Water Softener

[Touchless]

We are having an issue when the HP rinse on our Razor is running we lose water pressure so when it’s busy the ss rinse water tank goes low/empty temporarily.
I know the cause is from the water softener, when we bypass it there is no water pressure drop.
So our Culligan water softener is 12 years old. We have never had it maintained since we owned the wash in 5 years. I’m also told that they don’t make parts for this unit any longer. What would you recommend:
-Have it serviced?
-Replace it?
-bypass the softener and run a new pipe so only use city water to the water tank for the HP rinses?

 

[DavidM]

Depending on your water quality, you may not need to soften the water for the HP rinse however that only delays the problem. The resin in the softener is likely breaking down decreasing the flow rate. Typically softener tanks can be rebedded (resin removed and replaced), we had to do that last year for the same reason.

David

 

[Touchless]

Depending on your water quality, you may not need to soften the water for the HP rinse however that only delays the problem. The resin in the softener is likely breaking down decreasing the flow rate. Typically softener tanks can be rebedded (resin removed and replaced), we had to do that last year for the same reason.

David

Good info, thank you!

 

[MEP001]

I agree with DavidM. I've replaced the media in softeners by myself in tanks as big as 7 cu.ft. capacity. The hardest part is unhooking the plumbing and getting the heads off.

 

[mgmtoo]

Where do you get the resin?

 

[Rudy]

Wood Brothers Water.

 

[cantbreak80]

Be careful when buying online...lots of cheap crap out there.
And, if you're on city water, specify 10% cross-linked resin for it's resistance to chlorine.

 

[Rudy]

FWIW, I've used Wood Brothers for years. Softner parts. RO parts. Membranes. Resin etc.....Was recommended to me via this forum 20 years ago.

Never got any "cheap crap" from them.

In my opinion, they are the real deal.

Your mileage may vary.....

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

First thing is what changed? Did you increase demand on the softener with equipment changes? Is the Razor new or has been there for years?
Every softener has a max flow rate and if you have or can find the flow rate chart for your softener you should be able to determine if it can flow what you need. Fouled resin will affect flow, but from what I am told only by a few percentage points. It will however affect the capacity (GPM) to soften the water.
If your incoming water is at all hard, I would look to repair or replace the softener, and not bypass it or you will have spotting problems, windshield eyebrows and problems with solenoids etc.

It seems many people on this forum tend to bash others and not be productive.
I offer my opinions based on knowledge and experience. I may not always have the best idea, as there are always multiple ways to address any problem, but I would never post something I believed to be counterproductive to anyone else.

 

[MEP001]

Every softener has a max flow rate and if you have or can find the flow rate chart for your softener you should be able to determine if it can flow what you need.

Softeners have a max flow rate. Resin doesn't, it has a rate at which it can effectively soften flow through it. Doesn't do OP any good to have a softener that can flow 60 GPM if the resin bed can only soften 12.

If your incoming water is at all hard, I would look to repair or replace the softener, and not bypass it or you will have spotting problems, windshield eyebrows and problems with solenoids etc.

He bypassed the softener to see if the restriction was there, and it is, so now it appears he's going to replace the resin to solve his issue.

It seems many people on this forum tend to bash others and not be productive.

You may call it bashing, I call it correcting erroneous information. Many of your posts have been inaccurate, as this this one. If that gets your panties in a bunch, that's your issue.

I offer my opinions based on knowledge and experience. I may not always have the best idea, as there are always multiple ways to address any problem, but I would never post something I believed to be counterproductive to anyone else.

The issue was solved in the first two posts. You only added confusion. Did you fully read and understand the original post? Let me go back to this comment:

Fouled resin will affect flow, but from what I am told only by a few percentage points.

Resin also breaks down. That can lower flow to almost nothing. No one said anything about fouled resin.

 

[jubalr]

Had the same issue last year. Replaced the resin in both of my 7cf resin tanks, problem solved.

 

[cantbreak80]

FWIW, I've used Wood Brothers for years. Softner parts. RO parts. Membranes. Resin etc.....Was recommended to me via this forum 20 years ago.

Never got any "cheap crap" from them.

In my opinion, they are the real deal.

Your mileage may vary.....

My comment was not intended to imply anything derogatory towards Wood Brothers Water. I was just sharing the fact that some online “dealers” offer defunct, counterfeit, or sub-standard systems and components at low-low prices.

Case in point…

An acquaintance re-bedded his softener… found some bargain-priced resin and valve parts on a well-known auction site. Took him 2 days to complete the task! Yikes!

He said he dumped an entire cu.ft. of resin on the equipment room floor when the bag broke. “Not too sure but it looked like there was a lot of dirt mixed in with the resin, kinda like floor sweepings.” Yikes, again!

He also shared that 7 months later the softener is by-passed again due to flow restriction.

First money…down the drain!

 

[Greg Pack]

When I have called Wood Brothers normally quotes 10% resin. Fairly economical to change yourself but a huge PITA for a single person to change out. I have a single tank around 24X72" I think, with the brine tank in front of it. I ended buying a resin evacuation tool from Wood Brothers to pump the old resin out. It worked pretty good but I have used a shop vac in the past. I'll always buy smaller softeners for manageability from now on.

 

[MEP001]

I ended buying a resin evacuation tool from Wood Brothers to pump the old resin out.

I stick a garden hose in the distribution tool to keep the tank full and siphon the resin and gravel into a garbage can. It used to take me about four hours to change resin in a twin 24x72" softener, about half of that just siphoning the resin. I'd probably need help doing it now since my back is so bad. I do use a shop vac attached to the distribution tube and a traffic cone as a funnel when refilling - it sucks the resin down out of the funnel as fast as I can pour it.

 

[Rudy]

FYI....good discussion about this from 10 years ago....

Water Sotener Restricts Flow

I've got a Fleck 2750 valve on a 14"x65" tank. When more than 3 SS bays are running the carwash is starved for water and all the pumps go dry. After some investigation, I determined that the softener was restricting the flow. I've got it bypassed so at least I can run. I don't know where or...

www.carwashforum.com

 

[water guy]

I would be curious to see that apparatus that you use to load a tank.Always curious to see how other techs do things.

 

[MEP001]

I would be curious to see that apparatus that you use to load a tank.

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[water guy]

And how do you use that with a shop vac

 

[MEP001]

And how do you use that with a shop vac

 

[water guy]

Wow I understand now. no wonder your back is bad.