How to recharge DI resin

I just did this last night and am getting 0ppm with it. Great DIY.

1 question. after doing the recharge I ran the unit just in a empty pail till I got a reading of 0ppm. does that mean all of the LYE and acid was rinsed good enough? I mean wouldn't the TDS meter show something if there was still chemicals in the DI.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12753087#post12753087 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dngspot
An update. Each resin recharge is lasting about 2 months. I have two 10 inch units and they seem to be exhausting in that time. My auto top off system is topping off every 8 gallons of evaporation.
After each resin recharge I seem to have to run the system for about 20 minutes to get the tds to 0. Today I did something different, I let the filled cartridges set and drain for about 2 hours. When I hooked them up they cleared in about 2 minutes. I also have been clearing the canisters in series; this would have dumped the stuff from the first canister into the second. I have altered this also and clear the first one then the second. It is funny how the simplest things are overlooked.
I will update if these changes extend the run time.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the awesome DIY. I did mine about a month ago and I'm still getting 0 TDS from my meter. It had crept up to the 20 range (gasp!) before I did the recharge.
 
Sorry for the late reply,
I am glad it is working for you guys. As for the question, I have tested the water from the DI canisters for chlorine and have found it to be undetectable. The acid is hydro chlorine and should come up positive if any is released from the canisters. The caustic soda should be detectable if in the water by the TDS. If both are O then all should be good. It is my cheap way of testing if anyone has input that would be great.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12861048#post12861048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by daveonbass
any chance of getting hte pics back up?

I was just about to try this...and now they are gone?
Click to expand...

Here you go:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11868834#post11868834 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dngspot
I have noticed that the pics of the process are gone. If those are needed, they can be found with instructions at my local thread. http://wichitaaquariumclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100
Click to expand...
 
ok the pics are back up now...and I finally tried this. There were a few strange things that occured.

1. it thought itwas cool that if you suck up the bottom resin while seperating them, it will also seperate in the turkey baster...so in essence you simply squirt the lower portion back out and wallah, you only have the upper resin left in the baster. This is not a bad thing...I just thought it was neat.

2. When first mixing the lye...it DID start to melt the plastic...it hot really really hot. even the cold tapwater heated up...that is some powerful stuff. Again not a major problem but worth note to those that try it...it can get hot fast enough before you can put it in the cool water.

3. at the end when rinsing the lye from the resin...(last step)...the rinse water ran through the coffee filter Extremely slow...it took forever. On the other hand the other resin, when rinsing the acid, poured through extremely fast. Is there any reason for this?

4. My color change stuff is different...it's not purple...but blue and gold. When it's "spent" it's just all gold. The strange part is that the part that changes color is the blue, but that's the one in the lye...not the acid. So did I do it right...can the other resin be the one that changes color and not hte one in the acid?

5. has to do with the 4th thing: The color of the resin changes from blue to gold when I use it in my RODI system...BUT, as I mentioned in a different thread...when I let the resin just SIT out in an empty tank...and not put it back in a bag...the color changes from gold back to blue by its self...I don't use anything on it and it appears to recharge. Why is that? And when I did recharge it tonight the "spent" bag looks similar to the "recharged" bag...Only the recharged one is darker blue...(and hopefully will last longer). Does anyone know why my spent resin would change color back to before, simply by sitting out?

all in all I can't wait to do more and fill up my 3 DI chambers...and start making more water....

dave
 
4. My color change stuff is different...it's not purple...but blue and gold. When it's "spent" it's just all gold. The strange part is that the part that changes color is the blue, but that's the one in the lye...not the acid. So did I do it right...can the other resin be the one that changes color and not hte one in the acid?

The resin you're recharging is most likely Resintech MBD-30. It is rated at >10 megaohms resistivity. It is commonly sold in 10" cannisters for reef use, and also in bulk. ;)

I don't have a real answer for what you're observing, #5, except that the indicator is a chemical indicator, and it doesn't necessarily mean the media is "recharged". It could mean that the anion resin (blue) has been exposed to CO2, or something else that might cause the chemical indicator to change color.
 
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That looks like a good idea (although, I can't view your video for some reason).

I've been using a lab separator, but recently rigged an upside down 3 gallon water cooler jug (botttom cut off) with a ball valve at the bottom to separate the cation from the bottom. Much easier than using a turkey baster. Just be careful with temp to make sure the plastic doesn't crack & leak.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11186760#post11186760 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BuckeyeFS
Mixed bed resin actually works better.
Click to expand...

