Red Baron
Active member
I've heard about salt tanks developing a bridge at the bottom but this is the first time it happened to us, and it created a lot of problems. My question is, what causes this phenomenon?
Salt Tank Bridge?
- Thread starter Red Baron
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Plow Guy
Member
The salt can wick moister, then clump and harden.If you are using a granular salt try pellet salt.
Red Baron
Active member
We're using pellet salt, but I don't know what the previous owner was using and I'm sure the bridge happened on his watch. I've always used pellets and never had a problem like this.
One thing I do know is that when it bridges, it is a very strong dome that is hard to break. We tried to break through it with rebard and a hammer but that just poked small holes in it. We finally got some 1" pipe and collapsed the dome by hitting the pipe with a baby sledge. Even then, it was very hard to get the pipe to break through the bridge.
bigleo48
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I've had softners both at home and the wash for years. Using the pellet type (Windsor 2), I've never had the bridge happen. I have had other softener problems and I now buy HACH strips from KR and test on a regular basis.
BigLeo
BigLeo
Plow Guy
Member
Red , You may have a leaky float valve in your brine tank. One time the water level is accurate, the next time it leaks over fills and hardens the salt creating the bridge. This is a good time to replace the float valve. It is not expensive,just hard to find. Look in the yellow pages, then on line.Good luck,Pete
MEP001
Well-known member
Depending on the softener, the float valve may not even control the brine level in the tank. Fleck, for example, have a brine control in the head and only use the float valve to keep the tank from overflowing. Our softener doesn't even have a float in the tank, and I've seen a lot that don't.
