Help installing older Culligan water softener

[Zero102]

Hey guys - I was looking at adding a water softener to our house and while considering whether it was worth spending $600-900 to buy a water softener we happened to find one for free on Kijiji so I ran over last night to pick it up and today I am trying to come up with an idea of how to test and/or install it.



I'm generally pretty handy and have some basic plumbing skills, but I have no experience at all with water softeners. I have attached some pictures of what I picked up hoping it will look familiar to somebody. Can anybody tell me - have I just carried 200lbs of junk into my basement or do I have a chance of putting this thing together and getting it working? The guy I got it from said they removed it to replace it with a newer system when they moved in and have no idea if it works.

Is there anything I need to inspect in detail before going ahead with the install?

Can anybody tell me what I will need to buy and how to install it? I mean, I know at a high level how it needs to be connected to the house but not how the pieces connect together. I know I'm missing a few pieces as it looks like it just had all the lines cut. I could probably eventually figure out what but if somebody can look over the pictures and help me out that would save me a ton of time. I have some guesses about how things go and will be looking up install instructions for other water softeners to see if anything looks familiar (as I can't find a damn thing for this exact softener). What is confusing me most right now is that it looks like the thin blue line from the valve assembly goes to the salt tank as it has an equally sized and coloured line, but then how does anything get back out?...


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[thinmyster]

pm Mar?

[Zero102]

I have been doing research - it seems there is supposed to be some kind of overflow assembly that mounts to the brine tank, I don't see to have that. Also mine looks a lot like the mark 89 - I found a very old owners manual scan but still no install manual yet.


For anybody wondering why i am trying to piece together an old-ass free water softener from Kijiji:

I know I can go buy a new water softener for $700 but we are trying to solve a skin problem that we aren't completely sure is caused by hard water. If this fixes it we WILL be spending the money on a good one but I was hoping we can get enough of this together and working (even if it's just for 6 months as a trial) to find out.

[Zero102]

I think I have most of the details figured out between youtube videos and the installation manual. I need to buy a new thin plastic line that connects the valve assembly to the salt tank, and my confusion about there being no overflow on the salt tank is because it just doesn't exist - I'm not missing anything.

I think I'm down to my final question(s):
I have seen it mentioned in a couple places that people install a bypass valve where they cut the water line to install the softener, then also add a valve to each line running to the softener so if it breaks down or springs a leak you can just turn all 3 valves and have water while you repair or replace the softener. Anybody have opinions on this? Is it a good idea or just wasted money on valves?

Also, I see when running 3/4" pex most people are using 90 degree brass elbows to make corners instead of bending the pipe, is this just to make it look tidy or is there a functional reason for this? I haven't bought the pipe yet so maybe it's just super hard to bend and I don't know yet?

[raceman6135]

Originally posted by Zero102


I think I'm down to my final question(s):
I have seen it mentioned in a couple places that people install a bypass valve where they cut the water line to install the softener, then also add a valve to each line running to the softener so if it breaks down or springs a leak you can just turn all 3 valves and have water while you repair or replace the softener. Anybody have opinions on this? Is it a good idea or just wasted money on valves?

I personally like isolating each line for every fixture in my house (toilets, sinks, refrigerator ice makers, washing machines, etc.) with valves, and I would not consider the extra $20-$30 for valves to be wasted. It could certainly save you time and frustration later, particularly since you're installing a used piece of machinery that you don't know how long will last.

Originally posted by Zero102

Also, I see when running 3/4" pex most people are using 90 degree brass elbows to make corners instead of bending the pipe, is this just to make it look tidy or is there a functional reason for this? I haven't bought the pipe yet so maybe it's just super hard to bend and I don't know yet?

Yes, 3/4" PEX is hard to bend, and requires a fairly large bend radius. This information page suggests a MINIMUM bend radius of 7 inches. Depending on how much physical space you have in your utility room, you may or may not have to resort to using brass elbows.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by raceman6135


I personally like isolating each line for every fixture in my house (toilets, sinks, refrigerator ice makers, washing machines, etc.) with valves, and I would not consider the extra $20-$30 for valves to be wasted. It could certainly save you time and frustration later, particularly since you're installing a used piece of machinery that you don't know how long will last.



Yes, 3/4" PEX is hard to bend, and requires a fairly large bend radius. This information page suggests a MINIMUM bend radius of 7 inches. Depending on how much physical space you have in your utility room, you may or may not have to resort to using brass elbows.

Thanks for the reply!
I was also worried that since it was both used and free that I am probably facing an imminent failure and would like the peace of mind having the extra valves to just bypass it altogether in case it starts leaking or otherwise fails. I guess I was just worried that later on somebody would come look at it and think I was an idiot for adding all those valves. It sounds like money well spent and not completely crazy.

I have plenty of room and can move the softener down the wall to get enough room for the bends - do the elbows reduce flow significantly? Should I go for the messy but high flowing install or keep it all close to the drain and tidy?

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by Zero102


I think I'm down to my final question(s):
I have seen it mentioned in a couple places that people install a bypass valve where they cut the water line to install the softener, then also add a valve to each line running to the softener so if it breaks down or springs a leak you can just turn all 3 valves and have water while you repair or replace the softener. Anybody have opinions on this? Is it a good idea or just wasted money on valves?

I'd strongly recommend shutoff/bypass valving, especially on something with an unknown history.

[ercchry]

I'd say it depends where you install it... all water, or just hot? If just hot water you should have a valve already for the tank, so just run the line after that valve. If all water, yeah full bypass loop for sure.

Benefits to both options, like not adding salt to drinking water, and overall less salt use if you do only hot water, then of course the downside is you will still get hard water build up, but obviously not as severe as before. If it just for dry skin issues... well who showers with cold?!

[jwslam]

My softener system has one of these


http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beg...-softener.html

[Zero102]

This softener does have a bypass valve built into it but that valve also has o-ring seals on it and can fail.

As for the how I plan on installing it question - I was going to do hot and cold water. Although nobody showers or washes their hands directly with cold water it is always a blend so I'm going to try and solve the whole problem.

I am a bit worried about salt in drinking water - not from a health perspective as none of us are on sodium reduced diets or have any problems at all with salt, just that it might be kind of unpleasant to drink. If that's the case I was thinking of installing an RO setup at the kitchen sink. I do a lot of homebrewing and it would save me having to buy RO water for that so it was already on the wish list

[Zero102]

I have everything together and it seems to be working properly however I have one annoying leak. In my last picture looking down on the tank there is a compression fitting where the blue plastic line goes into the brine tank. I replaced the blue plastic line with a white polypropylene (I think that's the material?) line since it was cut so short as to be unusable. However even after very snugly tightening the compression nut it is leaking substantially. I started with it only finger tight and kept snugging it up but the leak didn't get better.

The nut is one of these:




Looking inside the nut the front edge of the inner sleeve is squished up a bit and I think as a result it is not sealing well on the line. Where can I get a new one of these nuts? I found them at several US-only online places but haven't had much luck with the big box stores in town.


The softener side of the line may also be leaking (I noticed one drop and tightened it after) but the salt tank side is leaking so badly I can't run it long enough to check. On that end it is one of these:

So if I knew where to go I could probably just buy 2 of those assemblies, replace the whole thing on one side and just use the nut on the other (since it threads into the filler tube / float assembly which cannot be replaced).