I am planning to buy my first RO/DI unit. Is there any difference between these three brands in terms of output water purity, product quality or customer service, or anything else?

[This message has been edited by Seafan (edited 01-16-2001).]

I think awhile back the Spectrapure was probably the best because it had better cartridges now I would think there all the same, you can swap out the cartridges anyway. If I had to do it over again I would buy the least expensive unit that still put out over 50GPD.....JMO

Mark

I really like my Kent RO/DI unit. It was a little less expensive than the Spectrapure. Don't know anything about Captive Purity.

Steve, where did you get your Kent unit? I saw the Kent Maxxima 50 gpd sells for $215 at MarineDepot, while SpectraPure MDPI 60 gpd sells for $204 there.

Originally posted by golfish:
I think awhile back the Spectrapure was probably the best because it had better cartridges now I would think there all the same,

Do you mean the DI cartridges? And are you saying they are all same quality now, or they are just the same size (so the cartridges are interchangable)?

Originally posted by golfish:
you can swap out the cartridges anyway.

If the Spectrapure cartridges are still better than the others, I suppose I should buy the Spectrapure RODI system with the cartridge, so I don't need to swap, right?

I think Kent was 1 micron and Spectrapure is .5 micron on the sediment cartridge. But that was then. I'm not sure but I would think Kent is now .5...It's really not that inportant, When you replace them (sediment,Carbon block, DI every 6 months on my system)you can replace them with the .5 or what ever you want. I used the 1 sediment the last time I replaced it because it was cheaper and I bought a few of them...Like I said I would get the one that cost less.

Oh yeah, I use the optional flush valve kit. I believe this helps all the cartridges last longer.

One thing I do like about the Spectrapure unit I have (CSP-80GPD DI) It has a meter on it that tells you when the DI is bad and you can also use it to tell you when the RO membrane needs to be replaced.
HTH
MarK

http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/Barracuda.htm

I highly reccomend these units/people. I had some intitial problems with my water temp and they were great with customer service. There is a free upgrade to 100gpd until 2/1/01

------------------
------------------------
Paul C
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Einstein

Paul,
that looks like a nice unit and the price is right

I bought my unit from aquadirect.com They sold it with a drinking system for a little less than other places. I was after that because I am on a private well and the nitrates are a little high - for pregnant women and children 6 months or less(not as if I have these except for visitors - yet). They also have a monitor to indicate when water quality decreases. Kent does have a .5 micron sediment cartridge. Aquadirect also sells Spectrapure.

Here is a link on Kent's website to a comparison of their different types of RO units. http://www.kentmarine.com/tapfilter.pdf

The key to this unit and any RO/DI unit is the temp of the water coming in to the unit. It must be 76 degree. My water temp coming into the unit was 50deg and it was SLOW. Once I started mixing off of the tap and got it at 76deg the unit kicked butt. Call down there and Ask for Bryan Krenshaw, tell him I sent you and to hook you up. Its a good unit and a good deal.
Now that I got the water temp worked out I am a happy camper [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

------------------
------------------------
Paul C
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Einstein

Paul, I gotta ask, who told you the water had to be 76 degrees? I've been running my RO\DI for about 2 years and I bet my water is NEVER close to 76(well! maybe during the summer) and my unit has always "kicked butt" [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I agree that warmer water goes through a little faster but in my case it doesn't have to be 76...

Aqua FX. My case may be special due to the really cold water I have. Once I got it to 76, is produced 50gpd like it was suppose to, before I got maybe 20gpd at best. I actually read a post on reefs.org about it and emailed the guy. He bought a aqua FX nad had the same problem, and that fixed his. I was getting bummed about it and was ready to sell it, thats when I contacted them back and they sent me some stuff to try, and suggested wht to do. It was worked great. The DI unit seems to be changing less since I did it also.
What is your water temp straight out of the cold side of the pipe?

------------------
------------------------
Paul C
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Einstein

Paul,
Thanks for asking[img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img] you may have saved a small flood. I went to check the temp of my water for you, when I went down in the stand I noticed the water level in my tank was about to overflow. I havn't cleaned the U-tube on my overflow in awhile..............lucky me

oh yeah, water temp is about 60 degrees

Moved to Tanks, Filtration & Basic Equipment forum.

From what I was told and heard anc visually saw, if you hve cold water the unit produces more waste and less output. The reason being is the memebrane's sweal due tot he cold water and more is sent to the waste. I always heard the water going down the waste side at a steady stream but didnt see much on the output. Once I raised the temp that cleared right up, now more output and less waste.
I would be curiuos to see if any other manf have this issue? I would assume so.
GLad I helped prevent a flood [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

------------------
------------------------
Paul C
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Einstein