# Culligan water softener not working (pics)



## Perm

Hi all - long time reader first time poster. 

Quick background.. I'm very much a DIY'er and am competent enough to do pretty much any repair job, from homes to cars to appliances. Somehow the finer points of water softeners have managed to escape me over the years.

I purchased the house I'm in two years ago, and it has a Culligan Water Softener in it. It worked quite well for the first couple years, but recently it apparently just stopped using salt. I was used to putting a bag or two of salt in every month, and a couple months ago I noticed it didn't need any. I thought it was odd... then about a month later I checked again and sure enough... salt was still at the same level (full.)

Simultaneous to this, my shower stall doors and sinks started getting hard water marks on them. My water isn't too terrible here, but it's definitely hard enough to notice the difference when the softener isn't working.

Anyway, the softener is a Culligan and the book that I have that was in the house says it's either a Medallist 8" or a Medallist Plus 30, 45 or 60. There are no definitive markings on the unit to tell me which one it is (at least none that I know of) so I'm just going by the 4 models that this instruction book has listed. The book says "copyright 2004" so I assume that's when the softener was installed.

Anyway, here are 3 pics of the softener, and I'm wondering if anyone can help me get started on what to check? I really don't know much about the terminology or how a softener really even works... I assume some water gets pumped onto the salt, filters through the salt then gets sucked back up a hose and put into the main tank with the valves and controller on it, and waits there to get used by the plumbing system. That sound about right?

Here are the pics, any advice is appreciated:

Front View of the system









Top down of the nozzles/valve area









View of the inside of the controller









So far I've only tried powering down the electronic controller and I've also hit the "reset/regen" function. When I do that it seems to make all kinds of noise like it's doing the normal softening function (whatever a regen does) but no salt ever seems to get used and the water is obviously still not softened.

Hopefully you forgive my extreme ignorance about softeners.. never had to worry about one until now, but I'm learning quick!

Thank you.


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## Akpsdvan

If in the cleaning cycle there is water going to the drain in the first part of the cleaning or regen , then the idea that the drain is plugged is removed from why there is no brine draw.
The failure of the system to draw brine when it should could because the injector is plugged, that is under the silver plate that has the three screws(photo number 2)
put the system into bypass,, red end in and blue end out ..
if that is clear then there is the possibility that the piston under the white egg looking cam is not moving or the o rings on it are no longer good and not letting the unit draw when it should draw.


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## Perm

@Akpsdvan: thank you kindly for a response! I think you might have thrown out one or two terms that are beyond my current level of understanding. Is the "cleaning cycle" something I should be starting myself, or something that happens on its own? When you say "draw brine" is that the water that's in the bottom of the salt reservoir I take it?

Also, when I put the system into bypass (currently blue is in and red is out) do I then start a regen cycle or cleaning cycle I take it? What should happen when I do that? ie - what am I checking or watching or doing when I put the system in bypass?

Thank you again for a reply.


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## Akpsdvan

Terms
Cleaning cycle=regen
Draw brine= pulling the brine water out of the brine tank
Bypass= no new water going through the softener valve or tank

Putting the unit in bypass and then starting a cycle keeps one from taking a shower with cold water.. depressure the unit, remove the screws .. there will be some water come out, but it will keep one from flooding the area with water.


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## Perm

Of the two tanks, which one is the brine tank? What is the other tank called?


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## Akpsdvan

Brine tank=salt tank
Media tank=one with resin and control on top


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## Perm

Ok cool... I just ran a regen and water does indeed come out of the drain. I guess I'll put it into bypass mode next and take that silver lid off and see if I notice anything odd.


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## Perm

Well I turned the bypass on and took the lid off the injector... here's a pic:










Everything _looked_ fine, but then again I don't really know what I'm looking for. I hit regen and again it seems to function fine, and water seems to be going through the tube to the brine tank. Actually that's one question I have.... how does water get to the bring tank and then back to the media tank? There's only one tube... does the cycle send water over to the brine tank at first, then later sucks it back up through and back into the media tank or something?

Once again, as far as I can tell everything *appears* to be functioning ok, the water just isn't soft. There an easy way to tell just how hard or soft the water is?


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## Perm

Anyone else want to take a crack at this? Softener that otherwise appears to be working fine, but water just isn't soft?


