2021 Legacy Brine Maker Manual


The 2021 stainless steel brine maker is designed with a dry loading hopper and batch tank located below.  As the brine maker recirculates water/brine, the salt level in the upper hopper will lower.  You will only lose mixing speed once the salt hopper is empty.  There is no speed advantage for having more or less salt in your salt hopper.  


Features:


Salt Hopper

The salt hopper is the upper hopper and the location that salt is loaded into.  Best method to load salt will be a skid loader or compact loader.  Located just off the bottom of this hopper is a stainless steel pipe with holes facing downward that rapidly dissolves the salt in the hopper once the unit is turned on.  The amount of salt in this hopper will not impact mixing time unless it is completely empty.


Batch Tank

The batch tank is located below the salt hopper and holds roughly 400 gallons of product.  As the salt is dissolved in the bottom of the salt hopper, it begins to raise the salinity in the batch tank.  As you add water to your brine maker you will observe the batch tank to determine when to turn the water off to prevent overflow.  If using the garden hose attachment to fill, it will stop automatically with the integrated float valve.  The salinity sensor is also located in the back tank and has a wire that runs to the circuit board.  The batch tank also features an easy clean out that is easily accessible with a scoop shovel for any debris that’s large enough to fit through the debris catcher on the salt hopper, but doesn’t dissolve (generally sand and other very fine, non-dissolvable particles)


Slide out debris catcher

Your brine maker has a slide out debris catcher located on the left side of the brine maker attached to the bottom of the salt hopper.  This will catch all debris larger than 3/8” in size.  Depending on salt purity, this debris catcher will vary on how often it needs to be cleaned out.  To clean, dissolve all salt inside salt hopper, turn brine maker off, take cover off of debris catcher, and then pull debris catcher handle.  You will then have access to clean out the catch.


Manifold System

The manifold system can be found on the right side of the unit.  Lower to the ground you will find 3 valves with male cam lock ends facing outward.  The first valve in the bank of three, going from left to right, is where your brine connection is made.  You will notice that a hose comes down from above on the outside of the valve.  This is used to pump brine out to your holding tank while simultaneously allowing the ability to pull from the same line.  The second valve is designed to connect to your additive and the third valve is designed to connect to your water supply if you are using a powerful water source or a water holding tank.  These valves give you the ability to fill your sprayer right from the brine maker with your desired product.  Instructions for this can be found further into the manual.




Making Brine:


The first step in making brine with the 2021 VSI Stainless Steel Brine Maker is to load the salt hopper up with salt.  You do not want to overfill this hopper and have salt pour into the batch tank.  Once you have salt, the next step is to make sure your brine pump out valve is closed, your agitation valve is open, your batch tank valve is closed, and then open your water valve (or add water via the garden hose connector.).  Once you open your water valve you can turn on your pump, which will route the water though the agitation pipe.  This will begin the brine making progress.  Once the batch tank is close to full you will open your batch tank valve and close your water valve.  This will prevent any more liquid from entering the system.  As your brine is mixing, the salinity level will increase.  This can be monitored via the VSI Spray Control app.  There may be slight adjustments needed to account for variables in water and salt.  Once your mix hits the desired 23.3%, you will open your brine pump out valve and close your agitation valve at the same time.  This will redirect the liquid in your batch tank and send it to your brine storage tank.  Once your batch tank empties, you will open your agitation valve and close your brine pump out valve.  Next you will open your water valve and close your batch tank valve to repeat the process.  This process can be repeated without ever turning your pump off.  Generally, when the brine is pumping out, you will have enough time to retrieve another scoop of salt and reload the salt hopper.  This will depend where your salt pile is located.




Truck Fill


The truck fill feature allows you to fill your sprayer with brine and additive using the brine maker pump.  You can also fill water which can be useful during other seasons for watering or hydroseeding.  To use this feature you must first connect your sprayer to the brine maker.  This can be done with the included fill hose.  The fill hose is designed to cam lock onto a 2” male cam lock which can be found on all VSI sprayers.  If you are using a different sprayer, you may need to plumb in a 2” male cam lock or possibly load through the top of the tank.  



Clean Out


There are two clean out points on this brine maker.  The first is located at the bottom of the salt hopper.  To access, you must remove the cover from the end of the slide out debris catch.  Once the cover is off, you will be able to pull the handle to slide out the catch.  This will only work after you dissolve all the salt in the salt hopper.  The second clean out is the lowermost level of the batch tank.  As non-dissolvable debris accumulates, you will be able to easily remove it with a scoop shovel from the back of the machine.  The frequency of cleaning will depend heavily on salt type and salt storage.  The more clean your salt stays, the less often you will be required to clean your unit.



Installing Brine Maker


It is recommended that installation of your brine maker be done by a certified electrician.  The electric pump must be supplied with 220v power.  We recommend running through the switch box mounted on the side of the brine maker.  It is also recommended to power the digital salinometer control box by connecting it into the switch on the power side so it always remains powered.  It can alternatively be powered by a standard 110v cord and plugged into a wall outlet.


If you have good water pressure, you can plumb it directly into the water valve connection in the manifold.  If you have poor water pressure, we recommend connecting a water storage tank to your manifold system.  This is simply a tank that holds 1,500-3,000 gallons of water that has a float valve at the top to keep the tank continually refilling when in use.  This will allow you to make the equivalent in brine during one session and not have to wait on your water supply.  A 2,000 gallon water storage tank with very low water pressure will be more than sufficient for even the largest companies.  If a water storage tank Is not possible, there is also a water hose connector with a float valve mounted to the batch tank that can be used as well but will require more time to fill.


When connecting your brine holding tank to your manifold system, you will only need one hose to run to the tank.  This same hose will be used to push brine into the holding tank as well as to pull from it to fill trucks.  Each brine holding tank should have a valve plumbed in line in case it needs to be closed.  You can tie multiple brine tanks together utilizing tee fittings and cross fittings.  Keep in mind when combining multiple storage tanks, that you are limited to the height of your shortest tank.  It is preferable to have all brine storage tanks the same height to optimize storage space.  Brine storage can be kept outside and will not freeze, even in the coldest temperatures.  (If mixed correctly)


The last part to set up is your additive tank.  We recommend a minimum tank size of 5,000 gallons for an additive tank.  When ordering additive, you will receive the best rate per gallon if ordered by tanker size which is roughly 4,400 gallons.  Having 5,000 gallons worth of storage allows you to not completely run out, but still have enough room to accommodate a full tanker load of additive.  When plumbing in your additive tank, it is ideal to mount a tee fitting directly off the tank and connect a valve and male cam lock to make refilling your tank an easier process.