In Need of Water Softener Education

[Bubbles Galore]

I have been doing some work on my water softeners (old Fleck [Ginsan] 9100 series) and frankly I'm doing the $5 mechanic fix where I just start tossing new parts in without actually diagnosing the problem. Can someone give me a basic rundown of how the different cycles work and such? I have gone from 7 grains hard to 3 grains hard, but really need to get back to zero to have my Razor running optimally (among all the rest of my SS bays).

Any and all help is appreciated.

John

 

[Washmee]

If you are still getting hard water after the softener recycles, most likely there is hard water bypassing in the head somewhere.

 

[bigleo48]

Bubbles,

Also, the media doesn't last forever. How old are they?

 

[MEP001]

As bigleo said, the media breaks down over time. Three things can cause the water to not be soft immediately after regeneration: bypass valve not closing completely, pistons eroded/seals leaking, or resin bad. Also test the softness every day and take note of which tank it's on. If the resin is bad, it will probably test harder on one tank than the other. It's easier to tell that way than taking the head off and getting a sample. Another check is to take a very bright light and shine it behind the tanks to see how much resin is in them - as it breaks down it gets small enough to flow down the drain, and you'll notice one tank has less than the other. It should also be about 3/4 full.

 

[washme1]

When was the last time you cleaned out the bottom of your brine tank? It will gradually fill up with debris occupying the area that should be brine.

 

[MEP001]

When was the last time you cleaned out the bottom of your brine tank? It will gradually fill up with debris occupying the area that should be brine.

It won't if you use clean salt. That also shouldn't affect the softening unless it's so much the unit can't draw brine.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Bubbles,

Also, the media doesn't last forever. How old are they?

The media is less than 6 months old.

 

[Jeff_L]

As others have stated, it may not be regenerating correctly. I bought a new Fleck a couple years ago and discovered the piston in the head wasn't properly opening/closing allowing the regen cycle to work properly. Just had to replace the seals on the piston (didn't want to diagnose which one was the issue, just did them all since I was in there).

 

[scout]

I have found water softners diagnosis is like being a doctor--not a regular doctor -but more voo doo like.
Until I give up with my bag of tricks and call service guy---I think I will get a small clay replica of the softner and stick pins in it.​

 

[mac]

Something else to consider about softeners. I see a lot of wash equipment rooms, and most with a softener use the soft water for everything. To me this is wasteful. Just use the soft water to mix the chemicals and feed the RO system. You can save, literally, a ton of salt.