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## Akpsdvan

You are correct, every thing in the photo looked good..
That said , the control will move the main piston to a spot that will send water to the drain at about 2-3gpm... then it will pull the brine water from the salt tank into the media tank and re charge the resin and then a rapid rinse and salt tank refill.
So if you are getting water going to the salt tank second there is most likely an o ring that is either missing or broken on the brine piston and also there is likely a seal on the main piston that is not right.
While this link is for the Fleck 1500 it does have the lay out on the different parts of the regen cycle and what takes place at each stop of the cycle and what the water is doing or going.
Page 33 shows what the brine is doing ... it is the same as yours.
http://www.pentairwatertreatment.com/en-us/Products/ResidentialControlValves/Fleck+1500.htm


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## Perm

Akpsdvan said:


> You are correct, every thing in the photo looked good..
> That said , the control will move the main piston to a spot that will send water to the drain at about 2-3gpm... then it will pull the brine water from the salt tank into the media tank and re charge the resin and then a rapid rinse and salt tank refill.
> So if you are getting water going to the salt tank second there is most likely an o ring that is either missing or broken on the brine piston and also there is likely a seal on the main piston that is not right.
> While this link is for the Fleck 1500 it does have the lay out on the different parts of the regen cycle and what takes place at each stop of the cycle and what the water is doing or going.
> Page 33 shows what the brine is doing ... it is the same as yours.
> http://www.pentairwatertreatment.com/en-us/Products/ResidentialControlValves/Fleck+1500.htm


Cool, thanks for the diagram. Yeah I guess at this point I just don't know enough to actually know what else to check. If o-rings and seals aren't good, I'm not sure how to check it or if I should just call the Culligan guy.


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## msaeger

Are you getting water into the brine tank when you run a regen? Mine did something similar to what you are getting and the issue was the tube in the brine tank that the media tank sucks the salty water through was plugged.


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## Perm

msaeger said:


> Are you getting water into the brine tank when you run a regen? Mine did something similar to what you are getting and the issue was the tube in the brine tank that the media tank sucks the salty water through was plugged.


Good question... I guess it's hard to tell. I thought water was going through because I saw water draining during the regen, and I assumed that was coming from somewhere. Can I just take the hose off and see if water starts spitting out during a regen or something? The hose going from the media to the brine tank is clear, but the water is just as clear, so it's pretty much impossible to tell exactly what is happening at any given time.


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## Akpsdvan

You can undo the white nut that is at the end of the black line there at the brine tank or the salt tank, when the system should be pulling brine one's finger will get sucked into the open end of the tube if you put your finger there, if water comes out .. then there is a problem with either the brine piston and or the main piston.
Water should only go to the salt tank in the brine refill and rapid rinse of the culligan valve.


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## macman44

I have a Culligan softener identical to Perm except for the electronics board, installed in 2005, "Gold Series" 9 inch. Like Perm, my salt usage has stopped and I am no longer getting soft water.

I followed the pointers given in this thread, and found:
- Injector was covered in black silt (originates from my sulphurous water) but didn't appear to be blocked. Cleaning it makes no difference.
- Water appears to be going down the drain in all phases of the regen cycle. But because the drain is permanently plumbed in, I can't see the water but can hear it. The rate doesn't seem to be very high.
- Water tries to go into the brine tank when brine should be being withdrawn. Because of the float valve in the brine tank, water doesn't actually flow, but there is pressure. And it's clear water, not brine.
- Water also tries to go into the brine tank on the last (refill) cycle, as it should.
- The sequence motor seems to be moving the valves OK.

Do these observations indicate one of the valves has a problem, and if so which one? Is there any other observations I can take to further narrow it down?

Thanks for any thoughts.


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## Bob999

With water flowing to drain at all times it is likely the valve seals are bad and the valve will need a rebuild kit that includes seals and piston.


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## Akpsdvan

If there is water going to the brine tank or salt tank when water should be getting removed then the brine piston , that plastic rod that can be seen on the top of the motor assembly and under the white egg looking cam has an o ring that is bad and or there is a seal that is bad in the main seal pack assembly and could mean that either or both are going to need to be replaced or rebuilt... rebuilding is a challenge , taking parts that are still good and putting them together to form a good seal pack assembly.


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## macman44

Thanks for the useful reply, and it kind of confirms what I suspected. The observation that rebuilding is a challenge gives me pause, however, and the potential scope of the repair is more that I expected for a 6-year old unit.

