Culligan iron cleer replacement recommendations?

Users who are viewing this thread

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
Ok, I'll try to make this short. My current equipment is a Culligan Medalist softener and a Culligan iron cleer unit, both installed in 2002. I replaced the resin in the softener with Purolite a few months ago. I've been bypassing the iron cleer unit for over 6 months. It needed attention, the drain line was constantly running water. I attempted to disassemble and repair but I broke the main piston in the process. Frustrated, I unplugged it and set it to bypass.

Now, today's situation. The morning after the softener regens our water is stained orange. Running cold water at a couple of faucets for around 5 minutes clears things up but nobody wants to deal with that. I bumped the backwash time to 16 and brine rinse time to 66, that didn't make any difference. I'm assuming I need to deal with the iron prior to all of it reaching the softener. So, here's the data from our most recent lab tests:
Barium - 0.26
Fluoride - 0.692
Iron - 4
Manganese - 75 (ppb)
Zinc - 0.013

Keep in mind I'm on a community well with 15 other homes. The sample was not taken from my home but should be representative of my water.

Also, I should mention that we are not chlorinating the raw well water, only adding flouride.

So, am I on the right track thinking it's time to replace the iron cleer unit? If so, what's the go-to solution given the high iron content of our water?
 

Reach4

Well-Known Member
Messages
38,796
Reaction score
4,412
Points
113
Location
IL

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois

Water Guy

In the Trades
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Points
8
Location
New York
Yes, the iron cleer unit has a top mounted air pump. And yes, fluoride is being added, not at my home but at the community well. No chlorine.
are you against having Culligan fix the iron clear unit? pics? I only saw one iron clear unit the my entire two years working for them. they are overly, unnecessarily complex. imo. they use an air pump combined with chlorine draw. they do it with a softener now combined with a chlorine generator and res care injection.
 
Last edited:

ditttohead

Water systems designer, R&D
Messages
6,088
Reaction score
455
Points
83
Location
Ontario California
pH? TDS? Hardness? A real water test would help. Iron can be removed by several technologies but the other parameters help in deciding which unit would be best for you. At 4 ppm, a softener can deal with that but will not last very long as you have found out. It is unlikely you will be able to bring your resin back to capacity even with cleaning. You could try but don't expect too much. Resin cleaning is supposed to be done as a preventative maintenance, not as a repair. In my opinion, a simple AIO3 design might be ideal with a manganese dioxide ore based iron reduction media. A new softener would be good idea as well considering the age and type of softener you have.
 

Water Guy

In the Trades
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Points
8
Location
New York
Yeah, I'd rather not. The equipment is nearly 20 years old and culligan tends to rape people when it comes to service work. No sense in putting hundreds of dollars into an old machine, in my opinion.
understood. honestly, they would likely not have anyone qualified to fix it and/or not want to order the parts up and just offer a new softener with the above additions. dittos suggestion is best. new equipment is in order. preferably not proprietary.
 
Last edited:

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
pH? TDS? Hardness? A real water test would help. Iron can be removed by several technologies but the other parameters help in deciding which unit would be best for you. At 4 ppm, a softener can deal with that but will not last very long as you have found out. It is unlikely you will be able to bring your resin back to capacity even with cleaning. You could try but don't expect too much. Resin cleaning is supposed to be done as a preventative maintenance, not as a repair. In my opinion, a simple AIO3 design might be ideal with a manganese dioxide ore based iron reduction media. A new softener would be good idea as well considering the age and type of softener you have.

I appreciate your feedback but I don't understand the need for a new softener. The softener still operates properly and the resin is new. Would you mind explaining why the softener should also be replaced, I must be missing something here.
 

