Brine line threads on Fleck 5600SXT?

[Reach4]

My brine line tubing is 3/8 OD.

Is the brass nut on the right going to be 3/8 compression, and the left side of the adapter going to be 3/8 MIP screwed into the plastic FIP?

I am thinking of doing a batch treatment of my media. I was thinking of unscrewing the nut, and putting on another line just for the purpose of drawing a cleaning solution in during a BD cycle.

For my plan, I am thinking to put about 4 gallons of treatment solution into a 5 gallon bucket. With an alternate brine hose in the bucket, put the unit into brine draw. Pull the power to keep the valve in BD. Once the bucket is almost sucked dry, put the system into bypass. Tank should be full of treatment solution. Leave to sit for a time, some number of hours I am thinking.

So how is 4 gallons of treatment solution enough?
1. I am estimating the media will be about 0.66 of the column height. About 0.50 of that space will be consumed by media rather than water. (0.5 is probably a little low for resin and high for carbon). That says I need about 10.72 gallons of solution in the tank.

2. When solution is drawn, it is diluted to about 3x the volume sucked in. So if I draw 4 gallons, I get about 12 gallons after the injector.

 

[Plant.One]

you could also get a watts push connect coupler, make a quick cut near (lets say 4-6" just to put a # on it) the compression fitting, slide the push connect over and connect a short peice of 3/8 to the other side.

i guess for that matter you could make your cut far enough from the softner so that its long enough to get down to your bucket and then just use the push connect coupler to splice your line back together when you're all done. then all you have to do is buy one fitting.

just make sure its a good clean square cut. push connects dont do well with burr's or angled cuts. a proper soft tubing cutter will be your friend

that way you're not messing with the compression fitting at all on the 3/8 nylon at the unit. sometimes those get bound up weird and you'll need to replace the bushing and the stiffener insert to get them back on when you're done.

hth

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

When I wish to do similar, I simply disconnected the brine tube compression fitting at the top of the brine tank so as to use the exsisting brine tube to draw acid cleaning solution directly from a pail.

If you wish to utilize alternate tubing, a 3/8 compression nut, delrin furrel and brass tubing insert may be obtained to use a new tube with the exsisting compression fitting already threaded into the 5600.

 

[Taylorjm]

I would not unscrew that 3/8" compression adapter from the plastic housing. That's just asking for trouble. Putting a brass adapter into a plastic housing distorts the threads and is a pain to seal. Maybe that one has a 0-ring or rubber washer to seal. Either way, I'd add in a 3/8" push fit Tee with a valve on each end so you can close the line from the brine tank and open the line to the cleaning solution.

 

[Plant.One]

I would not unscrew that 3/8" compression adapter from the plastic housing. That's just asking for trouble. Putting a brass adapter into a plastic housing distorts the threads and is a pain to seal. Maybe that one has a 0-ring or rubber washer to seal. Either way, I'd add in a 3/8" push fit Tee with a valve on each end so you can close the line from the brine tank and open the line to the cleaning solution.

that is a stellar suggestion, especially for long term maintenance consideration.

 

[Reach4]

Thanks. I bought the compression nut, nylon ferrule, and tubing. But I have thought of an alternative.

I have a valve just after my iron filter. My current tentative plan is to pump water, with a small utility pump, from a bucket (or bigger) of treated water into the drain valve to the pressure tank. Put the filter into backwash, RR, or BD, depending on what flow I want. Drain the drain line into the bucket.

Somebody with a plastic bypass could do that by just closing the output valve, I think. My bypass is the aluminum bypass where a single lever controls both sides.