While I will tackle any repair job that doesn't require specialized tools, I have never been inside a water softener or similar device. To help me decide between proceeding on my own and paying Culligan $$$ to do it, could you comment on:
- How easy/risky is it to take the valves apart, and replace them afterwards?
- How I could recognize a seal or other component that is bad?
- Assuming I have to get repair parts from Culligan, can I typically buy individual seals, or a complete seal kit, or a complete assembly? How receptive are Culligan to selling individual parts - I haven't been able to find any kind of repair manual, or any third parties selling seals, etc., so I suspect they don't encourage DIY.
- Generally how should I proceed if I do it myself?

Thanks again.


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## Perm

@macman - for what it's worth, I seem to have approximately the same thing going on. I called Culligan, it's $119 for a service call and they also service the softener (probably don't do much... but whatever.) That seemed reasonable enough for me to have them come out and fix it for me though... I determined it was just beyond the time I wanted to spend, and then I very well may have to just pay them to come out afterwards anyway. :\


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## Akpsdvan

The seals for the main seal pack assembly are culligan only and not found at the local hardware store.
Some dealers will and some will not, there is one in Kentucky that has a seal pack listed for the culligan mark units and the one that both of you have.
I am not sure if they will sell, but it is listed. 
There is an auction site that from time to time has a rebuild kit that has both the seal pack assembly and the brine piston with it cage for sale, but have not seen one for the last few months.

There are some dealers that are not culligan that might have a culligan that was taken in on trade that pull good parts for use later, much like an auto salvage yard does with used car and truck parts.

Most people can rebuild the valve with the right parts and some simple tools and some time..

There might even be a market for some dealer to rebuild a culligan and offer it for sale with a core charge, but have not seen that yet... but maybe in time.


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## macman44

I'll give Culligan a call and see whether they would sell seals, and also what the repair bill might be if they do it.

If I can get the bits from them, and since I don't mind taking the softener out of service for a few days (it isn't working anyway, and I can bypass it), I may take it apart and see what I can see - time isn't my issue, money is. Perhaps I will start with the brine piston as it looks easier to handle, but I may have to move on to the bigger one if nothing seems out of line there.

Any particular pointers on the disassembly/repair/re-assembly process that I should watch out for, or is it straightforward and obvious?

Thanks.


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## Perm

Well the repair guy was here this morning... apparently it was the "main seal pack" which he showed to me after he pulled it out of the softener. Unfortunately this pack is $105.

I asked the guy if I could keep the old item and replace the o-rings inside that appeared damaged. The guy said it's not repairable and is a "throwaway" item. Why they make that big metal valve assembly non-serviceable is a total mystery to me. Essentially two O-rings worth about a nickel of material caused him to throw away a big metal assembly that looks like it could last 100 years otherwise.

Anyway, a little disappointed that part cost me so much, but otherwise seems like something I could easily order myself next time I think. Probably just call Culligan and ask for a main seal pack, and then just figure out how to drop the thing in myself.

$105 for the part + $119 for the service call.

It was two white o-rings on the INSIDE of the below assembly that were torn up. The guy said increased chlorine in Indianapolis' water system was the cause.

I found another image on this site (via Google) that appears to be similar to the one the guy replaced for me. For what it's worth, the one in my softener looked much cleaner and in much better shape than this random pic I found, but it will give other people the idea:


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## Akpsdvan

I know that photo.....

The 105 was cheaper than the 175 that I have heard from others on the replacement of the piston by culligan.


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## Perm

Ah was that your photo or something? I literally just googled "culligan main seal pack" and that was the first image that came up. 

Still amazes me they wouldn't make that part serviceable.. unless it's solely used to make money and meant to wear out quickly.


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## Akpsdvan

I know that on the fleck units that I sell and service the piston and seal pack are separate part numbers, and that there are times that I will replace all of them and then times that I will replace the piston and one or two of the seals or rubber o rings... but that is just me and I can not speak of the rest.
There are part replacers and then there are service people that work with what is there to get working again.

And yes that is a photo that I took awhile back , the piston was still good and there where a few of the seals that where good and the spacers where recoverable.... so some of that pack is saved for the need ....


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## macman44

Hey, Perm,
Did you get to keep the old seal pack? - if there is a next time you might be able to use some of the seals that were undamaged this time . . . . Or, better still, I might buy some from you, if yours are still in reasonable condition.


