homemade RO info

[spencer11]

i want to build or buy a small ro in the near future. i currentaly have 80 taps and am planning on 150 next year. i know gary in nh build a small one. i would need one a little larger for my operation. would it be better to make or buy a small ro or just build a bigger evaporator? i am mechanicaly inclined and can build pretty much anything. i would only be able to boil on the weekends and friday night so i would have to store sap. any help is welcome.

spencer

[jluckay]

i looked into this last year. i'am running 80 taps with a 2 x 4.5 batch evaporater.(home made). from what i remember i was looking at the ge drinking water ro. i actually found some guy up in canada that was running three units joined together. i cant remember where i saw his info at, either on maple trader or you tube? i atually got his phone# & called him. he was nice enough to take the time & tell me about them. he said thier were several problemes. constant pumping was a issue & the membrain plugging up was a problem. he was able to get ruffly 8% after running & recycling for 24 hrs. and that he was giving up on the drinking water ro experiment. i decided to improve on my evaporator instead. i 'am having drop flues fabed into my pan at a cost of $180.00 . cant wait to see how this effects my gph. good luck!

[Bucket Head]

This time last year I was literally minutes away from calling and ordering some of the parts I needed to build a small RO. As a "homemade" kind of guy, and being pretty inventive, I knew I could do it. I had done a lot of reading and research and had talked to many folks about them. Then a friend of mine who is also a producer called to tell me of a small, used RO that he knew was for sale. It was a larger unit than what I thought I'd need, and it was a little more than what I had figured if I had built one, using all new components- no salvaged stuff, e-bay, craigslist, etc. I thought and thought about it, and eventually I figured I had better go with the factory unit. I'm not saying a homemade unit is'nt the way to go, its up to each individual. For me, it came down to me answering a question I asked myself- "Do I want to spend time trying to be an amateur RO builder or do I want to spend my time making more maple syrup?". Everyone thinking of building one needs to consider where their syrup making operation is going to go. Will it remain a "small" one or do you have dreams of expansion? I realized the small unit I was going to build was not going to help as much in the future as the larger factory built unit would.

Steve

[spencer11]

i was also thinking about whether to try and build on or to buy a small one for maple sap. how cheap do the factory one get? i only need like 75-100 gallons an hour if that? i do plan to build a 2x4 or 2x5 with drop flues in a divided pan after this season. but thanks for the info.
spencer

[maple flats]

Check into Ray Gingerich, an amishman who makes reasonably priced ro's. He makes a 125 gph at $2500, which is upgradable to 250 gph by adding 1 membrane. That size should be good for you as you grow.

[500592]

Brent on here used the ge merlins with some success.

[spencer11]

do you know if they make one small than 125 gph? or is that as small as they go? that should be in the budget in the up comming seasons though.

spencer

[500592]

Even at 2500 you could get a pretty big used evaporator that would handle 150 taps

[wiam]

Even at 2500 you could get a pretty big used evaporator that would handle 150 taps

....and cut more wood.

[spencer11]

i just read part of a thread about using a ge merlin ro that is very inexpensize and will 80 gph or something like that. does anyone know if it will work and if there are any modification that would need to be made?

thank for all the help

spencer

[arcticmaple8]

Hi, I made one with a 4"x40" xle membrane, procon pump 3/4hp, 1" house prefilter screwed it to a piece of plywood put a flow meter on water discharge, some pressure gauges and some gate valves for flow control. Ran 200-250 psi and 1gpm or 60gph of water discharged. Cost $900 ran best around 225psi because higher pressure makes the pump motor run hotter, it would trip on internal overload above 275psi, the procon pump motors are not that heavy duty and 3/4hp is the biggest one you can get. Got my stuff from midwest ro. Hope this helps

[spencer11]

that is about the size i am looking for. and pics of it?

spencer

[spencer11]

Do you just have 1 mwmbrain or 2 and what was your sugar content after it ran through the RO?

Spencer