General Ionics 1030B questions.


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Old 10-03-17, 07:28 PM
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General Ionics 1030B questions.

Hi I have a couple questions about my water softener.
It is a General Ionics 1030B and is about 12 - 15 years old.
A while back we quit putting salt in it just because money got tight and we were watching every penny. We did not think it would hurt it but now I am not sure. We put salt in it again to get it to start softening again, and it still works. after I did a manual regen cycle it started feeling a lot better. But two days later it started putting out black water. Which is the carbon media I am told. It has turned the water black for a short period twice but then has been clean for the last two weeks.
Question 1) Can I add a carbon cartridge water filter to the system and stop paying General Ionics so much money to add this carbon to the system every 18 months?
Question 2) We went for almost two year without putting any salt in this, should I be concerned about my media or is it ok?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
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Old 10-05-17, 06:07 PM
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I am really just trying to find out if this will still function without the carbon media inside.
I know practically nothing about these softeners/filters, so I was looking for some free advice ...
 
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Old 10-05-17, 06:31 PM
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Welcome to the forums.

Hang tight Mike..... the softener pros will be by.
 
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Old 10-07-17, 05:14 AM
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When carbon gets old, it will show in the water after a regen. You can regen the system a couple times back to back to try and clear it up. Eventually you will need to replace the carbon. The resin is also about ready to be replaced. When resin goes bad, it will reduce the water pressure in the house. Both these medias can be replaced without replacing the unit.
 
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Old 10-07-17, 11:04 AM
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Hi Biermech and thanks for the reply.
Would a filter like this take the place of having the carbon added back to this system?
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...f_rd_i=desktop

I think it is close to 300 or so to add this "silver activated carbon" that they sell.

Thanks for the advice ...
 
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Old 10-07-17, 12:30 PM
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Let me ask a question.
What kind water quality are we working for?
If carbon is no longer needed and the resin is all that is needed then why not empty the tank and put in only resin?
If carbon is needed then why not put a carbon block filter , 4x20 after the system after the spent carbon is removed and only the resin in the softener.
To many times I have seen items added and added in the effort to correct a problem when one item would have worked had some one really looked at the root of the challenge.
So again what water quality are we going for?
 
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Old 10-08-17, 02:38 PM
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Hi Akpsdvan
Ultimately I am just looking for clean water that won't have stuff building up in my hot water heater and I want clean water that tastes good free of chlorine. This system does do a good job at that but it gets expensive to have Puronics come out every 18 months to exchange the silver activated carbon. That's why I wanted to see if I could run without the carbon in the softener and add a carbon cartridge type filter after the softener to improve the drinking water.
Thanks for any advice you may have.
 
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Old 10-08-17, 04:27 PM
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You can leave the carbon out of the softener and if ALL that there is , is Hardness then the carbon could go before the softener.
If there is any and I mean any iron the after the softener.
As for the carbon, the filter that I would go with would be the 4x20 so there is enough carbon to do the job for awhile.
The little one that you showed would be good for under the sink but not for the whole house. Would you use a garden hose to fight a fire? or a larger hose?
Fire trucks use the large one to the truck and then down size going to house.. why use a little filter to treat the Whole House?
 
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Old 10-08-17, 06:50 PM
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Great, thank you for the advice. I will look for a 4 X 20 and install it before the softener. I have never seen any rust stains so I don't believe we have any iron issues. I checked our Water Associations quality report online and there was no mention of iron. We have fairly decent water to start with in Butler County.
I did another manual regen just to see if it flush any more carbon out, but I did not see any this time it might all be gone by now, it has been 2 years since I let Puronics come out and change the carbon.

Thank you again for your time.
 
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Old 10-08-17, 09:40 PM
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I think this is the housing I will get, I have 3/4 pipe but I can use an adapter from the 1" and put a cut off valve before and after the filter for easy filter change. I notice some of the 10" housings had valves built in, but I have not found a 20" that does. Link to filter housing - https://www.filtersfast.com/P-Watts-FH10000BL1-Big-Blue-Water-Filter-Housing.asp?kpid=FH10000BL1&fsrc=G1F5F&scid=scplpFH10000BL1&sc_intid=FH10000BL1&gclid=CjwKCAjwmefOBRBJEiwAf7DstBK6pZKQVqeU2Vzw4artRyTUBOGR7DwlJD_O34CPLxHVyqm5-v9tBxoCnAQQAvD_BwE

My next question is which filter will be my best bet? I see "carbon block" and "activated granular carbon" filters. Some vary greatly in price. In your experience, what brand or type of cartridge filter is better?
Thanks again for your help.
 
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Old 10-11-17, 04:21 AM
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Yes that is a 4x20 filter hsg. Now you have to buy a bracket, mounting screws, housing wrench and the filter.
 
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Old 10-12-17, 10:34 AM
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After doing a little research, I believe this is the filter I will use.
https://smile.amazon.com/Pentek-EPM-...words=epm-20bb

I know it is hard to pick out a filter without seeing some test results and knowing what we want to filter out, but for this filter I am just looking to filter out chlorine without restricting water flow too much.
Has anyone had any experience with this filter?
would you suggest another filter?

Thanks for the help
 
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Old 10-14-17, 09:51 AM
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Big Blue filter housings never have had a valve in the head in my 29 years.
A ball valve before and after the filter with the filter having the little red pressure release works great.
I would put it after the softener but that is just me.
The great thing about the housing is that you can try any number of carbon blocks in it and find out over time what works best for you.
 
 

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