Need help with brine line fittings

[Threehappypenguins]

We bought a whole water softener system online and had it shipped to us, but it's been a bit of a nightmare with missing pieces, broken parts, etc. And I can never get straight answers from the business we bought it from.

The brine line is a black John Guest tubing, and I'm not sure if we have all the inserts and pieces we need to make a secure and proper connection. I thought there was supposed to be a brass insert to go inside the line, but the business is saying that we have everything we need. Here is a picture of the nut and everything on the brine well end:

And here is a picture of the valve end (I didn't take the inserts/ferrules(?) out of the nut for this one):

Do I need a brass insert for both ends?

 

[Asker123]

I just bought a new system and had same question. I found a brass tube like the pic below but only for one end. When I asked my vendor, he said that's ok because for other end ( softener side) they supplied an Push to connect fitting like in the second picture

The role of the brass tube is to provide rigidity to the Brine line. I am not sure how important it is. My brine line seems very strong and not extremely flexible.

You can find this brass tube in home depot. Compression fitting section. The one I found was not snug enough for my tube but my vendor said the PTC( shown in pic) will work so I am good.
Try some sizes in home depot.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Asker123]

Just noticed you are from Nova Scotia. I am in Manitoba. Did you buy from Aquatell by any chance? Then we are dealing with same things.
On the side note Do you the direction of those White and Black rings is important... Right? If not check this video

 

[Threehappypenguins]

Just noticed you are from Nova Scotia. I am in Manitoba. Did you buy from Aquatell by any chance? Then we are dealing with same things.
On the side note Do you the direction of those White and Black rings is important... Right? If not check this video

THANK YOU. That video is perfect and is exactly what we have, minus the brass insert. We did not buy from Aquatell, but bought from The Water Guy.

It's been a nightmare. We ordered a 60K system (2 cuft) which took a couple of months to arrive, and then it arrived with resin already in the fiberglass tank with the valve already screwed on, and we had to lift it out of the brine tank (it was in the brine tank). And we noticed that the valve was broken with the control hanging off of it, which was obviously because whoever packed it (preassembled) did not support the valve head and so the shipping staps were tightened down on the top of the box pressing down on the unsupported valve head. There was also resin spilled everywhere.

Then when we received the replacement valve and finally got around to doing an inventory and reading the manuals to make sure we have everything we need before getting started, we realized that there was no bypass valve, and hence no way to attach the flex hoses. And also that there was only one flex hose (I ordered two John Guest SS flex hoses). The bipass valve isn't on the old valve either. I don't even know how the bypass valve goes onto the valve... screws and o-rings, maybe? And do you happen to know if the bypass valve is 1 3/4" male threads for the flex hoses? I'm scared that we won't receive everything we need to attach the bipass valve.

We have an Autotrol 255. There is also an air lock where the manual says that there's supposed to be a check ball in the air lock (that goes to the brine line), but there is no ball. The Water Guy said that the ball is not needed because there is a check in the brine well assembly.

 

[Asker123]

Hi, I am sorry you had to go through this. Softener supplier vary so much in terms of quality. Only an idiot supplier will ship the valve screwed into the cylinder and then whole think put in the brine tank.
I got lucky on that part. Received the valve nicely packed separately. and Cylinder and Brine tanks separately. Only thing I did not receive was that one brass insert for one side but they have given another Push to connect fitting for that.
My valve is Fleck 5810 so my assembly is different than yours.

You can see my bypass valve here. You need to do some research on your valve. This forum will come handy. Good folks here. Eventually you will figure it out.

 

[Threehappypenguins]

Thanks. I ended up making a new post asking questions about the bypass valve.

 

[Bannerman]

Quick connect fittings such as manufactured by John Guest or Parker Hannifin do not utilize an internal brass insert or an external compression ring, but both are to be utilized when using compression fittings with plastic tubing.

As advised repeatedly on this forum, obtaining water treatment equipment from online vendors is not recommended. Online sales is very competitive so many dealers attempt to remain in business by undercutting prices below the competition. While a brand name control valve model will usually be highlighted, most other components including tanks and resin will be obtained from numerous manufacturers overseas which compete to offer the lowest possible cost.

 

[Zenon2cubed]

I went through all the same confusion with respect to the brass insert, I also purchased through the water guy in Cranbrook.
The water guy is actually just a distributor for Good Water Warehouse, "Good" is the largest, or one of the largest wholesale suppliers of water treatment equipment in North America, you have quality equipment that was abused in transport.

The water guy drop ships directly from Good's Calgary warehouse, so they aren't to blame for the damage. I ordered a 1.5 cu-ft AIO Carbon filter and a 2.0 cu-ft water softener. Both arrived with a tip and tell gauge tripped and laying directly on their side. I also had the cosmetic plastic trim cover broken in transport on my AIO carbon filter and we worked it through it. Taking the softener out of the brine tank is about completely impossible if you're trying to keep everything vertical, since my unit had already been on it's side anyway I just tipped it over 45-degrees and pulled it out with a bear hug.
The instructions included were essentially completely useless because the target audience for this equipment is professional plumbers, not home DIY'ers. So I studied the Aquatell videos and finally called the water guy with my last couple questions, they have been very helpful. I've been dealing with Al.

I tried buying directly from Good, they wouldn't sell to me... Putting two and two together, the water guy, the water-e-store, my local distributor, it all comes from Good...