Reefaddict,
the reason u want to flush the ro out is because When the membrane sits it accumulates toxins. On my unit I have added a T before the di and that's also my drinking water, they call it a flush valve also. I run it for about 20-30 min and that's how u rid ur membrane of high tds, in the 20-30's from sitting. Once I reach my previously tested rejection rate ( 2-6 for me) I can let it run into the di other wise ur just buttoning through Di.
Wow dude,
You should flush, that's explains why your new ro/di unit is creeping in tds so early and I know the water in ur are isn't too bad. U should be able to go a year befo ur di starts to creep especially cause I run MaX cap, they have a larger capacity.
Vu,
Took me about three years into the hobby to know what everything was. That guage talks to ya higher psi better rejection rate, more savings.
Kim,
I also own a brs and they offer .6 micron for 2.99 and thats what i used. The brs isn't .6 across the filter but is .6 on the inside and larger on the outside, I actually like this better, especially since I can watch my guage and know I don't have crazy rust in my pipe or crazy minerals. The spectrapure is nominal and is .5 across the whole filter. I don't understand how that is 10 dollars better but I guess it's supposed to be. This will clog faster IME but is supposed to be better. I used these religiously for 3-4 years but later IME they didn't offer me any benefits but can help those in diff areas.
So if the brs has worked for u then the .6 from brs, they do offer it along with the .5 carbon for ur 4 stage unit. I also have about 225ppm going in also.