heat tank question

[1tapattack]

so been reading many threads on ro's but haven't got a clear cut answer on if you should he the tank or not. any help here would be appreciated

[maple flats]

My permeate tank sometimes gets ice on it, my concentrate never has, but I don't generally hold concentrate very long. On the other hand, I have held concentrate overnight, but only when a good freeze is predicted to help preserve it. On the few rare occasions when I've held overnight, I rarely did get slush on top but it never froze. On the other hand, the RO must be kept from freezing.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

so been reading many threads on ro's but haven't got a clear cut answer on if you should he the tank or not. any help here would be appreciatedNot clear on what you are asking. Do you mean a heating element in the wash tank to make the wash cycle faster?

[batsofbedlam]

I use 3- 550 poly tanks for permeate. They are outside under a shed roof and exposed to the weather. Ice forms on the inside of the tanks along the outer surface, but as long as my piping is drained, getting a permeate flow to wash the membrane has never been an issue.

[BreezyHill]

Heating the tank...frozen doesn't flow as well as not frozen, but only heat concentrate to 33 to keep product from loosing quality due to growth of microbial contaminates. Heating permeate for washing is done efficiently thru the use of a tankless propane heater.

My concern has always been to keep tanks cool. My evap/concentrate tank is cooled. The RO increases sap temp while processing. If you are batch concentrating the sap as long as you have minimum flow to start your tank will warmup.

Ben

[1tapattack]

so sorry I need to be more cognizant with my proof reading. what I meant to say is there a advantage to having a heat element in your ro wash tank. seems like I am reading conflicting information on this subject

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

so sorry I need to be more cognizant with my proof reading. what I meant to say is there a advantage to having a heat element in your ro wash tank. seems like I am reading conflicting information on this subjectI was pretty certain I knew what you were talking about in your original statement; Just wanted to make sure. The advantage to having one in your wash tank is it allows for the wash cycle to complete quicker by getting up to temp. quicker. This allows you to start concentrating again faster. Without one, the water heats up by friction from recirculating through the machine over and over, which takes longer. I do not have one in my wash tank. Never had a need for it. I concentrate the days sap, then when I am boiling, I rinse and wash the machine, then rinse again. This allows me to be ready for the next day. Wash cycle generally takes a little over an hour depending on the permeate temp. starting out. It all depends on your ro size whether you will want one or not. If your ro is undersized for your taps, you will probably want one. If your ro size matches or exceeds the amount of taps you have, you can probably get away without one. I would say you would want one 8" post/2000 taps.
Neil

[maple flats]

I heat my wash water with a tankless HW heater. My 1st one was only able to heat 1.0 gpm to 140 degrees. I just bought a faster one that should do it twice that speed. I'll find out this next season. I find that 140 cleans faster and better that lower temps. I run about 15 gal into the wash tank at 140. Then after about 3-4 minutes, I dump half the water and refill to 15 with more at 140 degrees. However a element in the wash tank might be simpler. I may try that in the future too.

[unc23win]

My RO has a heated tank on it. According to the book your suppose to start with the temp between 105'-110'. Then start the wash it shuts itself off after about 45 minutes and the temp is then 125ish.