tunze calcium doser?

[blueboy]

does anyone have any experience with the tunze calcium doser that works in conjunction with the osmolator? i'm looking for a simple system to stabilize my PH.

[scuba_steveo]

clogs a bunch and just as expensive as a nice DIY kalk reactor

[blueboy]

well, i was looking at a used one(i wouldn't pay $100 for a soda bottle, some 1/4"hose, and a check valve!). they recommend using very fine kalk. appharently tunze kalk is powder fine. of course that means you are stuck buying their expensive kalk!

[jc]

I just add the kalk to my water reservoir. I add 2 teaspoons per gallon according to the instructions. It does settle some but the water is still milky. The only downside would be that kalk is supposed to eat up your pump. To me the benefit outweighs the bad. A replacement pump is only $20 and I like not having to plug in another device like a kalk reactor.

[jc]

Oh yeah, I have been doing this for about half a year and the pump shows no sign of wear.

[blueboy]

yeah, i thought thats how brett(turbobrett, brettwilson) used to do it. he just kept an extra pump on hand, and i believe he used something to hold the pump off the bottom of the resevoir an inch or so, to keep it from picking up so much settled desidue.

[MikeP]

I have one of these I got in trade. In line with an osmolator it does work ok but the amount of kalk and mixing that actually happens is erratic. Never used the expensive Tunze kalk , usually just cheap Kent kalkwasser mix and it did get clumpy and the input / output nozzles needed to be cleaned every month or two. When it worked it was decent but a sturdy plastic botle, 2 hose nubs and draw 'Tunze' on it with a sharpie and you have the same thing (sorry Roger!).

[blueboy]

yes, i know that's true( it's basically a coke bottle), but i just figured for the trouble, and time of compiling parts, and"engineering" the thing without another to look at, i might as well buy a used one if the price is right. what happens when they clog? does the pump keep trying to pump

[scuba_steveo]

I love Tunze products. Anyone who know me knows that. I did buy this product. I do not love it.
I too looked into just adding the kalk into my RO container but like it was said above this shortens the life of the pump.

A osmolator/osmomat tip:
I have two tunze pumps plugged into one osmolator. Why? If one goes out (and they do) the other will keep the tank level. When I fill my RO trashcan I take 5 seconds and check to make sure both pumps are still working.

[blueboy]

considering that you could buy 5 pumps for the price of one of the dosers, maybe i'll just put kalk in my top off water, and see how long the pump lasts!

[JimD]

This is about as simple as it gets and works perfectly.


http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p114/JimD_photo/100_0722.jpg

[scuba_steveo]

This is about as simple as it gets and works perfectly.
Exactly!

[Texreefer]

hey Jim where did you get that calcium hydroxide?

[blueboy]

jimd-nice device, so, looks like a PVC flange(4"?) a length of pipe(how long) and a coupler(4"-2"?) with some sort of cap, so you can add kalk, and keep out air. is the blue thing just your top-off pump? i guess the mixer pump is on a timer? how do you prevent it from dosing while it's mixing, and getting undissolved kalk in the tank? looks like an easy enough build.

[JimD]

Tex, I got it from Premium, ESV all the way...

The blue thing is an Aqualifter pump hooked up th a float switch in the tank, it works great and theyre like $12. The mix pump is on a timer and the doser is also, the mix pump is set to go on just before lights out for 15 minutes and the dose pump is set to stay off for 2 hours after to allow for settling. Its the internal plumbing that makes this reactor different from most DIY's.

Steve, are you using one of these reactors?

[blueboy]

internal plumbing? what's inside? did you design it, or did you find the design somewere? if so were? got a link? very interested, thanks

[JimD]

Yeah, Its my design. Its plumbed so that when its mixing, the water is forced to create a vortex or a tornado like whirlpool at the surface which pushes the mixture to the bottom then back up. This decreases mix time and helps increase pump life.

[blueboy]

so, you have an elbow on the inside, or what?