How to troubleshoot a water softener?

VelvetFoot

Thanks. The smell was in the tank. That's true about the Iron Out being used in the future. Next time I add salt I'll put a little IO in there. I was also curious if I would notice any changes after cleaning out the nozzle and I did. Being quiet during the brine flush is a good thing, no?

Gary Slusser

You have TWO tanks; the resin tank and the salt tank, you don't say which one has the odor in it and I can't see either from out here in SW AZ in my motorhome. Maybe if I went outside and looked..... I assume it is the salt tank because you don't mention having the control valve off the resin tank.

That nozzle, it is the injector and may have an injector throat too. And it will have a filter screen that will block up before the injector and the injector throat does.

Adding IO to the salt tank wastes IO and it doesn't do any good until it gets into the resin so I say mix it in water and pour it into the salt tank and do a manual regeneration is the best way to maximize its use. See my post to someone else here.

Yes there is a much smaller flow out the drain line during slow rinse/brine draw.

__________________
Gary Slusser
23 years in water treatment and well pumps, 13 years on the 'net helping others to help themselves.

VelvetFoot

So quiet is good?

Gary Slusser

It doesn't go by sound, it goes by various volumes of flow and if it is sucking salt water.

__________________
Gary Slusser
23 years in water treatment and well pumps, 13 years on the 'net helping others to help themselves.

clkinaz

Try this link for a troubleshooting procedure.
That was the original question, yes?

http://www.kenmorewater.com/website/...ion/index.html

a7ecorsair

To the OP,
You asked for some tips to troubleshoot. I have one tip you can try, it is how I verify if the softener is drawing brine.
When it is in the brine cycle there will be slow flow of water out the drain line. After it has been in this cycle for 30 minutes, wet your finger with this discharge and then lick it with your tongue. It should taste extremely salty. Not very scientific and there is no benchmark.

VelvetFoot

I called the Culligan man about a month ago and he fixed it.
It was definitely not drawing brine and it turned out to be the venturi.
He replaced the blue one with an off-white one and it works great.
He said it's got a bigger diameter than the blue one, and that it was a faux pas by the engineers.
Anyway, it sucks up the brine just fine now.