therealfatman
In Memoriam
OOOOPS!
How to recharge DI resin
- Thread starter dngspot
- Start date
winland
New member
Several months ago, I purchased a couple SpectraPure DI canisters, DI-MC-10. I used them and now I am trying to recharge the resin. It is not working. I have the resin in the lye solution and the beads are not seperating. All of the beads are sinking with all the liquid at the top. Any suggestions? Increase the lye concentration, decrease the lye concentration?
HELP
winland
HELP
winland
Last edited:
winland
New member
OK, I made the decision to increase the lye concentration. I syphoned off some of the existing lye solution and added additional lye crystals to that and added it back into the 3 liter bottle. I did this several times. Finally with almost double the recommended lye, I started to get a seperation of the cation and anion beads. But no liquid layer between them. I had to increase the lye to almost 3x the recommended solution to get any actual seperation.
winland
winland
winland
New member
Yes, I did get a good seperation. My original lye solution was 30 ounces of ro/di water to 8 ounces of lye crystals. I ended up using an additional 16 ounces of lye crystals for a total of 24 ounces of lye in 30 ounces of water. Even then, in the solution that seperated the two beads, there were considerable "floater" beads.
winland
winland
winland
New member
With my basic DI resin, I get between 300 - 350 gallons of 0 TDS using 2 - 10" canisters. Substituting one SpectraPure canister for one of my original DI resin canisters made little or no difference. Certainly not the 1200g that they advertise. I certainly can not recommend them.
winland
winland
Kati/Ani Filter type unknown
Kati/Ani Filter type unknown
Hi all, I have been reading this thread and it has opened my eyes quite a bit to DI filters.
I have started to grow interested in these since I bought one from a garage sale and didnt know what it was. It looks like this:
http://www.thefilterguys.biz/kati_ani_di-onizer.htm
its the 10 liter model.
The problem is, I don't know what the media inside it is. They are very small balls that are yellowish in color. They are NOT granular like my normal DI filter has. So first I want to know how I know what the media is and then I can recharge it based on what I learned here.
Second, I only use about 20 gallons a week for clean top off water in my 120 gal tank and another 10 gal a week for new water in water changes. Will the water in this unit start to go bad because its not getting exchanged fast enough?
The weird part of this unit is that it doesn't seem like the top comes off easy, so It must have been designed to recharge. Otherwise I would have just emptied it out and replaced it with aggrogate, to make a fluidized bed filter out of it.
Suggestions, information...
Thanks,
Gary
p.s. I will try to get pictures posted soon
Kati/Ani Filter type unknown
Hi all, I have been reading this thread and it has opened my eyes quite a bit to DI filters.
I have started to grow interested in these since I bought one from a garage sale and didnt know what it was. It looks like this:
http://www.thefilterguys.biz/kati_ani_di-onizer.htm
its the 10 liter model.
The problem is, I don't know what the media inside it is. They are very small balls that are yellowish in color. They are NOT granular like my normal DI filter has. So first I want to know how I know what the media is and then I can recharge it based on what I learned here.
Second, I only use about 20 gallons a week for clean top off water in my 120 gal tank and another 10 gal a week for new water in water changes. Will the water in this unit start to go bad because its not getting exchanged fast enough?
The weird part of this unit is that it doesn't seem like the top comes off easy, so It must have been designed to recharge. Otherwise I would have just emptied it out and replaced it with aggrogate, to make a fluidized bed filter out of it.
Suggestions, information...
Thanks,
Gary
p.s. I will try to get pictures posted soon
melev
Well-known member
Mongro1,
[welcome]
You can find The Filter Guys here on Reef Central, as they are a sponsor. Ask them all your questions, including how you'd like to recharge the resin as discussed in this thread, and I'm sure they will be happy to be of help.
Here's a link to their sponsored forum:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=439
[welcome]
You can find The Filter Guys here on Reef Central, as they are a sponsor. Ask them all your questions, including how you'd like to recharge the resin as discussed in this thread, and I'm sure they will be happy to be of help.
Here's a link to their sponsored forum:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=439
dngspot
Premium Member
I have been doing this over two years now and have a few observations to offer.
1. In my system I use about 5 gallons a day. There are two 10 inch canisters at the end of my system. The recharged resin lasts 3 months. New resin last about the same.
2. I have used the same resin for recharging for 2 years and it still recharges fine.
3. After the first 2 recharges the resin color changing die bleaches out of the resin and does not work anymore.
4. During the process the water in the waste bucket can be clear with clouds in it. It may also have a smell of fish, yet no fish have been in the water.
5. The process takes 30 minutes and filling the DI containers will take an additional 15.
If anyone has anything more to add please feel free to.
1. In my system I use about 5 gallons a day. There are two 10 inch canisters at the end of my system. The recharged resin lasts 3 months. New resin last about the same.
2. I have used the same resin for recharging for 2 years and it still recharges fine.
3. After the first 2 recharges the resin color changing die bleaches out of the resin and does not work anymore.
4. During the process the water in the waste bucket can be clear with clouds in it. It may also have a smell of fish, yet no fish have been in the water.
5. The process takes 30 minutes and filling the DI containers will take an additional 15.
If anyone has anything more to add please feel free to.
lighthouze08
New member
so how do i save the used resin so i can do it when i have enough? just dry it out and save it?
