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trackerguy
03-17-2010, 05:52 PM
2 days ago...

The RO seemed to be running smoothly, but was having a bout of pressure releif valve (how i control the psi) chatter at 320 psi. I adjusted down a little, making 8.5% from the 1.8% in. Kids dumped some buckets into the tank, etc. etc. Looked over and 120PSI! Uh ohhh... Lots of permeate flow, sugar in permeate... blew the 4 yr old membrane. OK, emergency mode, only 150 gals sap, re-configure to 1 membrane and turn things on. Very low permeate flow, dropping, pressure rising. Notice the recirc valve closed, reach up, turn it on w/o thinking. Whump! 300 psi air trapped in line enters membrane, pressure drops to 100PSI. 2 membranes down, boil what concentrate was made, go to bed.

Yesterday...
Talk with Bill at midwest RO (good guy), he sends me to his brother Joe at Atlantic RO (great guy). Joe says NF270-4040 may be better suited than the XLE4040 I was thinking of, $90 more, I say ship it overnight. Dump 450 gals of 1.6% on the ground, 55 degrees and it's spoiling fast, clean tanks, go to bed.

Today...
Get home, membrane on front steps (yay Bill!!). Put membrane in, flush 1 hr and..... no psi, sugar in permeate. Can't be, I say. Confused, I break down the housing and.... Twisted O ring on permeate seal!! So, possibly, I now have 3 good membranes - 2 xle 4040 and 1 NF270-4040 that I paid $100 to ship.

The really interesting news is that 1 NF270-4040 outperforms 2 XLE-4040's AT LOWER PRESSURE!! Right now she's pulling in 125GPH making 7.5% from 1.5% at 260PSI on 1 4" membrane.

This has been expensive...

Russell Lampron
03-18-2010, 05:41 AM
I have to agree, I also talked to Joe and also purchased an NF270-4040. It turned my 150gph RO into a monster that is capable of flows equal to a 400gph machine. And it does it all at 250psi or less. When you can afford to get another one you won't see an increase in flows but will be able to sustain higher flow rates for a longer time as the concentrate gets sweeter.

arcticmaple8
03-18-2010, 07:39 PM
Whats the most percentage of concentrate that you guys have run with the 270's? And have the 270"s ever passed sugar?

maple2u
03-18-2010, 08:54 PM
i sell the nf 270 4040 i run mine at 400psi i have 2 thay take 1.5 % to12% 1gal concentrate permeate is 3.75gals min.

Russell Lampron
03-19-2010, 05:09 AM
I have been concentrating into the mid to upper teens with mine. As long as I don't choke down the concentrate flow and stay at 250psi or less it doesn't pass any sugar. When it is in the 15% range I am running 2.5gpm concentrate and 1.5gpm permeate at 250psi and there is 0% sugar in the permeate. If I decrease the concentrate flow at this point to 1gpm it will pass about .3% sugar at 250psi. Open the flow back up and it goes back to 0%.

Mark
03-19-2010, 07:57 AM
How did you figure the amount of sugar passed?

brookledge
03-19-2010, 08:53 PM
I regularly test my permiate to make sure it as zero. You can test it just as you would for concentrate. Either a hydrometer or a refractometer
Keith