Resin Recommendation

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bricc

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I have a Fleck 5600SXT with a 10x44 tank. It was prefilled with Indion 225 Naf resin. After installing the unit in our new house we found that our water had a funny taste and it caused us to have upset stomach issues. I called the retailer and they sent replacement resin, saying something about a bad batch. The replacement resin is the same type as was originally installed, so I'm skeptical that it will solve our problem.

I'm not an expert, but I do have some experience with water softeners having installed several of them and lived with them for most of my life. My dad and grandfather are builders and I've remodeled and built about 10 houses myself and softeners have been a part of almost every one.

So, my question is should I try to use this replacement Indion resin or toss it out and buy some other brand? I've read that Purolite C100E is good, but there are very few reviews or recommendations for any brand. Any adivce would be greatly appreciated.


Brian
 

bricc

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Thanks! Sounds like I should just go ahead and rebuild it with the replacement Indion resin.

I just wanted to be sure because the softener is in a very tight spot and it's not an easy proposition to take it apart again. I'd rather spend the money now and do it once if required.
 

ditttohead

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Indion is one of the larger manufacturers of many types of ion exchange resin. It has become a fairly well trusted name in the industry. http://www.ionresins.com/products.html

Bad batches of resin do happen, rarely, but all of the major manufacturers have had this same kind of issues at some point.

I have been testing resins by Indion for a while, though we don't sell their product, most of their resins have passed our in-house and field testing. You should be fine with a fresh bag of resin. Let us know how it works out.
 

bricc

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Thanks for the info. I'm putting it back together today and should know something soon.
 

DonL

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So, my question is should I try to use this replacement Indion resin or toss it out and buy some other brand? I've read that Purolite C100E is good, but there are very few reviews or recommendations for any brand. Any adivce would be greatly appreciated.

Brian


If it has dried out, I would toss it and buy new. The bad batch was years ago.

The manufacture recommends Deionized water to condition the resin before use.


Good Luck.
 
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bricc

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Well, it looks like I'm in the market for another brand of resin. After everything is back together, the result is water that has a strong plastic taste. I'm not sure about the upset stomach part because I've not drank enough of the water to find out. I'm running it through a couple more regen cycles to see if it will help, but I doubt it.

So, back to the original question. :) What's a good brand of resin to avoid these issues? And do you know of a good place to buy it in the DFW area? Or should I just buy it online?

Thanks again!
 

DonL

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Well, it looks like I'm in the market for another brand of resin. After everything is back together, the result is water that has a strong plastic taste. I'm not sure about the upset stomach part because I've not drank enough of the water to find out. I'm running it through a couple more regen cycles to see if it will help, but I doubt it.

So, back to the original question. :) What's a good brand of resin to avoid these issues? And do you know of a good place to buy it in the DFW area? Or should I just buy it online?

Thanks again!


You should follow the manufactures direction, and use deionized water as directed.

Just a thought.


Good Luck.
 

bricc

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I did follow the directions to use deionized water, but those were posted here. They were not provided anywhere else or in any of my searches. BTW, is that a normal procedure? I've replaced resin several times before and never heard of that being required. It's also rarely mentioned in any search that I do.

As such, I'm looking for a replacement resin that will perform like what I've had in the other water softeners that I've used over the last 44 years.
 

DonL

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I did follow the directions to use deionized water, but those were posted here. They were not provided anywhere else or in any of my searches. BTW, is that a normal procedure? I've replaced resin several times before and never heard of that being required. It's also rarely mentioned in any search that I do.

As such, I'm looking for a replacement resin that will perform like what I've had in the other water softeners that I've used over the last 44 years.


These may help.


http://www.greatlakesintl.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/indion_225naf_resin.pdf

http://www.pentairaqua.com/Files/KnowledgeBase/ItemDownload/en/indion-225-na-f-4000473-lr.pdf


I would not give up yet.


Good Luck.
 

ditttohead

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This is only a guess, but most resin manufacturers are now using a "solvent free" manufacturing process. This seems to have made some of the start up problems that were not as common in the past. The resin does take longer to rinse down and to get rid of the bad taste. I would regenerate the resin a couple of times. You may also add a small amount of bleach to the brine tank, this is common practice for many of the larger softener companies at start up of their equipment. it is really to sanitize the sytem since it has been handled by human hands, but it may also help with some of the off taste. it will not damage the resin. Chlorine damage on resin is cumulative, so a 1/4 cup of bleah in the brine tank will not even be noticed by the resin.

Keep us updated on how it works.
 

DonL

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I am no resin expert.

But I think that the resin will need to be discharged and recharged , not just recharged and recharged more and more.

Until a few complete normal user cycles is let to pass, then you have not given the resin its chance to work out impurities.


Am I wrong ? I was once before.
 

bricc

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I've cycled it four times today so far and it's in the middle of cycling again now with bleach in the brine tank as recommended by Dittohead (gotta love the handle). I've also had the water running through it for several hours between the regen cycles. I really hope that it resolves itself, but I'm far from convinced. This is what happened before I replaced the resin. We let it go for like 3 months and were pulling our drinking water from a non-softened tap. It just never got better. There was a weird taste and upset stomach issues. All very odd given that I've never had this experience with a softener before.

I'm hoping it will get better before my wife gets home and makes me bypass the unit and clear the lines of any remnants.
 

DonL

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I'm hoping it will get better before my wife gets home and makes me bypass the unit and clear the lines of any remnants.


Just have her wash her hair then report back after you smell it, and tell her she smells wonderful.

Soft water does have a taste, and I boil it for coffee or make cool aid with it.


Some will say that you should not drink it, But it is safer than most city water.


Please report back your findings.


Enjoy.
 
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bricc

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I wish it were that easy. :)

We've actually had soft water in every house we've every owned. The taste from this new system is unlike anything I've experienced before. It tastes like plastic and soap mixed together and it leaves your tongue with a strange aftertaste. I've run the system through 6 regen cycles today with 1/4 cup of bleach in one of them. Then, I let the tap run for about a half an hour to make sure things were well rinsed. It still tastes awful.

When I first got this unit a few months ago we had similar problems, but at that time it was even worse. This batch of resin is an improvement, but it's still not producing water that I'll voluntarily drink. Unless there are more suggestions, my next move it to replace the resin with a proven brand to see what happens. Sigh.
 

bricc

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Just an update. I've regenerated this unit about 20 times and thankfully the odd taste seems to be dissipating. That's good news and we are all excited to have our soft water again.
 

DonL

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Just an update. I've regenerated this unit about 20 times and thankfully the odd taste seems to be dissipating. That's good news and we are all excited to have our soft water again.


Cool Beans.

Quality work takes time.


Enjoy.
 
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