fleck 5600 greensand filter regen full

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Woodm

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The system is very old and appears to need the control valve and brine tank valves cleaned and serviced. I see a few videos out there on how to do this. It doesn't look to difiicult, so I am planning to give it a try. However, the brine tank is full of pot perm and I can't find a blog on how to deal with this. The pot perm is nasty stuff. So I have a few questions:

How do I safely empty the pot perm from the brine tank?
Can I store the old pot perm and reuse it?
Any suggestions on how to store it?
If not how do I dispose of it?

Thanks
Mike
 

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Reach4

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I don't know what is in that tank. Pot perm is usually a liquid. Maybe there is a system that involves a solid. I have never dealt with a system that used pot perm, and really have not even read much about them.
 

Woodm

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Reach4:

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately I am not very knowledgeable about this. I am just repeating a bunch of material I found on the web.

It is my understanding that this is an iron sand or green sand filter for treating water with iron. I guess Pot Perm is the brand name for the potassium permanganate powder that is added to the brine tank every few months. It appears this filter had stopped regenerating properly and my other half continued to add the pot perm until the brine tank could no longer hold any more powder before mentioning the issue to me.

Anyway, I disconnected the small blue brine tank today and poured out the powder residue into one 5 gallon pale. Then poured out the brine fluid that was underneath the powder residue into another 5 gallon pale. Then following a video, I disassembled the brine tank, rinsed it out with water and brushed the tank, float assembly, screen and pad with vinegar and reassembled it.

I then disassembled the brine portion of the 5600 control valve mounted on top of the tall filter bottle and cleaned the injectors, screen, brine line flow fitting and drain line flow fittings following another video I found on line. Tomorrow I intend to continue with yet another video and restart the filter. I made a few notes during diassembly regarding a few parts such as the injectors and such which I figure should be replaced. Ill try to find somewhere to order the parts tomorrow and will replace them later.

I figure given what I have found on line regarding media life, I should probably also find out what is needed for media and gravel for this filter and continue on to replace that too.

But the current question is what to do with two 5 gallon pales of pot perm? Can I reuse the powder residue I dumped out of the brine tank? If not where or how should I discard the pot perm?

Thanks
Mike
 

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Woodm

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Hello;

So, I guess this must be a unique question. So I called Pro Products and asked them about reusing the pot perm. The response went something like this (beaware this is a paraphrase, I have no actual knowledge, if you have the same issue or questions please refer them directly to the company) :

Is the pot perm reusable?
The filter stopped regenerating and the pot perm powder built up on top of the pad due to continued application. They asked:
Is the material contaminated; Since the brine tank is covered and the material was removed from the top of the pad and the filter was not regenerating, the answer is no it's not contaminated
How old is it; It appears to have built up over 9 months to a year.
Is it crystalized; no
In that case it should be fine to reuse the material.

Storage and application;
The material is wet which is not a problem
They suggest it be stored in a covered container. A bucket with a cover.
That it be applied to the filter in the same manner as normal using a cup to measure the same amount normally used by volume.
The bottle we use is 1Lb 12oz, the volume of contents is 1 pint

Regarding disposal; The sds is on their web sight. It appears to indicate it should be disposed of as hazardous waste.

As for the filter;
After cleaning and reassembly, I was able to run through the brine rinse and brine refill cycles manually with water in the brine tank per instructions from the 5600 service manual. During the brine rinse, the fluid receeds well below the pad now, and during brine refill rises back to about an inch above the pad. Which appears to be as it should. So I added the pot perm powder and I believe it is working now with a slight leak from the control valve during regen. Which I am hoping is not a big deal and can be left as is for now. I would be very interested in opinions?

Then I ordered a set of injectors, flow washers and a piston kit from Softenerparts.com for the next time.
Now I am trying to find information on replacing the filter tank media. Its about 14 years old. Tank is 9" x 48"

I would also be very interested in information on replacing the media and gravel. what kind is best etc.

Thanks
Mike
 
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