how to rebed water softener resin replacement
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 เม.ย. 2020
- How to rebed water softener resin replacement. Material list below for an easy repair to fix hard water or low water pressure.
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I just replaced the resin in our 15+ year old Kinetico. Also rebuilt the head. Softener works like new now. By the way, if you have a push type bypass valve like in this video, I strongly recommend you turn off the input supply and open a faucet to relieve pressure, then gently push the bypass rather than hitting or pounding it. The shaft on that bypass plunger (at least on mine) is just plastic and can break if you pound it. ASK ME HOW I KNOW! Now, any time I need to bypass, I first turn off the water input supply and open a sink faucet to get rid of the pressure, then the bypass will move easily.
Great tip on the bypass valve. Thanks for posting.
Did you put gravel in the bottom of your kinetico tanks? Does your system have a couple large plastic rings that you pull off to remove unit from water system. If yes how do you pull them off?
not rings more like c clips I mean
@@robandannetteful No, there was no gravel in the tanks when I cleaned out the old resin, so I just replaced with the correct resin. Did not add anything else. No c-clips on mine, I just pulled the metal pin from the retaining piece and the two pipes that stick out at the top of the tank just pulled right out of the bypass valve. I think I've seen videos on TH-cam of systems that do have the C-clips you're talking about
How full of resin should the tank be ?
Thank you so much for this video 😊 Culligan was going to charge us $1,800 to rebed the softener, but we did it for $500 in supplies. My son and I worked on it together, but he did 98% of the work:) I would definitely need a dolly to move the tanks if I was alone. There was a learning curve as our water softener model differed in a few areas, but this video was helpful enough to keep us on the right track. Thanks again.
Great news Anna! Glad you were able to do it yourself.
Thank you so much for taking time to post this TH-cam. This is exactly what I needed to know. i know I could do it, but I had no idea what the specifc steps were. Awesome
Glad it was helpful! It is a lot easier than you think.
Thank you for the video. Also, kudos for choosing to spend a lilttle more in order to buy something produced in the United States. We need all the loyalty we can get.
Especially important to buy something made in the US if it is going in your drinking water.
Ray nice job explaining everything, you made it look so easy to do!
It's not hard at all. You can do it!
Followed your instructions and change our resin last weekend. Everything went great. Fixed our diminished water pressure and output. Really appreciate you posting this.
Glad it worked out.
I'm so glad that I learned trigonometry and calculous in high school. They were much more valuable skills to know compared to something like this.
HEAVY SARCASM. Thank you for the information and easy to follow instructions!
If you want to put those skills to use you could calculate the volume of the tank, then determine the surface area of the resin.
@@HouseDoctorRay Or you could learn more calculus in college or university, become an engineer, and earn enough in day to pay a professional to do this dirty work. 🙃
I hope you're right. Princess number 1 is in her senior year and going to engineering school next year.
There is nothing wrong with knowing the hard science and math AND being able to turn a wrench and swing a hammer. Any good engineer knows how to do both. (I like ot think of myself as a renaissance man.) - Renaissance man, an ideal that developed in Renaissance Italy from the notion expressed by one of its most-accomplished representatives, Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72), that “a man can do all things if he will.”
As soon as he put the funnel on his head I knew this was gonna be a good video 😂
Thanks Anthony.
I thought he was just advertising he was a Pastafarian--but that would have to be a colander...
Thanks so much. I now have the confidence to take on the job. You're video is the best I've seen yet.
Thanks. You can do it!
Good Good Video. Thanks! (PS: My hair is sooooo much more manageable suddenly!)
😅😆😂🤣
I've been looking at new systems to replace my old one. About $600-$700 for new. Or replace the resin in mine, and rebuild the fleck, plus the float in the brine tank isn't working properly. The fleck isn't even metered, just a timer.
This video helped me make the decision.
I'm buying new. Thanks Ray.
Thanks, very helpful. You are right about the job being done better if you do it yourself if you have the knowledge.
Love the “hair being soft and manageable”
Glad you found it helpful. Always had city water before this so never needed a softener.
Thank you So Much! I followed your directions, saved me 400 dollars. Water is so soft now. My wife was sceptical but now I'm the home improvement hero. Lots less chlorine smell too
Great news!
