Vortech tank - Resin in my plumbing

[MichaelAnglo]

Please can someone help me with some advice?

I have a Watts softener with a 54" Vortech tank. About a year ago (yes, I know I procrastinate), when it was 4 years old, it spewed resin into my plumbing.

I bypassed the softener, and we contacted the plumbing company that installed it - but they have gone out of business.

I dilly-dallied, and then only about a month ago called a large local water softener company about it. They said I needed to replace the whole unit (it's now 5 years old but looks like new), for about $2,000 ... they said they don't know why it allowed the resin to escape and all I could do was replace the whole unit.

I was thinking that there is no way I can afford a new system every 4 or 5 years.

On Monday I did a search and found out how to check the distribution pipe and filter basket, as a source of failure. So tonight I pulled out the resin tank, removed the valve from the top .. and emptied the resin into two 5-gallon pails. I tried to remove the distribution pipe and then noticed I it is a Vortech unit. I can't pull out the distribution pipe (but didn't try tooo hard).

This is where I need help, please.

What should I do?
What could have caused the resin to get into in my pipes (a lot of it, it blocked washer filter and most of the faucet aerator filters)?
Would high water pressure cause this?
Should I try force the distribution pipe out of the Vortech unit?
Do I need a new Vortech tank, or can I use a standard tank?
Can I use a standard distribution pipe and filter basket in rhe current tank if I pull out the Vortech unit?
Why didn't the local softener folks even look for a cause of the failure?

Any help or guidance will be appreciated.

 

[Reach4]

Contact Enpress and ask what they suggest.
http://www.enpress.com/site/contact-us/

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

Assuming you still have your bill of sale, as your softener is marketed as a Watts brand, you might first contact them. Both Watts and Enpress state tanks 13" diameter and under are warranted for 10 years.

The Vortec distributor screen is integral to the tank and so if anything goes wrong with the screen, there is little option but to replace the entire tank.

If you are dissatisfied with the Vortec distributor, you could then purchase a standard tank, under bed gravel, riser tube and bottom screen so as to reuse your existing resin and control valve.

If a substantial amount of resin was lost, you could likely reprogram the controller's capacity and salt dose settings as a smaller unit (e.x. if originally containing 1.5 cuft resin, re-program as appropriate for 1.25 cuft) What control valve brand and model is it equipped with?
You would also likely need to replace the controller's DLFC button with a higher flow version as I recall, the Vortec distributor does not require the same backwash flow rate as an equal sized conventional tank.

 

[ditttohead]

Sounds like your lower Vortech plate has cracked... or be sure to check to make sure you system is not plumbed in backwards.
If the Vortech plate has cracked the tank will need to be replaced. I would recommend replacing it with a traditional tank. The Vortech is unique but we have seen the lower plates fail on a rare occasion. Be sure to use only the best lower screen and some #6 gravel to further protect the new lower screen.

 

[John Clint]

Hi Michael. I'm from www.****.ca company.
We are dealing with similar cases as yours on an almost daily basis.
And here are our findings.

1. Over 90% the reason of resin in your house plumbing is a pure resin quality. What happening? Resin getting through the basket or Vortech plate slots due to its weakness. If you will try to squeeze those resin particles (once they still wet) between the fingers you will probably be able to smash them into the powder.
2. Cause of issue described above is a presence of oxidizers such as chlorine in the water.

Solution to that is:

1. Using high-quality resin. This is hard to check since over 95% companies on the market do not disclose resin suppliers in their systems. And there is a reason behind. Reason is a price, so today company X buy resin from company B, however after tomorrow they buy resin from a company D, and the only price is the factor.
2. Using a carbon filter before softener will solve a lot of problems. It will protect not only the resin but whole softener components including the valve.

In our company, we deal only with one resin supplier most of the time because of proven resin quality for decades. I'd like to share my contact info if anyone interested to share more information about our products.

 

[ditttohead]

Umm, this is an old thread and the OP only posted, never replied. And your premise about the broken resin beads exiting the bottom screens

is a little off​

since the broken resin beads migrates to the top of the tank, not the bottom.