Upgrading my Deer Run 125 Dolly RO

[mol1jb]

Hey all,

I am working on a few upgrades to my Deer Run 125 Dolly RO. I have been very happy with this unit overall. It is a very simple and effective RO. My goal for this project is 2 phases. First for this season is to increase the size of pressure pump and add a feed pump. This should increase processing speeds on my single 4x40 membrane. Second for next season I will be adding a second membrane to balance out adding additional taps.

First I had to remove the 3.5 gpm high pressure piston pump. I was fortunate that the motor was 1.5hp and can be reused to power the 5.5gpm procon
IMG_5816.jpg

Attached the procon to the mounting frame and then to the motor with shaft coupler (cant really see that part in the pic). This was the part I was most nervous about but it went quite smooth. I reused the fitting set as it was on the old pressure pump (3/4 is sap intake, 1/4 is recirc line intake, and drain fitting).
IMG_5819.jpg

I removed everything that was left from the dolly. When I got this RO last year most the the components went on a plumbing wall and the motor, pump and membrane were all that remained on the dolly. I was careful to remove the membrane housing in such a way that it would not drain for I knew that there would be a fitting that I would forget and have to order (there always is and I did miss one fitting that I ordered today). This way the membrane can sit in the housing still wet while I wait for my fittings to come.
IMG_5818.jpg

The motor and pressure pump were attached to the adjacent plumping wall and I plumbed in my feed pump and sediment filter. The feed pump I chose was a food grade beer transfer pump that supplies 7gpm. Before I bought it I asked Ray Gingerich (Deer Run RO maker) about this because I thought I would need a larger supply pump. He said no you just need a little more flow than the pressure pump is rated at.
IMG_5820.jpg

I will finish the rest up next week when my fittings arrive and post some final pics. I always enjoyed building things but I was a little too intimidated to build my first RO from scratch. But after buying my Deer Run RO and using it for a year my understanding of it has given me the confidence to undertake this project. That and all the amazing information on this site. And all the helpful user willing to answer my questions and offer advice. Thank you!

[maple flats]

On my 250 Deer Run, I went to using a SS sprinkler/booster pump, it increased the performance by about 10%.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

Just curious if you have any kind of relief for the procon pump

[mol1jb]

Just curious if you have any kind of relief for the procon pump

No. Do you?

[bmbmkr]

My deer run 125 came with a 2.5x10 filter. When I upgraded to a 330 ProCon and second membrane, and the same feed pump Dave uses- 1 HP Sprinkler pump, I did not upgrade the filter. On my first run, 600 gallons of sap through the first pass and about 100 gallon of concentrate through the second pass, the filter element imploded and sicked in to the pump. It blew one of the torque rights off the vessel and broke the permeate tube off that membrane. I was flushing when it happened, was just turning the pressure up , it was at about 50 psi when it blew. All my sap is filtered where the mains enter the tanks and again where my pump line enters my 800 gal sap tank in the shed. $700 later- I have a 20x4.5 filter- no issues the rest of the season. I ran 1200 gallons of sap through it once, and usually 5-600 gallons.

What is the white thing on top of the vessel?

Ben

[mol1jb]

My deer run 125 came with a 2.5x10 filter. When I upgraded to a 330 ProCon and second membrane, and the same feed pump Dave uses- 1 HP Sprinkler pump, I did not upgrade the filter. On my first run, 600 gallons of sap through the first pass and about 100 gallon of concentrate through the second pass, the filter element imploded and sicked in to the pump. It blew one of the torque rights off the vessel and broke the permeate tube off that membrane. I was flushing when it happened, was just turning the pressure up , it was at about 50 psi when it blew. All my sap is filtered where the mains enter the tanks and again where my pump line enters my 800 gal sap tank in the shed. $700 later- I have a 20x4.5 filter- no issues the rest of the season. I ran 1200 gallons of sap through it once, and usually 5-600 gallons.

What is the white thing on top of the vessel?

Ben

That is the low pressure shutoff switch.

[mol1jb]

Update: My missing fittings came in and I was able to finish up re-plumbing everything back together. I then did a test run on permeate to get a sense of the new flow rates (I will do a wash and benchmark before the season starts) and flow was at 6 gpm (3gpm with the old pump). This is very exciting to say the least.

Current setup:
IMG_5821.jpg

Past setup:
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