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## Perm

Nah the guy said it wasn't serviceable, so he just threw it out. I assumed he was telling me the truth.


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## macman44

Akpsdvan,

How can I tell by looking at the seal pack whether it is good or not? I have got it out, and here are my observations:
- black O rings on the outside look OK
- Piston inside the pack very difficult to move - needs a good grip with pliers then it 'jumps' one step at a time. Can't move by hand.
- whole thing covered with fine black silt. This is the insoluble sulfur residue that the preceding 'Iron-Clear' system is supposed to filter out (another, different problem?). White seals on the inside look black because of this.

Thanks.


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## Perm

@macman - Just to be clear, the two white o-rings inside of my seal pack were the ones that were rotted/ripped up, etc.

The "behavior" that the softener exhibited was water going TO the salt tank when a regen started... apparently water is supposed to get sucked up from the salt tank to the media tank immediately on regen start.


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## macman44

Perm,

Yes, your symptom is the same as mine - water never gets sucked from the salt tank, and is sent TO it instead.

I can't even see the (white?) internal O rings because the piston is so difficult to move and because the internal O rings are covered with black gunk.

Do you know whether the piston can be removed from the back of the seal pack (did Mr. Culligan do it?), which might allow me to see the internal rings better.

I am planning on taking the whole seal pack in to Culligan tomorrow, and try to speak to a tech to see if I can get an opinion.


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## Perm

Well, I didn't get a good look at everything he did, but from the best I can tell he just looked in that seal pack, showed me the blown o-rings, then just replaced the entire thing with a new one and threw the old one out.

It sounds to me like that's exactly what you should do... go in, show them yours, and if they don't know or don't have a real "here's your fix" immediate answer.. then just buy a new and slide it into place. You'd at least save yourself the $119 service call.

If this happens to me again I'll be looking for an o-ring that fits first, but it sounds like you have some black silt or whatever that may be causing other complications, so I don't care to speculate on that.


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## Akpsdvan

To be clear , I have taken ones out from the units that I have taken in on trade and then go through them and get the good seals and spacers out of them to build up a seal pack assembly that is good, used but good.

The seals that are first to go are the center three, and the others often times are still good and can be reused... some times the piston is trashed , but then there are times that the piston is still in good shape,, no cuts on the body.

Some times one of the spacers breaks up and then it is in the trash, it might take three to come up with one that is in good shape to be used again...


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## Perm

So by your description, it makes a little more sense why Culligan doesn't risk rebuilding them, etc. They just put a new one in and don't worry about assembling a rebuilt one out of 2-4 old assemblies. However, if someone (like you) actually had access to a handful of old seal packs, I could certainly see it being pretty easy to make a perfectly suitable rebuilt unit.

Anyway... I learned quite a bit in this thread, thanks for all the tips. I feel pretty confident in troubleshooting future problems, all the way up to putting in a new seal pack myself anyway.


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## Perm

@Adpsdvan - one more minor question... in all this I ended up digging out all my salt to clean the salt tank out. I now have a trash can with about 200lbs of salt in it, some of it from the very bottom of the salt tank, where it was kinda dirty. Can I put this salt back in the tank, or should I just throw that salt out and put nothing but clean/fresh in?

Opinions?


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## Akpsdvan

Perm said:


> @Adpsdvan - one more minor question... in all this I ended up digging out all my salt to clean the salt tank out. I now have a trash can with about 200lbs of salt in it, some of it from the very bottom of the salt tank, where it was kinda dirty. Can I put this salt back in the tank, or should I just throw that salt out and put nothing but clean/fresh in?
> 
> Opinions?


I would work it back into the main salt tank say 20-30 lbs at a time with new salt, keeping the main salt tank at about 1/2 full.... no real need to through out the salt that you pulled from the tank earlier..
I have a system at home and will use salt from a tank that I take in on trade if the customer was going to just dump it and have had no challenges with the system that I have ...


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## macman44

Hello there, I'm still no further forward with my Culligan "Gold Series" water softener not working.

First, the good news. I found a very helpful Culligan Service Rep who examined my seal pack and pronounced it "well used but may still be serviceable". But since a complete new seal pack, including the brine piston assembly, cost only $60, I bought and installed one. I also, following her advice, removed and cleaned the injector nozzle (even though it didn't seem blocked).

