New RO

[coyote]

Looking for some feedback. In the market for a new RO. Using a Deer Run 500 for the past 6 years. My sap averages 1.4/1.5. Rarely if ever see 2. I two pass now and boil 12/13%. I would like to get that with one pass. Is it possible with one membrane? My local dealer carries Leader but CDL is definitely an option for me. All thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

[maple flats]

You will get many replies I'm sure. There are several higher end RO's that will give you that in one pass. It will run at a much higher pressure.

[ecp]

As far as brand goes make sure to think about service and availably to parts. I'm in northern Vermont and could go to any dealer in the maple industry, but because of the outstanding service team I would only go CDL. Could you tell us about how much sap you are looking to process on an average day?

[blissville maples]

Go with CDL, leader is a has been company who really put nothing back into their products far as improving or making more efficient here are some examples; All they know how to do is charge more!! Although I have a leader evaporator it will be the last piece of leader equipment I own. It works great but Lapierre and CDL are superior in many ways. Leaders air injection system is sub par old technology that should have been revamped. They offer nothing to help reduce niter plugs like Lapierre, which is just a lowspot for it to catch and deposit rather than plug your Inlet- pretty difficult for leader to design I guess. Every fitting they offer for tubing is garbage, micro leak city and they pull apart- try that with CDL max flow fitting with flex tubing and it's impossible, guaranteed 5/16 line will break first.
I've seen leader 3/16 split on barbs of the t, never CDL.
The blue lamb fittings for the main lines ought to be taken off the maple Market, The barbs are so short and there's no flat spot behind them for the hose clamp to Crunch down eliminating then pulling off and vacuum leaks , just look at CDLs and you'll see the difference not to mention CDLs are much thinner with less ****ing effect.Their stainless tanks are nearly 3$ a gallon vs less than a buck for Lapierre tanks.


I haven't heard much about their reverse osmosis because the only people that have them are the die-hard leader people love to spend the extra money for the same thing. But based on everything else I've seen I would never buy a leader reverse osmosis.

I hear people say "oh but' their steal is thicker. Hmmm. Okay well go ahead and buy 1/4 inch thick stainless(being sarcastic) to hold sap it's just not necessarily. And then other say the same thing about the evaporators well I've never heard of one melting down because it's thinner!! The bottom line is you only need what you need and nothing more, Stainless is expensive.

I just don't really care for how they Take the Money and Run and offered nothing as far as improvements for bettering their equipment like all of the other companies have. Taboot they've been around for a long time and have had ample opportunity to catch up with the pack and they don't bother.

This is my 2 cents, I've eat slept breathed and lived sugaring for 8 years now and this is what I've seen and learned by my own experience, I run a high production Sugarbush and I can't afford to mess around with stupidity.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Check with your local CDL rep. but the CDL 600 RO should be able to get you there or very close with the right pump setup.

[maple flats]

2 top rated ones are LaPierre and CDL.

[coyote]

ecp, most days are in the 1000-1200 gallon range. Also have access to 350-400 more taps.

[n8hutch]

My 2 cents, you are going to need a 2 post r.o. to get to 14/15% in one pass and get a flow rate that will keep up with your evaporator, if you want to recirculate for an hour or 2 and get your sap to 4-5% then you could probably crank up the pressure on a single post unit and get the flow rate that will keep up with your evaporator, and the concentration you desire.

[ecp]

ecp, most days are in the 1000-1200 gallon range. Also have access to 350-400 more taps.

long rant about leader there, but I have to agree. I would put out there that they serve small producers well, but when you get to the 1000 tap mark its better to get away from them because they are selling 1980's equipment that's over priced and comes with 0 support. There solution to offering larger tanks and better RO's was to partner with H2O which I find funny.


Back to business here. My suggestion here would be to go with a CDL 600 (yes I am bias when it comes to RO's). This would be a single 8'' post unit, but I would be carful to make sure that I purchased the model with the 5hp high pressure pump not the 3hp high pressure pump. With the larger high pressure pump you can always add a membrane down the road for either a higher concentration or better flow rate. I think the problem you will run into if you go with and 1200 (2 post) is that you will not have enough permeate at the end of the night to wash the machine properly. This would lead to clogging your membranes much faster (clogged membranes will cost you 500 per membrane). They recommend 600 gallons of permeate for each 8 inch post by the time you do your sugar push and post rinse, so if you needed 1200 gallons of permeate with a 2 post machine you better be pushing 24% concentrate or have more sap to push through it. Yes it is true that you will spend more time RO'ing sap with a smaller machine, but you with have a machine you can grow with by doing this and be able to properly wash it. This is just an opinion and I'd like to stress you should do what is right for you.

Remember your other costs with an RO as well such as a permeate tank, upgrading your power service, soap, pre-filters, ect ect.