Ebay RO/DI Unit

[Dciaccia]

Anyone have experience with these RO/DI units? Seems like a great price for one, so just curious if they're worth it or not.

[ClaytonG]

Anyone have experience with these RO/DI units? Seems like a great price for one, so just curious if they're worth it or not.

 

 

I don't have any experience with those, but when it comes to your RO/DI you want to make sure that it is a solid piece of equipment.

 

Have you looked at these: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-4-stage-...stem-75gpd.html

 

The Bulk Reef Supply 4 stage value system is $30 more and you'll know you have a solid product.

[Dciaccia]

I don't have any experience with those, but when it comes to your RO/DI you want to make sure that it is a solid piece of equipment.

 

Have you looked at these: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-4-stage-...stem-75gpd.html

 

The Bulk Reef Supply 4 stage value system is $30 more and you'll know you have a solid product.

 

Maybe I'm biased because I am wanting to save money, but the ebay unit seems pretty sturdy and has standard size filter cartridges like a lot of people recommend.

[Alkamist]

you dont wanna go cheap on your RODI trust me, go with a spectrapure its 20 more and i have heard nothing bad about there filters.

[racer_X_123]

you dont wanna go cheap on your RODI trust me, go with a spectrapure its 20 more and i have heard nothing bad about there filters.

Here is my take on things like this on ebay...

 

Ebay has become a hub for cheap Chinese stuff to get into the USA. So you are buying this RO/DI unit from ebay, has markings that are not standard, and really has no name attached to it.

 

My question to all those who are saying spend the extra money and buy from a know company; who makes the ones that Bulk Reef supply sells? COULD it be the same Chinese company that is selling the one on ebay just re-branded? Probably, you can not be 100% sure unless you can see manufacturing labels and then there is no question.

 

!!!HOWEVER!!!

 

Lets say that they are the same unit just a different name stamped on it; who is going to back their product in the event of a failure down the road? I highly doubt you will get much sympathy from the ebay units seller.

 

If you spend the extra 30% now it may save you from spending the cost of the busted one + the cost of a new one (that Im sure you wont buy the second one on Ebay)

 

 

 

TL;DR?

Ebay RO/DI could just be a name brand without the label

No warrenty via Ebay

Spend the money once/not twice!

Profit

[Dciaccia]

you dont wanna go cheap on your RODI trust me, go with a spectrapure its 20 more and i have heard nothing bad about there filters.

 

Could you provide a link? I'm not seeing one for $120

[Fnard]

This

[Dciaccia]

This

 

Thank you. I'll be looking into these as well.

[Salty_Snack]

Just get quality equipment and be done with it. If $20 or $30 is going to break you then reefkeeping isn't something you should be involved with.

[ClaytonG]

The bulk reef supply RO/DI's are all put together by bulk reef supply. They part all of it out to US manufacturers and build it at their warehouse. I only brought it up since the price difference is minimal and they have 70+ 5 star reviews with no complaints made so far. If it fails down the line you'll at least have someone there to back up the product versus buying on ebay.

 

I can't speak for the spectrapure's but make sure you realize that the cheaper ones are refurbished.

[gonzalez78]

If you're worried about dealing with the eBay distributor then you can always go to their main website, it tells you the name of the company on the system just some people are too lazy to click on the links I guess.

 

http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/index.php

[Dciaccia]

The bulk reef supply RO/DI's are all put together by bulk reef supply. They part all of it out to US manufacturers and build it at their warehouse. I only brought it up since the price difference is minimal and they have 70+ 5 star reviews with no complaints made so far. If it fails down the line you'll at least have someone there to back up the product versus buying on ebay.

 

I can't speak for the spectrapure's but make sure you realize that the cheaper ones are refurbished.

 

Yeah I was looking at it and the initial price isn't much different on the spectrapure or BRS RO/DI which is fine, but when I look at them including shipping it's about $40-50 different. I just decided I'm going to save up a little more and get the on from BRS and get some other things that put me over $175 so I get free shipping as well.

 

 

If you're worried about dealing with the eBay distributor then you can always go to their main website, it tells you the name of the company on the system just some people are too lazy to click on the links I guess.

