Yes and yes. Regen is every 3 days, usually. I'm using around 80 lbs of salt every 6 weeks, I only use Morton rust remover salt, nothing else.
Culligan iron cleer replacement recommendations?
- Thread starter boostnut
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Yes and yes. Regen is every 3 days, usually. I'm using around 80 lbs of salt every 6 weeks, I only use Morton rust remover salt, nothing else.
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boostnut - I had issues very similar to what you are experiencing.
regarding the initial surge of orange water after regen --- did you rebuild the softener valve during the resin rebed? if not that is likely contributing to the iron stained water. backwashing alone doesn't clean it out, neither do resin cleaners. you really need to take that valve apart and clean it, replace the spacers, injector, injector screen, etc. Those valves get nasty inside.
could your 6-month old resin be shot already? maybe, if you have iron bacteria and haven't been using resin cleaners with every regen as someone else stated. stepping up your resin cleaning efforts will probably help. but you said the orange water is only after a regen, so this isn't just a resin problem.
do you know if you have iron bacteria? brownish orange sludge in your toilet tank? if so, it makes your situation much more difficult. does your community shock the shared well with chlorine? I highly doubt it, and they probably won't let you do it either as they will all have to stop using water for an entire day or longer.
first thing I'd do is take apart that softener valve and give it a very thorough cleaning. if you can't get parts for it, be careful.
if that doesn't work I'd suggest getting a new softener with a Clack Ws1 valve. Why Clack? given your situation you will need to clean & rebuild the softener valve often, and the Clack is the best valve for that, in my opinion. You can easily get parts online, but you do have to buy the valve from a dealer and it is worth every penny. You are in Illinois? if in the Chicago burbs there are a couple Clack dealers in the area. I can PM you if interested. you can always keep the old softener tank & resin as a spare to swap in at some point in the future if needed (assuming it is reasonably clean). that's what I'm planning to do with my old tanks - it makes resin/media changes much easier.
once you get the new softener installed you will need to clean it continuously with more than just rust removing salt. I add citric acid to every bag of salt https://www.amazon.com/Milliard-Citric-Acid-Pound-NON-GMO/dp/B01DKRP1GM and I use Phosphoric Acid (Res Care) with every regen. I've also used a product called Crystal Clean https://www.crystalclean.us/ and it does work very well, but is a bit more costly.
I do have an iron filter, and it removes about 80% of the iron with a tremendous amount of maintenance on my part. I won't go into detail on that here unless you are interested. My iron filter will not work in your situation if you have iron bacteria.
regarding the initial surge of orange water after regen --- did you rebuild the softener valve during the resin rebed? if not that is likely contributing to the iron stained water. backwashing alone doesn't clean it out, neither do resin cleaners. you really need to take that valve apart and clean it, replace the spacers, injector, injector screen, etc. Those valves get nasty inside.
could your 6-month old resin be shot already? maybe, if you have iron bacteria and haven't been using resin cleaners with every regen as someone else stated. stepping up your resin cleaning efforts will probably help. but you said the orange water is only after a regen, so this isn't just a resin problem.
do you know if you have iron bacteria? brownish orange sludge in your toilet tank? if so, it makes your situation much more difficult. does your community shock the shared well with chlorine? I highly doubt it, and they probably won't let you do it either as they will all have to stop using water for an entire day or longer.
first thing I'd do is take apart that softener valve and give it a very thorough cleaning. if you can't get parts for it, be careful.
if that doesn't work I'd suggest getting a new softener with a Clack Ws1 valve. Why Clack? given your situation you will need to clean & rebuild the softener valve often, and the Clack is the best valve for that, in my opinion. You can easily get parts online, but you do have to buy the valve from a dealer and it is worth every penny. You are in Illinois? if in the Chicago burbs there are a couple Clack dealers in the area. I can PM you if interested. you can always keep the old softener tank & resin as a spare to swap in at some point in the future if needed (assuming it is reasonably clean). that's what I'm planning to do with my old tanks - it makes resin/media changes much easier.
once you get the new softener installed you will need to clean it continuously with more than just rust removing salt. I add citric acid to every bag of salt https://www.amazon.com/Milliard-Citric-Acid-Pound-NON-GMO/dp/B01DKRP1GM and I use Phosphoric Acid (Res Care) with every regen. I've also used a product called Crystal Clean https://www.crystalclean.us/ and it does work very well, but is a bit more costly.
I do have an iron filter, and it removes about 80% of the iron with a tremendous amount of maintenance on my part. I won't go into detail on that here unless you are interested. My iron filter will not work in your situation if you have iron bacteria.
Update, I had a water test done today. Iron was confirmed at aprox. 4, Hardness tested at 376 ppm, Ph is just over 7.
The local company that ran the test suggests that I replace the old Culligan iron cleer with another air injecting type of system. I agree, we didn't have any water issues when the old culligan unit was operating properly. Any suggestions for a specific unit?
