refillable DI compared to 'regular'?

[CTaylor]

I was trying to search about this, and can't seem to find if using refillable DI carts are as good as using a regular (vertical) cart. I'd be using refillable mixed bed and a refillable chloramine removal cart. How do these compare (life-wise, and rejection-wise) to non-refill carts?

Are there better sources/brands of the resin? And is there a "trick" to filling and/or packing the cart correctly? I would think good instructions would be provided with the resin and refill cart(?)

The refillable is a whole lot cheaper than using regular carts, so I'm hoping you dont pay for this difference in cost in quality, etc.

Thanks

[Chupakabra-King]

I am looking to buy a refillable DI cart too . Free bump and following along for more info on this . .. . .

[AZDesertRat]

I would say they are better than store bought. You have control of what resin and carbon goes in them and since you pack it yourself you can ensure there is no short circuiting or channeling.
If you buy the bulk resin and carbon from a reputable vendor like www.purelyh2o.com, www.airwaterice.com www.thefilterguys.biz or www.buckeyefieldsupply.com, you can be assured it is the best products and it is fresh and not been sitting on a shelf somewhere.

[bljohnson]

I just purchased the refillable kit from the filterguys.biz and am happy so far. Not sure about the longevity about them b/c I just changed. When I will filling for the first time I noticed that my spectrapure used the same cartridges... so I could of just bought the resin w/o the cartridges. The cartridges though are NOT infinitely reusable... they recommend throwing them away after so many times b/c the end caps (where water enters and enters) has some sort of filtration material *built in* and will be cloged after so many uses. They are very easy to pack tightly and they provide excess material with each refill kit so you don't have to worry about spills.

[bljohnson]

Between the three websites provided by AZDesertRat I also picked up a couple good hints:

It is better/cheaper on membrane/DI life to have 1 presediment and 2 carbons and all presediment/carbon should NOT be the same micron size to prevent clogging/drop i pressure which will then decrease output. These sites recommend going 5 micron to 1 micron to 0.5 micron. I was buying 0.5 micron of everything. I also only have 1 carbon so need to look into expanding my system.

These sites also talk about proper use of DI cartridges in systems that have 2 cartridges. The one closest to the RO is the workhorse and will exhaust faster. When this one wears out, replace it with the last DI (closest to the output) and put the new cartridge in the empty position (polishing position). I was just replacing both DIs at once and was not getting full use out of them.

Also color changing and non-color changing resins cost the same so you know what DI cartridges needs to be changed. I am not sure about the difference in performance. Can someone please comment.

[AZDesertRat]

If you have a good RO membrane you probably don't need dual DI in most cases. My raw water TDS is 630, RO only is running about 11 and my DI stays at 0 for 250+ gallons with one 24oz refillable cartridge. I recently added a water softener and am hoping it will extend the life of everything but have not had it long enough to tell.
There is no difference in the effectiveness of color changing vs non color changing. Color changing is a poor indicator of resin life though so I use non myself. In some cases non is also a little cheaper.

[bljohnson]

I have the Spectrapure 200 gal/day unit. Can you comment on it? Any way to modifiy it to make it better? Thanks.

[AZDesertRat]

Spectrapure builds some very good units. Its hard to improve on them as they spend a lot of time and money on research and development. Their units are generally a little more expensive but worth it in a lot of cases. What are your tap, RO only and RO/DI TDS readings now?

[bljohnson]

I only have an inline meter right now... need to get a pocket one. I also need to add a RO flush kit.