Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Resin went down the drain

Hello,

So we installed our Fleck2510SE yesterday and we did get soft water fine, also did the setting according to the seller of the system per our numbers.
However the resin basically went down the drain line from the control valve and we have no idea why this could have happened. I already emailed the seller about this but today is Sunday and I just wonder if anyone here has any ideas what this could be.
My husband thinks it's because there is a part or seal missing on the valve.
We took the softener apart and there is about 1/4 left of the resin in the tank.
The salt brine tank is still exactly the way we set it up.

"Down the drain" or into the plumbing?

If the service and return (the "in" and "out") water lines are reversed at the control valve the resin will flow out of the softener into the plumbing if there is no top basket on the control valve to stop it when that mistake is made.

Other possibilities...

During assembly the bottom basket on the distributer tube or the distributer tube was broken OR

When the control valve was assembled onto the resin tank the distributer tube was not seated into the "o-ringed" hole in the bottom of the control valve OR

The distributer tube is too short OR...

Thanks!
There is NO resin inside the plumbing, it went out the drain line.
The distributer tube was in the o-ringed hole. when we took it apart this morning and took off the valve, the tube came out with it. I will check the distributor tube for any cracks. the little basket on the bottom is intact.
There was no basket on the top and there was no mention in the instruction about a basket on top.
I will also see what the seller says about this.
There is no residue or evidence of resin being inside the distributor tube. It looks like the resin was drawn directly into the drain line.

There was no basket on the top and there was no mention in the instruction about a basket on top.

My mistake, I was thinking of another control valve.

Hello again,

I hope I will hear from the seller tomorrow.
We took everything apart again (except the plumbing), our water is running on the bypass mode now with the tank off the system and the brine tank set aside. The brine tank is still in the same condition that we set it up. Same amount of salt in it and same amount of water in it.
The distributer tube was tightly put in the o-ring of the valve. I took it out to see if it is broken and it is not but there is resin inside the tube. It looks like the resin is getting through the little basket at the end of the distributor tube, but nothing looks broken.
I checked again on the connections, hard water is coming in where it says in and the soft water is going out where the arrow is saying out.
I also checked again if there is any resin inside the plumbing and there is not.
I almost guess theres something wrong with the Fleck valve.

It looks like the resin is getting through the little basket at the end of the distributor tube, but nothing looks broken.

There are different bottom baskets with different size slots. The correct sized slot basket must be used with the correct sized resin.

Perhaps, and I'm just guessing, you weren't supplied the correct slot size basket for the SST60 resin.

Also check that the control valve is in the service position. Perhaps something got out of sync during the programming and the control valve is in the wrong position.

That's what I am guessing too, that I got the wrong size distributor tube basket. The resin sits in the slots and there is a little bit of resin inside the basket.
The control valve was in the service position, we had soft water that night. In the morning we discovered the resin in the drain line and figured there is something wrong.
We immediately bypassed the system and tried to figure out what's wrong.

I'm by no means an expert but I did recently install the same fleck 2510se at my own house. Did you make sure that the center 1" pipe in the resin tank was held down while you were installing the resin. The tube I'm referring to was supposed to have a cap on it that you would have removed once the resin was inserted into the tank. I know if that tube isn't seated properly, it may cause some issues.

That's what I am guessing too, that I got the wrong size distributor tube basket. The resin sits in the slots and there is a little bit of resin inside the basket.
The control valve was in the service position, we had soft water that night. In the morning we discovered the resin in the drain line and figured there is something wrong.
We immediately bypassed the system and tried to figure out what's wrong.

For a moment, set aside HOW the resin got in the distributer tube... there should be nothing, water or resin, running to drain with the control valve in the service position. Should be only hard water in and soft water out with no path to the drain line.

By service position I am NOT referring to the bypass setting but the correct internal alignment of the piston and other internal parts when in service. If the piston is not in the service position then water can run to drain. The secondary problem is how the resin is getting to the drain line.

Missing as much resin as you say there is a path to the drain line for the resin to escape with the control valve in the service position. Perhaps inside something is not in the service position.

Does that mean that there is something wrong/broken with the Fleck2510Se?? or is it a setting that I can fix? I only put in the time and the gallons per the instructions.
My Husband mentioned something that he saw when he took the Valve apart that it looks like there is a path to the drain line.

Well, thanks for all of your help here, now I just have to get an answer from the seller.

@MN_Jay
I don't think that's the problem.

SusiQ,

When everything is in sync after a regeneration the piston (not the bypass) rests at the "in service" position and the water flow path is "hard water in and soft water out". During the stages of regeneration the piston moves and changes the water path. During at least two regeneration stages (or cycles), brining and rinsing, there is a water path from the resin area to the drain.

From here it seems you have two separate, but may not be unrelated, problems.

1. Why and how is resin getting to the drain when the control valve, not the bypass, should be in service?

2. Why and how is there a water flow from the resin area to drain with the control valve (not the bypass) in the service position?

Could be a flaw in the valve body.
Valve body could be cracked or physically broken.
Piston could be out of sync and not in the "service" position.
Could be a seal or spacer missing from the piston.

Could be something simple and you don't know what to look for or may require a replacement control valve.

I just talked to the seller.
He thinks it might be the rubber spacer on the drain line. It could be the wrong one and then in the regeneration cycle it might suck out the resin.

I'll keep you up to date on this...

I just talked to the seller.
He thinks it might be the rubber spacer on the drain line. It could be the wrong one and then in the regeneration cycle it might suck out the resin.

By "rubber spacer" does the seller mean the DLFC (drain line flow control)?

If the DLFC is missing resin could be drawn out the drain line during regeneration but, IIRC, in your first post in this thread you said you installed the softener and the resin went down the drain. I don't see where you said the softener had regenerated.