 

http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/index.php

 

Thanks, I didn't see the link to their website on their ebay page.

[AZDesertRat]

Extremely low end drinking water system at best.

You get what you pay for with RO/DI.

Look for something with no larger than a 1 micron sediment filter and an absolute rated filter is much higher quality than a nominal rated filter. A single 1 micron or better yet 0.5 micron carbon block will easily outperform those two 5.0 blocks and have lower head loss so increased membrane performance too.

 

I guarantee you there is not a better RO/DI system on the planet than www.spectrapure.com , not anywhere or for any price. And at only $125 they are a steal right now, fourth item down the page here:

http://spectrapure.com/email/Sale.htm

1.0 micron absolute rated sediment. 1.0 micron 12,000 gallon carbon block, 90 GPD specially treated and btahc tested for quality control high rejection rate RO membrane, 20 oz of reef specific custom hand blended DI resin, an inline pressure gauge and a capillary tube flow restrictor not a fixed non adjustable one. All backed by a US company located in Tempe AZ in a brick and mortar building with a real physical address and phone number for over 27 years. No comparison at all.

[Dciaccia]

Extremely low end drinking water system at best.

You get what you pay for with RO/DI.

Look for something with no larger than a 1 micron sediment filter and an absolute rated filter is much higher quality than a nominal rated filter. A single 1 micron or better yet 0.5 micron carbon block will easily outperform those two 5.0 blocks and have lower head loss so increased membrane performance too.

 

I guarantee you there is not a better RO/DI system on the planet than www.spectrapure.com , not anywhere or for any price. And at only $125 they are a steal right now, fourth item down the page here:

http://spectrapure.com/email/Sale.htm

1.0 micron absolute rated sediment. 1.0 micron 12,000 gallon carbon block, 90 GPD specially treated and btahc tested for quality control high rejection rate RO membrane, 20 oz of reef specific custom hand blended DI resin, an inline pressure gauge and a capillary tube flow restrictor not a fixed non adjustable one. All backed by a US company located in Tempe AZ in a brick and mortar building with a real physical address and phone number for over 27 years. No comparison at all.

 

My only concern with the spectrapure unit compared to the BRS unit is that it doesn't specify if it comes with all necessary lines and hoses for setup or not. Another thing is the shipping. If the quality of BRS's RO/DI is that much better than the shipping cost doesn't bother me, but if they're comparable, I'd rather save a little longer and spend a little extra to get some additional items I need and get the free shipping. Even if the cost of shipping is offset, I still get additional items that I would need.

[AZDesertRat]

BRS does not compare with Spectrapure. Nominal rated 5 micron sediment so 5 times less effective at protecting the carbon block, actually less effective than that since its nominal andnot absolute rated.

A 5 micron carbon block vs. 1 micron so only 1200 to 1800 treated gallons at the normal 4:1 waste ratio versus 2400 treated or 12000 total gallons with the Spectrapure. Also you may not be aware of this but you can see 40 microns with the unaided human eye so which do you think protects the expensive RO membrane better and makes it last longer so lower cost of ownership, 1 micron absolute or 5 microns nominal?

The BRS has a dry, off the shelf, non treated and non tested non guaranteed RO membrane vs the Spectrapure.

The BRS uses prepackaged and non reef specific DI resin vs Spectrapure which blends all their own DI resins fresh every day based on tens of thousands of hours of real world testing. Longer life and lower cost of ownership.

The BRS uses a fixed, non adjustable, who knows how accurate flow restrictor vs Spectrapure who supplies you with a capillary tube that you yourself trim based on you own unique water conditions for an exact waste ratio, not ballpark.

The BRS has no inline pressure gauge, the Spectrapure does and it is necessary to troubleshoot a RO syste.

 

There really is a difference and the Spectrapure will last longer, cost less to own and produce better water quality proven time and again.

http://www.spectrapure.com/faq_p1.htm

http://www.spectrapure.com/SYSTEM_BREAKDOWN.htm

http://www.spectrapure.com/faq_p0.htm#bad

 

They come with all the tubing, an instruction manual which is also available online for all to see and a hose thread adapter which fastens to a hose bib, wye adapter or faucet adapter. Other adaptions are available but they choose not to include a bunch of stuff that costs you money and you may not use for your installation.

