[jimlucas]

Hi Guys

looking for cheap way to get into wfp work, dont want to pay thousands for a system someone was telling me about the merlin system which can get me going for a few hundred, can anyone explain to me how this works and if its any good please

[GAZZA B]

Hi,

Why not do a search? you will find all you need their.

Just type in Merlin 

Gazza

[GAZZA B]

Hi - just posting this to help all u newbies - from my experience I would recommend a system on www.gapswater.co.uk, it has a 4040 membrane and a carbon and sediment pre filter, it costs £600 including vat and should allow you to fill a tank with tapwater in the back of your van which u connect to the ro system so the water purifies as u use the polebrush, All u would need to add to the system is a pump (should not cost more than £60 - £100 tops, and the water tank ( i think u can buy this on the same site for approx £70 or else get one from ebay for around that price.  If u want your tds reading down to 0 then get one of their resin filters aswell, they cost approx £100 (u can get cheaper depending on size) and then u just need a pole which apart from the site i've mentioned, u can also get from a few good sites include gardinerpolesystems and chiccleaning and even wintecs the whole set up should cost under £1000 half of what i paid from one of the big boy companies(Ipaid £2000 for my system) and this system comes with full maintanence instructions and troubleshooting guides which are INVALUABLE as I was not told how to maintain my system and it cost me a lot of money to repair costly mistakes. You will have to buy a 10 inch carbon filter and a 10 inch sediment filter (all available on sites I have mentioned) every time your tds reading gets around 10ppm and you will have to flush your membrane out daily for one minute by opening up your flow valve then readjusting it till waste water and pure water are running at approx same speed as each other, this will prolong your membrane life (which costs around £200 to replace but if u flush it out daily for 1 min should last over 5 years , you will know when it needs replacing cos the pressure of your water flow will start to drop. if you do end up getting a resin filter attatched to the system, you will need to replace the resin approx every 6 months or so (depending on how frequently u change the carbon and sediment filters, which if u are unsure, just open the two little filter containers (or housings) and see if their looking really brown, u sometimes get away with rinsing them out and making them last a bit longer , but it is only a few quid each to replace and its better to pay £8 for a carbon filter that removes chlorine than not replacing them and the chlorine getting into your ro membrane and knackering it-costing £200!.  some people use the ro-man and merlin systems but from what I have heard u have to spend hours purifying water BEFORE you put it in tank on van as they cannot purify fast enough to purify water to feed your pole whilst working and also need filters etc changing more frequent costing more money in long run (correct me if i'm wrong guys) some people also just use a big resin tank and no water filter system , but this goes through a HELL of alot of resin and as resin costs approx £70 - £85 a bag it would cost approx £1000 a year in resin , compared to 1 bag  used per year with filter system so I would not reccommend! total maintenance costs for water filter system (including 1 x25 litre bag resin that should last 1 year (or approx 3 fills of  filter) and approx 3xcarbon and sediment replacement filters should come to no more than £100 -= £110 and the cost of a replacement membrane £200 spread over approx 5 years = £150 in total running costs per year,  I hope this helps out  newbies out there or anyone generally in the dark about ro systems - 
 
 
 

[cybersye]

I've a merlin system
To be honest if I had the space for a 1000 ltr Ibc holding tank I'd have gone for another system. This is only because the membranes are a bit more costly than others and they dont bring your tds down as low as others, BUT for my requirements it is very good. Its main benefit is its easy to install taking up minimum space and its ability to produce water very quickly (about 100 ltrs an hour for me )
It works alot more efficiently at a good mains pressure e.g 70 + psi and obviously the tds level of your supply will be another factor. Mine is about 350 -400 ppm with a product of 30 ppm so you'll almost definately need a di cannister to bring down the tds to 000. A 10 " sediment pre-filter in addition to the merlin is also recommended just to prolong the life of the membranes and the built in pre-filter.
Hope this helps a bit in your decision.
Ask if you need to know more.
Simon

[craig1913]

Hi. Before you bye your system, Ask how the system is fitted. because if you crash with a 1000 ltr tank thats 52tons of force, even at low speeds, trying to break free and kill you!
simply putting plates though the floor will not hold it. Most are fitted this way. crazzzzzy man.only one i know of crash test there systems.
ionic systems is the best on the market.it cost more but you can see why.
good luck

[jimlucas]

Thanks for the advice guys but I think I would still like to start with a cheap system to see how it goes where the best place to get one from both for price and service

[NWH]

Most companys i`ve spoken to said that theres not much difference in the merlin and a 40x40 as far as rejection and final tds levels are cocerned,read the small print even with a 40x40 the rejection rate can be 97%.

[windowwashers]

Most companys i`ve spoken to said that theres not much difference in the merlin and a 40x40 as far as rejection and final tds levels are cocerned,read the small print even with a 40x40 the rejection rate can be 97%.

97% lol, dont know how it can get that high 

[NWH]

I bet in reality if you could see what your putting down the drain compared to whats going in the tank you wouldn`t laugh,all this 20% waste rubbish if your water pressure is good and your tank is taking say 3hrs to fill how much water do you think your wasting then,a lot lot more than a claimed 20%.

[brightnclean]

Most companys i`ve spoken to said that theres not much difference in the merlin and a 40x40 as far as rejection and final tds levels are cocerned,read the small print even with a 40x40 the rejection rate can be 97%.

WAT???

I fink somoenes been tellin u a few porkies  

If u run a 4040 at around 50/50 waste to pure it will work fine. 60 waste and 40 pure is better though. 20% waste and u will ruin ur membrane quickly and have high TDS out of a 4040 but its still far better than a merlin.

The Merlin is NOWHERE NEAR as good as a decent 4040 system.

It is OK as far as giiving  decent amount of product water out but the waste levels are horrendous compared to a 4040.. which BTW will give a lot better output as well at lower TDS out levels. A merlin OK in a soft to moderate TDS level water area IF u dont mind produing 1000 litres of product and watching between 3000 and 5000 litres going down the drain to waste.

[Paul Coleman]

I now run a Merlin on my static unit.  It gives more water than my previous 300 GPD unit.
My Merlin currently produces about 45 litres per hour of pure water.  This is at a TDS of 007 (from tap water of 250).
This doesn't sound particularly good for a Merlin.  However, when you consider that their optimum performance is at >40PSI water pressure and that my pressure is 30 - 40 PSI, I think it's doing OK.

[Alex Gardiner]

Hi. Before you bye your system, Ask how the system is fitted. because if you crash with a 1000 ltr tank thats 52tons of force, even at low speeds, trying to break free and kill you!
simply putting plates though the floor will not hold it. Most are fitted this way. crazzzzzy man.only one i know of crash test there systems.
ionic systems is the best on the market.it cost more but you can see why.
good luck

Hi craig1913,

Welcome to the Forum, You seem to be something of an Ionics systems expert. Now most of us have seen these Ionics clamps and probably a fair few of us have even had a look at them fitted in a vehicle, but may I ask you, how they are fitted to the floor of the vehicle? Are they simply bolted through the floor of the vehicle or is the floor strengthened in any way first of all. Or do they clamp around the chassis of the vehicle? Or is there another part of the clamp that goes underneath the vehicle? I cannot imagine that they simply bolt through the floor as this would make them only as strong as the vehicle floor which as you point out is not that strong or secure.

[NWH]

Have you seen how thin a vans floor is,i hope they are bolted to the chassisotherwise the floor would rip forward like a can of sardines.