Losing my resin out the drain hose.

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eldyfig

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I'm back. Last month I had a problem with my softener filling the brine tank with water during the brine draw phase. Well, I fixed that problem. The thread is here: https://terrylove.com/forums/showth...ank-filling-up-with-too-much-water&highlight= Since February 10th, everything has been working great.

I added salt about 1 week ago and all looked good. I was out by the system a few days ago and noticed a couple cups worth of resin on the ground where the drain hose lays. I removed the cap where the brine injector screen is and removed and flushed the parts. Things didn't look bad here. I removed the drain nipple and the rubber orifice plug and found alot of resin in this area. I flushed all that I could out of here and reinstalled the parts.

Last night, the system regenerated again. I checked things out before I left for work. What I found did not please me. There was at least a half gallon of resin on the ground at the discharge. With my truck lights shining through the resin tank, I could see that the tank is now only half full. This is an 8" resin tank. The water level in the brine tank is starting to rise incidentally.

We have been having a cold winter down here in SE Georgia. The temp last night got down to 28. We have had alot of nights like this and I still haven't built a pump house to protect my pumps. I have been throwing a blanket over the pumps and letting water trickle out a spigot at the well and at the house. Haven't had any frozen pipes. I am not too sure about the softener.

What do I do? What are all the parts in the resin tank? How much and where can I get resin? Help me, please.
 

Akpsdvan

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Any resin in the house?

Any chance that there has been a crack in the brine line? Getting air into the system while in brine draw?

Air would be one of the first things that I would be looking for in getting into the systeme.. either from the brine tank or from the well..

There are a few other reasons, distributor tube could be cracked below the resin level and getting pushed out while in rapid rinse. really high pressure... say 90PSI...

There are 3 items for the media tank... the tank, resin(some gravel) and the distributor tube that goes from valve to bottom of media tank ..

The room between the top of the tank and the resin for the culligan should be about 16", with you getting to see through the tank, take a reading and find out how many inchs you come up with..

Until we get a handle on the resin getting out..
 

eldyfig

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Earlier this week, I noticed I wasn't getting any hot water from the master bath and the shower stall's pressure was low. Both of these are on the other side of the house, farthest from the well, besides the toilet. The rest of the house seems ok. This was what made me check the system a few days ago when I first noticed the resin on the ground. Yesterday, I removed the cartridge from the tub's faucet. I didn't notice any blockage, but when I reinstalled it and turned the water back on, the problem with it was fixed. I had hot water again. I didn't mess with the shower stall's faucet though.

I will measure the room I have in the tank this evening when I get home from work. There was something else I noticed this morning. It was dark out, so the lights from my truck shining on the tank made it very easy to see the resin in there. There looked to be resin splashed up and sticking to the very top side of the tank.

I guess whenever I turn water off to the house, I should put the softener in Bypass first, huh?
 
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Akpsdvan

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What looks like resin splashed up and sticking to the very top side of the tank could be either resin or stain... if it is resin then it has not fallen back down to the resin and I would go with Air in the line some place between pump and softener..
 

Akpsdvan

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When has a Culligan unit ever had an upper basket?

The older style tanks that they have used for years there was no way one was going in, and the new ones don't get one put in, that is why they always have 17" of freeboard
 

Gary Slusser

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When has a Culligan unit ever had an upper basket?

The older style tanks that they have used for years there was no way one was going in, and the new ones don't get one put in, that is why they always have 17" of freeboard
OK, so no top basket, which makes colder water raise the bed higher than the normally warmer water and flush resin out the drain line.
 

Akpsdvan

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So cold dense water will expand media more than warm less dense warm water..
 

NHmaster

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I'm gonna guess you are pumping some air from the lines through the system. The air gets into the resin tank and the beads float up and out. Check the pump and lines from the well for what is probably a very very small leak.
 

eldyfig

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I checked the level in the resin tank. The tank is approximately 41" to the neck. There is about 21" of head space above the resin.
 

hj

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If the resin is flushing out of the tank, there is a good chance it is also going into your water piping, and if so, that is not good. You do not have to put the softener in bypass when you turn off the water to the house, but you might want to do it NOW, to keep the resin out of the house and your water heater. IF the resin fills the water heater above the level of the thermostat, and I have had it happen, the water heater will do all kinds of weird things, such as give cold water at one time, and super hot water at another.
 

eldyfig

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For the resin to get in the house would mean that it would have to flow up through the inside of the distributor pipe, correct?
 

Akpsdvan

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yes, maybe a crack in that pipe..
But there was some thing that you said about the temps..
I deal with cold water year round so there is no changes, but you have had changes to the temps..
What if you know might be the temp of the water normaly? 50F?
If now the water temp is down 20 , and with the unit out side... that change could be enough to expand the media more... crazy but true....

get some buckets and go out and put the unit into a cleaning cycle, use the bucket to collect any resin that might come out, back light the media tank if you can.. see if the media makes it to the top inside.....
 

eldyfig

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I will when I get some time off, maybe Tuesday. Can I save the resin that is piled up on the ground? Can it be rinsed out?

What do you think about those measurements? At what point, after I fix this problem, would my resin level be considered too low?

Gary, that could be a possibility with the freezing temps we have been having. It has been in the low to mid 60s during the day and dropping to about 28 at night.
 

Akpsdvan

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You might be able to save some of the resin, might be able to rinse it and get the dirt and what not out of it...

If the resin level is below 17" from the top of the inside of the tank that would be To Low.. and you would need to add some resin to bring it to that 17" from the top..

One way around getting that tank heated.. make some kind of temp box around it.. and a 60Watt light... leave the light on and it will make a heat pocket in the temp box.

here there are small boxes.. 4'x4'x5' that have insulation and a 60watt light going 24/7 and there is enough heat to keep it from freezing even when the temps out side get down to -10F...
 

Gary Slusser

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Gary, that could be a possibility with the freezing temps we have been having. It has been in the low to mid 60s during the day and dropping to about 28 at night.
Resin that dries out may break when you try to use it and the pieces will be backwashed out of the tank. Freezing is OK as long as the resin is allowed to thaw naturally. Wash it off good and try it.
 

eldyfig

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Well, I still haven't had a day off. I work 12 hour shifts and live 45 minutes from work. That doesn't leave much time for house work. There does seem to be good news though. The softener regenerated the other day and no resin came out. This makes me think my distributor tube is ok. I will be off this weekend. I will get to check it out more.
 
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