The bad news is that all this made no difference at all - brine is still not being sucked from the salt tank, and water is being pumped there instead. I also examined the regen cycle on a similar Culligan softener that my son has.

The findings are that my softener is barely passing any water to the drain, at any point in the regen cycle. The flow on my son's is quite vigorous accompanied by quite loud water flow noises, whereas mine is virtually inaudible. Since I can't see the waste water, I don't know the flow, but the gauge on the well pressure tank barely moves. I conclude that there is some kind of blockage in the drain system.

So I next removed the drain pipe from the softener and blew gently into it: no blockage there at all - quite clear! But what was strange was that along with the water that came out when I took off this drain pipe there was a whole pile of tiny plastic balls - some white, some black - which had been trapped in the pipe. These balls could have come from the softener or the adjacent "Iron-Clear" water conditioner, since they are both T-ed into a common waste pipe. Either way, I am sure they shouldn't be there, and their presence might be a clue to the problem.

But I don't know what to look at next, and any advice would be most welcome.


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## Akpsdvan

Even with the seal pack replacement there is no increase in either the flow to the house or to the drain?

When you replaced the seal pack , did you remove the valve from the tank?

You may have to remove the valve from the tank that it is on, there on the incoming side of the media tank is a male foot, the valve has the female foot, they wedge together.. remove the male and make sure that there is nothing blocking the holes ...


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## macman44

Thanks again for the reply.

There is no problem with water flow to the house - there's lots of it, but it's just not being softened. And when I replaced the seal pack, it made no difference to the flow to the drain during regen - (virtually) none before and none after.

No, I didn't remove the valve assembly from the tank. Is it as easy as removing the two clamp screws around the neck and lifting it off (after disconnecting the unions at the bypass valve) ? Are there any gotchas I need to be aware of? But if there is adequate water flow during normal service, wouldn't that indicate that there isn't a blockage? Anyway, I will have a go at it later today, and report back.

By the way, operating the bypass valve is very stiff - I can only get it to move with a hammer.

Did you have any thoughts about those tiny plastic beads?


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## Akpsdvan

Sounds like it was some resin..

Some thing is blocking the or cutting down the flow to the drain and that will cut down the flow From the salt tank when it is in brine draw.

Either in the valve body in the area of the drain line hook up is a plug that is reducing the flow to the drain.


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## macman44

I've got the whole thing off and apart, as far as the valve assembly looks like it will come apart.

First observation is that everything is coated in a thick film of black slime (the insoluble sulfides from the Iron-Cleer water treatment filter that shouldn't be getting this far). However, the slime isn't to the point where anything seems blocked. And of course, during normal service water flows freely through to the house.

Just inside the drain outlet is a rubber insert with a small hole in the middle, which clearly will be reducing the flow, but it looks like it is meant to be there. However it obstructs any view further in - I would really like to get this out, so can you suggest a non-destructive way? If I blow or suck through the drain opening, I can get air to move, but it is quite hard to do so. I poked through the hole in the rubber thing with a paperclip, and air seems to move a bit easier but that might just be wishful thinking.

Does the valve come apart in any non-obvious way? The top part (containing the drain outlet, brine tank connection, brine piston and eductor nozzle) looks like it is a separate section, but there are no obvious fasteners so it might be glued in.

What else can I look for or do? Or shall I just put it all back together and hope that the general clean-up has achieved something?

Thanks.


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## Akpsdvan

The rubber flow control is such that if you use a screw driver that will fit into the hole and pull out it will, and not get busted up unless you use a really big one to do so.
If you have a dental pick that to will work.
If you do not have 2 gallons per minute going to the drain while the unit is in backwash then there will be a problem when it goes to brine draw and slow rinse.
Has any thing been done to the brine piston that is hooked under the white cam?
If one or more of the o rings there is not right or torn then the brine draw will not work... water going to the salt tank is a good way in the brine draw part is a good sign that some thing there is a miss if the main seal assembly is good.

I would say pm me , but you can not do that from here, if you look for me else where you should be able to.


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## macman44

Thanks for the quick reply.

I couldn't find a way to get the rubber flow control thing out of the drain line, but worked at it with a small screwdriver and blowing and sucking through it. Got several mouthfuls of the small plastic beads, but it did free up somewhat. Also cleaned up black gunk where I could. And yes, I did replace the brine piston and cylinder when I did the main seal pack, so these should be good.

