Water Softener Dead - Overhaul needed

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Don Roberts

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Hi all,

Been following a bit, and figured i'd drop a post for some advice. It's been a while since i've looked around for water softener's after we got ours installed 8 years ago. Here we are again though and have been having issues with our unit etc.

8 years ago we had a salesman friend of the family who came and installed a system, at the time I wasn't too knowledgable but I knew things like I wanted a Fleck, etc. Since that install, water pressure was bad, but then over the last 8 years, it got worse and worse, until now our system has died (bad board). On inspection it is a Fleck 7000, which is a discontinued model. I found a site from here, which has a Fleck 5810 to replace it with, etc, but I know i'm going to need to also replace media, resin all that good stuff because of the water pressure loss for years... also we always had bubbles in the line since day 1 that never went away.

We're on city water, with pretty high chlorine levels, and hard water, but I haven't tested the water since 8-10 years ago and really don't remember what it was at.

My question and dilemma, since i'm having to replace media, valve, etc, is should I go with something else?

We also have a Reverse Osmosis under the sink which we've typically paid to have filters replaced, etc, which get expensive. I've read about whole house carbon, should we go this route?

We had a plumber come out, but in turn he wanted to just sell us a Puronics system for $4,000, and I really don't wanna go for something that pricey. Should I replace the fleck, and then learn how to replace the resin and such? Should I go water test and rebuild from scratch? Is our Reverse osmosis necessary and should we go some other route? All in all just looking for some advice.

Thanks in Advance,
Don
 

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You're changing everything but the tank, I would go with a new model and at least you'll get some warranty out of it and no hassle exchanging parts. It wouldn't hurt to get the water tested.

In the meantime get a pressure gauge and put it on a spigot that is before the water softener and get a read on your pressure. Overnight will be the highest but when you are using water, such as filling the washing machine or running the shower, take readings. Also with a 5 gallon pail at the tub spout, time it or measure how many gallons per minute is being delivered. A water softener should not decrease water flow that much so this is just to get a baseline on what you have. After the new softener is installed measure the flow rate again.

jones-stephens-pressure-test-gauges-j66302-64_100.jpg
You want one with an indicator arm, or tattle tail needle. the black needle pushes the red needle to the highest reading. When the pressure drops the red needle stays in place.

RO systems are very good as long as they are maintained as you seem to do. Other than buying bottled water, stay with the RO. You're happy with it.

Whole house carbon filters are great especially if you have well water. City water, unless it is bad tasting, is a personal choice. Carbon filter may be good for a few years (a few hundred thousand gallons) depending on the size but it is a maintenance item. From day one as the carbon absorbs chemicals, etc, it degrades and eventually the carbon needs to be replaced. It is an excellent way to filter (polish the water as some will call it), however, each time you flush the toilet,:oops:.
 

Reach4

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On inspection it is a Fleck 7000, which is a discontinued model.
Still, repair/rebuild of the Fleck 7000 is probably feasible. Lots of parts have been stockpiled.

It could be that you only need to change out the resin to new quality 10% crosslinked. resin. Do you have other symptoms besides high pressure drop, or not softening well?

If you do put in a Fleck 5810sxt, you will need to make sure you have the right adapter to match your distributor tube. Your distributor tube may be 1.31 inches od, but check. It might be 1.05, or something else.
 
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Bannerman

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I anticipate repair parts for Fleck 7000 will continue to remain available for some time to come.

A backwashing carbon filter system prior to the softener will remove chlorine which will prevent chlorine damage to the softening resin. While softening resin that is damaged from constant chlorine exposure will usually result in flow restriction through the resin bed, with an appropriately sized softener, no flow restriction should have been noticable when the softener was first installed.

What is the capacity of your softener? If not known, what is the height and diameter of the resin tank?

Many municipal water systems have now implemented using chloramine (chlorine and ammonia) for disinfection instead of plain chlorine. Chloramine is more difficult to eliminate, typically requiring a large volume of Catalytic Carbon compared to regular Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) which is effective for removing plain chlorine.

While a backwashing carbon filter system will remove many contaminants including disinfection byproducts and will improve water color and odor, an RO system will be the ultimate to obtain purified water for consumption.

For a full water report which will typically specify the disinfection chemicals utilized, most water suppliers will post an annual report on their web site. Hardness is typically not reported. Hardness can vary within the distribution system and so should be measured at your specific location.
 
