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connect ro directly to gravity fed float in sump?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by dead fish, Jan 5, 2013.

  1. dead fish Dead Fish

    832
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +1 / 0 / -0
    So in the interest of eliminating the need for a top off reservoir I hooked up my ro straight to my eshopps ato float valve with some quick connects. it has sealed of but I'm concerned about water pressure on the valve and quick connect. Should I be?
     
  2. Big John

    Big John Inactive User

    966
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    I don't think so, the pressure out of your ro system isn't that high, is it?
     
  3. dead fish Dead Fish

    832
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +1 / 0 / -0
    Not too bad but when I release the float the water squirts out pretty good.
     
  4. ICreefNoob

    ICreefNoob

    58
    Ratings:
    +1 / 1 / -0
    I would be more concerned about damage to your RO membranes. RO systems aren't really made to be turned on and off as frequently as an ATO tends to require. I am no expert on RO/DI systems but I would guess you are drastically reducing the life/filtering capacity of your RO.

    If I understand correctly and you are doing this directly into your sump it also seems unnecessarily risky IMO. A single point of failure will lead to a practically unlimited trickle of water into the tank, which if left unnoticed for any significant amount of time could easily crash the system.
     
  5. ninjazx777 Experienced Reefkeeper

    Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +7 / 1 / -0
    You will be replacing your ro/Di filters and DI resin about 5 times more then normal. I know cause I tried it a few years ago
     
  6. Tholton33

    Tholton33 Well-Known ReefKeeper

    537
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    i would be a little more concerned about the float failure... if and when it happens you have flooded your tank and signficantly dropped salinity.
     
  7. dead fish Dead Fish

    832
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +1 / 0 / -0
    I was worried that the storage bin I was using as a reservoir was leaching something into my water, which is why I tried this. It worked, but I was concerned and you folks all had good points here, so I sptnt part of the day rigging a new RO res. that uses a clear rubbermaid roughneck bin. And I plumbed it through the wall and put it up high so I don't have to look at it unless I want to see my ro level, which I'll be able to see now because it's clear.


    Thanks for all the feedback. If anyone's interested I can throw up some pics on my GIRS blog.
     
  8. erayk1 Well-Known ReefKeeper Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member

    981
    Coralville, IA
    Ratings:
    +35 / 0 / -0
    Glad you went with the RO reservoir idea instead of directly in the sump. That could have been scary bad if things went haywire.
     
  9. Tholton33

    Tholton33 Well-Known ReefKeeper

    537
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    try and stick to cantainers that are known food safe. there is butt loads of info on the web to help find something. Brute trashcans are foodsafe, however im almost sure that the roughneck series is not. However, there are plenty of people who claim they get no leaching from roughneck. so i would just periodically check for phosphates.
    just for redundancy i would blackout much of the res. to eliminate light exposure. your RODI should have 0tds, but i get compulsive and take extra measures.
     
  10. Cipher43

    Cipher43

    65
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    I dont see what the issue is here. I have had my RO hooked up direct to my sump for a year now and it has worked like a charm. I also have a second feed hooked up to a jug that i do all my kalk mixing in and the filters have lasted just as long as they did hooked up to a reservoir.


    And I may not be thinking about what you are saying right but wouldn't the reservoir be dropping just as often and making the RO kick on just as much?
     
  11. xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

    La Porte City, IA
    Ratings:
    +1,014 / 6 / -0
    Here are my thoughts

    Hook up a normally closed solenoid to the RO feed. That way the RO only runs for lets say an hour a day at a certain time. If it is not keeping up, change it to 90 minutes and so on. You can set the timer so that it runs when you are home so if there is a leak issue, you will be home to catch it.

    http://autotopoff.com/Solenoids/solenoid_c.jpg

    Ditch the Eshoppes & get a good one. I have never seen anything made by Eshoppes that is any quality & would be worried if it was on my tank.
     
  12. dead fish Dead Fish

    832
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +1 / 0 / -0
    Cipher: The reservoir is manually filled. And it's in the laundry room. No windows and no light.


    I looked and looked at threads on Brute vs. Roughneck and found several threads that said Roughnecks were food safe. And several that were inconclusive. I had a Roughneck before and no water problems and then rebuild into another knockoff tub and now I have problems. Going back to see if that eliminates the issue.


    As for the Eshopps float, there's not really much that can go wrong with it. It's a float on a hinge with a piece of 1/4" line fed to it. It works flawlessly.


    And I have an Eshopps cone skimmer--the S-200. I did a lot of comparing before I picked it up. Sicce pump, cone design...I couldn't find much difference between it and the Reef Octopus model it was very similar to, except for the several hundred dollars price difference. I know they aren't top of the line, but both Eshopps pieces I own have worked great since I got them.
     

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