Fleck 7000- discharge from hose

[justaHO]

Just installed a 7000 and is currently bypassed but full of water. In the midst of plumbing the drain line but missing some parts so just the barbed fitting w/no hose. Noticed a medium sized puddle at the base of the resin tank and traced that back to the unit's drain barbed fitting. Every so often water is leaking out. Is this normal for a tank in bypass mode?

 

[Bannerman]

You mention that the tank is full of water but as it is in bypass mode, it would at first seem that there should be no pressure on the tank to push any water out.

The water in the tank was no doubt initially cooler than the surrounding air temperature at the softener's location. Since water will expand as it warms, the contained water will have expanded in volume over the course of hours, thereby requiring additional space as liquid cannot be compressed. Since the unit is bypassed, there is nowhere for the increased volume to expand to.

I don't know for certain that Fleck has designed an over pressure relief into the 7000 valve, but it would seem to be necessary otherwise, the weakest component would be damaged by the force of the expanding water. Since the tank is probably the thinnest component with the largest surface area, it could likely be the tank which would split.

Until you place the unit online, you may wish to advance the softener valve to the 'Backwash' position and then pull the power plug, thereby holding the valve open to allow expanding water to freely drain from the drain fitting while also allowing air to enter the tank as needed if the surrounding air should cool and the contained water contract somewhat.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[justaHO]

Thank you Bannerman. I had thought of expansion. It's a minor observation but I think your suggestion of stalling the valve in backwash is good.

 

[justaHO]

Still have small leak (few drops every 20 sec.) from drain line. Unit is in service and functioning well. Ran through all steps of regen several times now. Still leaking. New unit. Any ideas why? Manufacturing debris?

 

[ditttohead]

This is a tutorial on how to tear down the 7000. If the system is leaking to the drain, it probably got something in the piston/seal spacer that may have damaged a part internally during installation. Leaking to the drain is usually a damaged seal in the front of the valve. You can get brave and tear the valve down and inspect the parts inside. If a seal is damaged, it is easily replaced. Check the piston for a scratch or score as well.

 

[justaHO]

^Thanks. That's the plan now is to use that video and replace the entire packing set. I will try to post a photo if I find any debris or damage.

 

[justaHO]

R&R of seals/spacers complete- no leak from drain port. The old parts were fine so perhaps something amiss during unit build. Side note, no need for the $100 install tool and I find it hard to believe, as a pro installer, why you would invest in one unless you intend to recoup cost through customer.

 

[ditttohead]

The tool is used on other valves as well and if you are a service technician doing these daily, then the tool is a great investment. It is not needed for an end user since the time savings with the tool is only a minute or so on this valve. The 7000 has been out for over a decade and has been a huge seller so there are a lot of these valves that are getting quite old. Also many larger commercial companies use this valve for their rental fleet. It is not unusual to simply rebuild the valve every 5 years just to ensure they don't have a problem with the rental customer.

Congrats on the fix, I hope the video helped.

 

[justaHO]

^I wanted to do it right and get that tool, I just wished it were a little more "cost-effective" for everyone. Thanks, and certainly your link (or is that you in the video?) to the video helped a bunch. I got lazy and didn't finish it though and consequently did not "re-synch" back to the S position. Got back on track after a full revolution of the cam.

 

[justaHO]

I can't believe I waited 7 years to install a softener. Finally, clean dishes, clean sinks, etc..

 

[Bannerman]

Since the introduction of softened water will slowly dissolve any existing hard water scale from the inside of your water heater and plumbing pipes, you may not realize fully softened water for some time until that scale is finally eliminated

Remember to reduce the amount of detergent/soap utilized for laundry, dish washing and bathing. Depending on the level of hardness in your original water which you are accustomed to compensating for, you will likely find that you can reduce the detergent quantities by more than 50%.

 

[justaHO]

^Excellent point and, to be honest, I'm still in that mode of putting a "1/2 gallon" of detergent in the wash. It's suds-city in that machine now.