Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Fleck 7000 Not softening water

I recently replaced my old Culligan Mark 59 with a new 40,000 grain Fleck 7000. The installation went in without any problems. The unit appears to go through all it's cycles fine (backwash, brine pull, rapid rinse, brine refill), but it is not producing soft water. I purchased some hardness test strips and tested my conditioned water shortly after a regeneration cycle. The test strip showed 25 gpg of hardness, which was at the highest level it will record. I have gone through all the troubleshooting tips in the manual except a possible leak or crack in the distributor tube. This is where I believe my problem lies. The distributor tube coupling was not provided separately as one of pieces that made up the assembly. Some of the third party installation guides don't even mention it. I guess I assumed it was part of the head unit though never confirm that it was actually in place. I'm ready to depressurize the system and take the head off and check. Getting the red clips off the bypass valve without breaking them is a real concern (I've already broken one). Any tips on what I should do would be much appreciated. Also, if you know where I can purchase the distributor tube coupling and spare clips that would be a big help.

ttpiper - I have included correspondence with Bill Warren -
from Water Valve Co. He was very helpful when I purchased
a Fleck 7000 from him two years ago and had a similiar
problem as you describe. turned out that Fleck left off
the distributor kit from my order - hope this helps...
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Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 9:41 AM
To: Questions For Water Value
Subject: RE: install

The water appears to still be very hard (high iron content).
I removed the control valve to make sure that the distributor
was up in the hole of the control valve and not pushed to the
side. I am concerned with the tightness of fit because I don't
see how the hard water coming in is prevented from mixing with
the soft water going out.
I have attached a couple of pictures of the control valve and
the distributor for your inspection. I guess I'm looking for
some reassurance that nothing is missing. Thanks.

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From: Questions For Water Value [mailto:questions@watervalue.com]

First of all, thank you very much for the digital pictures.
Fleck obviously left out the distributor kit! They don't
make mistakes often but when they do they are big ones.
I have spoken with Mike on their dock in Ohio and one is
on the way now. You should have it tomorrow (order# 502280).
It simply presses into the bottom of the valve. They are
supposed to insert that when they ship it. Please accept
my apologies for this omission.

Best Regards,
Bill Warren - Water Value Co.

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Also - some info. on how to remove the red clips
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From: Questions For Water Value [mailto:questions@watervalue.com]

Yes the red "H" clip is tricky to get out. What I do is
push it out from the back side evenly. I'll take a couple
of small screw drivers and work them in back and forth on
the back of the "H" clip. Be sure not to put any pressure
on the clip retainer itself. I have broken clips in the
past with this method but not often. And even if it breaks,
it inserts properly and still does it's job.

The main thing to do is release the pressure from the tank.
Do this by setting the bypass for no inlet water and leaving
the other side of the bypass open. Press the manual regeneration
button and wait for the sound of the water flowing out to die down.
Then it should be safe to place the outlet side of the valve to
bypass and remove the "H" clip.

Please let me know how it goes for you.

Regards,
Bill Warren - Water Value Co.

ttpiper,

I'm not aware of a "distributer tube coupling" for a Fleck 7000. The service manual for your 7000 is here...

http://www.ohiopurewaterco.com/7000.pdf and page #5 has the "step by step" for installing the distributer (riser) tube into the Flack 7000.

There should be a "basket" at the bottom of the distributer (riser) tube so the resin can't get out. Crude illustration here...

http://www.caitechnologies.com/shopping/Images/Items//riser.gif

If you didn't get a distributer (riser) tube with basket on the bottom then not having soft water is not a mystery. Without the distributer (riser) tube you'll get service (hard) water in and out of the softener.

The distributer (riser) tube is a friction fit into the hole in the bottom of the control valve. There's an o-ring in the hole and a little "food grade" silicone grease or good old Wesson salad oil works wonders.

In order to install the distributer (riser) tube correctly you should remove all the media from the resin tank. There are EZ to follow instructions here...

http://www.ohiopurewaterco.com/shop/customer/pages.php?pageid=13

Some pros can install a distributer (riser) tube without removing all the media but it's best for you to do it the long way to be sure it's right.

I'm curious, didn't the assembly and installation instructions (that should have been included with your softener) from the place you bought your softener mention a distributer (riser) tube?

Make sure when you ask for that missing distributer (riser) tube that you specifically mention what size resin tank and control valve you have, it makes a difference in the length of the tube.

Please let us know how this works out.

justalurker -

It wasn't the riser tube that was missing - it was a rubber "reducer" ring
that was supposed to be pressed into the bottom of the control valve.
The riser tube then snugly fit into this reducer ring. I think this had
to do with low flow vs. high flow systems and the diameter of the
riser tube supplied. Just thought I should clarify.

justalurker - That's it!!!
part #18 on page 20 of the pdf document
http://www.ohiopurewaterco.com/7000.pdf
- thats what was missing!
18 1 61419 kit, 1.05" dist. adapter

Vertigo,

"It wasn't the riser tube that was missing - it was a rubber "reducer" ring
that was supposed to be pressed into the bottom of the control valve.
The riser tube then snugly fit into this reducer ring. I think this had
to do with low flow vs. high flow systems and the diameter of the
riser tube supplied. Just thought I should clarify."

That sure makes a big difference and a great example of the perils of buying "long distance". I believe, but don't quote me, that the 7000 can take input from 3/4 up to 1.5 and so it has the ability to use different diameter distributer (riser) tubes other than the 1.05" standard for your size softener. Regardless, your dealer should have gotten it right.

You'll get it sorted out in short order... when the part shows up, and after some unnecessary work that's not a fun job.