I've watched a few of your videos...great detailed information and your presentation style helps give confidence that anyone can do the job! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Mike.
To the point! Best video on the subject.
Thanks Ray. You just saved me almost $600!
Glad to hear it.
Thank you for recording and posting this valuable educational video.
thank you for the video, very helpful for this 82 yr old. My mineral tank is a 8"x44" so it did not require the gravel. Once I siphoned out the water it was light enough to carry outside to wash it out with the hose.
Glad it worked out for you Ron.
Lovely hair, Ray! Thank you so much for this video.
Thanks.
Vacuuming is such a good idea… thank you
Great, informative video. Exactly what I was looking for and as a bonus for me, I have the same system. Thanks, I was looking for a new system.
Good luck!
I’ve watched 15 of these videos… best one yet! Thank you!!!!
Thanks Jay. Now order that resin and fix your softener.
@@HouseDoctorRay This looks like a good place for my question: I need "high iron resin", which I take to mean high-mesh resin that will trap more of the iron, such as ALDEX C-800F Fine Mesh WATER SOFTENER RESIN, but am not sure. Any advice?
And Princess #1 must stick with engineering to make that plan work. I switched to academia and am now retired at 85 and doing my own dirty work. 😥
Sorry, I'm not sure about the resin. Best l can tell you is try and find something made in the US.
Hello. Thank you for the excellent walk through for resin replacement. I wanted to ask about how you mention a few times that you use Vaseline to lubricate your threads and seals. As I understand it Vaseline is a petroleum based gel and the manual for my water softener says to not use any kind of petroleum based lubricants because it will react with the plastics of which the water softener controller is made. So you might want to mention this somewhere in your description or post-process your video to highlight this so users know they might need to use a silicon-based lubricant instead of Vaseline.
excellent!!!! thank you. one of the best home videos i've seen.
Thank you for your kind words.
A really great, useful & detailed video.
Many thanks.......all the way from London !
Thank you.
Amazing video, I'll just likely be tackling this very soon in my new to me home.
It's definitely a way to save a lot of money.
an excellent video on how to change resin & gravel. the mystery is unraveled for me. thanks
Thanks Jim.
Thank you very much for making this video. I believe on Do It Yourself all the way. Honesty is scarce.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks for this well presented video. I have the same system you do and now I have noticed that the system is no longer producing softened water. I’m going to follow your advice and try using a resin cleaner. I would rather use the cleaner specifically recommended for this purpose, like the Whirlpool cleaner you suggested in another video of yours. Many posted comments have indicated that Iron Out and similar chemicals release potentially toxic fumes and may leave a residue in the regen tank causing the water to take on a foul odor. Again thanks for the great videos and I have hit the subscribe button.
Thanks for your kind words.
great video, easy to follow, made the job super easy.
Thanks Bill, glad you liked it.
Perfect Explanation and help me to save a lot of money thanks Ray
Glad it was helpful.
Thank you for this great video, much appreciated!
Glad you liked it.
Awesome video Ray !!! I'll be ordering my resin and gravel today. I'll be ordering some food grade o-ring lube too👍
You'll be amazed at how much better your water is when you're done.
Okay, Thanks so much for this video! I have the exact same Culligan system and this worked perfectly, I bought the gravel and the funnel from your links; although I couldn't buy the resin in the link (not available), so I had to get it from SEARS. You are absolutely correct about making sure you source the resin from a US manufacturer. The Chinese and/or Indian resin is very poor quality and not properly washed. Thanks RAY!
Glad it worked out for you.
I found another source for the made in USA Purolite resin. Just like everything else the price has gone up significantly.
amzn.to/3k3x7U3
@@HouseDoctorRay Glad I didn't go with the Chinese stuff - there are horror stories all over the web about it being full of benzene (takes a long time to flush out) and it not having much capacity - poorly reacted functional groups.
Nice video. And yes doing your self you will get a better job
It’s 2024 and Culligan still makes and sells part for this series of softener (medallist series) if yours leaks like mine did just begind the white control box you need to repack the valve seals. Call your local Culligan supplier.
Very helpful video, sir. Thank you!
You're welcome and thank you for watching.
Very good very helpful Video thank you for posting!
Thanks. Glad you liked it.
Excellent video. Totally understandable.
Thanks John.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for watching.
Good video! Thanks
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Great Vid!
