30kgrain softener with Clack WS1 valve losing media out the drain

So recently, my 2yr old water softener, has been running out of soft water regularly. Checking things over, I found that there were some softener beads where the softener drain line exits. I then pulled the softener apart, and found the tank was about 1/2 full of beads. The tank is a 8"Dx47". The softener seems to cycle properly and does produce soft water. Looking further, I notice that the WS1, has a white injector(V3010-1E) installed and a 2.7gal/min drain line restrictor.

From the Clack WS1 manual, it looks like Clack suggests this injector is for 10" tanks. Not sure if the drain line restrictor is also recommended for 10"tanks or not.

Is it likely that this problem has been caused an incorrectly sized injector and restrictor, or do I need to look further?

thanks
Greg

How high is your water pressure? Are you seeing any air spitting at your fixtures? Too much pressure or air behind water can wash beads out of the tank.

Does your manual say how full the tank should be with beads? Some makers will use the same size tank across a few models and just put in less beads.

8x47?
can not say that I have heard of that size, 8x44, 9x48, and 10x44 or 10x47.................. but not an 8x47.....

Did you put this together or did it already come put together from day one?

Your DLFC (drain line flow control) is too big. The size of the media tank dictates the size of the DLFC. For an 8" tank it should be about 1.5 gpm.

Is there a turbulator with this unit?

How high is your water pressure? Are you seeing any air spitting at your fixtures? Too much pressure or air behind water can wash beads out of the tank.

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I presume the water pressure is ok, as it is a municipal system. No air spitting from the fixtures.
Considering this tank is only 1.37cf, and there is supposed to be 1cf of media, I would expect it to be quite full, however the manual does not say anything about how full the tank should be.

can not say that I have heard of that size, 8x44, 9x48, and 10x44 or 10x47.................. but not an 8x47.....

Did you put this together or did it already come put together from day one?

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The tank/valve assembly came assembled, and is a GE #3025653. Says 8x47" right on it, and is sold by these guys.
http://www.goodwaterwarehouse.com/cat/2_pspv.shtml

Your DLFC (drain line flow control) is too big. The size of the media tank dictates the size of the DLFC. For an 8" tank it should be about 1.5 gpm.

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Cool, I was hoping it was a minor issue. Thanks for the responses

There is no tubulator on this unit either.

oreo said:

I presume the water pressure is ok, as it is a municipal system. No air spitting from the fixtures.
Considering this tank is only 1.37cf, and there is supposed to be 1cf of media, I would expect it to be quite full, however the manual does not say anything about how full the tank should be.

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There is no way this tank could hold 1 cf of media and have the proper free board. A 8X47 tank only holds .83 cf of media.

Having purchased from them before more than likely someone that assembled your valve just didn't pay attention, thats also why we quit purchasing equipment from them. You have a 3/4 cu3 softner and you just need to change your dlfc.

There is no way this tank could hold 1 cf of media and have the proper free board. A 8X47 tank only holds .83 cf of media......... You have a 3/4 cu3 softner and you just need to change your dlfc.

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I was wondering about that. Pretty much all the 30k grain softeners I've seen, come with a 9x47tank.

I'm thinking of upgrading the tank to a 10" one, rather than change the dlfc. I found another Clack document, that recommends the white injector, and 2.7dlfc for the 10" tank. I have over 1cf of media from my old softener (the valve assembly kept going on it), so the only cost would be the tank (~$70). This would allow me to run a lower salt dose than I am currently running, pick up some salt efficiency as well as getting a bit more capacity. (In retrospect, I should have gotten a larger replacement than I did. I didn't understand at that time, that in order for the 30kgrain softener to yield ~30kgrains, you need to whack it with a large salt dose).

Thank you for your comments..