# Water softener beads?



## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

I don't service water softeners, are these from a failing softener?


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## indyjim (Apr 29, 2017)

Yep. Bypass it and start flushing lines. Those things are a pain in the ass to flush out. 


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## WashingtonPlung (Jul 25, 2016)

The distributor tube most likely broke on the water softener. By pass and call someone who can service it. 

To get the Cation Resin out of the of plumbing lines you can Blow compressed air into the lines while the waters off then flushing it out with the water on. It takes a bit but do able.


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## Dpeckplb (Sep 20, 2013)

Good luck. Those can be evil, I have a house that the softner failed 7 years ago and the airators still gets plugged up once a year. I have done both the compressed air and flushing trick. When I changed the water heater last month it was about 1/4 full.


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## The Dane (Feb 19, 2015)

Dpeckplb said:


> Good luck. Those can be evil, I have a house that the softner failed 7 years ago and the airators still gets plugged up once a year. I have done both the compressed air and flushing trick. When I changed the water heater last month it was about 1/4 full.


So you must not have done maintenance on the heater and flushed it out from the drain now and again? That should have gotten rid of most of the beads.

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## indyjim (Apr 29, 2017)

I have 3 softeners with 2" heads that supply make up water for two large boilers. One basket on the draw tube took a crap. Emptied the softener into the boiler. That was a lot of suck. Condensate traps were all full of that ****. 


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

The customer is hoping they are from his old softener, I was there changing Kohler shark fin flappers and saw those in the tank. Toilets are from 2002 and have never needed service. Softener was replaced in 2009. He's going to clear those resin balls from the tank and monitor it, there wasn't any in the aerators.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

The chlorine that is being used in city water these days across the USA has changed dramatically and its totally killing off water softeners much faster..... 

depending on the chloromines that are being added to your water a unit can go bad in less than 5 years... and the water softeners from lowes and hardware stores are using the lightest cheap resin on the market.... 

Even with the best CLACK controls, I have had to beef up our units to a heavy duty #10 chlorine resistant mineral resin just to get a longer life out of the water softeners...

probably going to have to start selling the chlorine removal charcoal filters as an option to get longer lives out of the systems....

this is getting ugly around here .


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## GAN (Jul 10, 2012)

Not having serviced many softeners , but installing several. I may not be correct, but the only time I had an issue like this the tube was cracked, not something that self clears.

Service or replace.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

GAN said:


> Not having serviced many softeners , but installing several. I may not be correct, but the only time I had an issue like this the tube was cracked, not something that self clears.
> 
> Service or replace.





Usually what happens is the chlorine in the water makes the mineral bed swell up and the expanding pressures breaks the distributor inside the water softener and the mineral bed goes out into the plumbing system.......

I would prefer just installing a new one rather than getting involved in attempting to rebuild a unit with more than 10 years on it..... 

dont even ask me to touch a whilrpool or ge unit....


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## indyjim (Apr 29, 2017)

We use a company out of Texas. They get a sample and use the appropriate resin. Have had very few issues. 


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

I've been thinking of getting into the softener business. It's big out here, but I don't have that much experience with them. I've installed many, repaid a few, but that's it. A license isn't required here and it would add diversity to my services, but I don't like selling a service I have little experience in. 

I've been told I'm to honest to own a business, but my customers seem to like my honesty and advice that comes from experience and in turn never question the bill no matter the amount.


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## indyjim (Apr 29, 2017)

OpenSights said:


> I've been thinking of getting into the softener business. It's big out here, but I don't have that much experience with them. I've installed many, repaid a few, but that's it. A license isn't required here and it would add diversity to my services, but I don't like selling a service I have little experience in.
> 
> I've been told I'm to honest to own a business, but my customers seem to like my honesty and advice that comes from experience and in turn never question the bill no matter the amount.




They're really not that complicated. Find a manufacturer with great tech service. After a couple times troubleshooting with their aid, you'll catch on. Most heads are designed the same. Just different stickers on the front. 


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## indyjim (Apr 29, 2017)

Stay away from larger units. We change resin in a few larger units every few years. Filling 6' tall tanks half full of resin is time consuming, and requires two people to avoid making a mess and loosing lots of resin. 


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

My market would be mostly residential, there's one locally owned company here who is truly good, and doesn't rape their customers. But I've seen $8K+ systems in homes, iron curtain... I know there's money there.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

OpenSights said:


> My market would be mostly residential, there's one locally owned company here who is truly good, and doesn't rape their customers. But I've seen $8K+ systems in homes, iron curtain... I know there's money there.





we put in about 5 a month which is not that many at all..but they add up over time.. The *Clack* valve is all I will install and it has been so reliable that I really dont know how to break them down and rebuild them because I have never had to......I used to be an expert on the Autotrol valve long ago... The mineral bed is the only problem that is cropping up now...

yes there is *good money* in them and sometimes it amazes me how much some places line Kinecito charges for them.. twice what I am installing them for...

...I would like to install more of them but the market around here is saturated and most home owners would rather buy a peice of junk from lowes vs a good brand...


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

Be ready to flush and flush.


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## Mae Rae (Jul 15, 2017)

*Resin Rupture*

This was typed up awhile back for a different post. I thought I would post it here 



In a water softener there are two "strainer baskets" that are in place to keep your Resin Beads from escaping from your mineral tank. These are know as the Top and Bottom Distributors.

