Whole house water filters

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WV Hillbilly

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I don't think polarity matters . I just wired mine & it works . If your unit is installed vertically the valve screws in the top . My unit had a plug which I had to remove to
install the air release valve . My instructions said to turn the black cap 1 1/2 turns
counterclockwise . That would mean it was tight to begin with . The box the valve
came in said to turn the black cap 2 turns . I turned mine 1 1/2 turns .
 

Greg Mueller

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Again, thanks
I notice on the little green buss bar that you hook the wires to, there is a place for something to be wired up and it is labeled "Inlet".

So there are two places for "24 VAC" (that should have tipped me about polarity)
Two places for "Drain"
and two places for "Inlet"


Just curious, doesn't matter much (or does it?)
 

WV Hillbilly

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My controller has connections for transformer , drain & inlet if I remember correctly . If you are using surface water as a water source an external prefilter is recommended . The external prefilter would also have a solenoid that would need to close to shut off water to the unit so the unit could completely drain . That's what the inlet connections on the controller are for . I don't have any wires in the connections labeled inlet . I am going mostly from memory but I can run out & check if needed . If I remember correctly the unit only completely drains in programs 3 & 4 . I have mine set in program 2 . I assume we have the same controller but don't know for sure . Mine has a total of 6 places to connect wires . 2 for the transformer , 2 for the drain ( backflush ) solenoid & 2 for the inlet solenoid . If I remember correctly there was no + positive or - negative markings on the transformer , drain solenoid or controller .
 

Alternety

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I have a 4500, but again it is probably much the same. The very top threaded port is water in.

The next one down is the drain. Put in the solenoid and attach a hose to a drain. Fasten the hose so it will not blow out of the drain. The drain water is under pressure.

The next one down is filtered water out.

There is another small plug below that. I don't remember the use but I think it may be a drain if you are using the device for surface water. I am not sure where my manual is. There is also a valve someplace (the other side I think) that is used to set the pressure in the backwash bladder. When backwash takes place there is an internal pressure bladder (sort of like your pressure tank) that helps that process. It is probably set correctly. I think that is 35 psi. You do not set it to a few psi less than the cut-in pressure in your system like you do for your pressure tank.

The system is all AC. No polarity. I think there are two versions of the controller. Again, not positive. It has been a while.

There is a configuration of the unit that has an additional solenoid related to a draining process used for nasty surface water.

Just as an example of possible configurations - what I have done is place an extra pressure tank on the output of the filter. There is a spring operated check valve between the second tank and the filter. This keeps a bit of a buffer if water use exceeds the flow rate of the filter. It will also slow the flow when the tank is fully charged because the pressure differential across the filter is effectively zero. It seems to work. Note that when using check valves in the system you must never isolate the hot water tank from the cold supply pressure tank without adding a pressure tank to the hot water tank. Otherwise the pressure relief valve will leak water.
 
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WV Hillbilly

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I think the extra small plugs are for horizontal mounting situations . In that case you put the air release valve in one of them instead of the top .
 

Alternety

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I keep saying backwash. It is really a flush. Water does not go backwards through the filter material, it just washes the outside surface.
 

WV Hillbilly

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Actually , according to the material I have read the water does go backwards through the membranes during the backwash cycle . That's what the backpulse tank & bladder are for . At the same time water is washing over the outside of the membranes . The way I understand it , the membranes are what's known as hollow fiber or hollow core membranes . The source or dirty water filters through the membranes to the hollow cores & then goes into the backpulse tank & compresses the bladder which has 35 pounds of air pressure in it . When the controller opens the drain solenoid , water flows over the outside of the membrane washing it . At the same time due to the drain being open the water pressure outside the membranes falls below 35 pounds pressure & the compressed bladder with 35 pounds of pressure in it forces clean water backwards through the membranes . That way not only is the outside of the membranes cleaned but the pores in the membrane are also cleaned . With the controller I have , programs 1 & 2 are backflush cycles & programs 3 & 4 are backflush & drain cycles . To have a drain cycle there must be a solenoid valve on the inlet of the unit to cut off the water supply to the unit . In that case the controller would shut the inlet solenoid valve & open the drain solenoid valve . Water would drain away from the outside of the membranes & the bladder pressure would force the clean water from the backpulse tank backwards through the membranes & that water would also go out the drain leaving the whole unit drained of water . The controller would then close the drain valve & open the inlet valve allowing the unit to fill with water again . The drain cycle is supposed to be for dirty , surface water applications & not necessary for relatively clean water sources . If I have my drawers in a wad & got a bunch of this wrong please straighten me out as I want to know all I can about the unit .
 