Put the whole assembly back together, and things are a lot better. I get a vigorous flow down the drain line in the first (rinse) stage and the last (rinse and refill the salt tank) stage (certainly the 2 gal/min that you mention), and a much lower rate during the brine sucking stage which seemed to vary several times with no cause (but less than 2 gal/min). However, brine did get sucked up from the salt tank, and I am hopeful that I may see some soft water.

I am a little concerned about the variability of the drain flow during the brine extraction stage, as this suggests that there is still some dirt inside which is causing a partial and variable blockage of that small hole in the rubber thingy. I will do another regen run tomorrow and see how repeatable the sequence is, and also try and assess whether water is softer.

I'll let you know how that goes.


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## Akpsdvan

I am likely to have some say no...no... but if all else has failed to remove that drain control I would use about a 2" dry wall screw and screw in a few threads and then pull out with a set of pliers.. The way I see it, til that control is removed and the broken resin beads are flushed out of the valve head there is going to be challenges from time to time, this time they let the flow but the next time they could plug up so that the flow is way lower than it should be thus cutting the brine draw ..
Inside the red box is the drain control... with the clip removed and the tee removed there is the control that we are talking about.


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## macman44

Thanks, that's a great technique - worked well. Took out the flow controller, and dismantled the valve again, and everything was clean inside, so I guess I got all the lodged crud out the first time.

Ran another regen cycle - my, that's boring, standing there for an hour and a half watching very little happen!
- Good drain flow in the first backwash phase: 2-3 gal/min
- Much less drain flow in the brine draw phase: probably less than 0.5 gal/min, but to start with some brine was drawn in. Then about halfway through, something in the control valve started hissing, and it looks like brine draw stopped. I don't know whether enough was drawn in to do the job, bit it seemed quite a lot.
- Good drain flow in the final rinse/brine-tank-refill stage: about 3 gal/min.
Is this what I should be expecting?

Otherwise, given that the whole valve is very clean, and good flows occur in the first and last phases, I am wondering whether the media in the tank is too clogged with that black sulfide which has got everywhere else, and is thus cutting back on the flow in the brine draw phase. Just a guess, but could you comment.

Haven't tested the softness of the water yet: I don't have a test kit and I need to go out and get one. The treated water should have worked its way into the house by now, so I'll let you know.

Thanks again.


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## Akpsdvan

Sounds right, the brine draw tone will change when there is no more water or brine coming from the brine tank.

Say the brine draw and slow rinse is 60 minutes, the first 20 is brine and the last 40 is slow rinse... the minutes used is an example but it still works out to 1/3 brine and 2/3 slow rinse.


A good way to check the water.... 2 jars, plastic or glass as long as they have lids , fill half full of water one with the treated and the other untreated if you can get it... same number of drops of dish soap in each.. cap and shake.......... if the treated really foams up and the untreated does not then the system is working..
If the treated does not foam up then the softener is not treating the water correctly and might need another few regens to get back into shape.


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## macman44

Thanks, that's great, it seems to be working as it should finally.

I did the soap test, and the newly treated water foamed up much more, indicating that softening is taking place, so that's good too. I have somewhere I can take a water sample in for a quantitative test, so I will do that in a day or two.

The only question remaining is to ask why did it happen, and will it happen again? The original problem was resin beads stuck in the drain flow control thingy, as well as quite a lot in the drain pipe itself (an accumulation over some time I expect). And these didn't seem to be broken ones, they were spherical as I found when I put my foot on some that were spilled on the floor and went skidding away. Is it normal for some of these to get expelled from time to time, and if so what sort of preventative maintenance regime is advisable?

As far as the black sulfide is concerned, Culligan's advice is to increase the backwash frequency in the Iron-Cleer water filter, so I will do that and hope that over time the inside of the softener will clean up.

I really appreciate all the help and advice, as without you being there to guide me I would never have got this far. I have also learned a lot about my softener in the process. So a big thank you.


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## Akpsdvan

Why did it happen? age, water quality takes a toll on resin..

Will it happen again? most likely ... When ??? any ones guess....

The key now is that if it starts to go south again you know some things to do to correct the challenge when it happens.

Any softener is going to over time brake some of the resin down because of the water and out the drain it goes.. 

Having the iron filter working at 100% will always be better on the softener so that all that it has to deal with is the hardness..

Having the raw water tested about every other year and the softener reset if needed will help in the long run of the softeners life.


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