"Gary Slusser" wrote in message

The vast majority of plumbers don't normally know softeners or how to
trouble shoot problems with them. Who set the salt so high? And how much
resin, capacity etc. does the softener have? Nine may still be too high
and the only way to know is with a sodium test. The salt may be a
problem with the control valve not providing proper rinses. Or the drain
line being kinked etc.. You need a water treatment dealer to check out
your softener for proper setup and operation. Plus the other things that
may be in your water and causing this white stuff problem.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

hey Gary.

i'm going to drop the thing to 0 (or 1) and throw the bypass valve.

we'll see what happens after several days of "hard" water.

one thing still mystified - why does the salt show up in the HOT water
tap and not the COLD water tap???