[Richard Stevenson]

I know  most the windys on here build there own systems,  I am happy to pay to have it done for me, each to their own.  Anyway had my 3rd ionics system March last year the others have been spotted on and have still got one. With in two weeks the zero had blown a celenoid, I was told by ionics my water pressure was to low so had fast fill pump fitted, then it blow another so 3 hour round trip to see what's was wrong they changed it and this was down to low water volume  ( my falt again). 2 months later another blown, back down to ionics a filter housing had cracked also, no explanation why, all sorted, but another lost day. 4 other unhappy windys down for the day also. 7 months on another filter housing has cracked,  apparently my water pressure is now to high, out of warranty now £70. All you get from ionics is its all your falt,  pressure to high  pressure to low blar blar. Anyone thinking of buying a new system this is not one I would recommend
 It would be interesting to see if anyone had similar experience .

[dd]

Premise I work on is the more simple the better. I use a static system and a simple 300gpd ro system which fills a 1500l storage tank. Reasonable water pressure so I am fortunate not to need a booster pump. I also do not use a solenoid switch (simple to turn system on and off myself).

I used to have an expensive ro system from Aquafactors which was prone to faults. Last repair bill was over £300 so when it broke down shortly after being repaired again, I spent less than £300 on a simple ro system which has served me well for around 6 years now.

[Smurf]

That sounds a bummer after spending a fortune on a system like that. I bet you are well peed off with it and ionics customer service too?

Thanks for sharing as it's interesting to get feedback good or bad on different types of systems out there and how customer services deal with customer issues.




 

[slap bash]

Wake up and smell the roses. Now you know why chaps build there own system. Because by the time you are done you will know everything about it and will be able to maintain and repair yourself. The company you and many think is great is there to make money and don`t care how many days you loose. The name alone its what you pay for and all they will deliver is clean windows with your hands and all the expense of running a system. Hold on there will be more cost to come.

[NWH]

My system in the van has a pump DI vessel and battery that's all you need and a TDS meter,they are built to be non serviceable by the operator and replacement filters etc that need to be brought from them. Has no one cottoned on to them by now,they are purely out to fleece end of. That's only a fraction of the story people I know that have had them have never been happy when one blokes ran out of warranty I bypassed the filters and re plumber it from pump to resin can to Hosereel to stop all the in nessesary expense and problems,they eat resin like it's going out of fashion there cartridges hold a couple of handfuls. You can't see what it looks like with the doors on the van closed people get a grip I'm surprised they haven't gone bust by now

[dazmond]

I know  most the windys on here build there own systems,  I am happy to pay to have it done for me, each to their own.  Anyway had my 3rd ionics system March last year the others have been spotted on and have still got one. With in two weeks the zero had blown a celenoid, I was told by ionics my water pressure was to low so had fast fill pump fitted, then it blow another so 3 hour round trip to see what's was wrong they changed it and this was down to low water volume  ( my falt again). 2 months later another blown, back down to ionics a filter housing had cracked also, no explanation why, all sorted, but another lost day. 4 other unhappy windys down for the day also. 7 months on another filter housing has cracked,  apparently my water pressure is now to high, out of warranty now £70. All you get from ionics is its all your falt,  pressure to high  pressure to low blar blar. Anyone thinking of buying a new system this is not one I would recommend
 It would be interesting to see if anyone had similar experience .

you must have money to burn mate.how much has a zero system cost you?

my van mount system(without poles and brushes)cost me around £1300

brand new 500l tank and frame            £500(including fitting at local garage)

pumpbox & battery   £300

redashe reel and hose  £250

DI vessels,connectors,resin £250

i am DI only though.my biggest outlay has been on carbon poles and brushes(around 3k)

[Cookie]

Thanks for your post Richard. I guess the more complex the system the more there is to go wrong. There have been some positive posts on here re: Ionic's Pure2o systems so I guess it's not all bad for Ionics.

[CleanClear]

I know  most the windys on here build there own systems,  I am happy to pay to have it done for me, each to their own.
<snip>
 It would be interesting to see if anyone had similar experience .

You want a free maintainance package , is that what you're after ?  Like you say, most of us fix our own, you're happy to pay , each to their own . I'm not seeing the problem.