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Don Roberts

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Didn't run it overnight, but currently in bypass, it's looking like 50PSI across the board, and actually the pressure isn't bad anymore in Bypass mode. I'm pretty sure the pressure is much worse if I were to go back into non-bypass, but because the controller on my Fleck 7000 is dead, there's not much point in testing.

Without the water softener running, the water is pretty horrible tasting :) But i think that's expected, without it. I know it still had a bad taste after being softened, but the RO got rid of it. We're mostly wanting to help with our ice maker, etc.

You're changing everything but the tank, I would go with a new model and at least you'll get some warranty out of it and no hassle exchanging parts. It wouldn't hurt to get the water tested.

In the meantime get a pressure gauge and put it on a spigot that is before the water softener and get a read on your pressure. Overnight will be the highest but when you are using water, such as filling the washing machine or running the shower, take readings. Also with a 5 gallon pail at the tub spout, time it or measure how many gallons per minute is being delivered. A water softener should not decrease water flow that much so this is just to get a baseline on what you have. After the new softener is installed measure the flow rate again.

jones-stephens-pressure-test-gauges-j66302-64_100.jpg
You want one with an indicator arm, or tattle tail needle. the black needle pushes the red needle to the highest reading. When the pressure drops the red needle stays in place.

RO systems are very good as long as they are maintained as you seem to do. Other than buying bottled water, stay with the RO. You're happy with it.

Whole house carbon filters are great especially if you have well water. City water, unless it is bad tasting, is a personal choice. Carbon filter may be good for a few years (a few hundred thousand gallons) depending on the size but it is a maintenance item. From day one as the carbon absorbs chemicals, etc, it degrades and eventually the carbon needs to be replaced. It is an excellent way to filter (polish the water as some will call it), however, each time you flush the toilet,:oops:.
 

Don Roberts

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I honestly am not sure how great it softened after the first few years. My problem right now is finding a control board for the Fleck 7000, as everywhere I look just recommends buying the 5810, as a replacement because they don't have any boards.

Any recommendations on resin or where to buy it?

I'm not too sure how to check the distributor tube. I did take a picture, which i've attached of what my unit looks like.


Still, repair/rebuild of the Fleck 7000 is probably feasible. Lots of parts have been stockpiled.

It could be that you only need to change out the resin to new quality 10% crosslinked. resin. Do you have other symptoms besides high pressure drop, or not softening well?

If you do put in a Fleck 5810sxt, you will need to make sure you have the right adapter to match your distributor tube. Your distributor tube may be 1.31 inches od, but check. It might be 1.05, or something else.
 

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Don Roberts

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Having trouble finding a control board, as everywhere I look wants to replace it with a 5810, and no control boards available.

I am not too sure what the capacity of the softener is, I measured it at 55x10, which from the looks of it 54x10 is probably the size, and that's 48k grain? The valve hole size looks to be about 4.5 inches (if that matters).

I figure i'll also add, that 8 years ago, it was My Wife, and I, plus our at that time 4 year old daughter. But we're now 6, My wife and myself, plus a 12yr, 5yr, 3yr, 1yr.

As for Water report, it looks like CalWater uses Chlorine in my area. Here's the water report for my area. https://www.calwater.com/docs/ccr/2019/bk-cbk-2019.pdf


I anticipate repair parts for Fleck 7000 will continue to remain available for some time to come.

A backwashing carbon filter system prior to the softener will remove chlorine which will prevent chlorine damage to the softening resin. While softening resin that is damaged from constant chlorine exposure will usually result in flow restriction through the resin bed, with an appropriately sized softener, no flow restriction should have been noticable when the softener was first installed.

What is the capacity of your softener? If not known, what is the height and diameter of the resin tank?

Many municipal water systems have now implemented using chloramine (chlorine and ammonia) for disinfection instead of plain chlorine. Chloramine is more difficult to eliminate, typically requiring a large volume of Catalytic Carbon compared to regular Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) which is effective for removing plain chlorine.

While a backwashing carbon filter system will remove many contaminants including disinfection byproducts and will improve water color and odor, an RO system will be the ultimate to obtain purified water for consumption.

For a full water report which will typically specify the disinfection chemicals utilized, most water suppliers will post an annual report on their web site. Hardness is typically not reported. Hardness can vary within the distribution system and so should be measured at your specific location.
 
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Reach4

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Having trouble finding a control board, as everywhere I look wants to replace it with a 5810, and no control boards available.
In that case, a 5810 sxt should be a good move. The distributor tube adapter from your 7000 is probably one that locks in, but maybe not. I think later they switched to a removable one. Both the 7000 manual and the 5812 manual list the 1.05 od adapter as part number 61419.
 
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