RODI Choice

[Waterbury Guy]

I have a little more info on it. It's a Spectrapure 96 gpd RO unit connected to a Kent two stage DI unit with Spectrapure cartridges.

 

[AZDesertRat]

The information you need in order to evaluate the unit is:
1. How old is the RO membrane(90 GPD not 96 as Spectrapure does not sell a 96 GPD) , how long has it been out of service and if it has not been used in a while was it always stored with water inside it to keep the membrane viable? If it is say 2.5 years old or older or if it has been allowed to dry out it is probably due for a new membrane soon so factor that cost in.
2. Did they use high quality prefilters and solid carbon blocks from Spectrapure or other reputable vendor or were they something from Home Depot or a less reputable vendor on e-bay? The quality of filters varies greatly and has a direct bearing on the life of the RO membrane. Cheap filters pass more contaminates on the the membrane and cause it to wear out or fail sooner. Spectrapure is the only vendor I am aware of that uses absolute rated prefilters which is as good as they get. Visit their vendors forum here to read about the differences.
3. What DI cartridges are they, how old are they, how much water has passed through them and at what TDS? Spectrapure has some of the very best DI cartridges in the world, they are hand packed in layers using blends of resins they keep secret, but they work great. If the cartridges are old though or again have been allowed to dry out they are worthless and costly to replace.

I am still of the opinion if the unit has just recently been pulled out of service, its not too old and it has been maintained as recommended its a steal at $100. The quality of the housings and associated hardware in a Spectrapure unit are top notch and are almost worth the $100 by themselves especially if it has things like a pressure gauge, TDS meter or water quality monitor, bypass valve and autoshutoff valve.

 

[tenpercenter]

I am getting ready to order a ro/di unit as well. Do the filter guys make a unit comparable to spectrapures max-cap system? And is the max-cap 90 gpd membrane as good as the 75 gpd membrane? The post above about the superiority of the 75 confused me.

Thanks,
TenPercenter

 

[AZDesertRat]

No other vendor offers a unit comparable to the MaxCap system. The Spectrapure MaxCap 90 GPD RO membrane is made by Dow Filmtec and is identical to the 75 GPD except Spectrapure rates it at 60 psi vs Dows 50 psi and Spectrapure hand tests each and every MaxCap Select membrane and guarantees them to be more efficient than 98% unlike any other vendor. The resins in thje MaxCap system are a proprietary blend and hand packed in a way they work better than any normal DI cartridge. All around it is a fantastic investment in water quality

 

[Waterbury Guy]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Here's some more info from the seller:
"What I have is a combination of a Kent DI only unit, and a Spectrapure RO unit. I bought the Kent DI unit first, and added the RO later because I was going through DI cartridges too fast using just DI.

The Kent unit has a carbon block pre filter followed by 2 DI cartridges. The current DI cartridges are Spectrapure, but it will accept others.

It has been out of service for 8-9 months. The cartridges and membranes have been kept wet. Th RO unit has a few hundred gallons through it. I changed the DI cartridges shortly before I stopped using the unit, so they should have plenty of life left on them.

I think the RO membrane is a Select Series, but I'm not sure. I'll check.

I have a TDS meter, and the output water consistently measured 0.

I also added a flush valve kit to the RO unit, which helps to extend the life of the membrane."


So........sound good for a hundred $?

 

[AZDesertRat]

I would snatch it up myself.

 

[Henry Bowman]

I'd go for it....

IMHO