I recently went to Europe to work for 6 months. I rented my house for
that period so there was constant use of the water softener. When I
returned home, I found that the flow meter was worn and had gotten
stuck, so while there was continual flow through the water softener,
it never recharged. When I got home, I replaced the flow meter and
performed regular recharges, including "rust-out". After 3 months,
the water softener is still not performing well. Is it possible that
the resin has become so coated that it won't function anymore? Is
there any way of cleaning the plastic beads, such as dumping vinegar
into the tank? Using vinegar worked well for our glasses, silverware
and everything else that became coated with calcium. Would flushing
the hot water heater help?
Thanks for any help.

On 2 Apr 2007 12:33:14 -0700, wrote:

I recently went to Europe to work for 6 months. I rented my house for
that period so there was constant use of the water softener. When I
returned home, I found that the flow meter was worn and had gotten
stuck, so while there was continual flow through the water softener,
it never recharged. When I got home, I replaced the flow meter and
performed regular recharges, including "rust-out". After 3 months,
the water softener is still not performing well. Is it possible that
the resin has become so coated that it won't function anymore? Is
there any way of cleaning the plastic beads, such as dumping vinegar
into the tank? Using vinegar worked well for our glasses, silverware
and everything else that became coated with calcium. Would flushing
the hot water heater help?
Thanks for any help.

My limited understanding is that the resin can last 10-15 years. A
service tech once checked my softener resin. He rubbed a small amount
between his fingers; stating if it was "gritty" feeling it was still
good. It's not real expensive to replace.

Is the softener plugged into a tripped GFCI outlet and just not
re-generating? Bad timer/clock preventing the scheduled re-Gen?

I would not try the vinegar idea, but that's just me.

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

On Apr 2, 3:33 pm, wrote:
I recently went to Europe to work for 6 months. I rented my house for
that period so there was constant use of the water softener. When I
returned home, I found that the flow meter was worn and had gotten
stuck, so while there was continual flow through the water softener,
it never recharged. When I got home, I replaced the flow meter and
performed regular recharges, including "rust-out". After 3 months,
the water softener is still not performing well. Is it possible that
the resin has become so coated that it won't function anymore? Is
there any way of cleaning the plastic beads, such as dumping vinegar
into the tank? Using vinegar worked well for our glasses, silverware
and everything else that became coated with calcium. Would flushing
the hot water heater help?
Thanks for any help.

You need to do two manual regenerations with the maximum salt dose for
the volume of resin you have. I.E. a 1.5 cuft (48K) softener needs 23
lbs of salt for maximum 45K. A 1.0 cuft (32k) requires 15 lbs.

So, do two regens at max salt one after the other with as little water
use as possible between the two regens. You may have to do three.

You can use Iron Out to clean the resin if you have iron in the water.
Don't mix it with anything else; like vinegar. Mix a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of
it in a gallon of warm water poured into the water in the salt tank
for each of the two regens.

Gary
Quality Water Associates