How to recharge DI resin
- Thread starter dngspot
- Start date
tgunn
Active member
Today I FINALLY recharged all of the DI resin I've saved up over the years.
Here are the recharge supplies:
* A colander with a piece of felt as a filter.
* An eye wash station... Just in case.
* Muriatic Acid
* Lye
The anion floating, and the cation settled out in the concentrated lye mixture:
The end result is two ziploc bags loaded with green cation, and orange anion.
I am NOT going to mix these back together. I'm going to get two more DI canisters and try running a separate bed DI system and see how that works. I'll likely leave a mixed bed DI at the end just to make sure anything extra is caught.
Here are the recharge supplies:
* A colander with a piece of felt as a filter.
* An eye wash station... Just in case.
* Muriatic Acid
* Lye
The anion floating, and the cation settled out in the concentrated lye mixture:
The end result is two ziploc bags loaded with green cation, and orange anion.
I am NOT going to mix these back together. I'm going to get two more DI canisters and try running a separate bed DI system and see how that works. I'll likely leave a mixed bed DI at the end just to make sure anything extra is caught.
2thdeekay
New member
Bravo on the eye-wash station! That really should be considered a manditory precaution, along with protective eyewear, etc. Saving a couple bucks on DI resin is certainly not worth losing ones eyesight, so best to do it right. 
By the way, are those empty Prestone Driveway Heat (Peladow) jugs you're using? Nice job.
By the way, are those empty Prestone Driveway Heat (Peladow) jugs you're using? Nice job.
tgunn
Active member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13083142#post13083142 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 2thdeekay
Bravo on the eye-wash station! That really should be considered a manditory precaution, along with protective eyewear, etc. Saving a couple bucks on DI resin is certainly not worth losing ones eyesight, so best to do it right.
By the way, are those empty Prestone Driveway Heat (Peladow) jugs you're using? Nice job.
I did wear goggles when dealing with the chemicals as well. I really didn't want to take any chances. I probably should have worn gloves, but I kept the garden hose near by turned on just in case any splashes occurred.
Those are actually empty containers from calcium reactor media; something like this:
Tyler
dngspot
Premium Member
I have used the same containers to separate the resin since the first write up.
Isn't it cool when a plan comes together. Good job.
I will be recharging about 35 lbs of the stuff this weekend. A friend was generous to give it to me. It looks like I will never need to buy resin again.
I do store the stuff separated, it seems to last longer when I do this. I noticed it when a mixed batch I did, did not last as long. I started to mix it before it went into the canisters after the batch that exhausted quickly.
Isn't it cool when a plan comes together. Good job.
I will be recharging about 35 lbs of the stuff this weekend. A friend was generous to give it to me. It looks like I will never need to buy resin again.
I do store the stuff separated, it seems to last longer when I do this. I noticed it when a mixed batch I did, did not last as long. I started to mix it before it went into the canisters after the batch that exhausted quickly.
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I used this regeneration method a few months ago, and it worked well. However I felt that packing and unpacking the filter cartridge is a pain and its easy to spill small amounts of resin.
I run my resins in seperate cartridges.
Has anyone figured out a way to recharge the resin without removing it from the filter cartridge? I have an extra canister filter and was thinking of using either a gravity feed method or a small closed loop recirculating system. The recirculating method seems more dangerous because the is a greater chance of contact with the chemicals regardless of how small an amount.
The Kati/Ani system that is available uses a gravity feed method for regeneration. Here is a link the the directions:http://www.allensaquariums.com/AquaTechnic%20Kati%20Ani%20Instructions.pdf
I run my resins in seperate cartridges.
Has anyone figured out a way to recharge the resin without removing it from the filter cartridge? I have an extra canister filter and was thinking of using either a gravity feed method or a small closed loop recirculating system. The recirculating method seems more dangerous because the is a greater chance of contact with the chemicals regardless of how small an amount.
The Kati/Ani system that is available uses a gravity feed method for regeneration. Here is a link the the directions:http://www.allensaquariums.com/AquaTechnic%20Kati%20Ani%20Instructions.pdf
Shadowramy
In Memoriam
I have tried using the two (anion and cation) in separte canisters and they just dont work as well as a mixed bed. It ends up taking forever to read a 0 on a TDS and they expire much quicker.
TimG, I dont think you can re-charge these mixed in their cansisters, you would have to sepate them in seprate canisters.
The biggest thing is finding a quicker way to "wash" the beads after recharge. A strainer seems to take a long time.