Greg Mueller

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On the brass Float Vent....

There is a little nylon flat blade like piece that sticks out of the center of the threaded part that you screw in to the top of the unit.

Do you remove that nylon blade or leave it there?
 

WV Hillbilly

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I am looking at the box my vent came in & there is a picture of the vent that shows the blade sticking out of the threads . No where that I saw said to remove it so I left it in . I didn't recall it being there from memory . Did you pull it out or try to pull it out ? I didn't .
Was just wondering if it would slide right out or was fastened in there .
 

Greg Mueller

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I tugged at it but not hard. I also tried to unscrew it and it didn't. Guess I'll leave it alone.
I can always take off the unit and pull it out if I find out different, I guess.
 

Greg Mueller

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Never Trust Modular Home Plumbers

Well we were delayed a day because modular home "plumbers" don't know how to do their job and branch water lines BEFORE the whole house shut off valve, but we are up and running now.

Boy does this filter work!

Crystal clear water that tastes great!
 

Greg Mueller

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Resurrection

10 years ago I bought my mom the above mention Maytag 2100.
At the same time I bought myself a 3100.
I have just now installed mine as the house I have been building (in Datil, NM) is finally ready to move in to. (yes, 10 years)

My system.....
I have a 600' well in a valley 70' below the house. It pumps water up to an 1100 gallon cistern on top of the mesa.
From the the cistern it flows in to the basement of the house in to a second 300 gallon water tank through 4 big blue filters (in parallel) with 2501 filters in them (1 micron). The top of both cisterns are at the same level.
From the 300 gallon tank the water is brought up to 50 lb pressure by a shallow pump (a little noisy).
From there the water goes through 4 more big blue filters (in parallel) with 2501 filters, in to the hot water tank and on to the house plumbing system.

I'll stop here and explain that the well water has a lot of sediment in it and I figured the 1 micron filters would take it out. It didn't.
I also thought that after a few months, the sediment would settle out and the 1 micron filters would take care of the rest. No such luck.
I really wanted to stay with a passive filtration system, but the wife would not live here with that murky water.

So this week I brought out the secret weapon (MWF3100AWS) and hooked it up behind the second set of big blues. I was really praying that my $400 Ebay find was not a rip off and all these years of sitting had not had their way with it.

Much to my joy, it is working like a charm. Our water has gone from barely see through, to crystal clear.

The wife is happy and that makes for a happy home.
Yay Homespring

G
 

Valveman

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Set up properly the cisterns should settle out a lot of sediment, especially if it is heavy enough to sink to the bottom of a glass or jar. Then you wouldn't have to filter it at the house. But if it is not heavy enough to settle, filtering is the only way.

PS you can put a submersible in the storage tank as it would be much more quiet than a jet pump.
LOW YIELD WELL_SUB_PK1A.jpg
 
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Greg Mueller

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The "Tank Pump" sounds like a good idea. I suppose I could dangle it down in the 300 gallon tank downstairs as the fill line from the 1100 gal cistern to the 300 gallon tank is not built for pressure.
Can you suggest a brand etc?
My current pump runs on 220
 

Valveman

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My favorite is a Grundfos 10S05-9. But there is not a lot of difference in those little pumps these days. Just make sure not to get one with cast or iron discharge and suction adapter. Use plastic, brass, or SS only.
 