OK, time for a stupid question.
I notice that you mix the base and acid solutions together, which neutralizes them, then discard them for every batch that you recharge.
Is there a reason, other than not wishing to keep liquid base and acid mixes around, that you do not keep them seperate and reuse them to recharge the next batch in, say 3 months? Can the containers safely hold the liquids, and will they retain sufficient strength?
Thanks
I notice that you mix the base and acid solutions together, which neutralizes them, then discard them for every batch that you recharge.
Is there a reason, other than not wishing to keep liquid base and acid mixes around, that you do not keep them seperate and reuse them to recharge the next batch in, say 3 months? Can the containers safely hold the liquids, and will they retain sufficient strength?
Thanks
dngspot
Premium Member
Part of the positive acid solution is used to recharge and is weaker when the process is done, same with the negative base. Also they are laden with positive and negative ions that will act as a stronger charge and recontaminate the resin. The chemicals are fairly easy to find and cheep. I see no reason to try any thing different.
yardboy
Advanced Bewilderment
QUOTE=dngspot;16245039]I have been doing this over two years now and have a few observations to offer.
1. In my system I use about 5 gallons a day. There are two 10 inch canisters at the end of my system. The recharged resin lasts 3 months. New resin last about the same.
There's no reason why, if you recharge properly, the resin shouldn't last as long as when new.
2. I have used the same resin for recharging for 2 years and it still recharges fine.
I've been regenerating the same resin for 10 years. Only if you get organics or iron/other particulate fouling will it be difficult to recharge. Every regenertion will produce some "fines" (broken beads of resin) that will flush out with the rinse water,and eventually the resin will need to be replaced.
3. After the first 2 recharges the resin color changing die bleaches out of the resin and does not work anymore.
A conductivity meter works better anyway!
4. During the process the water in the waste bucket can be clear with clouds in it. It may also have a smell of fish, yet no fish have been in the water.
The active sites on the anion resin are amine based, which can smell like deteriorating marine life.
5. The process takes 30 minutes and filling the DI containers will take an additional 15.
If anyone has anything more to add please feel free to.[/QUOTE]
Great information. Thanks for relating the first hand experience!
1. In my system I use about 5 gallons a day. There are two 10 inch canisters at the end of my system. The recharged resin lasts 3 months. New resin last about the same.
There's no reason why, if you recharge properly, the resin shouldn't last as long as when new.
2. I have used the same resin for recharging for 2 years and it still recharges fine.
I've been regenerating the same resin for 10 years. Only if you get organics or iron/other particulate fouling will it be difficult to recharge. Every regenertion will produce some "fines" (broken beads of resin) that will flush out with the rinse water,and eventually the resin will need to be replaced.
3. After the first 2 recharges the resin color changing die bleaches out of the resin and does not work anymore.
A conductivity meter works better anyway!
4. During the process the water in the waste bucket can be clear with clouds in it. It may also have a smell of fish, yet no fish have been in the water.
The active sites on the anion resin are amine based, which can smell like deteriorating marine life.
5. The process takes 30 minutes and filling the DI containers will take an additional 15.
If anyone has anything more to add please feel free to.[/QUOTE]
Great information. Thanks for relating the first hand experience!
dngspot
Premium Member
Yardboy
If you have recharged for 10 years, that is long before I posted recharging instructions. The TWP instructions I listed on the first post are much older than this thread. Are you using these instructions, or do you use a different process? I am very interested how you recharge and the products you use to do the job.
If you have recharged for 10 years, that is long before I posted recharging instructions. The TWP instructions I listed on the first post are much older than this thread. Are you using these instructions, or do you use a different process? I am very interested how you recharge and the products you use to do the job.
I am intrested in this also but would like to know how do you store your recharged resin, Resin begins to degrade when exposed to air see below this was taken from BRS site and explains why resin is sealed in Mylar bags. Mabey a vacuum food seal bag would help those who do large recharges at one time..
"BulkReefSupply.com takes pride in the proper packing of our DI Resin. DI resin begins depleting when exposed to air. To avoid this we package all of our DI resin in foil lined 4mm Mylar bags AND vacuum seal it so no air is left in the package to deplete the resin while its waiting to be used. Our resin can remain packaged this way for 2 years without losing its capacity.
Our bulk DI bags are perfect for reefers who process a lot of water or otherwise go through resin quickly. The bags are resalable via a featured zip-loc. Keep in mind this won't be as good as the original seal so we recommend them only for reefers who need a high volume of DI Resin. Otherwise purchase the single refill packs for optimal freshness up to two years."
"BulkReefSupply.com takes pride in the proper packing of our DI Resin. DI resin begins depleting when exposed to air. To avoid this we package all of our DI resin in foil lined 4mm Mylar bags AND vacuum seal it so no air is left in the package to deplete the resin while its waiting to be used. Our resin can remain packaged this way for 2 years without losing its capacity.
Our bulk DI bags are perfect for reefers who process a lot of water or otherwise go through resin quickly. The bags are resalable via a featured zip-loc. Keep in mind this won't be as good as the original seal so we recommend them only for reefers who need a high volume of DI Resin. Otherwise purchase the single refill packs for optimal freshness up to two years."