Thank you.
3:31 Yes it’s a flow sensor and it can be used for the system to calculate how much water has been used and when to regenerate based on usage vs. regenerating on a timed cycle.
Thanks for the clarification.
The funnel on the head was a nice touch lol.
Keeps me safe from 5g
@@HouseDoctorRay you need to line it with tinfoil lol. I soon will be doing a resin replacement on my softer as well.
awesome thanks!
beautiful dog!
Thank you.
Great video, helps a lot. I'm a little concerned as the resin is classed as hazardous here in the UK and throwing it in the ditch may be a bad for the environment. But I'm no expert.
We have the same issues here with compact florescent lights (CFLs). They are designated as hazardous waste.
We're not supposed to put CFLs in recycling bins or in the garbage. Government drop off centers don't want them either. Go figure.
Sorry, but I can't tell you how to dispose of it. Now you can't even feign ignorance because MI5 read your post.
thank you for your video
You're welcome and thank you for watching.
Wire is a flow sensor. A magnet spins below it and it counts the revolutions. P.S. we have a setup(filter) in our shop that completely cleans our gravel before we do a rebed.
Great! I will now have soft and beautiful manageable hair JUST LIKE YOU!
It's an awesome feeling Wade. Thanks for watching.
Thank you!
Thanks for watching Uncle Swing
I also appreciate the video. After watching it I think I will tackle this job on my Fleck 5600. Could you tell me something about the 3 cartridge filters, like what type cartridges are in each and if they are on the inlet or outlet side of your softener. Thanks
Filter should be the first thing in your system. Easy to make :
th-cam.com/video/qUQvqMR3_JY/w-d-xo.html
Thank you. We dont know when was our rebuilt but will take on this project next if the iron out cleaning doesnt help.
It's not very difficult. Definitely get the funnel.
I will say that you can probably run up to the dollar store and pick up a piece of card craft board... It usually comes in black or white and it's very flexible. Basically rap it up like a big stiff sheet paper. And it works great. Just as an option for those of us who don't want to spend ten dollars on a funnel that whirling going to use once.
But yet you spend $300 on a cell phone. I will gladly spend $10 on a funnel I'll only use once because when the time comes to use it again I will have it already in the cabinet and not need to jerry rig pieces of paper together and spill $170 worth of media resin all over the floor just to save $10 on a funnel.
thanks
Thanks to your video. This is exactly what I need to see. Clicked to your affiliate link to purchase.
How much regeneration or backwashing do I need to do before it becomes usable?
Thanks. It is usable right from the bag. I just hit the regeneration once to reset the system and fill the resin tank with water.
You can prefill the resin tank with water before screwing the head back on. The idea is just to flush the air out so your pipes don't bang until the air reaches your faucet.
grate video
Thank you.
The tube in the liner under the valve on most have a distributor on the bottom
Great video and thank you for posting it! When you dumped the old resin out of your tank did it also have the gravel bedding and if it didn't what was the reason for adding it with the new resin?
Yes it did have gravel. Not all softeners require it but mine did.
The gravel is supposed to help with water pressure loss and the resin beads from getting into your plumbing system.
@@HouseDoctorRay Great info thank you.
You are strong
You must've missed the part where I syphoned most of the water out before taking it outside.
I thought this was an exceptionally well done video!! One question/suggestion: I would never use vaseline as a lubricant where you did; I would use plumber's silicone grease. It is safe for nitrile, etc, whereas petroleum jelly can degrade rubber based products. Your thoughts on that?
True but...
It is very mild and it's also unlikely those o-rings are rubber. They're likely nitrile.
It is best to use a water based lube.
Very good and thank you my filter and head on my water softener is completely different than the one you did the video on,
Would the resin be different in some of the units?
If you have a brine (salt) canister then you use standard resin. There is 8% and 10% crosslink. The 10% is usually only used if you have a high chlorine content in your water that may damage the 8%.
Short answer - the resin I linked to in the video description should be fine.
Thanks for the informative video. Do you recommend using a resin bed cleaner?
I would try that before replacing the resin. There is also a product called iron out that you can put in the brine tank.
th-cam.com/video/0dlC8uVEdW0/w-d-xo.html
Great video Ray, thank you. question ,How do I know if my water softener has gravel in it.
