We woke up this morning to find that the brine tank overflowed. We were negligent this last week and didn't fill it with salt. Also, I just installed a water pressure tank and there was a lot of black earth residue at the bottom of the brine tank (and in all the lines of the house) that I have now cleaned out. Should I just put salt in it and regenerate, or is there something else I should do?

Thanks.

Michael,

It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have. Sounds
as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue" problem
I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding tank and
pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water is fairly
clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to flush the crud
out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not you'llneed to clean or
rebuild the valves.

Dave M.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 08:50:26 -0400, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

Michael,

It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have. Sounds
as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue" problem
I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding tank and
pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water is fairly
clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to flush the crud
out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not you'llneed to clean or
rebuild the valves.

Dave M.

Will the water clear up by turning the bypass valve?

How old is the resin in the system?

Have you ever emptied and cleaned the brine tank?

On Wednesday, August 27, 2014 9:36:26 AM UTC-5, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 08:50:26 -0400, "David L. Martel"

wrote:



Michael,



It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have. Sounds

as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue" problem

I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding tank and

pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water is fairly

clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to flush the crud

out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not you'llneed to clean or

rebuild the valves.



Dave M.



Will the water clear up by turning the bypass valve?



How old is the resin in the system?



Have you ever emptied and cleaned the brine tank?

This is the first time I emptied and cleaned the tank. I don't know how old the system is, but I'm guessing 15 years old.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 08:21:37 -0700 (PDT), Michael Wilson
wrote:

Will the water clear up by turning the bypass valve?



How old is the resin in the system?



Have you ever emptied and cleaned the brine tank?

This is the first time I emptied and cleaned the tank. I don't know how old the system is, but I'm guessing 15 years old.

Typically resin only last for ~15 years, 25 at most -depending on
quality of the resin. Dirt from the brine tank (salt does have some
dirt) may have settled in the resin tank. Time to change it...

(I presume there have been no water line repairs on your street)

Oren,

How old is the resin in the system?



Have you ever emptied and cleaned the brine tank?

This is the first time I emptied and cleaned the tank. I don't know how
old the system is, but I'm guessing 15 years old.

Typically resin only last for ~15 years, 25 at most -depending on
quality of the resin. Dirt from the brine tank (salt does have some
dirt) may have settled in the resin tank. Time to change it...

(I presume there have been no water line repairs on your street)

I'd guess, based on the crud in the water and the newly installed tank
that he's on a well. None of his symptoms suggest any problem with the
resin. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You are wasting this guy's time and
money with the resin advice.

Dave M.

David L. Martel wrote:
Michael,

It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have.
Sounds as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue"
problem I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding
tank and pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water
is fairly clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to
flush the crud out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not
you'llneed to clean or rebuild the valves.

Dave M.
Hi,
+1. Dirt maybe plugging up the float valve orifice.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2014 7:50:26 AM UTC-5, David L. Martel wrote:
Michael,



It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have. Sounds

as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue" problem

I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding tank and

pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water is fairly

clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to flush the crud

out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not you'llneed to clean or

rebuild the valves.



Dave M.

It's a Kinetico two-tank system. I'll try to flush it and see if that takes care of it. Thanks for the help to you and the other posters.

Mike

On 8/27/2014 8:50 AM, David L. Martel wrote:
Michael,

It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have.
Sounds as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue"
problem I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding
tank and pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water
is fairly clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to
flush the crud out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not
you'llneed to clean or rebuild the valves.

Dave M.

Water softener? I thought he was tanning hides.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 8/27/2014 7:27 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 8/27/2014 8:50 AM, David L. Martel wrote:
Michael,

It may help if you tell us what brand of water softener you have.
Sounds as if one of the valves is not closing tight. With the "residue"
problem I'm thinking that you need to flush the crap out of your holding
tank and pipes. Get the crud out of the brine tank too. Once your water
is fairly clear run the softener through a few cycles without salt to
flush the crud out of the valves. If that does it, great. If not
you'llneed to clean or rebuild the valves.

Dave M.

Water softener? I thought he was tanning hides.

Nah, curing hams and corned beef.

On 8/27/2014 8:17 AM, Michael Wilson wrote:
We woke up this morning to find that the brine tank overflowed. We were negligent this last week and didn't fill it with salt. Also, I just installed a water pressure tank and there was a lot of black earth residue at the bottom of the brine tank (and in all the lines of the house) that I have now cleaned out. Should I just put salt in it and regenerate, or is there something else I should do?

Thanks.

What kind of hides are you tanning?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Wednesday, August 27, 2014 9:37:56 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 05:17:58 -0700 (PDT), Michael Wilson

wrote:



We woke up this morning to find that the brine tank overflowed. We were negligent this last week and didn't fill it with salt. Also, I just installed a water pressure tank and there was a lot of black earth residue at the bottom of the brine tank (and in all the lines of the house) that I have now cleaned out. Should I just put salt in it and regenerate, or is there something else I should do?



Thanks.



You can try manually flipping the valves to see if you can dislodge

the chunk of crud. They are operated by the silver straps that ride

the cams.

It might also be crud plugging the pickup tube in the tank.

I'll have a look at the pickup tube to see if it's cruddy. Appreciate the suggestion.