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Can anyone tell me what this is??

SMC CLEANING

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Hi guys replaced my filters for the first time today obviously assuming that it was carbon + sediment. Carbon was fine replaced that when it came to the sediment I found these. I've worked a lot with filters but this stumped me!!! I have tried to upload the photos I took but they are too big I can only describe it as little black crystals with a tiny filter at the top inside blue casing. I’ve just put the sediment filter in and I'm getting 000 so seems to be working fine again. But I would really like to know what this is. Does anyone know??

 
Sediment filter first then carbon block.

You can't tell by looking if the carbon block filter is working or not. If the sediment filter is doing its job then the carbon block filter will always look clean. (If your sediment filter traps everything above 5 microns then anything smaller will just pass through. If the carbon block is also 5 microns then the same particles will pass through that as well.)

I don't know what the black crystals are, sorry.

 
Sediment filter first then carbon block.
You can't tell by looking if the carbon block filter is working or not. If the sediment filter is doing its job then the carbon block filter will always look clean. (If your sediment filter traps everything above 5 microns then anything smaller will just pass through. If the carbon block is also 5 microns then the same particles will pass through that as well.)

I don't know what the black crystals are, sorry.
Both sediment and carbon filters are the right ones for my system so im hoping it will all be ok. But the carbon filterd did seem not to be as bad so it obviously did it's job what ever it is!!

 
The carbon filter removes chlorine from the water. You can't tell if its working or not by looking at it. The only way is to test for chlorine in the water after it has been through the carbon block.

If you search for swimming pool chlorine testers you will see what I mean. However these are very crude testers so not really suitable for our purposes. If the water has chlorine in it then the carbon block isn't working any longer and you will damage your membranes.

Gardiners (and others) sell Fiberdyne carbon block filters that can also be used as a sediment filter. A 10" fiberdyne filter will process around 38,000 liters of water before they become unserviceable (no longer work). If you are using that as a combo, the filter will be filthy. If you have a sediment filter before it, the same filter will look visually clean. Because it looks clean it doesn't mean that it is still working.

We use 20" fiberdyne filters that will process about 75,000 liters. Our water is laden with sediment so usually replace the sediment filter every 3 weeks and the fiberdyne filter every 12 weeks depending on usage.

It could be that the fiberdyne filter will last longer, but we choose to err on the side of caution and follow manufacturers guide lines. (The processed water includes waste as well as pure.)

 
The carbon filter removes chlorine from the water. You can't tell if its working or not by looking at it. The only way is to test for chlorine in the water after it has been through the carbon block.
If you search for swimming pool chlorine testers you will see what I mean. However these are very crude testers so not really suitable for our purposes. If the water has chlorine in it then the carbon block isn't working any longer and you will damage your membranes.

Gardiners (and others) sell Fiberdyne carbon block filters that can also be used as a sediment filter. A 10" fiberdyne filter will process around 38,000 liters of water before they become unserviceable (no longer work). If you are using that as a combo, the filter will be filthy. If you have a sediment filter before it, the same filter will look visually clean. Because it looks clean it doesn't mean that it is still working.

We use 20" fiberdyne filters that will process about 75,000 liters. Our water is laden with sediment so usually replace the sediment filter every 3 weeks and the fiberdyne filter every 12 weeks depending on usage.

It could be that the fiberdyne filter will last longer, but we choose to err on the side of caution and follow manufacturers guide lines. (The processed water includes waste as well as pure.)
Lovely thanks for your help!!

 
hi smc, as far as the pictures being too big that problem keeps croping up on here ...bit of a pain for me too....I have to open the pictures in windows picture manager and edit pictures compress pictures for web....

I was just wondering, as its a common problem whether an automatic picture compression software couldnt be included @Gav

others use dropbox but I havent tried that yet...will do soon.

as for your post ...I havent much knowledge yet as I am only just due to change mine but are you sure your sediment filter wasnt the wrong one as it sounds like a granular carbon filter.

I am just going to copy what sprucey said as he knows his stuff../emoticons/biggrin.png..

 
Will take a look at what I can do. Its more about the picture size as in file size than it is dimensions. The problem I have is I could up the size limit, but eventually that would impact on the site having hundreds of huge pictures. I will see what other options their are.

 
As an example this pic was 2.8mb but reduce to 333.kb with width reduced to 600 pixels using easy thumbnails. In the settings you can reduce the pic to any size you want too.

View attachment 3555

The pic looks a bit distorded but that is due to using a gopro on wide angle settings so is nothing to do with reducing the size of the pic

 
hi smc, as far as the pictures being too big that problem keeps croping up on here ...bit of a pain for me too....I have to open the pictures in windows picture manager and edit pictures compress pictures for web....
I was just wondering, as its a common problem whether an automatic picture compression software couldnt be included @Gav

others use dropbox but I havent tried that yet...will do soon.

as for your post ...I havent much knowledge yet as I am only just due to change mine but are you sure your sediment filter wasnt the wrong one as it sounds like a granular carbon filter.

I am just going to copy what sprucey said as he knows his stuff../emoticons/biggrin.png..
Yeh happens a lot to me with pictures to be honest it seems to be the pictures I take on my iPhone!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 
I'm sure if you look on itunes store you will find an app to resize the pics you take. Or if you transfer the pics to a PC you could use that free software I mentioned above which is what I do when wanting to resize iphone pics.

 
yep thats the granulated carbon type which is basically carbon block smashed to pieces...not a sediment filter though...thats the type we use for keeping fish...

 
yep thats the granulated carbon type which is basically carbon block smashed to pieces...not a sediment filter though...thats the type we use for keeping fish...
Have never seen this before so what your saying is they are using two carbon filters one block and one granulated? I'm going to use the sediment see how it goes for now I'm hoping it will do the same job.

 
I havent changed any pre filters yet but the guy I bought the kit off sells a set of filters with two granulated two carbon block and two pre filters but I am at a loss as the third canister on my system is for the resin so I dont really know what to buy...

our top man spruce will know ...../emoticons/biggrin.png

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Pack-of-Filters-10-Sediment-Carbon-Block-Carbon-Granular-WFP-/180999630756?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item2a246b2fa4

I dont understand as I only have three canisters and one is for the resin....this is the actual guy I bought it off and he sells the same..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Extend2wash-Hidrotek-2-sets-10-pre-filters-reverse-osmosis-6-filters-in-total-/140600711710?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item20bc749a1e

.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I havent changed any pre filters yet but the guy I bought the kit off sells a set of filters with two granulated two carbon and two pre filters but I am at a loss as the third canistor on my system is for the resin so I dont really know what to buy...
Give these a try they helped me out just explain to them i found them the best i spoke to when i was at a loss everyone else was useless.

http://www.easyh2o.co.uk/default.asp

 

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