Softener causing low water pressure?

[Chefencore]

What is that brass casting with the

I believe it mixes the hot and cold for recirculation to the boiler?

 

[Chefencore]

In re-examining your photos, is the softener feed and return lines shown on the right and bottom of photo 2C1989...... ? If so, the main water line appears to be a larger diameter than the lines connecting the softener as there appear to be reducers in-place below the isolation/bypass valves.

All you say is true.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Chefencore]

A 10" softener is wayyyy undersized for even 1 flushometer! Reducing the plumbing to 3/4" is also wrong. The company that installed that knows nothing about sizing commercial equipment. I'm surprised that the toilets have ever worked properly. You have two options....get a properly sized softener installed if you have the room or install a check valve and surge tank (pressure tank) after the softener. Flushometer toilets require high flow not high volume so the 2nd method has a good chance of working but is not a guarantee. I have seen it be successful

Coincidentally, the damn thing didn't work for the first 6-8 months after install. It ate up the salt, though. We had so many problems getting the glasses to come out clean and clear, to only find out the softener wasn't working. I don't know what was wrong with it. I'll pass along all the info to the boss. Whats the cost on a new tank?

 

[Bannerman]

I would be very surprised if the mechanical engineer that calculated the restaurant's expected water usage and therefore specified the plumbing system pipe sizes needed, had not also included specifications for an appropriately sized commercial softener. Not only is reducing the pipe size to connect a softener that is too small for the application not in compliance with plumbing code, a reduction creates a bottleneck, thereby making the engineer's flow calculations a wasted effort. As it appears 2" plumbing is installed, a 1.25" pipe section will not satisfy the same flow rate.

As the Fleck 5000 is equipped with only a 3/4" riser, there is a further flow reduction internal to the softener. That softener valve would be better suited for a residential application, not a commercial setting where high, short duration water flows are required on a frequent basis.

Suggest reviewing the original mechanical drawings and specifications as to the softener that was originally specified. There maybe cause for recourse against whoever was responsible for the inappropriate unit. As the piping reduction is not in compliance to code, at least that should have been caught during the mechanical inspection, even if an inappropriate softener was specified.

The brass unit is a thermostatic mixing valve, likely supplying hand wash and washroom sinks with hot water that is tempered to prevent scalding. See image at the bottom of page: https://www.grainger.com/category/p...valves?attrs=Outlet+Size|1-1/4"&filters=attrs

 

[Ryan Symons]

Coincidentally, the damn thing didn't work for the first 6-8 months after install. It ate up the salt, though. We had so many problems getting the glasses to come out clean and clear, to only find out the softener wasn't working. I don't know what was wrong with it. I'll pass along all the info to the boss. Whats the cost on a new tank?

I would have to know your whole situation to properly size a unit. I sent you a pm.