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
For those who have asked, here are copies of our most recent lab tests. Hopefully this helps.
water2.jpg
water1.jpg
 

ditttohead

Water systems designer, R&D
Messages
6,088
Reaction score
455
Points
83
Location
Ontario California
pH is a critical measurement for iron reduction. Higher pH is better for reduction/oxidation, lower pH is better for ion exchange. Do you have a pH number?
 

ditttohead

Water systems designer, R&D
Messages
6,088
Reaction score
455
Points
83
Location
Ontario California
I appreciate your feedback but I don't understand the need for a new softener. The softener still operates properly and the resin is new. Would you mind explaining why the softener should also be replaced, I must be missing something here.
You said iron is getting through the softener, this would indicate a severely fouled resin bed. You could attempt to acid clean the resin but as stated earlier, this is hit/miss. When using a softener for iron reduction, we clean the resin continuously, not intermittently. Once the iron has bound to the ion exchange resin, it is more difficult to remove. Your resins capacity will likely be severely compromised. You can re-bed it again, but since the unit is nearing 20 years old, and since "C" has changes their valve more often than many people change their underwear... parts become a pain as they are proprietary. If the system is still working, a rebed might be ok for a while, but replacing the whole unit would not be a bad idea.
 

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
You said iron is getting through the softener, this would indicate a severely fouled resin bed. You could attempt to acid clean the resin but as stated earlier, this is hit/miss. When using a softener for iron reduction, we clean the resin continuously, not intermittently. Once the iron has bound to the ion exchange resin, it is more difficult to remove. Your resins capacity will likely be severely compromised. You can re-bed it again, but since the unit is nearing 20 years old, and since "C" has changes their valve more often than many people change their underwear... parts become a pain as they are proprietary. If the system is still working, a rebed might be ok for a while, but replacing the whole unit would not be a bad idea.

So you're suggesting that the resin i just put in a few months ago is already shot?
 

Water Guy

In the Trades
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Points
8
Location
New York
is there a flow meter on the softener or does it regen based on days? if so the unit should say capg for a second and then a number (maybe 870) when cycling through with the status key. I may be able to help diagnose.
 
Last edited:

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
is there a flow meter on the softener or does it regen based on days? if so the unit should say capg for a second and then a number (maybe 870) when cycling through with the status key. I may be able to help diagnose.

Capg says 51
 

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
when cycling with the status key you should see a blank screen at some point. when blank screen appears, hit the "-" key until it says "flo" for a second, then a number (should say "0.0" with no water running in the house), now turn a sink on at it should read a number (gallons/min flowing). then report back if it still reads 0 with a sink running.

That appears to work correctly. Started at 0 then jumped to 4 with an open faucet & toilet flush.
 

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
I misspoke it's four times "-" key. first will show (gal/ l) for 2 seconds then a #, this is the capacity remaining. second time (14dy) and #, this is the number of regens in last two weeks, third time (days) # is days since last regen. fourth is (totl) total # regens life of the unit. report back.
Ok, here's what mine shows:
Flo - o.o
Gal - 38
14dy - 5
Totl - 2236
Day5 - 0

Thats all, it returns to flo if i hit "-" again.
 

boostnut

New Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Illinois
ok. we've established your softener is in fact reading flow to initiate regen. your regen interval is every 51 gallons when it should be in the hundreds at least. the 14 day should read 14 times providing you using at least 51 gallons per day, and that unit has regenerated an incredible 2,236 times in it's life (way way too many). are you using salt?does the control head make a creeking noise when you initiate a manual regen by holding regen for three seconds from the time screen?

I'm not sure how the 51 gallon regen was figured but it certainly doesn't regen that often. We have 3 people in the house, 2 of which take long showers daily. My wife constantly has the washer & dishwasher running. No way its running a regen every 51 gallons.
 

Water Guy

In the Trades
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Points
8
Location
New York
I'm not sure how the 51 gallon regen was figured but it certainly doesn't regen that often. We have 3 people in the house, 2 of which take long showers daily. My wife constantly has the washer & dishwasher running. No way its running a regen every 51 gallons.
well. how old is it?
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks