Looking to purchase a R/O

[boondocker]

Looking to purchase my first R/O system. I have the ability of 4k taps but will slowly be adding year by year. I have been talking with a local producer who runs 2, his suggestion was something in the 250 to 300 range. I'm looking for a brand that I can add on to as well. H2O looks like a nice machine, but really am not sure of the big differences. Anyone with some knowledge of different brands, ease of operation and so on. Thank you in advance.

[n8hutch]

I am really interested in the MES dolly unit. Hoping to be able to check one out In st-Albans or Swanton next weekend. I was thinking about their 300 GPH unit.

They seem to really know there stuff when it comes to RO's. I think they are about 5k but it would be a brand new unit. Only downside to them I have seen is the lack of a wash tank.

Sure you could get a used 600 GPH unit for 5k but it's probably going to be pretty old. And I personally have poor luck with used stuff.

There are some people out there building cheaper RO'S but I think some of the components could come under increased scrutiny over time.

Just my 2 cents. Happy Hunting for what works best for you.

[mellondome]

What ever route you go, make sure when you are comparing flow rates, you also know what the concentration rate is @ that flow. A 300 gph @ 50% reduction is not the same as 300gph@ 75% reduction. Also understand what sap temp does for these production numbers. If your sap is 35deg, will the ro still do 600gph or will it be down to 420 gph?

[wiam]

In my opinion an RO for your current tap count would not expand enough to do 4000 unless you oversize now.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I am really interested in the MES dolly unit. Hoping to be able to check one out In st-Albans or Swanton next weekend. I was thinking about their 300 GPH unit.

They seem to really know there stuff when it comes to RO's. I think they are about 5k but it would be a brand new unit. Only downside to them I have seen is the lack of a wash tank.

Sure you could get a used 600 GPH unit for 5k but it's probably going to be pretty old. And I personally have poor luck with used stuff.

There are some people out there building cheaper RO'S but I think some of the components could come under increased scrutiny over time.

Just my 2 cents. Happy Hunting for what works best for you.

I think you will be impressed. You can use a large stock pot for a wash tank. I think the great think about the Dolly is the features and it's compact. I wish I built my RO like that so I could wheel it to sugar house and then just wheel it back inside. My RO is in the basement of the house 75 feet away from the evaporator. Too many trips back and forth with buckets of concentrate.

[ennismaple]

You're probably good with a 250 GPH unit now. Once you get to say 1500 taps you can go to a 600 GPH unit (expandable) and once you approach 4,000 you'll want a second tower. We ran our 600 GPH unit for many years on a single tower and it was too much work for it. The second tower reduces our RO and boil time by a third and was worth every penny!

[pls009]

What ever route you go, make sure when you are comparing flow rates, you also know what the concentration rate is @ that flow. A 300 gph @ 50% reduction is not the same as 300gph@ 75% reduction. Also understand what sap temp does for these production numbers. If your sap is 35deg, will the ro still do 600gph or will it be down to 420 gph?


Great advice!

[RIVERWINDS]

I also am looking at the Dolly, the 300 unit for future expansion. Right now the 300 would be overkill for me as I wouldn't be able to boil as fast as a 300 would make concentrate. But I would be RO'ing in my garage and hauling to the sugarhouse. I know concentrate goes south real quick but can I store it for a few hours? I'd be looking at no more than 4 hours worth in my head tank...will the concentrate keep that long?

[madmapler]

I started out with 1200 taps and a 375 gph (3-4" post) ro. It was barely sufficient and toward the end of the season it was really not enough with the decreased sap quality. The next year I bought a 2 post 8" and used it for 3200 taps. Again, it was sufficient. This year I was closer to 4600 taps and the 2 post is no longer enough so I just bought a 4 post with future expansion in mind. There's a lot of things to consider on a personal level when buying an RO. How much time do you want to recirculate or re-pass? How many brix are you looking to do with the RO? What size evaporator? etc. If you're planning on keeping that 2x8 for any time then you probably won't be happy with anyone's 4" membrane RO.
Just my own opinion on used RO'S is there are a lot of guys expanding right now and the RO's they're selling aren't necessarily old or beat up, they simply out grew them. My first 2 RO's were built in the mid to late 80's and though you probably don't want to go that route, the machines were/are reliable and never failed me.(apart from operator error)They really amount to a few pumps and filters with a few simple gauges and valves. My latest one is only 4 years old which really only works out to about 6 months of part time use. RO's used for water filtration can run 24/7 for years at a time. The last thing I want to say about them is that you don't really hear a lot of guys get on here and freak out over their broken RO. Occasionally maybe.

[Russell Lampron]

My 2 cents, You don't want anything smaller than a 600 gph RO. An expandable one would be best so that you can add another tower and get 1200 gph out of it. Lapierre and CDL make RO's with recirculation pumps right on the bottom of the membrane towers. Recirculation is something that is a must have on a maple RO, the sugar will clog up the membrane and slow the flow rates without it.

[PerryFamily]

Don't waste your time just call Clayton or frank at MES
From small 4" hobby to double 16" units , simple easy to operate machines competitively priced.
Best service and off the shelf parts, can't go wrong

[adk1]

Does anyone know if Mes will be in the St. Albans area or Stanton area next weekend? I am interested in looking into one myself

[n8hutch]

I'm not sure if they are or not. I feal like last year they had an open house the same weekend as Bascom's. I think the have a wharehouse/work shop down that way in southern vt or NH. I'm going to send them an email.

[adk1]

Yeah in Cambridge vermont

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

last year Clayton set up a large tent on a corner down the road from Bascoms. With bringing on a salesman I would expect he do something larger. I have seen his large scale ro's very impressive. Maybe he will read these posts and post up on it.

he shop is down towards saxton river, want to say 1hr 20min from Poultney.

[wiam]

last year Clayton set up a large tent on a corner down the road from Bascoms. With bringing on a salesman I would expect he do something larger. I have seen his large scale ro's very impressive. Maybe he will read these posts and post up on it.

he shop is down towards saxton river, want to say 1hr 20min from Poultney.
From what Frank told me the shop is down in NH now.

[n8hutch]

According to an Email From Frank in January Clayton and Arie are working out of Henniker NH.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

ok, I didnt know he moved.

this weekend is the Maple Guys open house, but cant go have side work have to do so I can save enough to get new pans hehehe.

[Chmaple]

Yes they are doing a open house the same day as bascoms just down the road in Acworth nh at dustin's sugarhouse, and they have a shop in henniker,nh. A bunch of people going to bascoms are stopping there also