Hydrologic Small Boy with Stealth R/O 100 upgrade review.

[shishkaboy]

My tap water was really bad at 350-360 ppm.

I tried a Small boy sediment and carbon filter but it didnt help much with ppms.

I chose this route because I would be able to upgrade to a full reverse osmosis system with the Stealth R/O 100 upgrade kit.

Now Ive got acceptable ppms levels even tho there is still something in there.

 

[shishkaboy]

Im deffo happy with it and imo it was well worth it, imo.

The only thing I would say is dont pit the gauge where the instructions tell you to, it should prolly go just before the membrane.

Other than that make sure you get the float valve at the same time because you're gonna get one anyways.

 

[RB56]

I have the Stealth 150. PPMs dropped for a week or so after I installed it, so if yours is brand new, it might get better. Mine gets to zero, but I'm not starting where you are either. Great systems.

 

[dansbuds]

i use the small boy as a prefilter then have the stealth RO unit , my ppms comes out at 10 . & i use a 55 gallon barrel for RO collection with a pump & hose in it on a switched power strip to turn it on or off when i need water .

 

[Treetroit City]

I've got the 200 gpd and my only complaint is that it only gives me about 75-100 gallons a day real output.

 

[shishkaboy]

Ive been fooling around with the shut off valve and pressure gauge locations.

I ended up putting an icemaker tee on my cold water supply with the manual valve right there (where the gauge used to be).

I moved the guage to to white line the feeds into the membrane.

So now I have the resviour set up with a spigot and an auto off when full but the manual valve turns off the water supply to the system.

The guage still reads some pressure thats still in the system when manually shut off this way tho.

 

[RB56]

I've got the 200 gpd and my only complaint is that it only gives me about 75-100 gallons a day real output.

What's your source pressure? I've wondered what my output is but since my need is less than 10% of rated, I don't care too much. My source pressure is about 38 on the gauge. They say 40 is minimum acceptable. I was prepared to add a booster pump but more 0ppm water than I can use seems good enough

 

[Treetroit City]

What's your source pressure? I've wondered what my output is but since my need is less than 10% of rated, I don't care too much. My source pressure is about 38 on the gauge. They say 40 is minimum acceptable. I was prepared to add a booster pump but more 0ppm water than I can use seems good enough

I have a booster pump to get it to 80 but could probably use a pre filter or two. Well water coming out of the tap at500 ppm.

 

[RB56]

Interesting. I've got 130ppm at the tap, also well. Guess I'm lucky. I've assumed the rated output was absolute best, under perfect conditions. Hope it's not unattainable hyperbole - they seem like a pretty straightforward company so far.

 

[Treetroit City]

Interesting. I've got 130ppm at the tap, also well. Guess I'm lucky. I've assumed the rated output was absolute best, under perfect conditions. Hope it's not unattainable hyperbole - they seem like a pretty straightforward company so far.

To a degree that is true. For instance the membranes are rated for 60 psi and 72 degree water. I'm in a barn so I use a hose from the house and my well water is certainly not coming in at 72 degrees lol.
You can buy low pressure/low temp membranes however and they help a bit but I've never got too close to the rated output.

 

[Lazyman]

I've got the 200 gpd and my only complaint is that it only gives me about 75-100 gallons a day real output.

They make a booster pump for that model that does help a lot. Or, if you're willing to live with a little more TDS, get their low temp/low pressure membranes, they will easily double the output. Mine went from 30 ppm on the standard membranes to about 120 on the low pressure ones, which is a fair tradeoff.

 

[Treetroit City]

They make a booster pump for that model that does help a lot. Or, if you're willing to live with a little more TDS, get their low temp/low pressure membranes, they will easily double the output. Mine went from 30 ppm on the standard membranes to about 120 on the low pressure ones, which is a fair tradeoff.

Yeah I have the 8800 pump which I have to dial down with a ball valve to get down to 80 psi. The low temp/low pressure membranes do help a bit. I might get close to the rated 200 gpd for a day or two but it does doesn't stay that way.
I could use more pre filters I believe and a water softener wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Phases]

Quick question. I've just moved and my tap water is coming out at 250 ppms on the .5 scale. Or .5 ec

I was looking at getting an RO unit but I am wondering if I would be able to get away with using the tap water as is.

My last place the water was under 100 ppm (as low as it goes on the blue lab truncheon.

Any thoughts? Should I get an RO unit or will I be alright with 250 ppms?

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I was looking at getting an RO unit but I am wondering if I would be able to get away with using the tap water as is.

Depends...

If you need hydro advice, you won't be able to use advice from r/o users without modification. R/O removes the variables and makes trading advice and information super easy. You can duplicate results in nearly any location by using r/o.

If you're looking for superior quality, you're not going to attain it with 250ppm tap water. At best you'll hit "decent." Expect to burn your thumb when covering a freshly roasted bowl and a harsher/hotter smoke.

 

[shishkaboy]

Already needs a replacement.

 

[RB56]

Damn. I've got more than 5 months on mine and the sediment filter is still clean and white. I do have a simple sediment filter upstream that I replace ever 6 months and gets about like yours in the unit. Isn't the sediment stage washable?

 

[dansbuds]

Already needs a replacement.


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which is exactly why i use prefilters !

 

[watts]

I really like my hydrologic small boy de-chlorinator. I've had it a couple years now. Nice to know I can upgrade to the RO kit if ever needed.