On Aug 10, 11:18*am, wrote:
Hi. *My wife & I just bought a house a couple months ago, in which the
previous owner had installed a water softener. I assume its working
correctly -- as the dishes don't have spots and at first the water
felt a bit "slimy." But, then we figured that's just because we were
used to hard water all these years. *Now, we like feel of the water.

The gentleman before us lived by himself. He had the setting as
follows:

Hardness: 25. *(Available range is 1-150, default is 20)

Regen day: 14 (Available is range is 1-28 days)
The manual says this is the MAXIMUM number of days between
regenerations. *So, I assume it could do it sooner than every 14 days,
if it detected it was necessary? *Is this correct? *He had it at 14
days for himself, so maybe I should move it to 7 days since there are
two of us?

Regen time: 2am ... although I could have sworn I saw it doing the
regen one time in the afternoon. So, I guess this goes back to my
previous question ... will it regen automatically if it feels its
necessary to do BEFORE the setting you have programmed in?

I have left the setting as he had them and everything "seems" ok, but
I'm wondering if maybe I should adjust something for our situation?
Also, I noticed the other day that the salt tank was finally getting
low (to where I could see water on the bottom), So, I just dumped in a
bag of salt that he had left behind for the tank. Was this ok to do or
should I have done it during regeneration?

Finally, is there any additional maintenance I should be doing with
this thing? The manual (which stinks) mentions something about
sanitizing with bleach and allow the system to complete the
regeneration cycle. *What about cleaning the salt tank itself?

Sorry for all the questions, but the manual that came with this is
horrible and this is my first experience with a water softener. *Thank
you!

-Jim
Jim,

Answers based on the water softner I have.

Maximum setting is per your description, the Max time between regens
is 14 days per the setting you have. The water softner should regen
based on the amount of water you use. Forcing regen at 14 days just
means that a regen will occur after 14 days even if one is not
required. I would not move it up to 7 days, I would actually turn
off the forced regen and let it do it as needed based on water usage.
Extra regen mean wasted water.

The regen should take place at 2 AM on the morning after it detects it
needs to perform one. For example; at 9:00 AM on Thursday you have
used enough water to require a regen, it will not run until 2 AM
Friday morning.

Salt can be added at any time. It is better to only have one or two
feet of salt in at a time. FIlling the tank to the brim could cause
problems later as salt bridges can form. A salt bridge is when the
salt at the bottom dissolves and the she solid salt above stays there
forming a bridge. When a bridge forms the softener will not properly
regenerate because no salt is available to make the brine due to the
bridge.

Maintenance consists of a periodic cleaning of the venturi assembly.
The procedure should be outlined in your manual or on a label in the
inside cover of your softener. If the procedures are not there then
google it or repost and I can send you a procedure based on my
softener. The bleach sanitization procedure is only done during the
initial installation. You should not have to repeat it.

The hardness number is based on how hard your water is and will
determine how often your unit regens. Normally you get the number from
a water test or from your water provider. Personally I set the
number to the mid point and wait a week or two and see how soft the
water is. If it is soft I move it down a bit, if it is hard I move
it up. I do this until I find the right setting. Easiest way to
gauge water softness is while showering. Once you get used to soft
water it is real apparent when something is not working right.

Have Fun