[NWH]

Not seeing a problem,read some of the above m8 complete rip off they look good that's it they do nothing more than nearly all other systems the bloke that does the roadshows that keep forever saying the word maaaaaccccccccccsssssshines didn't even have a so called parts per billion TDS meter lol. The clip is between 15-20 minutes long on YouTube and the stuff he talks about is no different to the information everyone knows about ROs and pre filters etc,when asked what's the difference in this particular system he just says that the maaaaaaaccccccccsssshine re circulates the water back into the tank which is what I do when I'm pre heating water on the way to work in the morning running it through resin time and time again. The only new thing on that machine that's new is the fact that it has a cartridge which contains Nuclear resin which anyone can buy and put in a canister if they want to pay £200 a sack,I still want to know how much a 6-700 litre zero system is.

[Pete Thompson]

Thanks for your post Richard. I guess the more complex the system the more there is to go wrong. There have been some positive posts on here re: Ionic's Pure2o systems so I guess it's not all bad for Ionics.

I have a Pure2o system from Ionics (400 litre RODI) and I cannot fault it.  Top notch system, never let me down, and I always found Ionics good to deal with.  I would highly recommend.

(No experience of a zero as it was out of my price range at the time.)

[rosskesava]

For me, Ionics = rip off.

Plain and simple.

[Mike #1]

For me, Ionics = rip off.

Plain and simple.

+1  Its just a shame you are finding out the hard way after investing so much money , Sleepless nights no doubt but a post on this forum asking about systems  would have given you some insight were to spend you're money hopefully all will be sorted soon and you will be trouble free .

[Walter Mitty]

The only reason I have an Ionics system (delivery unit only) is because I needed a van without paying a deposit.  I also needed a fast turnaround time because renting a van and working from containers and backpack was costing - not just money because my body was struggling too.  Even though it's just a delivery unit, the wiring looks more complex than I'm used to.
With my old system, it was just tank, split charge relay, battery and on-off switch while controlling the flow with return-to-tank tap plus a plastic tap at the end of the hose.  It didn't look particularly swish but at least I could easily self-maintain.
When things eventually start going wrong with my Ionics kit, I will probably start adjusting things back to the way I know.
I'm not unhappy with what I have, but I would struggle to maintain it.  It is also harder to remove things at night for frost protection.
My mistake was waiting until my back was to the wall before replacing my old van.

I'm not knocking Ionics because they sold me what I needed, when I needed it - and in a timely manner.
I got what I needed at the time but if I had left myself more choices, I would have chosen differently - not because the kit is poor but because self-maintenance looks tricky.

[Cookie]

Thanks for your post Richard. I guess the more complex the system the more there is to go wrong. There have been some positive posts on here re: Ionic's Pure2o systems so I guess it's not all bad for Ionics.

I have a Pure2o system from Ionics (400 litre RODI) and I cannot fault it.  Top notch system, never let me down, and I always found Ionics good to deal with.  I would highly recommend.

(No experience of a zero as it was out of my price range at the time.)

Just out of interest Pete how do you find the maintenance on your Pure2o system?

[robert mitchell]

I had a 400 pure2o system and maintenance was easy , it's just a basic 4040 system

[Richard Stevenson]

Thanks for your comments guys,  the system cost about 10k a price I, m happy with as long as it's reliable,  I would normally keep it for the best part of 10 years 1k per year less than 1% of annual turnover,  like I said each to there own, making or buying is not my point it just pointing out my mistake so other hopefully won't make the same mistake.

[Pete Thompson]

Just out of interest Pete how do you find the maintenance on your Pure2o system?

In a word, easy.

The only real maintenance I do is swapping out the pre-filters every 4 months or so (or if the sediment filter starts to look manky), which are in Atlas housings so you just unscrew them, swap the filter, and then screw them back on.

Aside that, I let the RO run flush for about 20 minutes before I start it filling, and about 20 minutes after its finished.

The resin is in a standard blue vessel that's easy to switch out, which I do about once a year.  (RO gets the water down to about 4ppm, so resin lasts ages and ages)

That's all I do.  No idea if I should be doing anything else, but everything's always seemed to work fine.

[NWH]

That Zero system gets the water down to 4-5 after RO the same as most other 40x40 RO systems then it passes through resin,it has no special pre filters or anything else different they just use Nuclear resin which gives no better results as regular resin. A worker that doesn't know what he's doing with a pole will get bad results with 000ppm 000ppb or 010ppm,it's down to knowledge and knowing what your doing from the ground is what will get a good result after they've dried off.

[AuRavelling79]

Why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why ...

... do some folk never learn?

[windowswashed]

Nothing wrong with an ionics system. I have a 600 litre one and it's easy peasy
Insulated the tank to keep my water lovely and toastie.