Hello,

I have a water softening system that has an Autotrol series 255
valve/460i. Its 5 1/2 years old.

I use Potassium Chloride pellets in my brine tank. I check the brine
tank regularly and have been noticing lately that the pellets are last
an extra extra long time. I doubt there is any chance these pellet
can bridge but I stired then up anyway.

I manually ran a cycle and noticed that when it gets to the cycle that
sucks the brine in through the Air check housing it only takes in
brine for a few minutes - the level in the brine tank only goes down
about .25 inches. After that few minutes the brine stops coming in an
it sounds like its just sucking air. I've never watched a cycle when
it was in working order but I assume it should be taking in more brine
than that - correct?

I cleaned the injector and the screen. There was a lot of gunk on the
screen. I was going to clean the brine control too but was not sure
how it comes off - does it just unscrew?

Cleaning the injector and screen did not solve the problem. Any other
ideas of what might cause this?

I appreciate any help/tips.

Regards

"Lex" wrote in message
m...
Hello,

I have a water softening system that has an Autotrol series 255
valve/460i. Its 5 1/2 years old.

I use Potassium Chloride pellets in my brine tank. I check the brine
tank regularly and have been noticing lately that the pellets are last
an extra extra long time. I doubt there is any chance these pellet
can bridge but I stired then up anyway.

I manually ran a cycle and noticed that when it gets to the cycle that
sucks the brine in through the Air check housing it only takes in
brine for a few minutes - the level in the brine tank only goes down
about .25 inches. After that few minutes the brine stops coming in an
it sounds like its just sucking air. I've never watched a cycle when
it was in working order but I assume it should be taking in more brine
than that - correct?

I cleaned the injector and the screen. There was a lot of gunk on the
screen. I was going to clean the brine control too but was not sure
how it comes off - does it just unscrew?

Cleaning the injector and screen did not solve the problem. Any other
ideas of what might cause this?

I appreciate any help/tips.

Regards

Pellets can 'bridge'. Check your brine line connections and prevent any air
suction. If it sucks air it can't lift heavy water/brine. Yes the air check
screws off the older version of that control or you remove the screws
holding the clear plastic cap on it. The injector has to be clear/open or it
can't suck brine. There can be no kinks in the drain line. The injector
screen has to be clean. Te drain line control (ball) must be lean and able
to roll around in the drain line flow control area. The minimum water
pressure minimum has to be 20 psi. If those things aren't maintained, the
unit won't suck brine.

Gary
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com
Bulletin Board www.qualitywaterassociates.com/phpBB2

Thanks for the reply.

I took the brine control off and cleaned it and cleaned the screen
again (still had some clogge holes).

I ran another cycle and this time it took brine for almost the whole
brine cycle. The water in the brine tank went down about 6 inches.

However - on the refill it only put back about 2 inches into the brine
tank. Is this normal or something to be concerned about?

Regards

"Gary Slusser" wrote in message ...
"Lex" wrote in message
m...
Hello,

I have a water softening system that has an Autotrol series 255
valve/460i. Its 5 1/2 years old.

I use Potassium Chloride pellets in my brine tank. I check the brine
tank regularly and have been noticing lately that the pellets are last
an extra extra long time. I doubt there is any chance these pellet
can bridge but I stired then up anyway.

I manually ran a cycle and noticed that when it gets to the cycle that
sucks the brine in through the Air check housing it only takes in
brine for a few minutes - the level in the brine tank only goes down
about .25 inches. After that few minutes the brine stops coming in an
it sounds like its just sucking air. I've never watched a cycle when
it was in working order but I assume it should be taking in more brine
than that - correct?

I cleaned the injector and the screen. There was a lot of gunk on the
screen. I was going to clean the brine control too but was not sure
how it comes off - does it just unscrew?

Cleaning the injector and screen did not solve the problem. Any other
ideas of what might cause this?

I appreciate any help/tips.

Regards

Pellets can 'bridge'. Check your brine line connections and prevent any air
suction. If it sucks air it can't lift heavy water/brine. Yes the air check
screws off the older version of that control or you remove the screws
holding the clear plastic cap on it. The injector has to be clear/open or it
can't suck brine. There can be no kinks in the drain line. The injector
screen has to be clean. Te drain line control (ball) must be lean and able
to roll around in the drain line flow control area. The minimum water
pressure minimum has to be 20 psi. If those things aren't maintained, the
unit won't suck brine.

Gary
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com
Bulletin Board www.qualitywaterassociates.com/phpBB2

The brine should be drawn in the first part of the brine/slow rinse cycle;
usually in the first 15-20 minutes but the 255 can take longer. The amount
of water added to the brine tank is determined by the salt dose setting.
Brine draw and salt dose have little to do with each other. If the water
level rises then all the brine isn't being drawn or there is a leak allowing
water into the brine tank when it shouldn't be.



That's all I can tell you without being there.


Gary
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com
Bulletin Board www.qualitywaterassociates.com/phpBB2

"Lex" wrote
Thanks for the reply.

I took the brine control off and cleaned it and cleaned the screen
again (still had some clogge holes).

I ran another cycle and this time it took brine for almost the whole
brine cycle. The water in the brine tank went down about 6 inches.

However - on the refill it only put back about 2 inches into the brine
tank. Is this normal or something to be concerned about?

Regards

"Gary Slusser" wrote
"Lex" wrote
Hello,

I have a water softening system that has an Autotrol series 255
valve/460i. Its 5 1/2 years old.

I use Potassium Chloride pellets in my brine tank. I check the brine
tank regularly and have been noticing lately that the pellets are last
an extra extra long time. I doubt there is any chance these pellet
can bridge but I stired then up anyway.

I manually ran a cycle and noticed that when it gets to the cycle that
sucks the brine in through the Air check housing it only takes in
brine for a few minutes - the level in the brine tank only goes down
about .25 inches. After that few minutes the brine stops coming in an
it sounds like its just sucking air. I've never watched a cycle when
it was in working order but I assume it should be taking in more brine
than that - correct?

I cleaned the injector and the screen. There was a lot of gunk on the
screen. I was going to clean the brine control too but was not sure
how it comes off - does it just unscrew?

Cleaning the injector and screen did not solve the problem. Any other
ideas of what might cause this?

I appreciate any help/tips.

Regards

Pellets can 'bridge'. Check your brine line connections and prevent any
air
suction. If it sucks air it can't lift heavy water/brine. Yes the air
check
screws off the older version of that control or you remove the screws
holding the clear plastic cap on it. The injector has to be clear/open
or it
can't suck brine. There can be no kinks in the drain line. The injector
screen has to be clean. Te drain line control (ball) must be lean and
able
to roll around in the drain line flow control area. The minimum water
pressure minimum has to be 20 psi. If those things aren't maintained,
the
unit won't suck brine.

Gary
Quality Water Associates
www.qualitywaterassociates.com
Bulletin Board www.qualitywaterassociates.com/phpBB2