the sediment filters locally (I know they have them at the Critter and the sediments filters really are pretty cheap), I figure it best to regularly replace them and save myself the time/effort/expensive/danger (you aren't the first person I've heard of having problems with the RO) of changing my RO membrane more often. I also try to run decent sized runs when I do it (not hard to do when my top-off bins will take about 30 gallons and a water change is around 30 as well).

I don't consider myself an expert on this and it is possible I'm wasting filters before I have to (and possibly running my RO too long) but as long as my TDS stays low and I can verify that reading with my handheld, I'm happy and it is far better/cheaper than buying and lugging.


As far as how much I am making...

With the old set-ups I was evaporating about 25-30 gallons per week and doing maybe 25 gallons per week in water changes (although I admit I got a little lazier with that as I started dosing more heavily). I've never really carefully tracked it (put that on the list of things I've said "I should do that" but never cared enough to actually do it).

I know my unit didn't shut off for the better part of a week straight filling that 270 and I also know that I could visibly see the sediment filter get dirtier in that time.

I'll have to pay a little more attention to what I'm evaping out of the new tank once I get all of my fans running the way they are supposed to (my DIY tie-wrap "mount" for one of my fans failed miserably and I am not too sure how I'll actually get this thing hanging now. Just another in the list of things that didn't go quite as planned...

 

[sandalscout]

Brian thanks for the input. I've read that the color change resin actually has a tendency to change BEFORE it's actually gone bad, that was one of the reasons I wanted to measure afterward. I'll probably just hold onto my handheld for a while to measure the output, the inlines are just SO convenient.

I have an ASO from Buckeye, I've never had any problems with it at all. Maybe it's just too new, or I'm lucky, but I like mine alot, let's me walk away from it.