Russ - Can you explain the "why" behind this?

I recently went separate bed to make it easier to recharge.
I assume it really isn't anything to worry about. If it's something like it will exhaust the resins quicker - so what, I'm recharging not buying new.

As long as I can recharge and make water that reads 0 TDS my reef and I will be happy campers.
 
The instructions posted here has the anion and cation resins sit in the reagent for an hour. Is this necessary?

The reagents called for (thanks for doing this by the way, dngspot--great job!), are much more concentrated than required for the Kati Ani resin regeneration. At high concentration, -OH & +H saturation & ion displacement would occur almost instantly. The high concentration of NaOH aids to float/separate the anion resin, but what if it's already separated?


dgnspot's regeneration reagents

~7.5 M NaOH (3 fl oz Ryobic drain opener = ~105 g in a volume of 12 oz (355 ml)
~4 M HCl (1:1 dilution of Muriatic, 31.4% HCl)

Instructions call for 355 ml (12 fl oz) of each reagent


KATI ANI reneration reagents

~0.67 M NaOH (80 NaOH + 3L water)
~0.57 M HCl (7x dilution of Muriatic, 32.4% HCl)

The KATI ANI 1 protocol calls for 3 liters of each reagent. I don't know how much resin it contains.

Just wondering how strong the reagents must be if the resins are already separate. Thanks! :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12982426#post12982426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralfragger101
As long as I can recharge and make water that reads 0 TDS my reef and I will be happy campers.
Click to expand...

Right. I think that is the bottom line. If your configuration is producing good quality water then you are good to go.
 
I've read pretty much every thread on regenerating now. One thing I noticed is that they all talk about neutrilizing the acids prior to disposal.

It's not that big of deal and can easily be done apparently since the waste water of your rinses will act upon each other to do the job, but.........

I'm just wondering if it's really that big of a deal. The lye is sold as a drain cleaner. When used for its intended purpose doesn't that acid simply go down the drain all by itself (without being neutrilized). When you use muratic acid for various things (etching concrete for example), you will end up just rinsing that down a storm drain or something (once again, without being neutrilized).

Thoughts?
 
dgnspot's regeneration reagents

~7.5 M NaOH (3 fl oz Ryobic drain opener = ~105 g in a volume of 12 oz (355 ml)
~4 M HCl (1:1 dilution of Muriatic, 31.4% HCl)

Instructions call for 355 ml (12 fl oz) of each reagent


KATI ANI reneration reagents

~0.67 M NaOH (80 NaOH + 3L water)
~0.57 M HCl (7x dilution of Muriatic, 32.4% HCl)

Nice 2thdeekay!!!!!
 
I pulled the acid and lye ratios from the site listed on the first post. I have been using this combination for over a year now and it has worked fine. I am still using the same resin that was used at the first regeneration. I feel no need to change the ratios at this time. If you would like to experiment, that is what this thread is about.

$20.00 for 2 canisters of resin for a year, dang I love the way that sounds. I have used 1 container of lye $7.00 and acid $5.00. It has been so long since I have bought resin I have forgotten what it cost but, I think it was $20.00.
Good luck
 
dngspot: Could you verify what those ratio's mean for me. I know - dumb question but better to look dumb than screw things up when I do it.

The muratic acid is easy enough. 1 to 1 means equal parts of muratic to water but the other one has me wondering.

Mix 3 oz of drain cleaner with 12 oz of water or mix 3 oz of drain cleaner with enough water that the end result is 12 oz?

In reality - they both may be the same thing - no?
 
mix 3 oz of drain cleaner with enough water that the end result is 12 oz

mix 3 oz of drain cleaner with enough water that the end result is 12 oz

dngspot's recipe: total volume should be 12 oz. It might not matter too much though.

What matters most is ALWAYS add the Lye (NaOH) to water, slowly & carefully. DO NOT ADD WATER TO LYE. Be careful, it will get very hot, so go slow. ;)
 
I usually will not regin until I have enough spent resin to do 2 batches. I fill the Lye container with 24 oz of RO/DI water and then add 6 oz of lye. I add the lye to the water pretty quickly and get it to the cooling water. I shake the bottle until it gets to hot then back to the water. I do this over and over until the lye solution is cool. This keeps the lye from forming a rock hard residue on the bottom of the container. I do this before I do any other part of the process. The best container for mixing lye and water seems to be the container the lye comes in. It is pretty heavy and holds up to the heat pretty well.
 
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