Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Culligan Valve Replacement

QUESTION:


I have a Culligan Medalist outdoor water softener Serial # 48151804J23
around 3 1/2 years old plagued with problems. I want to replace the entire
mechanism from the tank up.
My question is: Can I replace the entire mechanism with a simple mechanical
one from the tank up? Are all tanks the same? And which one would you
recommend?



ANSWER:


You must replace the Tank and the Valve, since both are proprietary in
design. Here is my recommendation.
***
You need a new Tank ( here is one that holds 1 cu.ft. of resins ),

SEE: TANK - 9 x 48 BLACK POLYGLASS w/BASE ( or other sizes available )

and you can Re-Use your resins in most cases, SEE: RESIN REPLACEMENT GUIDE 


And the brine tank can be used, but you will need some 3/8" O.D. Tubing and
this 1/4" female x 3/8" compression fitting, SEE:

ELBOW, 1/4 f x 3/8 C FITTING PLASTIC JACO



and I recommend "Lock Leak" to seal the connection,
SEE: THREAD SEALANT LOCK LEAK TUBE 39 ML  


* For the Valve, I recommend the FLECK 5600 ECONOMINDER WATER SOFTENER VALVE,


and be sure to read the HOW TO REPLACE VALVE GUIDE

You will need to select either a 3/4" or 1" plastic male yoke
or the Fleck Stainless Steel By Pass 3/4" or 1" to connect the new Fleck valve to your pipes.


Outdoor installations should also include the optional Valve cover ( must be ordered separately, as most people do not need the cover for their indoor installations ).

Friday, April 11, 2008

Setting Time of Day with the Autotrol 440 Tripper Arm Gear 99F

QUESTION:
Could you please tell me how to set the timer on my unit.
I just ordered AP99F tripper gear from you. Mine has a broken tooth on it. When I replace it how do I set the timing on it? I don't have a manual on it.
The timer is a 440i Osmonics Autotrol.
ANSWER:
*** The small "pointer" on the Tripper Arm Gear points to the current time of day ( as shown on the "face plate" of the time ).
You just pull gear out, and point it at the correct time and release.
It will drop into place with the black drive gear in the right corner that drives the tripper arm gear in the 440 and 440i Timer Assemblies.
see:


SEE HOW TO VIDEO:

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Orange Sand coming into House

Orange Sand coming into House Our resin tank appears to have failed. The system filled our house plumbing with an orange sand like material. We close the bypass valve and flushed the system. What should we do with the water conditioner repair or replace? Is the resin tank warranty good for life the system. Our system is 10 years old. ANSWER Repair. Most warranties expire after 5 years. This problem is very common on chlorinated "city" water, but can occur on well water too. The distributor tube inside the resin tank has failed. You can replace the distributor tube by purchasing a new "Bottom" distributor and gluing it to a piece of PVC pipe. See: http://softenerparts.zoovy.com/product/MD1236 This part combines with a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe( 1.05" O.D. ), which may be a little larger in diameter than the 13/16" O.D. size you may have now ( if your system is an Autotrol made before 1998, that is about the time they changed to the larger size now used on all new valves ). Many other brands have been using the larger 1.05" diameter tube for a longer time. If need be, you can adapter to the opening in the bottom of your valve ( the tube is held into the Valve by an oring, so it pulls out and pushes back in ) by saving 6" of your old 13/16" pipe and gluing it INSIDE the 3/4 PVC pipe ( it is a nice tight fit when using Schedule 40 PVC ). You will want to check the resin level in the tank. It needs to be at least 1/2 full. See:Resin Replacement Guide