[aargee]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Eureka Forbes used to be a great product company. Now they are selling low quality products, and their service is also horrible. I am done with them.

Sir, please do not give up that easy; it's just a simple mechanism inside any water purifier to simply send pressurized water through a membrane that filters the sediments in water in form of PPM to yield good drinking water. All the remaining electronics are just gimmicks which are the source of trouble!! Except solenoid valve & water level sensor all others are to be simply thrown away

[ms001]

Any recommendations for a good hassle free under sink RO model?
Have heard mixed reviews of both Aquaguard and AOSmith.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by ms001

Any recommendations for a good hassle free under sink RO model?

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Try ZeroB UV purifiers if you do not need RO .

Try them for RO too!

We have had under-sink RO machine for 15 years.

They do everything from small systems to commercial stuff.

[Samurai]

A friend contacted an aquaguard expert and found this info for me:

1. The PCB on this model is bad one, conks mostly
2. This is a very old model (15+ years), works on 12V. Has to be converted to 24V because the 12V isn't sufficient to power the lights & PCB

And they are still selling this model? I didn't want to deal with it anymore.

After that I just walked to the nearby appliances store and asked for a good water purifier with good service in my area. And I bought it, and installation was done by 5pm. It is UV Plus from Havells.





Here are the pros:
1) Lot cheaper than the aquaguard model I bought.
2) The plastic quality is much better.
3) Can be kept on continuously. Since it has 7L water storage, I can get water instantaneously, no need to wait. The aquaguard installer told me to shut it off when not under use.

Water purifier is a low tech device, any appliance maker can build a good one. It all comes down to maintaining quality and giving good service for a long time. Eureka Forbes used to know this. Now they don't.

[RajaTaurus]

^^ This doesn't have Reverse Osmosis, hence no comparison with Aquaguard. If there is RO, then Aquaguard guy was right. Use it as a batch process. Fill it, shut it - Consume and then switch on - Repeat. Don't keep it on continuously.
UV + UF may be kept on.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Such devices may be powered on, but may not be running.

Our under-counter Zero-B machine is never powered off. It fills a pressurised tank, and is operated by a pressure switch, so it runs when water is drawn. RO water on tap, without anything to remember or forget.

If we remember, we turn it off when going on holiday. We were advised to do this by our maintenance guy.

It has been pretty-much permanently on, except for maintenance, since we bought it in 2007. However, rebuilt after flood submersion, I can say that it's current incarnation has been running since January 2016.

(Like a good computer operating system, it never needs a reboot )

[RajaTaurus]

Reverse osmosis membrane expands many times its pore size due to pressure of input water to allow water molecules through its pores. When the unit is stopped, they contract fast, causing suck-back of permeate water. Though this causes serious damage to the membrane at higher osmotic pressure i.e. sea water (60-70 bar), it still causes a minor shock to the membrane structure. When the unit is on and you keep drawing water frequently, the unit restarts and stops frequently, reducing life of membrane.

I have an Aquaguard Magna, with bore water at 400 TDS and the membrane lasts 3 years, I use it in batch.

It is advisable and best for the life of membrane to use it as batch process. Leaving it on is entirely one's choice.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

It is advisable and best for the life of membrane to use it as batch process.

Thank you very much: I was really not aware of that functional detail.

Thank you for the information and advice

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

^^ This doesn't have Reverse Osmosis, hence no comparison with Aquaguard. If there is RO, then Aquaguard guy was right.

I have never ever owned RO aquaguard. So the guy was wrong.

[RajaTaurus]

^^ is this supposed to be sarcastic.? Regardless of make, a Reverse Osmosis unit need to be shut off when not in use for better life of membrane. He was right.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

^^ is this supposed to be sarcastic.? Regardless of make, a Reverse Osmosis unit need to be shut off when not in use for better life of membrane. He was right.

No. My aquaguard unit was not a RO, so his recommendation was wrong.

BTW, why are you talking about RO when I have clearly specified I do not have RO?

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by Samurai

No. My aquaguard unit was not a RO, so his recommendation was wrong.

BTW, why are you talking about RO when I have clearly specified I do not have RO?

Ok. My bad. Let us leave it there..

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

Regardless of make, a Reverse Osmosis unit need to be shut off when not in use for better life of membrane. He was right.

I have a Kent under-the-sink water purifier. It does have a tank, but I always keep it Off. It's been working for donkey years, but every Year, I have to change everything mandatory - around 4-5K expense. Is this due to keeping it On always? It starts giving a beep around a Years mark. If I switch off the unit, the water, even if filled in the tank, does not come out as it's placed under the sink.

What sort of replacement should I look for?

[RajaTaurus]

^^ You didn't mention if it has RO or not. Normally Units RO are provided with tanks for fill, shut, consume and repeat. I haven't known any RO system without tank.

For replacement there are many criteria. Off hand, I cannot suggest any new system. You may go through this thread for enough info.

[grazd]

Having bought an RO purifier recently, what i discovered was that water purifiers have become a generic commodity now. The one i bought has no name of manufacturer, it looks like a white label product that can be struck with any branding.

The model is called aqua pearl, and it looks very similar to one sold with Kent branding. In general such models with easily detachable tanks are better for self service since it can be cleaned when needed.

We Owned an aquaguard uv purifier that went bust, and could not get service from the company despite AMC and repeated follow ups. Atleast in Bangalore it looks like their service has gone down the drain. Got tired and went with the unbranded model since it has easy local service availability. Quoted 2800 for changing one set of cartridges.

Neighbours have been using the same for a few years, will have to see about long term reliability.