HowTo Setup my hand-me-down RO/DI system?

[ThrillYa]

A friend of a friend gave up the hobby and I was given a bunch of equipment. Included in the loot was this SpectraPure water filtration system.
I don't have any experience with these so I'm looking for any direction I can get. I've been to the SpectrPure's site but am having trouble identifying which system I have and therefor which manual to download and read.

Any ideas?

-Anyone know what the plug in front of the right most cartridge is for?
-Is that a sensor or float of some sort in the lower left?
-Am I beyond help?

Thanks much for any assistance.

Mike

 

[Ben1]

It appears to be the plug for a TDS meter. If the other side of the cord going in the JG fitting has two little prongs on it then end you are seeing should plug into a TDS meter.

It also appears you have an ATO unit there.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a similar unit.

Ben is pretty right-on. The plug is for the SP's conductivity monitor. It is a black plastic box with a red push button and two LED lights, one red (time to change the DI), one green. It it not in the pic above.

The black PVC is a part of a pressure tranducer, and it plugs into the Auto-Top Off unit.

See if you can find the monitor. It is more accurate than the cheapo hydroponic TDS meter that most hobbyist uses, but it does not give you a "0," just over/under indicators (LEDs).

 

[wereef]

yes, the plug in the right side would go to a TDS (Total Disolved Solids) meter but i don't see the meter in the pic. The Box with the piece of Airline hose comming out of it is an Auto Top Off (ATO) Device that is pressure activated. The tube would be set into your tank and then rasied or lowered to the desired point the switch activates the pump. The pump would be extra and would plug into the box with the airline comming out. There should be a power cord coming from the ATO box which looks like it might be the white power adapter? The black cord I think i see running up and over the RO Unit might be the female plug end you would plug your pump into.

hth

wereef


I was typing while you got ur answer above....lol

 

[Anonymous]

:lol:

Let me add something more... The missing part is not really a meter since it only have lights. The ATO is designed to work with solenoid, but I guess you can use it to run low wattage 24V AC pump if you can find them.

 

[ThrillYa]

Thanks much for the responses. I believe I found the described meter.

The dangling plug from the right side of the first pic does fit into the right hole of the meter. Any idea what the other hole if for? The hole doesn't have anything attached to it on the inside.

 

[Anonymous]

It is just a hole, no function for it. You can set the DIP switches to get the lights to switch mode at different conductivity level. If you misplaced the manuel, give a call to Sp. Pure, and I am sure they can help you out.

 

[ThrillYa]

The pump would be extra and would plug into the box with the airline comming out. There should be a power cord coming from the ATO box which looks like it might be the white power adapter? The black cord I think i see running up and over the RO Unit might be the female plug end you would plug your pump into.

Here's a pic of the back side of the system. The black cord from the ATO unit can be seen attaching to the yellow cord which is attached to a device at the end of the blue hose. Is that a switch there? It looks too small to be a pump.

 

[wereef]

Thrillya,

I'm going to set out from this discussion after this post because what You have is different from the way I have seen ATO's set up.

I believe your friends friend was using the RO/DI to top off evap water by using the ATO with a solinoid (SP?) what I think the pic shows is the black wire hooked to a solinoid which would open to allow water to pass. when the pressure switch switches on and off, it in turn activates the solinoid. It looks like the black wire has bare wire showing ??

I have used pressure activated top off devices on my systems but they were always external from a RO system. The types I used activated an external pump like an MJ1200 for instance to pump water to the tank untill the pressure switch activated to shut the pump off.

The TDS meter is the other pic you posted.

Sorry I can't be of any other help here but someone here will surely get you the answers you need.

I just don't want to make any recommendation about the wired up device on the RO unit that may be wrong and cause you to damage your system or cause any harm to you.

Good Luck and all the best to you and yours.....

We

 

[Anonymous]

As mentioned, the controller is attached to a solenoid, which seems like the one in the pic. You can test the operation of a solenoid by disconnect the line that goes to the first canister, and lower the probe of the ATO controller all the way. There should be no water coming thru the solenoid. As you raise the probe, you should hear a click sound, and the water should begain to shoot out of the line.

Your RO/DI setup is a typical setup.

 

[ThrillYa]

Thrillya,

I'm going to set out from this discussion after this post because what You have is different from the way I have seen ATO's set up.

I believe your friends friend was using the RO/DI to top off evap water by using the ATO with a solinoid (SP?) what I think the pic shows is the black wire hooked to a solinoid which would open to allow water to pass. when the pressure switch switches on and off, it in turn activates the solinoid. It looks like the black wire has bare wire showing ??

Sorry I can't be of any other help here but someone here will surely get you the answers you need.

I just don't want to make any recommendation about the wired up device on the RO unit that may be wrong and cause you to damage your system or cause any harm to you.

Good Luck and all the best to you and yours.....

We

We, Thanks for the help.

 

[ThrillYa]

As mentioned, the controller is attached to a solenoid, which seems like the one in the pic. You can test the operation of a solenoid by disconnect the line that goes to the first canister, and lower the probe of the ATO controller all the way. There should be no water coming thru the solenoid. As you raise the probe, you should hear a click sound, and the water should begain to shoot out of the line.

Your RO/DI setup is a typical setup.

I did a quick check that the ATO controller is working by sucking/blowing on the air line going to it. I did hear a clicking sound. I'll go ahead and test the solenoid as you describe as well.

Do you think I should go ahead and replace all three of the canisters as well as the RO membrane or do you think any of them are still ok after not being used for a couple years?

 

[Anonymous]

The first canister with the sediment filter is pretty disguisting... it is all brown and stuff. I think it should be obvious what you need to do. The carbon block maybe alright, but for $20, it maybe better if you do. For the DI, you can test rather you want to change it with the conductivity monitor. You should also use the conductivity monitor to check the output of the RO to make sure the RO membrane is not compromised (bacterial decomposition make it not working as well as a new one). Just go from one stage to another (sediment->carbon->RO->DI) and make sure the output at every stage is acceptable. The conductivity monitor can be setup to test the RO by different setting on the tiny switches. See the manuel or call SP. They are nice people.

 

[ThrillYa]

Thanks much dupaboy, I really appreciated the help.

Mike

 

[Ben1]

IIRC, if the membrane was left dry it will be ruined, but test it as suggested.

 

[ThrillYa]

IIRC, if the membrane was left dry it will be ruined, but test it as suggested.

Yea, I thought I read that some where but couldn't remember if it was the membrane or something else. I think you're right.

 

[ThrillYa]

I was also given some replacement cartridges though they are not SpectraPure's brand. The third cartridge, which I believe is the deionization cartridge, has no label and looks a fair amount different than the pictured cartridge on SpectraPure's site (http://www.spectrapure.com/St_replac_p4.htm#mix).

Should I just put them in and test em out or would you recommend SpectraPures cartridges? What do you use?

 

[Ben1]

I get my replacements from bulkreefsupply.com I like there silver bags of replacement resin, they seal well and help keep the resin moist. I have refillable DI cartridges. I get my carbon blocks and sediment filters from them as well.

I am assuming all the cartridges are set up properly just be sure the water goes tap-sediment-carbon-membrane-DI in order.

 

[ThrillYa]

I get my replacements from bulkreefsupply.com I like there silver bags of replacement resin, they seal well and help keep the resin moist. I have refillable DI cartridges. I get my carbon blocks and sediment filters from them as well.

I am assuming all the cartridges are set up properly just be sure the water goes tap-sediment-carbon-membrane-DI in order.

Great, thanks for the recommendations.