RO/DI price difference

[chuckcac]

I have been pricing RO/DI filters at my LFS and online- b/c it will be the first piece of equipment i purchase before i even get started...
I recently decided to search for them on that 'e-auction web-site' and found the prices to be roughly 50% cheaper for the same unit... (50GPD 4 canister RO/DI witout a pump)
The catch... (and there is always a catch) the units for sale on the 'e-auction website' are 'no-name' & probably without warrantee/guarantee...
Does anyone have any experience with those 'no-name' RO/DI filters?
Are they "too-good-to-be-true"?
Or
Should i ONLY trust one from a "name brand" reputable manufacturer?

 

[jon in tx]

Good question. Someone suggested the auction site to me for the same thing but I have the same reservation.

 

[f14peter]

The Mrs and my philosphy is to lean toward spending a bit more for known, quality gear with the belief that we'll actually be saving time, money, effort, heartache, etc in the long run.
Thus, when it came to an RO/DI unit, I took the advice of what seems to be the majority of this board and got a Typhoon 5-stage unit from AirWaterIce (you get one guess as to what their site address is). They only do water purification, and have several units dedicated to reefkeeping/aquariums. For a couple of c-notes, I got what I consider to be a highly regarded unit that's absurdly easy to set-up, runs wonderfully, and that I thank my lucky stars every night that I got it. I'm still just curing LR in my tank but have already run probably close to 250g through it . . . can't imagine having to go through the hassle and expense of getting the water elsewhere.

 

[1journeyman]

I kind of think of no name/auction site RO/DI filters like a no-name cheap SCUBA regulator; It would probably work fine, but at 110 feet of water I'd hate to be wrong...
A couple of people around here have posts on DIY water purifiers so it certainly can be done, but if you are going to buy one anyways get one you can depend on.
My Typhoon III is awesome.

 

[chipmaker]

I mean like what is there to go wrong with a no name unit. really. BUT....for osme reason or other yur probbaly not looking hard or proper on that site, as one has a rodi unit made by Honeywell, called Water General. Its identical to virtually all other units out there in use. If your looking to find a Kent, or Coral life etc at cheap prices, odds are its not gonna be there. The filterdirect dot com webiste is a vendor on that auction site and is as cheap as yur gonna find anywhere and what is nice with them is if yu but a 100 gpd unit they will sub a 45 gpd or 60 gpd or whatever membrane you want at no additional cost. They are guaranteed to be 98/99 % at a minimum...They have a website as well as are vendors on auction site. Filters run $5 for carbon block type and 10 bucks for polyester cart, with rechargeable DI media being 18 bucks which is enough for 2 or 4 refills

 

[jc286006]

i purchased the water general brand ro/di unit 75gpd 6 stage i purchased a dual inline tds meter from a reputable source and installed it after checking calibration, the water general was taking 22.6 ppm source water down to 0.00ppm. so as long as the di media and the membrane which is supposed to be the same brand as used in higher priced units hold up i think that it is a very good bargain. i dont know what my source water pressure is but it takes about 1 hour to fill an empty instant ocean bucket.

 

[catawaba]

Love my Typhoon also!
AirWaterIce

 

[chuckcac]

Thanks Everyone... Great advise... ill check out AirWaterIce and do a comparison...

 

[fender]

My water general untit took my water from 106ppm to 6 ppm at RO stage and 0 at DI. Very happy with it so far. I do think I will buy a full vertical DI unit when the media starts to go bad tho as I have heard they are much better and last longer.

 

[cgrant]

Another vote for typhoon 3, My ro water is 2 tds and my ro/di is 0.
Walter is a dork if you have to call him but the units themsleves seem to be well made and I purchased mine cause everyone seems to rave about them and am happy with mine. Mines ~6 months old now.

 

[chuckcac]

i looked up the typhoon and it looks great to me... the price (139.) is reasonable too...
However i noticed that shipping is not free so the price goes up to 160+
i did also find the Coralife 4 stage 50gpd RO/Di for 139.... shipped...
In everyones opinion, is the extra 20bucks worth it for the typhoon? or is the Coralife comprable?

 

[chipmaker]

I find the Water General shipped to my house for $122 complete with shipping is the best bet. As pure of rodi water as it makes I just can not fathom paying more since its not conceiveable what it can do thats any better.

 

[bellanavis]

I just bought a water general from that auction site, $122 shipped 6 stage ro/di 110 gallon/day, is that good?

 

[chuckcac]

Water General... :thinking: ill have to look that one up as well

 

[zman1]

Is one 14" plasitc housing (for 10" filter) better than the other? If they don't leak what does it matter. I wouldn't sweat the plastics, If you want clear or solid, pick one that suits your taste. I would get one with auto shut off. Outside of that, any media that comes with your unit will replaced as it's a consumable item....

 

[chuckcac]

That looks like a deal to me...
How many votes for
-typhoon 164 shipped
-coralife 139 shipped
-watergeneral 126 shipped
all those with experience with these items... thanks in advance for your responces!!!

 

[75bownut]

You want to talk about bad water HUH!!! my city water reads between 800 and 1100ppm of garbage, my kent Marine HI-s ro/di drops it to 0ppm, but i gotta change filters about every 4 months, That's terrible

!!!!

 

[chipmaker]

The companies say the clear housing are better on thefilters as yu can see sediement etc that builds up. I say its hog wash as if your getting that kind of junk yur unit is going to be working pityfull by then anyhow, and besides most junk that impeeds a filter is embedded in the filter. I like a clear housing for looks but looks sure does not make the water. Only real true reason I can see is that clear probably costs less so they make more profit ;-) isn';t that usually how things work. They make a change and then sellyou on that change as to how it actually benefits "you" the consumer but the only ones that usually benefit is the manufact.
Personally your not gonna go wrong with any of the above mentioned units, but before I spent what the higher priced ones do that do not really do any more than the water general, I would buy a WG and have a few exytra filters shipped and some more DI resin so yu have it when you need it. They may say change filters yearly, but thats a misnomer. You may be like one poster above and need to change em every 4 months or so as it all depends on yur water supply.

 

[jon in tx]

Has anyone done a cost comparison? For example, I can buy salt water from my LFS for $1/gallon. I'm wondering how much it cost by the time you get the water machine, salt mix & filters? :notsure:

 

[chipmaker]

YOu just can not look at having rodi for making SW. Its used on an almost daily basis for top off water as well. Around these parts the lfs sells sw for 80 cents a gal, and rodi for 65 cents a gal. Gas here is better than $2.60 a gal and my trip to LFS or just town to but rodi at Wally World would involve a round trip of close to 60 miles @18 mpg plus wear and tear on a vehicle, and even though I may be retired, my time is worth something as well. I priced a 5 gal bucket of salt about 2 weeks ago of INstant Ocean. LFS here sells it for $39.00 a bucket....and it would make 160 gal at approx 1.023.
For water alone and no other incurred expenses:
160 gal of premade saltwater would cost $128.00
160 gal of store bought RODI would cost $104.00
My monthly water bill is only $22, and in most areas $100 bucks buys a lot more than one months average of water.
If I use 5 gal of top off water a week, and 5 gal of SW a month its easy to see with the math a RODI can be paid for in short order. MOst folks just do not figure in vehicle wear and tear or fuel and their time.....