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Thread: Need an Idiot's Guide to Small RO Maintenance & Cleaning

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Posts
    121

    Default Need an Idiot's Guide to Small RO Maintenance & Cleaning

    Hello! Last year my husband made me a small scale RO which was amazing but I didn't clean it at all and when we got back from a week long vacation it was gross and my season was over. Huge bummer.

    Now that I'm ready to start collecting for the year, I'm wondering if anyone knows of an idiot's guide to taking care of an RO machine properly. There is a ton of great information on this site but wading through it all is giving me fit because I'm not totally sure what is the right way and what supplies I should be using to clean and when to clean.

    Plus there are a lot of terms are getting thrown around and I don't know what they mean. Like what is RO soap, where do I get it and when do I use it?

    Just so confused!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Greenwood, Me
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    974

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    A) I don't believe your season is over if your RO craps out, unless you have an extremely limited wood supply. You can just boil unprocessed sap, can't you?

    2) This gentleman, https://sites.google.com/view/mattat...aplesyrup/home, has provided me with tons of information on the care and feeding of small scale ROs. Perhaps you will find something of use at that site. Good luck.
    2024 - New Maine resident, 12X12 sugar shack under construction
    2019 - New 12X12 boiling pavilion
    2018 - New Mason 2X3 Hobby XL and homemade RO

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    OH
    Posts
    174

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    Been there, done that. Good thing TheRoBucket.com has instructions for this scenario:
    https://www.therobucket.com/Wordpres...-RO-Bucket.pdf
    2021: 28 taps. 18"x36" flat pan and dual natural gas burners.
    2020: 31 taps. 3 full size steam table pans on a custom 6x water heater natural gas burner setup.
    2019: 31 taps on silvers. Back porch gas cook top with 2 full size steam table pans. An amazing 14.9 gallons in my backyard!
    2018: 22 taps on 9 silvers. Propane turkey fryer and full size steam table pan on electric stove. I made 4.25 gallons in my backyard!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Murrysville, Pennsylvania
    Posts
    476

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    I have 3 videos on RO use, flushing, and end of season cleaning and storage:

    https://youtu.be/s106bSrcfno
    https://youtu.be/MP1NNt3b2Oo
    https://youtu.be/m_RBNFkq80U
    D. Roseum
    www.roseummaple.com
    ~100 taps on 3/16 custom temp controlled vacuum; shurflo vacuum #2; custom nat gas evap with auto-drawoff and tank level gas shut-off controller; homemade RO #1; homemade RO #2; SL SS filter press
    2021: 27.1 gallons
    2022: 35 gallons

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Oakville, CT
    Posts
    261

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    https://sites.google.com/view/mattat...g-ro-membranes
    This is what I have developed over the past several years and my system performs well all season.
    2' x 3' backyard evaporator with homemade steam hood
    38.5 gallons produced in 2022
    120 taps all on 3/16" tubing
    4" x 40" homemade RO built for 2023
    https://sites.google.com/view/mattat...aplesyrup/home

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Posts
    121

    Default

    Thanks so much everyone!

    Quote Originally Posted by eustis22 View Post
    A) I don't believe your season is over if your RO craps out, unless you have an extremely limited wood supply. You can just boil unprocessed sap, can't you?
    LOL technically not but after a week's vacation and then having the RO crap out, I lost my momentum and was done. Still got way more syrup then I ever had before so I was ok with that!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Oneida NY
    Posts
    11,547

    Default

    By the way, helptheold, you are not an idiot, just not yet fully trained. Mistakes do not make one an idiot! You will however, if you learn how to clean your RO, make sure it gets properly cleaned every following year, that was a good lesson.
    Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
    Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
    Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
    After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    Almonte
    Posts
    43

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DRoseum View Post
    I have 3 videos on RO use, flushing, and end of season cleaning and storage:

    https://youtu.be/s106bSrcfno
    https://youtu.be/MP1NNt3b2Oo
    https://youtu.be/m_RBNFkq80U
    I've watched your video on end of season clean and you mentioned that when the system runs dry it can be stored. My question is, do the filters not have to be submurged so that they don't dry out during the off season?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Murrysville, Pennsylvania
    Posts
    476

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    The membranes are actually still wet with the preservative solution. Just shut the needle valve down tight and cap the inlet to the system as well. Store it in a cool place (like a basement) and it will be fine. I did this exact procedure and then flushed with 10 gallons of distilled water to start the season and checked the membrane permeate with a TDS meter and got 0.
    D. Roseum
    www.roseummaple.com
    ~100 taps on 3/16 custom temp controlled vacuum; shurflo vacuum #2; custom nat gas evap with auto-drawoff and tank level gas shut-off controller; homemade RO #1; homemade RO #2; SL SS filter press
    2021: 27.1 gallons
    2022: 35 gallons

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