4" Membrane O-ring

[Amber Gold]

Tonight I went to put the membranes in the RO and found out there wasn't an o-ring on the membrane where the u-cup mounts to...found out after I had them installed and couldn't figure out why the u-cup wouldn't stay on. Does anyone know the spec's on the o-ring and a part number from Grainger if possible? Or should I just order them from Lapierre? I looked through all the stuff I got from the person I bought the RO from and I didn't find any o-rings.

Thanks

[Jim Brown]

Josh; The groove at the bottom of the membrane is for a u shaped special o-ring. A plain round one will not work. It is also installed with the u shape down takes me about a dozen tries to get mine put back together . Found the best for me is to put a 4 inch hose clamp around the o-ring and them slide the cup up over iT. you would swear that it will not fit but I assure you it will. A SMALL amount of food grade grease will help too.
I had to call Lapierre the first time I put mine together!
Hope this helps
Jim

[mapleack]

Guys, I need help along similar lines. When I took the membranes out of the storage containers, one of the bottom O rings or cup rings was pinched between the membrane and the storage container. I put it in anyway, now the RO won't build pressure and appears to be passing sugar. These are NF90-4040 membranes. I was a bit confused, the pictures on the housings show assembling junk on the bottom of the membrane then installing, however I have nothing like that. Is it because I have different membranes???? I am so far beyond frustrated and pissed right now that words can't do it justice. If anyone has new rings for this membrane within 3 hrs of Indiana Pa 15701 please let me know. Also if any of you RO experts can offer me advice please feel free to call me tomorrow anytime after 7am. 724 388 0063. The manual is junk, I followed the membrane conditioning sequence with 150 gal of sap instead of 500, figuring that was for a 600gph model, not a 250 like mine, hopefully that'll work. I really think that for 8k, the company could provide an absolutely perfect manual written specifically for this model. If I ever figure this thing out I'll write a new manual for us english speakers. Sorry for the rant and thanks for any help you can give.
-Andy

[maplwrks]

Hey guys--I guess at this point,, if you are having problems, call Lapierre in Swanton and get a new ring for the bottom of your membranes. Talk to Tom Patterson, he'll fix you up.

[danno]

Hi Josh - were those new or old membranes. The old osmonics I pulled out last night did not have O-rings. The membrane did not have an impenetrable outside shell and was wide enough in diameter that it looks like the design called for the sap to enter the membrane in the end or side walls. The anti telescoping ring was also seperate from the membrane, not fixed to the membrane like the newer ones.

[danno]

Andy - I'm just learning this stuff, but it sounds like a bad U-ring will cause a vessel not to build pressure, but should not cause the membrane to pass sugar. If the ring is bad, the sap will travel between the wall of the vessel and the membrane, thus not penetrating the membrane by taking the path of least resistance. Good luck getting them in correctly, sound like it may be tricky, or getting a new ring if yours is bad.

[mapleack]

Apparently I'm completely missing the U cup and end plug assembly for both membranes. They didn't come with it. I'm a newb to this and didn't figure that out until Josh complained about his missing O ring. Lapierre is overnighting them to me, but I may not get them until Monday. Meanwhile the RO is sitting there with sap coated membranes growing bacteria no doubt. Darn technology.

[Amber Gold]

How much are the o-rings and what is the overnight charge?

I just spoke to the previous owner and thought they went with the RO when I picked it up. He's going to look in his SH tonight.

Would this work? I can get these today if they're in stock. I'm not sure what thickness the Lapierre one's are, but they carry different thicknesses.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ORing-1KAJ1?Pid=search

How much sugar will I pass if I run it w/out the o-ring? I'll have about 800 gal of sap to process after today, so either I put it through the RO and take what I get or boil for 10 hrs.

[Russell Lampron]

Josh try giving Joe at Atlantic RO a call. He can get you what you want. The O rings in the Grainger link won't work.

[mapleack]

Well, I may have the parts I need by tuesday. At which point my membranes will have had sap on them for 5 days. How bad are they going to be screwed up by then? I suspect I'll have to dump another $150 worth of sap down the drain to wash them. Moral of the story: Don't assume you have all the parts just because its new. Don't wait until the day you want to use the RO to install the membranes, cause the parts might be missing.
Today I've already got 500 gal of sap in the tanks, sure would be nice to use that new RO. The dealer is a very very good guy, as helpful as possible with this. Lapierre on the other hand has really PO'd me. They should send a parts checklist with every new machine.
End of rant.

[Brent]

I'd try to run some fresh water through them, only with the feed pump. Get as much sap out as possible. When you get the cups and rings, you'll likely need to put it through a wash cycle before you start processing sap. That means more fresh water rinsing. Hope you've got water in the sugar shack.

[mapleack]

The water in the sugarhouse is terrible. I could haul in spring water that at least tastes good and doesnt leave iron stains, and use that to rinse with.

[Brent]

If you've got iron at a high enough content to stain, it is really bad news. Every membrane manufacturer has a limit
on iron content and that limit is well below what it will stain at. I don't know how much you could use or for how long, if at all, before it would screw up the membranes. They don't tell us that, only that it's beyond the tolerance level.
There are limits to other minerals and metals too, but iron is the most common problem. Bummer getting short shipped.

[Jim Brown]

Don't feel to bad Andy. I took the membrane out of the tube today after having been pro cleaned at Lapierre and found that when they leave your place with o-rings they don't return with them!!. Having been down the road that you are on, when I was in Swanton this fall I picked up two more u cup o-rings, saved the day today.

I have mixed feelings about the service at Lapierre

Jim

[mapleack]

Don't feel to bad Andy. I took the membrane out of the tube today after having been pro cleaned at Lapierre and found that when they leave your place with o-rings they don't return with them!!. Having been down the road that you are on, when I was in Swanton this fall I picked up two more u cup o-rings, saved the day today.

I have mixed feelings about the service at Lapierre

Jim

Jim, good thing you had spares, I intend to get a spare set as well when I can. The RO wouldve been great today, boiled 400 and some gal, left over 300 in the woods to go home and get some sleep.

[maplwrks]

ANDY! As soon as you get you o-ring, cocentrate enough to do a wash, and give it a real long wash, I would use a hot water. You should be OK after that.

[White Barn Farm]

Andy
Sorry to hear about your trouble with the r.o. I put in one by the waterguy last week. We ran it today and were very pleased. Hope you get yours going and have good luck.
Ed

[Amber Gold]

Sorry for the false alarm. Not knowing much about RO's, I misunderstood what was being said...hard to believe with Lapierre's wonderful instruction manual. Russ came over this morning and got me straightened out.

Mapleack, good luck getting things taken care of.

[Bucket Head]

Out of curiousity after reading this post I looked at the o-rings on the stainless vessel end caps on my RO. One has the "U" shaped o-ring and the other looks to be a standard o-ring, like the description in an earlier reply. My question is why the difference? It seems like the standard o-ring would do a better job at sealing the vessel.

Steve

[Bucket Head]

Anybody know what the purpose of the two different style o-rings is?

Steve