100 GPH RO Build for $2,000 - Pics, Video, Diagrams... Oh My!
It’s a Christmas miracle; I’m done with my RO build!
We recently added another sugarmaker to the family (3-month old son), so I needed to make some adjustments since time is now my most prized possession. In walks the RO idea…
Honestly, I never thought I would build one since I felt it was messing with nature too much, and –like many- heard it detracted from the flavors and health benefits that make syrup so great. Well…Thanks to a ton of recent research from Dr Perkins and some innovations with membranes, the claims have been debunked. The impacts are less than 1%. Good enough for me.
Anyways, I spent hours weeding through posts on here looking at other’s builds and talking to Dave aka “bowhunter” a bunch of times to get the technical information I needed (pump size, membrane format, etc), and the below build is what I came up with. I also attached simple diagrams for both the hose routing from Dave and my electrical schematic for wiring the work box.
Below is my profile so you know where I’m coming from:
- D&G 2x6 raised flue which boils about 30-40 GPH… depending on wood and load frequency.
- Natural draft- I leave the ash door open and its good enough for me until I build an air over fire chassis. Never cared for AUF.
- ~225+ taps on buckets and gravity
- 40 amp 240v service in sugarhouse with water.
I wanted to future-proof myself as much as could on the major components so I built it as beefy as you can get within reason. Someday I will have many more taps and didn’t want to replace any of the components, just add another membrane.
- 1hp shallow well pump
- All 1” ID hoses before the Procon
- 2hp motor powering the 330gph Procon
- Biggest wheeled dolly I could find
- 1/8” thick square tube
- 3/16” thick flat iron braces
- 4.5”x10” Pentair Big Blue filter
- L090 oversized Lovejoys
- Large independent contactors for electrical
I knew I wanted to eventually put another 4” membrane next to my current one so made the flat iron wide enough to accommodate that.
I chose a 1HP well pump with 1” lines so I could supply the future double-membranes with enough sap as well. The 1” was tough to work with compared to the ½” hose but I know it’ll be worth it when I have 2 membranes and need the flow.
The unit is 240v since I have that in the sugarhouse. I brew beer in the shack throughout the year and need the 40 amps for the elements and chugger pumps.
I heard all the stories about how filmy concentrated sap can get when stored, and you need to clean out the equipment that touches it daily… so I decided to produce concentrate on the fly, rather than ahead of time and let it sit overnight until I boil. I will use a 30 gallon container to feed my evaporator with concentrate. It’ll be very accessible to clean after every boil.
After talking with Dave (Bowhunter), I knew the size of membrane I needed, the size of my pump, and the flowmeter range so I can dial this puppy in. The Procon decision was simple. This was the highest GPH pump in the series 4 lineup. Anything larger would have been over 2x more money, and 2x the repair cost when rebuilding.
Based on the parameters above with recirculation, I will remove 66% of the water if my flowmeters are set at:
Permeate: 1gpm
Concentrate: .56gpm
That’s why I chose a .2-2 permeate flowmeter, and a .1-1 concentrate flowmeter… the reading is smack in the middle of the gauge. Again, this is all based on a rough 33gph boil rate. This can all be easily adjusted via needle valves if I had a bigger rig/boiled faster, or wanted to slow down the output if I’m hosting an open house, or just drinking more beer than I should while boiling .
Some other notes:
- - US Plastic has the best selection of Kynar fittings and high pressure hose (http://www.usplastic.com/ ). I debated on using brass compression fittings, but it was more money and it’s near impossible to find a 1/2” OD tube that can withstand 250 PSI AND be flexible enough to make those bends behind my control panel. The Kynar fittings are 250+ psi workable, and functioned flawlessly. No need for Brass if Kynar makes the fitting.
- - I looked everywhere for pressure switches that were 100% waterproof and adjustable. The Gems have tested flawlessly.
- - I went with an XLE-4040 membrane since they have the highest GPD rating and work at a lower pressure.
- - I used horse stall mat to pad the SS membrane housing straps and the motor/pump mounts. It may or may not help with vibration dampening but doesn’t hurt.
- - The harbor freight dolly was on sale for $50 minus a coupon I got online made it $35. I was going to weld up a dolly on my own which I really to, but this was too cheap to pass up. I’m glad I did this since the 13” tires and axle hardware would have been $45 alone, not including the $60 of steel for the homemade dolly frame.
- - The electrical box was done the right way with 12-4 SOOW cord which can handle 30 amps (currently 13.9A total draw with 240v).
- - 4 30-amp independent relays: 1 for main, 1 for the momentary switch, 1 for the well pump and 1 for the Procon.
- - Temperature controller was only $15 on Amazon, but it only came with a simple probe to dangle into a pot. I instead bought a rtd probe that could thread into a npt connection but it wasn’t compatible with the box, since the box takes thermistor-style probe which are a pain to find in with npt fittings. So I suggest getting an Auber PID-style controller that takes 3-wire rtd probes (highly available) and just use it for temperature readout. Then-if you want- you can use it to control a wash tank later down the road. I didn’t need a wash tank as I have several 5-20 gallon PID-controlled SS pots with heating elements nearby I can use.
- - I have a low pressure switch set to 30psi and a high pressure switch set to 250.
- - The unit will drain fairly well, but no matter what you will have water in some of the hoses. You can use an air compressor and gently blow some air into your outlet hose ends.
- - I chose the Winters 2.5” gauges since they were nice and large and flush mount. I looked real hard for liquid filled gauges in flush mount but all the mounting designs seemed to not be compatible with my aluminum plate. As a result, the dry gauge needles have a bit of a shake to them when the unit is on, but they work fine.
Well, that should do it for now! I had a lot of fun building this thing and can’t wait to use it with some real sap! I hope this info inspires you to get working on building your own!
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