Clack WS-1 is filling brine tank when it should be drawing brine - FIXED!

[Raybo]

Hello all,
I was checking my salt level and fount my brine tank full to where the float valve shuts off the fill. My valve is set to pre-fill, so I never typically have water in tank anyway. I googling and searching here and checked the typical suggestions; Drain not plugged, brine tube not leaking air, cracked or kinked, injector not plugged, etc..

I disconnected the brine tube at the float connection and ran a manual regen through all the phases. On the FILL stage, I noticed the water was coming out pretty fast. The programming is to use 12lbs of salt, which I believe should be 4 gallons of water.. the display shows a fill time of 8 minutes. The volume of fill water seems to far exceed that although I didn't measure it.

When I get to the brine stage, to test draw I put the disconnected brine tubing end in a cup full of water and it sucks it dry, then shortly after that, water actually starts to come out of the brine tubing and continues until I skip to the next step. I've also tested it by sticking the tube in the brine tank directly. I can feel the suction with my finger, then water begins to come out. This seems to be why my brine tank is filled to the max, and does not empty.

It seems VERY strange that it would initially draw for 20 seconds or so and then not only stop drawing, but dump water instead.

Given the drain and injector are good and that I bypassed the float valve assembly, does this mean the valve itself is bad? Would a seal and spacer stack kit be my next best thing to try?

Thanks all!

 

[ditttohead]

How old is the unit?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Raybo]

How old is the unit?

Unit is 15 years old.

 

[ditttohead]

Definitely time for a refurbish. New guts, and new resin/riser assembly. Once completed you should get another 15 years out of the unit trouble free. Congrats on buying quality equipment! Most units would be scrap after 15 years.

 

[Raybo]

Just to follow-up in case someone else runs into this, I replaced the seal & spacer stack, main piston and regenerate piston and my problem is solved. The overflow tank was overfilled because on regen, in addition to the pre-fill, the backwash and rinse cycle was also dumping water out of the brine line. The old parts visibly looked OK, none of the seals were cracked or broken and all very clean.. but 15 years old. In inspecting it all, the small seals for the regenerate piston are what I suspect caused the problem.

Thanks, dittohead for your advice and suggestions, it was very helpful! I will replace these parts every few years now going forward as preventative maintenance. I must say, the Clack valve could not be easier to service.

Also, the new seal and spacer stack had all black seals on the new one, whereas the old one had clear seals everywhere except for the large outer O-Rings. Not sure if the replacement part is new and improved or not as good as the original 15 years old one, or if it matters.

 

[ditttohead]

The clear seals are silicone, the black seals are Buna, IIRC. Neither one is "better" than the other, different seals work better in different applications. Buna are more durable for abrasion, but slightly more susceptible to chlorine damage.