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I need help with a replacement RO membrane

Clint

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Hi guys. About a year ago I bought a Lan Shan brand RO filteron ebay. Well, guess what? I went to home depot, thinking all membranes are the same, and got a GE membrane (only kind they had). I come home and open it up, and it's bigger than my casing and looks completely different. The membrane I originally had was hard and plastic like, and the GE one I bought said Reverse Osmosis on the front but looks like a regular water filter to me and isn't hard or plastic like at all. I'm no plumber or anything, and I have a feeling that it will be hard to find a new membrane if they are brand-specific. Or are they all interchangeable? My filter is 100 GPD and if someone could help me out (IE tell me what to buy and preferable where), I'd greatly appreciate it!

http://www.lanshan.com.tw/eng/pro_cover_ro.htm


I'd rather not order from Tiawan. I don't even think that website is commercial and has online sales.

This is the thing I got from home depot. It said Reverse Osmosis Filters on it but not the word "membrane" and I guess that's where I messed up at lol.

http://www.fridgefilters.com/ge-smartwater-reverse-osmosis-filters-fx12p.html
 
Did you try contacting them and seeing if there is a distributor or retailer of their products in the US or Canada?
 
No reply. Also because I don't know if I absolutely have to use their brand of membrane. I don't know squat about reverse osmosis filter replacements and stuff like that, so for all I know I can use any membrane with any other unit as long as it's the same size. That's what I don't know, if I can just hop down to lowes or wal mart and pick up say, a GE or some other brand and put it in my asian one.

Can I buy this one? http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUA-SAFE-REVER...ryZ20684QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
 
It seems to me that as long as it fits and seals properly any other should work. Maybe you can just replace the housing with a GE one or something.
 
No, it's all sort of hooked up together. There's like.. a sediment filter, then a carbon/taste (something like that) filter then finally the membrane.
 
I use aqua safe and Im very pleased with them,

you need to get the same flow rate as the original, the fixed orifice (AKA flow restrictor) will be sized for that particular flow rate, if you want to change flow rate you need to also change the orifice

there are basically two common types of membrane material, TFC and CTA, most everyone uses TFC membranes, CTA are designed for use with chlorine, but they are not as efficient at removing contaminants and can rot if used without chlorine, (rarely used in our application, typically we use carbon in the prefiltration stages to deal with the chlorine)

take for example the membrane number TW30-2012-100, this usually breaks down as being TFC style, 2 inch diameter, 12 inches length and 100 gpd

HTH,
Av

(for ultra high quality prefilters, parts and a great deal on a dual inline tds meter look at spectrapure, but they are kinda high on their membranes)
 
jlap, you have the generic "normal" size ro filter. almost all of the 100 gpd on ebay should fit yours. mine takes the same size as yours. I actually upgraded to a 150 gpd filter for my last replacment filter.
 
If they fit and have the same operating specs, they should be interchangeable. All reverse osmosis units work in the same general manner; it's just that some membranes work at different water pressures than others. You should be sure that your system doesn't exceed the capacity of the membrane, otherwise you might blow a hole in it. Less critically, you should try to have your water pressure close to the recommended operating pressure of the membrane, as low water pressure can lead to poor performance and flow rate.
~Joe

PS - I guess it also depends on what all is in your cartridges; if it's just a membrane, you should be able to replace it with another membrane, but I can imagine some manufacturers might put pre- or post-filters in with the membranes, so it would probably be worth it to check the label.
 
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