See if you can find a manual online for your system. My understanding is that gravel is supposed to prevent pressure loss and prevent channels from developing in the resin.
There is not a downside to gravel other than a slight reduction in the amount of resin.
@@HouseDoctorRay Thank you Ray
Thank you for your video. I have a 52x10 Culligan softener and a salt brine tank that is 15 years old, recently I see salt precipitate under the brine tank. I also see water under the main tank. The brine tank is intact, so I believe this problem is due to the leakage of water from the main tank. Does the main tank lose its integrity over time? There has not been any trauma or accidents. Any suggestions? Do I need a new system?
Dry everything really well and find the source of the leak. I doubt either tank is leaking.
It is most likely a connection point or the seals in the softener head.
Another option could be water coming through the walls or foundation. When that happens it leaves behind white mineral deposits.
Great video!
I have a dual tank water softener with the 3rd tank as my brine tank.
Wondering if both softener tanks have gravel & resin or is one tank resin and the other tank all gravel?
Thanks
Both softeners likely have gravel. The gravel acts as a filter to prevent the resin from getting into your plumbing.
Over time the resin can fracture, the gravel catches the pieces.
Great DIY video, I’ll be doing this tomorrow. My question is...when you initiate a regen to depressurize the system before taking the top off, how do you stop the regen process after it’s depressurized? Thanks
I closed the manual bypass valve and unplugged the unit. There may be a more elegant solution but this works.
Thanks for your quick reply, wish me luck.
No luck needed. You got this!
@@HouseDoctorRay Thanks for your positivity. Got the re-bed done & also cleaned out the brine tank...worked like a charm, water pressure's back to normal, thanks again.
Glad it worked out and glad you saved a ton of money.
Awesome video, made it look easy! Do you think this would fix the problem for very low to no water pressure? I currently have it on bypass mode so the water can work. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
If your pressure is good in bypass then replacing the gravel and resin could solve your problem.
You should have a filter before the softener to prevent contamination.
Yes , I have 2 filters connected to it. I replaced them already. Tried a cleaner from Home Depot and did 2 manual regens. Didn’t help.
Hey Ray. Thanks for the video. I followed your instructions exactly with the same unit. Everything went vert smooth until I opened the bypass back up. The majority of the new resin ended up blowing out of the drain line into our sump pump pit. Any ideas as to what may have gone wrong?
That center tube probably wasn't seated properly or is cracked. When in regeneration if you shine a bright light on the mineral tank you'll see the resin gently rising.
@@HouseDoctorRay Got it figured out. My unit has a quick release hook up for the drain line. I had the tube removed when I put the unit in regen to relieve the pressure in the tank. As a result a blast of water came out of the head where the drain tube fitting attaches. Inside is a rubber flow regulator. Basically a rubber bung with a small hole in the center. I managed to blow this out and into my basement sump pit. So when restarting the unit, after replacing the resin and this flow regulator missing, there was so much pressure that it sent most of the new resin down the drain! Thanks for your help and great video.
Glad you figured it out. Feels good to do it yourself.
I followed your instructions and after turning on the softener for the first time, the water is discolored. I did rinse the gravel many times like you suggested. But it seems that maybe not good enough. The water coming out of the softener appears to be discolored by the gravel. Any suggestions? It seems to be clearing up after running water for a few minutes but is definitely still present.
Could be from the gravel or sediment in your pipes. Run the cold water for a while at your tub spout. This is usually the faucet that has the best flow.
You want to avoid getting sediment in your water heater.
Great video. I’m getting resin in the pipes though. Will this fix that?
The gravel will help but it's likely the long black pipe is cracked.
Great video. Thanks so much. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for a tank that has a mix of resin and some other material to remove tannins? My tank is setup this way as my well water has tannins present. Is it a different type of resin or something else? Cheers
You *can* do a mix of tannin removing and softener resin but it could cause problems. During backwash/regeneration the released tannins and minerals can combine in your backwash line to the drain.
If you haven't had a problem yet I guess give it a shot using the same ratio of resin that you have now.
Best practice is separate systems but that sounds expensive.
@@HouseDoctorRay Thanks for the reply. Its a culligan system like the one you were working on. So far so good. I have been considering a separate system also. Cheers!
