I recently installed a Fleck 7000SXT water softener in my home. From the very beginning the water did not soften, and the gallons did not count down on the display. It was as though no water was going through the softener.
I did all of the usual troubleshooting - making sure the unit wasn't in bypass, ensured that the metering cable was plugged correctly, etc... and none of those things were out of order.
Then I made a discovery with the plumbing that I think might be the problem and I was hoping that the community could help me out with my theory. I'll try to explain it as briefly as I can.
Basically, if I detach the softener and the bypass valve, cap the pipe going into the softener, but leave the pipe that water enters upon leaving the softener open and turn on the water to the house, water comes out the second pipe. So somehow water is able to get to the home's plumbing via some other path than through the softener. My home has a manifold plumbing system with a third line coming up to the bottom of the manifold that goes to the kitchen sink and the outside hose bibs. I routed the water through the softener after this branch so the sink and outside water wouldn't be softened, assuming that the manifold was sectioned off internally and water couldn't pass between sections. I must have been wrong in that assumption because that is the only other path that water could be coming from in the above scenario. I have attached a pic of the manifold and a schematic of the piping that will hopefully illustrate what I am describing.
Am I correct in my diagnosis? If I am, how can I re-plumb the softener without softening the kitchen sink water and the outside water?
Thanks in advance for your help!
I did all of the usual troubleshooting - making sure the unit wasn't in bypass, ensured that the metering cable was plugged correctly, etc... and none of those things were out of order.
Then I made a discovery with the plumbing that I think might be the problem and I was hoping that the community could help me out with my theory. I'll try to explain it as briefly as I can.
Basically, if I detach the softener and the bypass valve, cap the pipe going into the softener, but leave the pipe that water enters upon leaving the softener open and turn on the water to the house, water comes out the second pipe. So somehow water is able to get to the home's plumbing via some other path than through the softener. My home has a manifold plumbing system with a third line coming up to the bottom of the manifold that goes to the kitchen sink and the outside hose bibs. I routed the water through the softener after this branch so the sink and outside water wouldn't be softened, assuming that the manifold was sectioned off internally and water couldn't pass between sections. I must have been wrong in that assumption because that is the only other path that water could be coming from in the above scenario. I have attached a pic of the manifold and a schematic of the piping that will hopefully illustrate what I am describing.
Am I correct in my diagnosis? If I am, how can I re-plumb the softener without softening the kitchen sink water and the outside water?
Thanks in advance for your help!