Iron Filter Noise.

[Rolly]

I am wondering if I could get some advice on how to resolve the noise my air injection iron filter is making.

I have a Fleck 2510 SXT valve that I just rebuilt with spacers, O-Rings and piston as it was by passing to the drain. That has resolved that issue however there is a grunting sound that seems to be coming from I think within the tank. It’s an annoying quick loud grunt (sounds like a chair being pulled across the floor) and it does this once every 5 min or so. Any ideas? Besides that, the valve seems to be working as designed.

Thanks for the add, I also have a Clack water softener and an open loop geothermal heating cooling system. So perhaps more questions to follow in the future.

Rolly.

 

[Bannerman]

Is the noise only occurring during regeneration or does it occur while in 'Service' mode? If while in Service mode, only when water is flowing to fixtures or when no water is flowing?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Rolly]

It does this all day long while in Service Mode. Seems more prevalent after running some water and then frequency drops off a bit

 

[Bannerman]

Because it is an AIO system, the air that is added will be more compressed when your well pump cut-off pressure is achieved, and less compressed (expanded) when the system pressure is nearing the pump cut-in pressure.

If the noise is occurring while no water is being consumed, then there should be no reason for noise to be occurring. Could there be an undetected water leak which is allowing the system pressure to continue to drop and the pump to periodically kick-in even while no water is being utilized? A hole in the well's drop pipe is often the source of an undetected leak.

While rebuilding the 2510, was the air inlet valve also replaced, rebuilt or at least cleaned and verified to be allowing air to be drawn in?

You may wish to measure your AIO filter's tank dimensions and also state the current program settings.

• What iron removal media is contained?
• Was an extended backwash performed after the valve was rebuilt?
• Was the drain restrictor (DLFC) removed and cleaned?
• Was the injector and BLFC flow restrictor removed and cleaned?

 

[Rolly]

It does seem to make the sound after water has been used and for a period after that.

On the rebuild I only replaced spacers, O-rings and piston. The air inlet valve was cleaned and checked for proper operation. It was originally blocked not letting air in. Injector and all other parts were properly cleaned. I did not perform an extended backwash, not sure how to do that.

The AIO Filter tank is 10” X 54”

I have no idea what media is in it as it was already in the house when I bought it a year ago.

My set up for Fleck 2510 SXT is;

DF-GAL, VT-df1b, CT-Tc, NT-1, DO-3, RT-2am, BW-10, BD-60, BF-off.

 

[Bannerman]

did not perform an extended backwash, not sure how to do that.

When water continued to flow to drain, any air which was added to the tank during air draw, will most likely have also leaked out to drain so it will not have been operating as an AIO system. Any iron removal occurring only from the 1.5 ft3 media contained in the tank, will have occured deep within the media column and so may take longer than 10 minutes to BW out.

You didn't specify which BLFC is installed as that will govern the rate in which air is drawn. Perhaps reducing the amount of air will eliminate the noise so suggest setting BD to 45 minutes.

The DLFC restrictor will govern the flow rate to drain during BW. Each media will have a unique recommended BW rate which will then relate to tank diameter and water temperature. If you can state the DLFC flow rate, we may be able to estimate which media is contained.

An iron removal filter should not utilize a top basket as the basket will often become clogged with oxidized iron solids which will often result in insufficient backwash flow. The photo below shows a blocked upper basket. The DLFC flow rate will be usually specified on a label on the control valve. If you have means to direct drain flow into a 5-gallon bucket, you could then determine the drain flow rate to see how well it compares to the DLFC flow rate specified.

If there is an upper basket installed as suggested by a drain flow rate that is less than the DLFC rating, then either the upper basket should be removed or, you may perform an extended back wash to attempt to flush away iron deposits from the upper basket. If the flow rate improves, that should assist to eliminate iron deposits located deep within the media.

Suggest increasing automatic BW to 15 minutes from 10. To perform an initial extended BW, advance the controller to BW and then remove the electrical plug so the unit will continue to BW for as long as no power is supplied. In directing drain flow to a bucket, you can monitor iron debris being eliminated so as to determine how long to extend the manual backwash.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/top-basket-jpg.66793/

 

[Rolly]

Thank you for taking the time to walk me through this. I will make the setting changes on BD & BW.

I will also perform the extended BD into a bucket and see what I am getting with regards to iron and see how long I should do this for. Do you recommend I pull the valve up from the tank to see if it looks like the picture? There is no label on the BLFC to determine flow rate, might have fallen off at some point. I did pull the rubber restrictor out of the DLFC and it has (500 32 F) stamped on it. Not sure if that helps.

 

[Reach4]

DLFC and it has (500 32 F) stamped on it.

That is 5 GPM.

 

[Rolly]

So I changed the settings for BD & BW as suggested and performed an extended BW for 50 min. I did not see any significant iron debris throughout the process. The noise still persists. At this point would you suggest seeing if there is a basket installed and see if it looks like its fouled with iron like in the picture?

 

[Rolly]

So my Air Injection Iron filter is filled to about 80% with this very fine granular media, or at least this is what I have sucked up so far from the top with my shop vac. Has the consistency of fine gravel. Is this what it should look like, could this have come up out of the well?

 

[Rolly]

Update:
when I emptied all that materiel out i noticed that the stand pipe was cemented to the bottom. I was finally able to work it loose so I could drag the calcified cement to the top and then chip it to pieces with a chisel. So the bottom of the pipe was completely encased with about 3" of hard materiel thus I would imagine not able to properly backwash. Has anyone ever seen this? Now I would suggest the recommendation is to use new media, what do you suggest I should use?

 

[Bannerman]

Katalox Light is the current media of choice for iron reduction.

The recommended BW flow rate for KL is 10-15 GPM per ft2 which calculates as 5.4- 8.1 GPM for a 10" diameter tank and 60 F degrees water.

https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/155

 

[ditttohead]

I have seen it before... fairly common, you need to increase your backwash frequency and adjust the flow rate according the temperature charts.