[eluser]webthink[/eluser]
Crimp I think you may have misread the question. The OP needs to know how to repopulate fields with *no* validation.
The simple answer is to put it in your fields and validation array without actually attaching any rules to it.
In our apps we tend to have a $defaults array that gets populated any number of ways.
1. from scratch - no validation has occurred the form is just empty... $defaults gets populated with '' or 0 depending on the type of field
2. from db - this is for initial display of forms meant to update a record... $defaults gets populated with fields from the db.
3. from post - after failed validation $defaults gets populated with fields from the post.