Chrisdude2222

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Hello there. I have the same system which we got many years ago. I didn't believe backflushing so much, it seemed like a waste of water so I disconnected the solenoid backflush and was doing it manually on a semi regular basis. However I forgot about it for quite a while and when I went to do a backflush there was only a trickle of water coming out. I'm guessing it's completely plugged. However we still have good water pressure.
We had a technician come and look at it and he had said we need an aerator on our well pump. Is this true? It seems to work fine.
We have the well pump hooked up to pressure tank which then goes to a water softener, then through a prefilter, then to the maytag zenon system after which we have set up a UV lighting system.
Aside from the backflush any suggestions? We had it checked about 4 years ago and all was good. The tech is saying he has to come in and rebuild the system. I don't know what he means by rebuild - or a simple maintenance check, which is all I want. I don't want to have to pay for something I don't need to.
 

Greg Mueller

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My Maytage/Homespring unit is still working and doing a very good job.
But planning ahead I'm wondering if anyone way up here in 2019 is making a similar unit for the day when this one finally dies (if it ever does).
Anyone know?
 

Alternety

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Chriss - It would be my guess that using a pre-filter air injector would be a bad idea. I have the feeling that getting air bubbles on to the filter membrane with not be a good idea. Maybe someone with more knowledge will pipe in. That recommendation made by the service I must interpret as BS from a guy who has no idea what your device is or how it works. As you have found, you should not stop the cleaning cycle. The purpose of the cleaning is to keep the membrane clear. If you really really want to do something longer than the included cycles, you could probably use your own timer instead of the built-in one and set you own schedule. But I really would not recommend it. Some very smart engineers said that was how it should work. If you have a water supply problem not wasting rinse water, perhaps pipe it somewhere useful rather than just a drain.

It could be just a clogged or defective valve. It don't think the drain would be clogged while processing remains unaffected. You first need to decide if Dirty Harries view (as I remember it) is correct "Do you want to try it punk; do you punk". The Zenon can be drained and dissembled.

If you isolate the Zenon from both sides of the system (surely you have cutoff valves in the circuits), you can drain the water and possibly check the pressure compartment (I recall there is one in there) used for backflush. Then remove parts. Clean and test the discharge hardware. If the valve or solenoid have failed you will need to find some matching parts. I would do any repairs from the outside if at all possible without threatening the membranes. You can unscrew the top of the filter and access the membrane and whatever you have in the top layer (carbon filter or metal mesh). I would try not to annoy the membrane. If it becomes necessary to remove it to get to something else, be very careful.

A couple of things.

If your Zenon is intact, you don't need UV after it. Having the UV won't hurt anything; and it is a belt and suspenders solution.

It would be useful for you to describe your water, and the source. And what the various other devices are doing. I am not sure you have an optimal configuration. Describe the capabilities of each of the devices. Describe quality of water and the contents you are trying to remove.The other devices you have before the Zenon, probably don't play a part. But, I might make sure the water softener is operating properly and not leaking materials into the water. Double check you prefilter is not passing particles. While you are at it, and if you have some gauges on the system, you might outline the pressure drops from the well and various devices until the outlet of the Zenon. What flow rate do you need from the Zenon to you water system. Are you staying within the limits of the household flow demand. Most of these suggestions are probably not critical information, but would give the people here more to chew on. What I have said here is just the bunch of things that are probably not the problem, but information could be useful to you when troubleshooting or for helpers on this thread.

As an aside, I put a pressure tank on each side of the Zenon, with a backflow preventor between the Zenon and the house water system. It may not be an issue for you, but it allows you to have higher flow in the house than the Zenon should be asked to supply. The pressure the tank size will determine what you can have for flow in excess of the Zenon flow rate in the house. It works quite nicely.

Greg - I would like to know as well.
 
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