When the "Top Distributor" fails resin will slowly but surely flow down your drain. Depletion of resin is slow because the top distributor only deflects the resin during upward flow cycles (e.g. Backwash) so if a fin or two are broken/missing only minor amounts of resin will float up and out during the 5-20 minute backwash.

When the "Bottom Distributor" (aka Intake Manifold) fails the resin will flow like sand in a hour glass. Instead of the resin flowing down the drain, it flows with your "treated water" throughout your house. Sometimes you will have gravel underbedding that leads the charge into your pipes when the rupture occurs. It doesn't matter if the resin beads are alone or gravel is involed, when a rupture occurs, it will require hours of effort and dedication to purge your houses interior plumbing. Heres a good step by step to follow:

Step 1

Bypass the water softener.

Step 2

Drain and flush the hot water heater. Turn off power and cold water supply to the heater. If you are using a gas heater, turn the temperature gauge to the lowest setting. Attach a garden hose to the drain valve at the bottom of the heater. Open the pressure valve to start draining water. Catch water in a bucket periodically to check that it's clear. If all the water has drained from the heater and resin beads still remain, open the cold water to let more water drain into the heater. Keep flushing until all the beads are gone.

Step 3

Flush hot and cold water faucets. Remove the airrators from all the faucets. Place a colander under the faucet to catch any resin beads. Turn on the cold first at full blast and let it run for a couple of minutes. Then turn on the hot water and let it run for a couple of minutes. Toss out the resin beads you catch.

Step 4

Run the water-using appliances to flush of beads. Run the dishwasher, washing machine and other water-using appliances on empty. If the appliances are clogged after running or start to over fill, turn them off. Detach their water hoses and check for clogs. Flush hoses to clear of beads. Check the connections and remove any beads clogging them. Reattach and run the appliances again to flush. This is one of the most important but also the most overlooked and/or skipped steps. Anything hooked up to a water supply line that has a solinoid valve needs to be addressed asap and with caution. 

Step 5

At this point you have all the resin flushed out, but you also have a massive headache and intense frustration for your water softener. The good news is you do not ever have to deal with this situation again. Before you put your new or repaired water softener in service, install a inline "T" strainer mesh filter.

P.S....

Here some of the common causes of Resin Ruptures/Distributor Failure...

1 ) Too much water pressure ( over 80 psi ).
2 ) Not backwashing ( regenerating ) often enough. System should regenerate 
at least once every 7 days.
I've run into "metered" or "demand" systems with just one or two people and 
it takes them 2 - 3 weeks to "require" a regeneration.
This is too long for the resin beads to sit idle and could allow to become "packed" down and not "fluffed up".
3 ) Highly Chlorinated water can break the resin beads down into small fragments. 
These fragments get stuck in the fine slots of the bottom distributor. This 
results in there being less "holes" for the water to flow through, thus 
causing the pressure through the remaining holes or slots to become very 
high. Eventually the pressure of the water becomes too high and the plastic 
gives way.
4) The resin is plugged up from pellet salt glue residue or a bacterial
5 ) Too high of flow rates can be a problem. Residential size softeners ( 
tank diameters between 8 - 10 inches ) are made for flow rates of less than 
8 gpm. And a normal home will peak around 5 - 6 gpm while in house demand is high. If the demand it greater than this, the system 
needs to have a larger tank diameter, and a gravel under bedding should be used.

Personally I'm a big fan of gravel underbedding is all softeners. But that a different topic.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Mae Rae said:


> This was typed up awhile back for a different post. I thought I would post it here
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Post an intro. Actually an informative post without a link drop. Thank you


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks, Thats a Nice post,,, I will probably copy it and put it on my site for general information...

I just posted about the same thing on my face book page but your information is much more informative.... 

but my pictures are better

https://www.facebook.com/WeilhammerPlumbingInc/


I assume that you sell water softeners somewhere in the USA and are loooking for customers???


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## Mae Rae (Jul 15, 2017)

Master Mark said:


> Thanks, Thats a Nice post,,, I will probably copy it and put it on my site for general information...
> 
> I just posted about the same thing on my face book page but your information is much more informative....
> 
> ...






Im a Service Technician who's battled this issue more than a handful of times. Nothing to sell.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Samantha123 said:


> Large COMBO water softener works, you just need to understand what you are buying and have a realistic expectation. This does not remove the minerals, this changes them into a small particle that does not stick and build, that simple. I challenge you to get one of those local magnetic companies to come out and give you an estimate for their system, I did, and the cost was over $1500.00. They could not provide the answers I wanted either, how do I know it will work? All I got was; you will feel it. Well for $1500.00 that was not good enough. What I did get from them was the understanding that you need several magnets, depending on the size of your home(information I did not see posted anywhere about this product) When I saw the reviews on this product, I thought, there is nothing to lose.


and I challenge you to post a proper intro.


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

I HAVE ALREADY BLOCKED THIS


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

OpenSights said:


> and I challenge you to post a proper intro.





MACPLUMB777 said:


> I HAVE ALREADY BLOCKED THIS



I only see she was banned, you can delete as spam and it will erase the post and their entire account. I deleted it.


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