Did I miss where you said the softener had regenerated and THEN you lost the resin?

Theoretically there should have been no regeneration. The meter was set to 2250 G until the next generation.
You are right, I said there was no regeneration. That's something that the seller thought when I talked to him on the phone and I just wrote it here, going over the possibilities what could have happened.
The rubber spacer is probably the DLFC and it is there.
I hope to get this figured out tomorrow.

I talked to the seller again and we came to the conclusion that there was Air in the tank or plumbing which caused the resin to go down the drain line. We'll see how this goes when we get the new resin and he also added an upper basket to keep the resin in the tank in case we have air in the plumbing again.

I talked to the seller again and we came to the conclusion that there was Air in the tank or plumbing which caused the resin to go down the drain line. We'll see how this goes when we get the new resin and he also added an upper basket to keep the resin in the tank in case we have air in the plumbing again.

As I understand, if air is in the resin tank at the initial water fill (air always is) and the water is not introduced very slowly the resin will escape into the plumbing (if there is no top basket to stop it) and not down the drain line. There should be no connection from the resin area to the drain line while the softener is in service. There isn't always water running to drain while the softener is in service is there?

Please have your seller correct me if that is wrong.

That's what I tried to tell the seller, that there is no resin in the plumbing, it went down the drain line. He said, yes that can happen if there is a lot of air in the tank.
We will install everything again when we get the resin and then set the time of day shortly before 2am to see if the control maybe does something that it shouldn't, as that would probably be the only time that control valve would do something. I guess that something went wrong around that time.

As I understand, if air is in the resin tank at the initial water fill (air always is) and the water is not introduced very slowly the resin will escape into the plumbing (if there is no top basket to stop it) and not down the drain line. There should be no connection from the resin area to the drain line while the softener is in service. There isn't always water running to drain while the softener is in service is there?

Please have your seller correct me if that is wrong.

To answer your question, there was no water running to drain while the softener was in service as far as I can remember. I just checked for leaks, but not if there was water in the drain line.

SusiQ,

I know your priority is to get the softener working properly and move on. Carefully reviewing this thread I am sure of one thing...

One could pump air into a water softener that is operating properly in service until the resin tank bulged and no water or resin should flow to drain.

There is no way that water or resin can flow to drain while the softener is in service or water would flow to drain all the time the softener is in service. Water does flow to drain during regeneration when drawing the brine into the resin tank and when rinsing the resin but the internal workings (piston) is being moved into a specific position during regeneration to allow that flow and then the piston is moved back to the service position at the end of regeneration to prevent that flow.

Please make sure that your seller completely understands what you are describing. Better yet, get them to review this thread and carefully read my statement "As I understand, if air is in the resin tank at the initial water fill (air always is) and the water is not introduced very slowly the resin will escape into the plumbing (if there is no top basket to stop it) and not down the drain line. There should be no connection from the resin area to the drain line while the softener is in service. There isn't always water running to drain while the softener is in service is there?" from my recent post.

I'm pretty sure someone is missing something and I think it's your seller. Trapped air in the resin tank during the initial water fill might push resin out the "outy" into the plumbing but not into the drain.

Again, please have your seller correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks, that's exactly what I tried to tell the seller. He still insisted that this could have happened because of air.
The problem is I don't know what the control valve did at 2am in the morning, maybe there was still a lot of air in the tank (which I don't think, since we showered that night and I also had the dishwasher running) and the valve went into regeneration and blew it out that way.

Thanks, that's exactly what I tried to tell the seller. He still insisted that this could have happened because of air.

I hope the problem gets resolved quickly.

Please keep us informed how the repair progresses and what the final determination is.

Either the DLFC is Missing or the incorrect size. Or the softener was full of air and regenerated the first night.
Depending on the mineral tank diameter the flow control washer installed in the fleck valve drain line connection should be: 1.2 gpm for 7 inch tank, 1.5 for an 8 inch tank, 2.0 for an 9 inch tank or 2.4 gpm for an 10 inch tank.
If it's not there or too big for the tank size, mineral will leave the unit in the backwash cycle. You could check on the face of the washer, it should have a number such as 120 (1.2) 200(2.0gpm) 240 (2.4gpm) etc... There is a rounded side to the washer flow control hole and must be installed facing the flow of water! (Towards the valve) If any of that is wrong, the manufacturer owes you some resin.
If there was alot of air in the tank from the initial installation, and it regenerated the first night or day,you could lose mineral to the drain. The softener backwash step reverses the flow of the unit down the distibutor tube and out the drain in that cycle, at a controlled rate. But the flow controller will not control air flow and the backwash rate will be uncontrolled until the water actually reaches the flow controller. By that time, it may be too late and resin is gone. If that's the case you need to buy more resin. Either way you need more resin for your specific diameter of tank.
Good Luck TJ Hornet :thumbup:

TJ Hornet,

I agree, but the OP is adamant that the softener did not regenerate and that the DLFC is there. The DLFC may be the wrong size or facing the wrong way as you point out.

I still can not see any way for resin to run to drain with the control valve in the service position.

What am I missing?

Thanks to all here for their input!

The softener works since last night. I think this was partially user error and the seller could have had better instructions. I slowly get to know how the darn thing works. We do have a top basket installed now, so in case we do have air in the system, we don't loose any resin.
I think we had air in the tank the first time, even though we did everything that was in the instructions. Now having read the Fleck2510Se manual carefully, I think that the Valve went into regeneration the first night and caused the resin to escape.
I did an extra regeneration and let it run in Step#1 for about 5 minutes, which got all the air out and then put it back into service position.

All's well than ends working properly.