I’m at the end of life of my axeon hf5 (spelling) membrane. Has anything better come out in the last 3 years? Tucker has listed a better membrane for $499.00 but I don’t see specs listed.
anyone?
I’m curious about this, as well. I have a plan to eventually setup my pressure washer on a 2 or 3 membrane DIY system for spot free washing. Shawn at RHG claims their new membrane has a significantly higher output, but side by side comparisons are hard to come by.
Not to totally derail this thread, but would spot free rinsing be that much better? @Infinity seems like a pricy option, but maybe you have harder water? I usually run 55-75 tds.
It’s likely complete overkill for my needs. More of a fantasy setup, I guess.
I do have one large window cleaning account that’s looking like it’s going to be a yearly job. I have to use the power washer and do a two step soap application (just like fleet washing) to get good results. I use DI water for the whole thing. I think last year I went through close to a full cube of resin on that one project.
(@Henry wrote an article about the project, as well. Maybe he can link that here)
And I had that one house last year that had silicates or something in the well water, that left spots all over the glass that were nearly impossible to scrub off with a wfp an hour later.
I too noticed the very high price difference. Not sure if paying for the “brand name” or for the quality. Buddy built his own RO system for under 600 dollars…works perfect, got himself a second RO and a pump system and runs 2 poles all day long…those RO filters I think are the ones the original poster mentioned, working great for him.
I see it says the new tucker flows more, which is good because that RO really limits it to around .75-1gpm without pump.
I use DI, but am probably going to build my own RO system as well, wouldn’t mind adding their filter if it indeeds flows 20+ percent more??? My TDS is usually 100-150, so the resin lasts me a very long time— but I would like an RO just to never worry about resin again. Plus, RO filters are GREAT for drinking water, and would be a good investment in these uncertain economic times.
Yeah, my thinking with the Tucker vs. Axeon is that with the hf5’s, I would probably need 3 membranes plumbed in parallel to keep my buffer tank fed, whereas Shawn Gavin seems to think that just two of the Tucker/RHG membranes could keep up with my buffer tank ok.
(I run a 5.5 gpm pw’er with a 55 gal buffer)
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On a sidenote, 5.5 gpm is in my eyes the perfect size PW. Sometimes you need more than 4, and 8 is generally overkill (but nice to have)…5.5 is right in the middle, the Goldilocks!
I will look into the tucker ro, i have used their aluminum tucker pole for a very long time…good products
I’ll have to look into the 2 step wash. I guess if it gets you more jobs its not overkill or if you can move faster with it. I want to get ro for my wfp because I think I have some silicates that my di doesn’t remove. Not one has ever mentioned the few spots it leaves sometimes, but it bothers me and I don’t want to damage windows over the long term.
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I got an email back from RHG that the membrane works at 60psi vs 80psi with the hf5. I have a lot of homes with well pumps so that may be a big help on some jobs that I couldn’t use the RO
They’ll all work at lower psi. What matters is what the output is at that level. If they sent you any other numbers, I’d love to know. I know I’ll have to replace mine someday, it’s always nice to keep up with what’s out there.
The membranes that work with lower water pressure are usually less effective at reducing the TDS of the water. So the 60PSI membrane could remove less TDS and require more Di resin than the HF5. The membrane I use is spec’d at 235 psi. It removes 99.7% of the TDS compared to 98.5% with the HF5 with the same output volume and output pressure but vastly different input pressure. That makes a big difference if your not wanting to use any DI resin if you have hard water in your area. What % of TDS does the new tucker remove at 60 psi? I would love to see the spec sheet on that membrane. Also the lower psi membranes tend to have a shorter lifespan compared to the higher psi membranes.
I wonder if tucker is using a Keensen XLP-4040 2400 GPD membrane. That membrane is 2400GPD at 100psi not 60psi
That membrane has some pretty good advertised specs. It would make about 1 gpm At 60Psi with pretty good rejection. 200.00 as well makes it very reasonable.
