New hobby RO few questions

[Milton]

I purchased a used home built RO with an aquatec 8800 and 2 membranes in series. I am a busy dad of 3 and work full time so I am hoping to bring some efficiency into the operation. I have a few questions regarding this setup.

What ratio of permeate to concentrate should i be looking for? Should I consider recirculating sap while I am at work or would this clog up the membranes ? I have read about recovery, but don't fully understand it. I am n
Would like to find a way where I could set this up to run without me attending it. Maybe an auto shut off of some type. I'm going to look for some 30 gallon barrels to use for a holding tank.

[wobbletop]

Check out this thread for more info... http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?28349-hodorskib-s-Small-Scale-RO-Build

I used to worry a lot about pressures, etc but now just aim for roughly the same permeate vs concentrate flow rates. I recirculate so I don't have to worry about running dry. I schedule the RO to run overnight the day before I plan to boil, or if I'm boiling that night, I'll start it in the morning.

[Milton]

How much sap do you typically setup and what sugar content do you end up getting. Also wondering how often you need to flush the system. I ended up running warm water and peroxide through followed by a flush.

[wobbletop]

I only have about 300L of storage, so that's the maximum I ever run through, but I use recirculation. My sap starts out about 2% and the sap coming out of the RO is about 5-6% (I have two RO stages). I have seen it as high as 8% but that may have been when I had the needle valve almost closed. I flush after I use it... haven't seen a need to flush halfway through.