Kinetico Model 50 leaking resin into plumbing

[Ace Hunter]

My Kinetico Model 50 is leaking resin beads into my plumbing. I only noticed it because my nearby clothes washer had the cold water valve go bad. When I replaced it, the new one only worked for a week and slowed down. When I checked it, I saw there were resin beads in it. I checked all faucets in the house and there were no beads in the aerators or anywhere else I could see. Water pressure is the same everywhere, but I did take the system offline and flushed out the pipes and water heater.

I am wondering if the screens in upper basket for the tanks are torn. I haven't taken the tanks out to check the fill pipe, but from what I remember last time the resin was changed, there wasn't a way to tell in the screens are intact within the baskets, for lack of a better term. Are these two things, the pipe and screens, the only two causes of resin getting into the output water? I am sure they aren't consumer replaceable.

 

[Bannerman]

I am wondering if the screens in the head units for the tanks are torn.

Service water flow will be downward through the softener's resin bed, to the bottom distributor, then flowing up to the head through the center riser tube, exiting the softener to supply the home's fixtures. When the bottom distributor screen is compromised, resin loss into the house plumbing is the usual symptom.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Ace Hunter]

Reviving my old thread. I finally got around to identifying the problem. This is a model 60 with the short 19" tanks. I took the companion tank off and emptied it out so I could see the tube. I expected to see a tube with a cone shaped distributor basket at the bottom like I had seen in larger models on YouTube, but the tube goes into a disc shaped membrane at the bottom of the tank and it doesn't appear to be a servicable part. I didn't see any flaws with it, but I also know it wouldn't take much for the mebrane to leak. Thanks for explaining the water path, since that makes the system make more sense. I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and have a Kinetico dealer come out. I'm pretty sure they will not recommend reviving a 20 year old system.