I have a Culligan Gold Series water softener, and I'm trying to replace the resin. However, after emptying the media tank, I discovered the Aqua-Sensor Probe was broken. I tried to look it up to see if I could find a replacement, but so far I've had no luck. I'd like to know if I can re-bedd the media tank without the probe, and if so, how it will affect the water softening function. right now I am running on by-pass mode but can not run it by-pass mode for long.
Try and find the service manual online and find out if there are settings to run it without the probe.
You can sometimes find Culligan parts on eBay.
Thank you for the nice video. How much gravel did you use? My tanks are 10x54"
Pretty sure I used the whole box from the link in the video description. You want the gravel to cover all of the slits in the bottom of the pipe.
Very good video.
Did you recommend to turn off the water supply to the house before proceeding ?
I have the metal bypass valve and it's easy to turn from SERVICE to BYPASS mode.
With the system in BYPASS, there is no issue with water leaking right ?
In that case , I shouldn't need to turn off the water supply. Thanks !
Yes, while you're in bypass you should not have a leak.
@@HouseDoctorRay Ok, I shut the water off and opened a faucet too. This released pressure so that the Valve/Tank could disconnect from the Bypass.
How would you measure the tank size? Do you just wrap the measuring tape around the outside of the tank for the diameter? I'm confused on that part.
Diameter is the width of the tank.
Wrapping around is the circumference, to get the diameter you could divide the circumference by 3.14
With the gravel bed would the resin fill it to about 2/3'rds full? I have a similar-sized tank and I know I overfilled it yesterday and need to take some out. I put about .75 cu. ft. of resin in the tank and I think I should have only put 1/2 of my 1 cu. ft. bag. My softener is not for home use and never had a gravel bed in it from day one. Does the gravel bed just help keep the water flowing freely? I can't really see any other use for it.
The gravel acts as a filter to keep the resin beads from getting into your water lines. The beads can crack and the small pieces are caught by the gravel.
As far as overfilling:
Go to your unit and put it into regeneration mode. Hold a strong light against the side of the resin tank. You'll see the resin start to undulate and rise up. Keep watching until the resin stops rising. Mine goes up about 6-8 inches.
As long as it stops rising a few inches from the top of the tank you should be fine. The resin needs room to move around for the salt to strip the minerals away but shouldn't reach the head unit.
Hello, how much of gravel and resin on that size tank you are doing? I think mine is the same width but maybe a foot longer. Thanks
Check the video description. There is a link to a chart to give you an idea how much resin you'll need. There are also links to the products I used. I used all of the 15 lbs of gravel I bought. You want enough gravel to cover the slots in the bottom of the tube.
How much gravel do you put in it? There are different kinds.
What resin do you also recommend to use? I've seen several different brands and everybody talks about the purelite and teir1 brands
You need to put in enough gravel to cover the little slots in the bottom of the pipe. The amount will vary based on the size of your tank. The most commonly used is garnet.
There's a link in the video description of the resin that I used it works great. As a bonus it was way cheaper than I could have bought it for from one of the water softener suppliers near me.
What are the 3 filters set up as before the softener ? I only have a sediment one.
I made a multi stage filter. I change the first one more often.
th-cam.com/video/qUQvqMR3_JY/w-d-xo.html
I notice you have a chlorinator in your system, does it really helps with removing chlorine and hydrogen sulfide? also is your chlorinator before or after water softener?
If you are talking about the 3 small blue canisters they are water filters. I don't have a chlorinator.
th-cam.com/video/qUQvqMR3_JY/w-d-xo.html&t
Can you use the stuff you used in a culligan?
Yes. The one I put it in is a Culligan.
Do you use the same rocks in a well filter?
I'm not familiar with gravel filters. I would say no, you probably need to use something like sandstone. Garnet is hard and is used in the water softener to prevent the resin from clogging the tube. It doesn't really behave as a filter.
Can anybody tell me if I can utilise the resin in regular bin or I have to put in with chemicals?
Do you have to get a specific gravel for the tank?
There is a link in the video description. Garnet is preferred just rinse it thoroughly.
Do you need to drain the pressure out if the machine has been off for several months? Also does the pressure drain off if you disconnect it after shutting off the water valves? I have a very very old unit and I don;t think it has any pressure drain control. I need to replace the entire resin cylinder.
You could shut off your water main and just turn on a faucet to make sure the pressure is released.