[Salty_Snack]

When AZDesertRat talks we all should listen. If he says the spectrapure unit is superior I wouldn't doubt him for a second.

[Dciaccia]

BRS does not compare with Spectrapure. Nominal rated 5 micron sediment so 5 times less effective at protecting the carbon block, actually less effective than that since its nominal andnot absolute rated.

A 5 micron carbon block vs. 1 micron so only 1200 to 1800 treated gallons at the normal 4:1 waste ratio versus 2400 treated or 12000 total gallons with the Spectrapure. Also you may not be aware of this but you can see 40 microns with the unaided human eye so which do you think protects the expensive RO membrane better and makes it last longer so lower cost of ownership, 1 micron absolute or 5 microns nominal?

The BRS has a dry, off the shelf, non treated and non tested non guaranteed RO membrane vs the Spectrapure.

The BRS uses prepackaged and non reef specific DI resin vs Spectrapure which blends all their own DI resins fresh every day based on tens of thousands of hours of real world testing. Longer life and lower cost of ownership.

The BRS uses a fixed, non adjustable, who knows how accurate flow restrictor vs Spectrapure who supplies you with a capillary tube that you yourself trim based on you own unique water conditions for an exact waste ratio, not ballpark.

The BRS has no inline pressure gauge, the Spectrapure does and it is necessary to troubleshoot a RO syste.

 

There really is a difference and the Spectrapure will last longer, cost less to own and produce better water quality proven time and again.

http://www.spectrapure.com/faq_p1.htm

http://www.spectrapure.com/SYSTEM_BREAKDOWN.htm

http://www.spectrapure.com/faq_p0.htm#bad

 

They come with all the tubing, an instruction manual which is also available online for all to see and a hose thread adapter which fastens to a hose bib, wye adapter or faucet adapter. Other adaptions are available but they choose not to include a bunch of stuff that costs you money and you may not use for your installation.

 

Thanks for shedding a lot of light on the situation AZ. You gave me exactly the answer I needed by informing me about the original unit I was looking at and giving me the additional information needed about the Spectrapure units.

[heifinator]

I use a RO/DI unit from filter direct which I bought on ebay 3 years ago for 125.00

 

The RO membrane was just replaced a few months ago, after over 2 and a half years it still showed 0TDS.

 

Micron / carbon / DI was replaced every 6 months.

 

Very happy with it

[Trogdor447]

have to agree with AZ .. for 25 dollars more buy the best in the business.. water is a critical part of the system and if you have to wait an extra week to order.. that ebay unit will be around all day long

[AZDesertRat]

I won't go into it again as I have posted the differences between the Filters Direct/Water General units and real reef quality systems many many times, if you are interested you can search my posts and threads over the last 10+ years on the subject. Needless to say the quality just is not there and you get what you pay for.

[heifinator]

I won't go into it again as I have posted the differences between the Filters Direct/Water General units and real reef quality systems many many times, if you are interested you can search my posts and threads over the last 10+ years on the subject. Needless to say the quality just is not there and you get what you pay for.

 

All I can go by is personal experience.

 

My client has a spectra-pure filter and I replaced his filters on the same schedule I replaced my filter direct filters.

 

Both needed a new membrane at about the same time (within 2 months of each other) and both have cost us similar amounts in the last 2.5 - 3 years. Both have showed 0-3 tds throughout their usage.

[beanhead]

Just wanted to throw another player in the game... BFS

[AZDesertRat]

Then you or he didn't use genuine Spectrapure replacement filters or the waste ratio was never set correctly. There really is a difference. Spectrapure rejects more filters, membranes and DI resin than most vendors sell every day, they are very particular about the products they place their name on.

My tap TDS exceeds 630, my Spectrapure membrane is over 4.5 years old and my RO only TDS is only between 2 and 3 on a calibrated handheld COM-100 TDS meter and I make a lot of water.

[racefan]

I've been using a Pure water club ( e bay cheapie) for 3 years & it gives me 0 TDS. I'm on well water with fairly high iron so I go through filters quicker than city water users but I've been more than happy with mine.