The local company that ran the test suggests that I replace the old Culligan iron cleer with another air injecting type of system. I agree, we didn't have any water issues when the old culligan unit was operating properly. Any suggestions for a specific unit?
While that's an option I'd rather not. I'd prefer to install something that I can service, culligans service costs are ridiculous.
again, you seem to have it all figured out... your 18yr old softener is just fine, and your iron cleer which worked perfectly for 18yrs on 4ppm Fe is the only problem, but despite that you don't want another one... so go to Amazon and search for AIO Fe filters and read the reviews.
Bannerman
Well-Known Member
Online dealers including Am__on are rarely recommended for water treatment equipment. Online sales are competitive and lowest price is usually the main concern.
Suggest consulting with generic (non-proprietary) water treatment dealers located in your area. Local water treatment professionals will have the best knowledge of water conditions in your area as well as treatment methods they have found to be effective for those conditions.
Suggest consulting with generic (non-proprietary) water treatment dealers located in your area. Local water treatment professionals will have the best knowledge of water conditions in your area as well as treatment methods they have found to be effective for those conditions.
That wasn't the case at all. I had every intention of buying from the guy who came out, until I learned his product uses proprietary everything. Service and maintenance costs are the reason I'm done with Culligan. I didn't know until his visit yesterday that his products are also proprietary, I assumed they used Clack, Fleck, or another industry name.
Sorry I didn't bend over backwards to pat everyone on the back. I come from forums full of gearheads where we simply contribute when we can, not expecting anything in return. Maybe that's not how other forums operate, I apologize if that's the case. This place is a great source for info and I do appreciate peoples time.
Gearhead… that fits.
Ok suppose my fuel filter clogs with crud so I remove it and drive my car for 6 months without one. Then it starts to run like crap so I go to you and ask which fuel filter to get… because obviously I need a new one. What would you say? Would the exact brand of fuel filter be the most important part of your advice? or would you focus on clogged injectors and carb jets?
Now imagine if most fuel filters didn’t work with ethanol blended fuels. Also imagine that fuel injectors are easy to keep clean with continuous use of gasoline additives, so you really don’t need a fuel filter if you keep your injectors clean (neither of these hypotheticals are true in the gearhead world, but the analogy in water treatment is). Now what would you say if all I wanted was a fuel filter recommendation?
You’d say forget about the fuel filter and clean your injectors first. Then figure out if you can get straight gas so you can run a standard fuel filter. If not, then you’ll have to spend more to get an ethanol compatible filter, and the exact brand doesn't really matter. That’s pretty much what everyone in the forum is telling you, but all you want is which fuel filter to get. (in my analogy ethanol = iron bacteria in case that wasn't clear).
So go get a new AIO it doens't matter which one, and when that doesn’t solve your problem come back here and reread the advice given.
also... your system may be 18yrs old but you haven't owned it that long. how long have you been in charge of its maintenance?? I'm guessing about 3 years. that's about how long it takes for a system like yours to fail due to improper maintenance. yes I know from experience...
Ok suppose my fuel filter clogs with crud so I remove it and drive my car for 6 months without one. Then it starts to run like crap so I go to you and ask which fuel filter to get… because obviously I need a new one. What would you say? Would the exact brand of fuel filter be the most important part of your advice? or would you focus on clogged injectors and carb jets?
Now imagine if most fuel filters didn’t work with ethanol blended fuels. Also imagine that fuel injectors are easy to keep clean with continuous use of gasoline additives, so you really don’t need a fuel filter if you keep your injectors clean (neither of these hypotheticals are true in the gearhead world, but the analogy in water treatment is). Now what would you say if all I wanted was a fuel filter recommendation?
You’d say forget about the fuel filter and clean your injectors first. Then figure out if you can get straight gas so you can run a standard fuel filter. If not, then you’ll have to spend more to get an ethanol compatible filter, and the exact brand doesn't really matter. That’s pretty much what everyone in the forum is telling you, but all you want is which fuel filter to get. (in my analogy ethanol = iron bacteria in case that wasn't clear).
So go get a new AIO it doens't matter which one, and when that doesn’t solve your problem come back here and reread the advice given.
also... your system may be 18yrs old but you haven't owned it that long. how long have you been in charge of its maintenance?? I'm guessing about 3 years. that's about how long it takes for a system like yours to fail due to improper maintenance. yes I know from experience...
Good analogy skyjumper, I hear what you're saying. Ive owned the home and maintained the existing 18 year old unit for 8 and a half years. Sure, it could be brought back to life but its an 18 year old mechanical system, and culligan charges and arm and a leg for service. Doesn't make dollars and sense to pour cash into an aged system, in my opinion. I'll replace it with a similar unit and come crying back here with my hat in my hand if it fails.....thanks for the vote of confidence though.
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