Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Fleck 5600se maintenance

A few questions regarding a 5600se.

I just did my first attempt at yearly maintenance n a 2 year old softener, the installer did the first year free.

I purchased all the necessary O-rings, screen, nozzles etc. online and my first issue was when I take off the two injector mounting screws, the injector and brine module doesn't come of as it says in the service manual. Is there a method to this, is it supposed to just drop out? I have new orings for the drain (18) and injector (19), but do I really need to get in there to replace them annually?

I decided to carry on and replace the injectors/screen, and to my surprise there was no existing screen installed in the unit. I cleaned everything out (iron deposits), installed new injector nozzle and throat, screen, replaced the large injector cover O-ring and re-assembled and regenerated. Everything is working fine.

Any idea of reasons why I wouldn't have a screen in the unit? Is this an error by the installer, and if so how would it have affected the unit for the last year?

I have no intent to go back to the installer, but would like to know if I should complain if they have affected the condition of the equipment.

Many thanks.

Gus

There are no written instructions for yearly maintenance. You do not have to replace the o rings or the injector. As far as the screen, it is used to prevent the injector from being cloged with debri. I always tell my customers when they ask about maintenance to just add salt and let the salt run real low once a year to see if a salt tank cleanout is needed. Some companies do an annual maintenance just so they can collect money.

Thanks for the info. I thought the injector was a wear item, and as I have high iron the white injector nozzle and throat certainly do get dirty and discolored (black and red). can I just clean these in future, or is replacement better.

As for the O-rings - I found it strainge that the manual said to replace them - just overcautious I suppose. The missing screen still puzzles me - but perhaps the installer left it off as I have a prefilter/nuetralizer due to low Ph. Its seems to work fine with the one I installed.

How do I determine if the salt tank needs cleaned out - will I see deposits on the bottom? I have a round 18x33 tank with grid and 4" brine well and a brass fleck 2300 safety valve. The 2300 has some blue staining and white powder on the surface - anything for me to worry about?

Thanks.

As long as the unit draws brine, the nozzle and throat are fine. Having iron, you should be using some sort of resin cleaner to prevent iron build up on the resin. The resin cleaner will keep the nozzle and throat clean. I can see replacing the o rings if the unit is leaking, but as an annual maintenance? I've been working on Flecks for 19+ years and the only time I replace the o rings is on a major overhaul or if they leak.
As for the injector screen, they are installed at the factory so the installer has no reason to remove it. Someone may have forget to put it in.
You need to clean out the salt tank when the salt turns to mush. The mush will build up to the grid plate. If you let the unit run real low on salt once a year, you will be able to tell if the mush is getting too high. People have a habit of putting salt on top of salt. You run the risk of a salt bridge. If you let the salt run down under the water level, then fill it back up, you reduce the chance of a salt bridge and you can see if the salt is getting mushy.