@@HouseDoctorRay OK. I can do that.
I reused my resin. I had a resin tank leak at the neck in less than 3 years. I saved my 10% cross-linked resin by using a Duststopper Cyclonic Dust Separator (HD) on Homer buckets between my shop vac and the resin tank. I used a new 7 ft hose and three new 5 gal Homer buckets and lids. I lost about .25 cu ft of resin that went past the separator and into my shopvac but easily sucked out the 2 cu ft of resin and gravel into the Homer buckets in under 5 minutes. Cost me about $100 in equipment and 0.25 cu ft of resin to save me from buying 2 cu ft of new resin (cost/benefit?) and now I have a new cyclone separator to use now or in three years if/when this happens again. Apparently the gravel mixed with the resin will resettle properly after a regen or two. Gravel is not needed but too hard to separate from the resin. Better to have no gravel as the inside pipe will lift when you take the controller off the tank, say to replace the o-ring seal, and you can't push it back down with gravel in there without fear of breaking the strainer.
" I had a resin tank leak at the neck in less than 3 years" What do you mean at the neck ? Is this the Riser Tube which has a filter at the end of it which points down to the bottom of the tank. Did that filter crack and let resin into your water system ? I just had a problem with resin leaking into the pipes. I was told that 8-10 year old resin will leak through to your pipes and you need to change to new resin. Thanks !
@@wanderingsoul2909 Hi, my cracks were at the threaded part of the resin tank that the control valve screws on to. I had to replace the entire tank. The riser tube and the filter at the end were fine so I reused those. I didn't have resin leaking into my plumbing. Your issue may be that the resin is breaking down so that it now can pass through the filter at the end of the riser tube, assuming the filter is not broken. You can inspect the filter and riser tube after you take the system apart. A new filter is cheap if it is cracked. My original installation had gravel at the bottom so there is no way to push the riser tube/filter back down to the base of the tank after taking off the control valve as the tube comes up with the control valve as it is a snug fit. I didn't use any gravel when I put the resin back into the tank in case I needed to disassemble again. Actually, I did have to disassemble a bunch of times because the water was not being softened after putting the system back together. It took me 5 or 6 times opening the system back up to finally figure out that I needed to push the riser tube into the control valve past the o-rings before screwing the control valve to the tank. I figured that the riser tube would engage the control valve once screwed on, but that was not the case. Without the riser tube sealed to the control valve, the water was not passing through the resin. Once you open your system, I would replace the resin if it is more than 5 years old which seems too soon but just prevents having to do it again that many more years. 8-10 years is the lifespan of the resin whether from breakdown or clogging. To save costs, I would use standard resin that you can get from Home Depot, Tier1 1 cu ft 50 lb bags free delivery which is at a fair price.
@@sydneybird116 Thanks for the in depth explanation. So, I took out my riser and the bottom filter was slightly cracked ( was told that as the resin breaks down it compresses the filter and cracks it causing resin to leak out ). So, I bought new resin and a new riser. Waiting for it and will install it myself hopefully. Thanks !
How often do you replace the media? and they say the filter need to be constantly use or media will go bad. I barely use the water softener and they said that is not good. Water needs to constantly flow through the filter. Is that true?
The media or resin should last a minimum of 5 years under the worst conditions of heavy iron well water. The resin can last up to 20 years.
If your water supply is always flowing through the softener you should have no issues. If the water is just sitting in the mineral tank for a long period there is a possibility of bacteria developing.
5:00 She was happy to see you...
I see you also have a whole house water filter. How do you have it connected? Does it need to go in line before or after the water softener?
The filter is usually installed right after the expansion tank and before the water softener. You want to keep the sediment out of your water softener. I made a video on how I put the filter together and installed it.
th-cam.com/video/qUQvqMR3_JY/w-d-xo.html
House Doctor Ray thank you. I’m glad I installed mine properly than lol. I couldn’t get a straight answer on the best place to install it so I guessed. Would you recommend a resin cleaning solution? Or is it best to just replace it? I’ve owned my softener for less than a year, but just recently added the whole house filter. I have well water. I was wondering since the water was really bad before the filter installation, do I need to clean or change the resin to get the best water?
The resin should be fine. The backwash cycle will eventually flush out the sediment.
