Building a small scale R.O.

[norman]

Hello,

I am new to this site, but have been mapling for several years. I love it. I only tap 40 trees and process it on a small flat pan arch fired by wood. I would really like to build an r.o. to cut down my boil time as I plan to produce approx. 20 gallons of syrup this year. I've seen some plans, but am really reluctant to just buy a bunch of stuff and build one, and then see if it works....without having some guidance from someone who has already built one, used it, knows what to do, etc, etc. I can't justify buying a new r.o. as I do not anticipate growing my operation much and can't see that it would be feasible monetarily.

Is there any help out there for someone like me that doesn't know anything about r.o.'s but am willing to learn, build, etc??

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Yes. Just put a little time in on this forum and you will find many detailed posts about home-built ROs. If it helps, you try using Google as the search engine and search for things like "home built ro mapletrader". There is really a ton of info on here from everyone who has built them. For your size you might try https://sites.google.com/site/mattatuckmadnessmaplesyrup/home/homemade-reverse-osmosis-system.

[themoonlighttapper]

Yes. Just put a little time in on this forum and you will find many detailed posts about home-built ROs. If it helps, you try using Google as the search engine and search for things like "home built ro mapletrader". There is really a ton of info on here from everyone who has built them. For your size you might try https://sites.google.com/site/mattatuckmadnessmaplesyrup/home/homemade-reverse-osmosis-system.

We are building a homemade RO this year using those plans. Have all the parts in hand and will start building it soon. We were fairly hesitant venturing into too much experimentation, so although this RO may be a little small for us, we decided it would be a good starting point this year.

[norman]

Urban Sugarmaker,

Thank you for the link. I have seen system before....using a YouTube search. I think it may work for me too, but am hesitant to buy all the stuff to build it out that exact way w/o having more contact with someone who has built it and is using it. Is there anyone on this site who has built it, and would be willing to help with any questions I come up with along the way?...possibly? That would really help a ton.

[norman]

Themoonlighttapper,

Thank you for your post! Nice to know you are building this style of ro. Any help you could give on where to purchase the ro filters, etc would be awesome. Also, have you picked up any additional info that may help with the build?

Thanks!

[BRL]

Here you go! Ask away!

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?28349-hodorskib-s-Small-Scale-RO-Build

[themoonlighttapper]

There is a materials list posted on that website. The majority of the pieces we were able to purchase on Amazon. A couple of fittings we found to be cheaper at Lowes. We hope to start putting the RO together in the next week or so. We are building it directly by the plans, as we do not have any prior experience with ROs. We figure we can tweak it in the future if need be.

[Clinkis]

Several members on this site, including myself, have built and used these RO's. I used mine for 3 years before I outgrew it. They are very simple to build and use. If you follow the plans on that Link provided by Urban Sugarmaker I don't think you can go wrong. If you have any question I'd be happy to try and help.

[norman]

Thank you Clinkis!

I am gaining confidence from the posts I've received and plan to go ahead and build this type of RO. I only tap 40 treesI think the plans are fine and should pose no problem for the build. I think most of my questions center around how best to use it after its up and running. For example, how often do I have to flush it during the season? Daily? I'm a little nervous about the needle valve use, how much pressure to use, etc.....

It's great to have this forum to turn to. People here seem to really want to help!

[Clinkis]

For flushing, you save all your permeate and run it back through the RO under low pressure with needle valve wide open after each use. After you use it for a bit you will figure out where to set needle valve. Usual go by flow. I used to run mine around 100 psi and shoot for about 60% concentrate and 40% permeate if I remember correctly. A lot also depends on what your sugar content is.