Stealth 100 R.O. Woes

[EYEBALLER]

Just picked up a stealth 100 R.O. hooked it up to my garden hose and turned it on and the water oozes out at the speed of honey. What is wrong and why is it so slow? Is this just how it is? Am I too impatient? Or are there any known defects with these systems?

Thanks Y'all

 

[420Gator]

theyre usually pretty slow. mine is slower than honey, more like a leaky faucet drip

im sure faster ones are made

 

[greenthumbdanny]

There is nothing wrong with your unit, it is just that slow>>stealth 100 is supposed to produce 100 gallons in 24 hours:) Thats not very fast bro>>Ya need the Merlin if ya want some water in a decent amount of time:)

gtd:passingjoint:

 

[deacon1503]

Your input pressure has a lot to do with it. Install an inline pressure gauge. R/O units need roughly 35psi to function as advertised.

Im on a well and without my booster pump, my r/o feed never goes above 40. With the pump, constant 65 lbs.

 

[EYEBALLER]

Thanks... I think patience is going to have to be utilized here... bah humbug!

 

[OGONLY]

I got the stealth 200 I think. It was $100 more than the one you got I think. It does more than double what yours does which is why I spent the extra 100. It is still slow. Takes 47 minutes to fill a 5 gallon bottle. That is with good water pressure.

Keep in mind that to make 5 gallons of R/O you waste 15 gallons of water. So it takes 20 gallons of water to make 5 gallons of R/O. I run my waste water into a 70 gallon res. and pump it to my lawn and plants. Water is damn expensive in Cal.

 

[Bobby Smith]

What everyone else said.

I have a Stealth 100 and it certainly ain't fast - FWIW, I'd highly recommend using a float valve with it so you don't forget that it's on and flood your grow (I did twice).

 

[OGONLY]

Yah what Bobbie said. Wasted 100s of gallons forgetting I was filling bottles. If no float valve, set timers first BEFORE you turn on water. Note I said timer(s). Set one on your phone and in the room you will be in. Will save you alot of FRUSTRATION:angry

I really get pissed when I waste water. Plus those filters are f 'in expensive to replace!

 

[f1ydave]

We got the Stealth 200 and wish we had spend the $300 more and got the Merlin. No complaints tho, works exactly how we expected.

 

[grinkeeper]

I have a merlin.. it take me 10 mins to fill a 12 gallon rubbermaid... plus the waste ratio is 1:1 . SO FOR EVERy gallon of RO you only waste a gallon.... those other machines are crazy.. 5:1.... thats just not acceptable..

also dont forget to add calmag... or you will get a deficiency... also dont run ro through any metal....it will eat the metal...

 

[motherlode]

I got the 200 and it takes about 12 hours to fill 40 gallons

seems like my water pressure from my well fluctuates too

fucking booster pump is like 200 bucks - so in hindsight I really whih I had gotten the merlin - I just didnt have the scratch and figured well 200 gals a day isnt bad, but Im barely getting 100 a day

grinkeeper - never heard that before about ro eating through metal - how are people using chiller coils if thats the case?

 

[Bobby Smith]

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a chemist.

I believe that it's copper that R/O can cause issues with because of some sort of chemical reaction from a loose ion (or some other such shit, I'm not a chemist) - again though, that's if using pure R/O without nutes or anything - once nutes (or whatever else are added) you're fine to use it with copper.

You're fine to use it with stainless steel (which is why Hydro Innovations stopped making their copper cool coil and switched over to stainless steel).

 

[motherlode]

word BS - I know I read about somebodys copper coil oxidizing - just didnt think there was a general "metal" issue

 

[Papa]

good RO water is highly corrosive and will attempt to leach minerals from anything and everything, including stainless steel. it is only a question of how much. stainless steel is better than copper. as soon as you add nutes to the water, it becomes much less corrosive.

here's a test of some stainless and aluminum water bottles with RO water:
http://www.mysiggg.com/LeachingMetals.pdf

also, GE advertises the merlin as being 2:1. two gallons of waste to each gallon of product. but their literature for professionals says that it's efficiency is 25%, which is 3:1.



Papa

 

[grinkeeper]

I got the 200 and it takes about 12 hours to fill 40 gallons

seems like my water pressure from my well fluctuates too

fucking booster pump is like 200 bucks - so in hindsight I really whih I had gotten the merlin - I just didnt have the scratch and figured well 200 gals a day isnt bad, but Im barely getting 100 a day

grinkeeper - never heard that before about ro eating through metal - how are people using chiller coils if thats the case?

the reason chillers are used with out problems with R.O corrosion is simple. they use stainless or titanium internals where the water comes in contact. that's
why there rather expensive...

 

[sh2ft2]

Bobby Smith i have flooded my place a couple times haha what a mess by just trying to gather water. The RO 100 does drip very slowly and even drips slower in the colder temps.

 

[EYEBALLER]

Thanks for all the input... I have tucked my sac and accepted the molasses like drip from my stealth... Oh well, it'll do donkey... It'll do...

 

[launchpad]

There is a waste water reducer that can be installed on RO systems. It reduces the amount of water therefore improving your ratios. I have a stealth 200 and I am about 1:1. So if your getting terrible ratios check to see if there is any input reduction (water saving) devices. If I recall there may have been a reducing O ring on the input line, I removed the ring if there was one present.

To eliminate the waiting for water issue, invest in a 50 gal tank with a float switch and an auto feed into the RO. Then you will always have 50 gals available.

I too have flooded my grow area with lots of water prior to the float switch. Low cost item will save lots of head aches.

 

[Papa]

There is a waste water reducer that can be installed on RO systems. It reduces the amount of water therefore improving your ratios.

please provide a link.

the only "waste water reducer" systems that i can find put the waste water from the RO unit into a house's water heater. this isn't decreasing the wastewater, it's just putting it somewhere besides the drain.





Papa

 

[420Gator]

as some of u know i just moved my grow and left my ro there, it was one from lowes and took me 2-3 days to fill my 40 gal trash can. good thing im not growing hydro

anyway the new place has 160ppm tap water so im not overly concerned but def wanna get a filter before flush

these stealth filters.....u just plug a garden hose in and thats it? the one i had had like 4 or 5 diff lines going every which way