TimG, I dont think you can re-charge these mixed in their cansisters, you would have to sepate them in seprate canisters.
The biggest thing is finding a quicker way to "wash" the beads after recharge. A strainer seems to take a long time.
kau_cinta_ku
New member
I didn't care for the strainer part also, so my fix was just to put the resin in a bucket and pour water in and swirl it around, dump as much as the water I can and repete a couple times. has works good so far.
tgunn
Active member
Try the approach I took then.
I used a plastic vegetable colander (so pretty large), and a piece of craft felt cut to fit.
I rinsed the entire anion or cation batch at once by dumping in large amounts of water. It doesn't trickle and drip like a coffee filter. Really you don't need the super fine filtration a coffee filter offers.
Tyler
kau_cinta_ku
New member
if you watch the video a page or 2 back you will see that is how I seperate mine.
2thdeekay
New member
if you watch the video a page or 2 back
Thanks Sam. I forgot you had posted that. A stable stand for the separator might be handy. I was making one out of a square piece of plywood with center hole cut out, 4 heavier dowels for legs. On the top, 3 lighter dowels (& rubberband) could hold the inverted pop bottle in place. I'll try to post a photo later, but it's pretty easy to visualize.
Thanks Sam. I forgot you had posted that. A stable stand for the separator might be handy. I was making one out of a square piece of plywood with center hole cut out, 4 heavier dowels for legs. On the top, 3 lighter dowels (& rubberband) could hold the inverted pop bottle in place. I'll try to post a photo later, but it's pretty easy to visualize.
dngspot
Premium Member
I wrote this for my local thread, it describes changes made to my process.
I have added some mods to the way I recharge the resin thanks to Tgunn and kau_cinta_ku on Reef Central.
Tgunn added a larger colander and quilt batting felt to strain the resin. Doing it this way allows the resin to be rinsed at one time. The way originally I did this was much more time consuming. It took forever for the coffee filters to drain. I did choose to use a different filter media than Tgunn, the quilt batting seems to fuzzy and will capture allot of resin. I used a poly window sheer for my filter and it worked great. Most of the resin rolled off of the filter and what was left over was easily rinsed away and the filter was used over. To hold the sheer to the colander, I used those little brown paper clips, the type that holds more paper than a standard wire type. The assembly can be seen in the pics below. Both the colander and sheer came from Wal-Mart.
Kau_cinta_ku came up with a really cool way to separate the resin. It involves a 2 liter pop bottle and a transmission fill valve that is made to fit on a transmission fluid bottle. It can be found at Wal-Mart also. Cut the bottom of the 2 liter bottle off, put the valve on the other end. You should have something sturdy to put the bottle-valve assembly in, I used a plastic 1 gallon container, I had lying around, I think it is made by Rubber Maid. To use it, fill it with the resin and lye mixture, wait for it to separate, then open the valve until the lower resin drains into what ever container you are using. I did it over the filter because it needs to be drained and rinsed anyway.
Here is the little contraption.
I have added some mods to the way I recharge the resin thanks to Tgunn and kau_cinta_ku on Reef Central.
Tgunn added a larger colander and quilt batting felt to strain the resin. Doing it this way allows the resin to be rinsed at one time. The way originally I did this was much more time consuming. It took forever for the coffee filters to drain. I did choose to use a different filter media than Tgunn, the quilt batting seems to fuzzy and will capture allot of resin. I used a poly window sheer for my filter and it worked great. Most of the resin rolled off of the filter and what was left over was easily rinsed away and the filter was used over. To hold the sheer to the colander, I used those little brown paper clips, the type that holds more paper than a standard wire type. The assembly can be seen in the pics below. Both the colander and sheer came from Wal-Mart.
Kau_cinta_ku came up with a really cool way to separate the resin. It involves a 2 liter pop bottle and a transmission fill valve that is made to fit on a transmission fluid bottle. It can be found at Wal-Mart also. Cut the bottom of the 2 liter bottle off, put the valve on the other end. You should have something sturdy to put the bottle-valve assembly in, I used a plastic 1 gallon container, I had lying around, I think it is made by Rubber Maid. To use it, fill it with the resin and lye mixture, wait for it to separate, then open the valve until the lower resin drains into what ever container you are using. I did it over the filter because it needs to be drained and rinsed anyway.
Here is the little contraption.
melev
Well-known member
Thanks to dngspot, we now have a very easy to follow article for those of you that would like to recharge DI resin yourself. :thumbsup:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-09/nftt/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-09/nftt/index.php
