I have a GE model GXSF27B water softener
which is acting up. I'd appreciate advice from
anyone with experience dealing with this problem.

The problem is that the softener won't suck the brine
up through the resin tank. The venturi is working fine,
but the rotary valve appears to be slightly misaligned, so
that when the valve is rotated to the "brine" position, the
venturi won't suck.

If I manually rotate the valve ever-so *slightly* past the
brine position, then things in the valve line up, and everything
works fine. In normal operation, the valve is rotated by a
little motor, and at each "stop", a switch opens.

If the arm on the switch were a little longer, the whole thing would
work fine. If I buy a new switch, I'll have the same problem unless
I miraculously get one with the arm a little longer.

A second approach would be to buy a new rotor and disc for the
valve, but again I might end up with the identical problem.

I would appreciate if anybody out there has run up against this
problem and has some experince resolving it.

Thanks,

Bill

"Mr_Bill" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a GE model GXSF27B water softener
which is acting up. I'd appreciate advice from
anyone with experience dealing with this problem.

The problem is that the softener won't suck the brine
up through the resin tank. The venturi is working fine,
but the rotary valve appears to be slightly misaligned, so
that when the valve is rotated to the "brine" position, the
venturi won't suck.

If I manually rotate the valve ever-so *slightly* past the
brine position, then things in the valve line up, and everything
works fine. In normal operation, the valve is rotated by a
little motor, and at each "stop", a switch opens.

If the arm on the switch were a little longer, the whole thing would
work fine. If I buy a new switch, I'll have the same problem unless
I miraculously get one with the arm a little longer.

A second approach would be to buy a new rotor and disc for the
valve, but again I might end up with the identical problem.

I would appreciate if anybody out there has run up against this
problem and has some experince resolving it.

Thanks,

Bill

I had the same problem last year. I got it fixed using the comments, quoted
below, in Item #12 of the following discussion. It's still working but I
have my fingers crossed, hoping the problem won't return with additional
wear.

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=174318

Quote --
Fix for Lack of brine suction

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is evidently a common design fault of GE water softeners and probably
results in tens of millions of dollars per year in parts being ordered
unnecessarily. A class action lawsuit should be filed to make GE fix them.

In any case, the problem as you note is that over time just a few degrees of
extra turning will make it work again. You obtain this extra movement by
taking a pair of pliers and slightly flattening the metal arm on the switch
that follows the indexing cam. This will extend the time the motor turns
such that you get the few extra degrees needed to make the suction good. All
other positions have much bigger slop. The suction hole alignment has to be
much better.

This fix worked on by mine and a friends at work softener.
-- unquote

SJF

SJF, thank you for the very useful reply.

For anyone with a similar problem with a GE or Sears
water softener, I would recommend reading the entire
thread on doityourself.com.

Apparently, this is a design flaw which has existed for
at least 15 years. GE's response is to jack up the
price on the replacement parts. Rotor, disc, and seals
on softenerparts.com are $49 total. Same items on
GE parts web page are $109.

Which brings us to what to do in the long term, after
I pitch this piece of crap. There were some recommendations
on the DIY thread for a FLECK 5600. Anybody out there
have any opinions about a FLECK water softener, or any
other brands which are reliable but cost less than $1000?

Again, thank you, SJF, for really helping me out.

Bill

"Mr_Bill" wrote in message
oups.com...
SJF, thank you for the very useful reply.

For anyone with a similar problem with a GE or Sears
water softener, I would recommend reading the entire
thread on doityourself.com.

Apparently, this is a design flaw which has existed for
at least 15 years. GE's response is to jack up the
price on the replacement parts. Rotor, disc, and seals
on softenerparts.com are $49 total. Same items on
GE parts web page are $109.

Which brings us to what to do in the long term, after
I pitch this piece of crap. There were some recommendations
on the DIY thread for a FLECK 5600. Anybody out there
have any opinions about a FLECK water softener, or any
other brands which are reliable but cost less than $1000?

Again, thank you, SJF, for really helping me out.

Bill

Thanks for the acknowledgement Bill.

I shopped the Internet for a replacement and was ready to order a Fleck 5600
from this outfit --

http://www.qualitywatertreatment.com/5600se.htm

They seem to have similarly sized units for less than $500. But, when I
found the cited fix, I bookmarked the site for possible future need.

SJF