DI Resin ?

[SFish]

So I got a bag of DI Resin to refill my filter. I filled up the filter after the resin went bad but something is wrong with it. What did I do wrong? I emptied it and then refilled it. I got a few inches of yellow at the bottom right away and I get a gap with no resin that over two uses of the filter moves from the bottom to the top.

 

[kurt_n]

You need to pack it... tamp it down... as you fill it. All the resin needs to be tightly packed.

 

[SFish]

I more worried about the brown / yellow color then any thing. It turns that color when it goes bad. By the 3rd use which was only a month and a 1/2 my TDS meter started reading 1ppm. There's no way it should have gone bad that fast. Could not being packed tight enough cause this? I could see the resin moving inside of it. My RO rejection rate is down to 96.3%. Is my RO going bad and using the DI resin up?

 

[asudavew]

How many PPM is the water when it enters the Di resin canister?
That's important to know.

 

[SFish]

11 ppm

 

[SFish]

Bump it for help

I got 298 from the tap and 11 after the RO unit. The unit is a little bit less then a year old. I put new prefilters on 6/23/14 so those are pretty new. I also use a flush kit. I've been getting around a 96 to 97% rejection rate for a long time now. I have 3 inline TDS meters. I calibrated them on 8/18/14 last. I put new DI resin in on 6/23/14 then on 8/14/14 I started getting a 1ppm reading after the DI unit so I changed out the resin again. It looks like the resin is doing the same thing as last time. I calibrate the TDS meters once a month and do a 10 gallon water change every two weeks.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

When the resin is not packed tightly, the mixed resin bed fluidizes and the anion beads and cation beads separate. What looks like a color change really isn't. You're very unlikely to see 0 ppm TDS out of the resin cartridge with the resins separated. Remove the resin, mix it, put it back in the cartridge with more resin and pack it TIGHTLY. That's it.

Russ

 

[SFish]

Thanks a ton!

Called the maker of the filter before I saw your post and they said the same thing more or less. I was afraid the RO went bad for some reason.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Glad to help.

Russ

 

[thegrun]

While I think that not packing your resin in the canister tight enough is your main problem, I would also add a second DI canister to your system. You will get a lot more use out of your DI resin if you run two canisters of resin in series. When you use a single canister of resin and you start to see your TDS readings rise you need to replace the resin even though it still capable of absorbing more pollutants. If you use two canisters when you first start to see your TDS rise, remove the first canister in line and then shift the number two canister into the number one position. Then replace the resin in the old number one canister and place it in the number two position. That way you get full use of the resin.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

While I think that not packing your resin in the canister tight enough is your main problem, I would also add a second DI canister to your system. You will get a lot more use out of your DI resin if you run two canisters of resin in series. When you use a single canister of resin and you start to see your TDS readings rise you need to replace the resin even though it still capable of absorbing more pollutants. If you use two canisters when you first start to see your TDS rise, remove the first canister in line and then shift the number two canister into the number one position. Then replace the resin in the old number one canister and place it in the number two position. That way you get full use of the resin.

What does it mean when all of a sudden, both your primary and secondary DI resin start reading 1ppm?

Mine just did that the other day. I'm not sure if I can still use the water until the new ones arrive, or not. But it's just weird that they both started on the same day. I swapped TDS meters, and the second meter reads the same.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Are both DI carts the same age?

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Are both DI carts the same age?

Correct. Both were installed at the same time and are the same type.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Are they plumbed in parallel or series?

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Are they plumbed in parallel or series?

In series. That's what struck me as odd. Being the same type, I would expect to get an elevated TDS in the first, then the second. Not both at exactly the same time.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Agreed. Happy to help you troubleshoot it but we've already covered the quick/easy items.

Feel free to give us a call

Russ
513-312-2343