Memtech RO

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Anyone have an older Memtech Ro this is a smaller version has 3 4" memebranes its supposse to process 150 gph, ran it for the first time today but could only get it ti 3.5% from 2.4% the unit has good instructions but it didn't seem to run the way i thought it would. Anyone else have something frommthis vintage?

Thanks
Greg

[bigbucksrule]

Greg,
I have a mid-80's vintage Memtec RO that had the original pressure vessel and membranes replaced with a single 4" x 40" pressure vessel and XLE-4040 membrane. All of the other original components are in use. The RO will take 2% sap to 8% on a single pass. Normal operation of the RO produces a Permeate flow is about 1.0 GPM and Concentrate flow of 0.5 GPM. Therefore the RO does about 90 GPH and is rinsed every couple hours and washed as flows decrease 15%. Higher concentrations can be achieved with a second pass or with raw sap concentrations that are higher. The unit has been handling sap from 700+ taps on gravity and buckets, and has removed over 4000 gallons of permeate this year. The piston pump operates at 500 psi and I normally do a rinse cycle using 100 gallons of permeate. Operation Instruction: close drain valve, open P & C valves, turn unit on, adjust C flow to 0.5 GPM, adjust P flow valve so that unit operates at 500 psi. Watch flow and pressure gauges for a few minutes and fine tune. The Memtec unit works great!
Hope this helps, Jim

[maple2]

some of the older r/os didnt have a recirc. pump. does yours? or maybe its not working. new, high speed membrains would double your flow rate. about $250 each

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Hey thanks for getting ng back to me do you know where the replacement vessel and membranes were purchased? I was following the instructions on the unit but when i started to close the "C" valve the ball in the column pinned at the top. I had to close the "P" valve almost all the way to get the pressure to 500 psi maybe thee is an issue with the old membranes.

[wiam]

I have a 1986 MRO 225. It had 2-4" nf-90 membranes. It would only go to a about 5% when I got 4 years ago. The old membranes were shot. I put 2 xle membranes in it and it would take sugar from 2 to 8 in one pass at about 170 gallons/hr. this year I added 2 more xle's and it will flow about 330gph. This one does not have a "recirculation" pump but it does recirculate. It comes out of he pressure vessels and back to the feed pump. There is a flow meter for this that runs between 14-16 gpm. I have been very happy with mine for the price.

I got my membranes from Atlantic RO. They are XLE-4040. He also has housings. Why do you need housings? New housings that will go to 500psi are pricy.

[wiam]

I reread you original post. You definatly need membranes. With 3 that machine should be eating 250 gph

[Bucket Head]

William,

You now have four membranes on your RO? With the original feed and pressure pumps? How many horse power are they? What was your working p.s.i with the two membranes and what is it now? My twenty two year old Airablo has two membranes but it originally had three. I don't know why one was removed, but I would like to put it back to original. I'm just curious as to how that would affect its running pressure.

Steve

[wiam]

Mine would run up to 500 psi before and still will. The feed is a 3/4 hp the high pressure has a 3hp on a M-38 Magikist triple piston pump. Very loud. Would not want it in the sugar house. What I usually did this year was run concentrate back to feed tank until sugar was 3-4%, running permeate about 4.5 and concentrate over 2 (concentrate gauge only goes to 2). Then take it to 10-12 to evaporator feed. This worked well as my part time job went full time.

[tuckermtn]

The Magikist M-38 on Wiam's memtek is the same as on my larger RO. I have one 8" and one 4" membrane (both XLEs) and a 5 hp motor on the pump. Agreed- very loud. I know one producer who took same pump and put a 7.5hp motor on it and ran two 8" membranes. Got around 800-900gph I think. I have a 1hp feed and 1.5hp (I think) recirc pump on mine. Sweet spot for me was running 7gpm in, just shy of 2gpm concerntrate out, and running around 250 to 275 PSI.

[wiam]

Eric, What do you have for membranes in that? Mine are xle's

[bigbucksrule]

Greg,
I reviewed my Memtek owner's manual which is for Models MRO-40S, MRO-80S, & MRO-120S. These models were identical except for the number of membranes 1, 2 or 3. According to the Memtek manual, originally these models only had 19" X 4" membranes.
The models use a 1.5 HP motor and a Magikist Y81N 3 piston pump. There is no second pump on the unit. The 19" membranes and short pressure vessel on my RO were replaced in the early 90's with a single 40" X 4". An upgrade to the membrane was made 3 years ago.
This is a smaller RO unit, weighing 250 pounds. You may want to determine the model you have and contact me if you don't have an owner's manual.
Jim

[tuckermtn]

I have XLEs in my memtek. Came with nf-270s, but switched out after passing sugar with the NF-270s (they were 10+ years old)

-Eric

[maple flats]

Hey thanks for getting ng back to me do you know where the replacement vessel and membranes were purchased? I was following the instructions on the unit but when i started to close the "C" valve the ball in the column pinned at the top. I had to close the "P" valve almost all the way to get the pressure to 500 psi maybe thee is an issue with the old membranes.
My RO is by Ray Gingerich, but mine also "pins the top" when turned on too. I need to wait until all air is out before it settles down and gives a true reading. My guess is that you need to let it run for a few minutes and then try getting the settings/readings you want. On mine I have no restriction on the Permeate if that is your P valve. I just restrict the concentrate, forcing more to flow out the permeate. Is that what you have? I only have 2 pumps, a feed pump and a high pressure pump. I run at about 260-275 PSI. with sap feeding in or 250 with concentrate feeding in.