??? about a coster ro

[mrnorthshore]

Hi, i just had some questions about a ro i that i was looking at, this ro has never been used for maple sap. It has been used its whole life in a utilities department.(to filter water ) i dont know to much about the unit, just that its about 15-18 years old, its got 4 4" filters, 3 phase 10ph motor, it does 12 gpm or about 720 gph, pressure is 400#. I dont know any thing about the membranes. Its a coster ro,and a tonka flo pump modle 2834. My question is, can a ro like this be used to filter sap? And if so would the membranes have to be changed? Or any other changes done to make this work for sap, besides the 3 phase motor changed out with a single phase? Thanks so much any info would be great.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We use a Coster B300 that is 21 years old, it has one 8" by 40" membrane. It's been a very reliable machine (which is good as they are no longer supported). If the price is right you could replace the membranes and have a machine that should service you well for a few years.

[tuckermtn]

does it have a recirculation pump?

[mrnorthshore]

thanks for the replys, i will have to look to make sure that it does have a recirculation pump. Also i just bought the ro on tuesday at a auction(online) and i went to look at it and when i got there i found out that it has a total of 14 membranes (2 in each plastic tube) not 4 membranes like i was told it had, but that they were 4 inch membranes. The total length of this ro is about 10 feet by 5-6 tall and about 2 wide. This thing looks much bigger in person then it does online. This ro has a large pump that runs about 3 feet across the bottom of the frame but this might be just a pressure pump and not a recirculation pump?? i will try to list a pic on here ,if i can figure it out. One more ???? for any one who might know. is there any reason why a person could not bypass some of the membranes?? just to save some money on having to buy 14 new membranes. thanks guys for all the info

[tuckermtn]

the long pump across the bottom should be the high pressure pump. Probably a tonkaflo. With that many membranes it should be around a 10hp motor on that pump. Talk to Parker- he had a 14 membrane Sap Brothers RO that he paired down to an 8 membrane RO. Just need to keep your plumbing straight, but its relatively easy to do.