What type of resin do I use on a Culligan Medalist plus system
There is a link in the video description.
How do we know how much gravel to use and what kind of gravel
Garnet is the normal gravel. You need enough to cover the holes in the bottom of the tube.
There are links in the video description for the materials I used.
whoever thumbed down needs to check their aim, I dont know how you could dislike this video.
You got that right brother. If you find out who it is drag them through the mud.
Hey Ray I have a question for you. Have you tried many different types of resin media? I see in some videos where they talk about quality makes a difference but I have never done mine. A few weeks ago I rented an excavator and dug us a 26 foot deep well and after bleached it to disinfect it and damaged the resin so I will need to replace the media now. Thanks for your advice in advance.
From what I've read there are very few situations where you need to buy the 10% crosslink or fine mesh resin. The standard resin I linked to is going to last 15-25 years unless you have drastically acidic or chlorinated water. $100 every 15 years is not a big deal.
The only people who would probably disagree are those who sell the high-end resin.
@@HouseDoctorRay No chlorine here just hard well water.
@@HouseDoctorRay I have this exact same question. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that with normal use and normal chlorine levels in chlorinated water (say 1.5ppm) the 8% crosslinked resin will last 10 to 12 years, and if instead using 10% crosslinked at $200/cf vs $100, will only last 12 to 15 years, not the 2x or more (20 to 24) that i hear people hint at (no one seems to actually test and report on that in a given area with real water. Everyone seems to say that with proper care, resin lasts 10- to 15 years, with no mention of the cross linked percentage. Note, if 10% lasted 20 years and 8% only lasted 10 years, it would be worth it to pat $200 vs $100 for a cubic foot, but as i said, my gut is it is more like 10 years increasing to 12 years at 1.5 ppm. Thoughts?
I would say put the extra $100 in the bank and in 10 years worry about it. These units are generally designed with excess capacity so unless you have 4 bathrooms and 8 people in your house it's not going to make much of a difference.
@@HouseDoctorRay I ended up buying a bottle of "Pro Rez Care" and followed the instructions and it worked incredibly well. I have treated the system twice and have barely used any of the bottle. I have enough to treat it for years. Was much easier than swapping out the media. Our water is perfectly soft now.
What if the nylon ring at the top of the tank is nicked and leaking. Is it replaceable or can another seal be placed on top?
The O-ring is what seals the tank. Your local hardware store will likely have them for common brands.
I'm thinking that you are referring to the top of the tank that is not covered by fiberglass where the controller screws in. The tank is a plastic bottle that is wrapped with fiberglass. On my tank, the threaded part developed two cracks. See my other replies on how I reused the resin. I am getting a new tank under warranty but I have to pay $100 for shipping. That's the problem with not buying your system local, but local was at least 50% more expensive. Cracks at the top are a common problem.
How do I determine how much gravel is needed? I have a WG844
You want enough gravel to cover the slots in the bottom of the center tube.
I can't get the top strainer off my Culligan water softener. From the manual is appears to screw in. I gave up because I didn't want to damage it. Any ideas? Thanks
It shouldn't be that tight. First time I took mine apart I had to bang it fairly hard with the palm of my hand.
You may need to get a strap wrench. You can get them at hardware or plumbing stores.
@@HouseDoctorRay Mines threaded into the tank vs threaded into the control unit. So no way to get a strap wrench on it.
What model number do you have and what part are you having trouble removing?
Did you add gravel to the system that didn’t have gravel. Your video doesn’t show you removing gravel but definitely adding it to your tank.
I ordered a kit for my water softer that didn’t have gravel but the kit includes gravel so just wondering if it helps or if I should leave it out
There was gravel in it at the bottom. The gravel keeps the resin from getting into the plumbing system. The resin can break down over time especially if you have chlorinated water.
How long is the resin getting rinsed for with the salt brine to be cleaned ?
Is it normal water pressure been used?
It depends on the size of the mineral tank and how you set the softener. You program them with different settings depending on the hardness of your water and how much you use your water. Yes, it uses house pressure to back flush.
@@HouseDoctorRay 👍✨
What about the white resin beneath the cation? Is that not required?
Sorry, I don't understand your question.
@@HouseDoctorRay It's a premium resin I guess, it's white.. recommended by the store I bought the cation from. I guess we'll see how it works 😬